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Tag: san diego

Completed House Sits – San Diego, CA (December 7th to December 28th, 2018)

February 20, 2019 / / 55 Comments

Last winter, Mark and I did a 3.5-month house sit in San Diego, California with Italian Greyhounds Elvis and Frida. During that time, we met up frequently with our friend Amy, as she was a graduating zoologist/environmentalist. “You guys are so awesome with dogs,” she said. “If I ever need someone to take care of Skylos, I’ll get in touch.”

Cute Skylos
Mark and Skylos have had a strong connection for 13 years

In the summer, Amy secured a six-month position in Peru. Her best friend Cara moved in with her cat Casper to keep an eye on the place and care for the dog as well. At some point during our summer travels in Zesty, Cara and Amy inquired whether we could come to Ocean Beach (a funky neighborhood in San Diego) in December to take over Cara’s “duties” as she visited with friends and family over the holidays. She’d be gone for a long weekend early in the month and a week over Christmas later. The timing was perfect. We happily obliged, as long as we could stay the full three weeks. Continue reading

Wordless Wednesday – Ice Skating in Winter

January 23, 2019 / / 46 Comments

In Newburyport, Massachusetts

In San Diego, California

Spot the seven differences. 🙂

This post is my contribution for this week’s Wordless Wednesday.

I have not touched ice skates since I was a teenager. How about you? Do you ice skate these days? Indoors or outdoors? Only in winter or all year long?

Does the Rock Church Rock?

March 14, 2018 / / 46 Comments

Almost every day, Mark and I walked Elvis and Frida to and around Liberty Station for an hour-long outing. When we returned via Trader Joe’s to pick up a few groceries, we passed signs for “Rock Church”, and observed a building named “The School of Rock”. Once, our little getaway took place on a Sunday morning. Crowds of people – rows and rows of them on the sidewalks – made their way to the church. Traffic control was in place and notices in the supermarkets’ parking lots warned against stationing your car there to attend Sunday service. Our curiosity was peaked! Especially when someone mentioned that the “rock” had nothing to do with the building material, but with a rock concert.

Full parking lots and driveways near the stores
Traffic control
Front of the Rock Church at Liberty Station on Point Loma, San Diego
Church hall

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Completed House Sits – San Diego, CA (October 31st, 2017 to February 11th, 2018)

February 28, 2018 / / 53 Comments

After every house sit, I post an overview of it on my blog. Here’s the one about our time in San Diego.

When Mark and I were selected for this recent fall/winter house and pet sit in San Diego (this was the ad), we were very excited. We love San Diego – the climate, the sights, the activities, the friends we have there – and looked forward to a healthy balance of restful, exciting, social and productive times. For three full months (later extended by two weeks)! It seemed like a nice, long time to settle in and get things done. Suddenly, it was all over. 3.5 months… gone in a jiffy.

Christmas with Alex and Dave
Visit from Johnny Coconut and his brother
Unexpected visit from our cruising friend Patti and her rescued Mexican puppy
With Kathy and Thom on New Year’s Day
Visit from Amy and Skylos

This house sit was unusual in many ways. We arrived four days earlier, as Mark was scheduled to fly back east for health check-ups the end of October. I became a roommate of Diana, the owner, for a few days before she left. It was a perfect transition for both of us, and for the two sweet Italian Greyhounds, Frida (12) and Elvis (10). The following ten days, I took care of them, the house, the yard and the mail by myself, while working on my book and exploring the area by bike on weekends.

San Diego skyline from Harbor Island

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The Act of Swapping Coasts (in the US)

January 17, 2018 / / 61 Comments

I wake with a start. Natural light enters the bedroom. Something is terribly wrong. I fumble to look for the time. “Oh no, it’s 7:45. My plane leaves in 30 minutes. There is no way I can make it!” This is my worst nightmare.

I wake with a start. It is pitch black in the room. We never close the shades. I relax the smallest bit. It is supposed to still be dark when I need to get up, but also when I need to leave. I fumble, grab my glasses and flip the lid of my iPad. It is 4am. I sigh. Plenty of time. The dogs stir against my body. I double-check the alarm setting: 5:30am. I double-check the volume: all the way up. I only have one alarm without Mark by my side. I asked him to call me on Skype at 9am EST (6am my time), in case I overslept. Of course, my iPad is on “sleep mode” whenever I am, so someone trying to reach me will be useless.

There is no way I can fall asleep again after that dream. Around 5am, I do doze off. Wait, was that a plane flying over the house? They usually don’t start until 6:30! Oh no. Maybe it was one landing? Or, a delayed departure from last night? I am wide awake now. 5:20am. I might as well get up. I send a quick email to Mark – I’m up! Don’t worry about calling me. – and to the home owner’s mother. She requested the contact info of the helpful guy – a friend of the owner – who will take over our house sitting duties for two weeks. Time to get ready! I have 45 minutes, so don’t have to rush. Sandwiches were made and put in the fridge last night; plenty of snacks are packed. After the “blizzard of the century” in New England yesterday, I am prepared for the worst. With record low temperatures, massive snowfall, and heavy wind gusts in Boston, I expect delays getting there.

My last shower without the heat on. I eat breakfast, do the dishes and call Elvis and Frida. They are not used to getting up this early and lay together, huddled under the bed covers. They have moved from their previous spot to where I slept. Warm and cozy. I wake them and feed them. “Come on, buddy.” I try not to lose my patience. Usually, Elvis gobbles his medicines up without any issues. The pill is covered with fresh, organic peanut butter.  He manages to spit it out. I smear more peanut butter on it. Nope! I’m running out of time. The third attempt is the charm. Down goes the pill, with more peanut butter. Three servings of peanut butter. He gets away with it!

Missing these two!
Frida and Elvis snuggled up
Comfy Elvis

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Things to See and Do in San Diego, California

December 16, 2017 / / 71 Comments

When Mark and I started our current three-month house sit in San Diego, we knew we couldn’t go on weekend trips with our camper van like other times. Frida and Elvis, the two Italian Greyhounds we are taking care of, are relatively old – 12 and 10 years respectively – and home buddies; their owner prefers them to remain nearby. In a city like San Diego, that is not a problem at all! There is so much to do and see in this area that we could spend many weekends exploring and discovering. Here is a selection of what we visited over the last six weeks.

San Diego skyline with moored boats

San Diego Safari Park

We contemplated a visit to the safari park in Escondido, about 20 minutes north of the city, for my birthday (November 28), when our friend Amy (who recently graduated as a zoologist) gave us four free tickets that expired within a week. So, one Saturday, Mark and I set out to the park earlier than planned and had a fantastic time. Not as fascinating as the real thing in Africa, of course, but not a bad alternative! We were especially intrigued about the relationship between cheetahs and dogs. Every young cheetah is paired up with a dog and they become buddies for life.

Expansive safari park
You can take a free “tram” ride around the park
Can you find the baby cheetah among the teddy bears?
Tiger cubs
Having a (pricey) drink overlooking the rhinos. Cheers!
Dog and cheetah: companions for life – the cheetah run was impressive to watch

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From Maupiti to San Diego and Other Reunions

December 1, 2017 / / 41 Comments

It was November 2014. Mark and I were anchored in the remote, but beautiful atoll Maupiti in the South Pacific. Bora Bora’s sister island stole our heart and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there aboard Irie, in the lagoon waters, and on shore.

Mark and Liesbet on top of Maupiti

One day, a booming voice startled us.

“Hello! Are you American?” A man on a panga had seen our American flag and investigated. Continue reading

House Sitting Behind the Scenes – The Selection Process

November 24, 2017 / / 44 Comments

House and pet sitting as a lifestyle might sound like a relatively new concept to you and me, but, within these circles, everyone is on the look-out for an appealing sit, and some people have been doing it for over a decade. Since we started this lifestyle two years ago, the demand for house sits (or the supply of house sitters) has grown substantially. Competition is fierce, and securing an attractive sit is not an easy feat. There are days that dealing with potential house sits is my main activity; another reason why we prefer long-term commitments. Not only does that fit our work schedules better, provide immersion into a specific area and give us a welcome respite from being on the road, it also offers me a little break from digging through listings and submitting application letters.

In February, I wrote a post about how we end up with certain sits. I figured it was time for another example of how our future takes shape “behind the scenes”. The basics are always the same. Mark and I are members of a few house sitting sites, where our profile is available. We explain who we are, what we prioritize, our experiences and our strengths. There are a few personal photos attached as well. Home owners sometimes find a perfect match in us by reading this profile, and send us an email to inquire about our availability and thoughts. More often, however, I click on the most promising house sit listings that arrive in my inbox, read the descriptions, check out the photos, and, when they fit our preferences (location, type of animals, duration, timing), I create a personal letter and hit the send button. If the interest is mutual, we communicate over email and set up a time for a Skype interview, ideally with video. When all that goes well, and the home owner chooses us – usually after talking to a few candidates – we confirm the sit, and have a plan. It is not uncommon that home owners, especially in desirable locations, receive between 40-100 applications. Yeah…

Hanging out in the yard with “our” current Italian Greyhounds Frida and Elvis

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