We're two somewhat weird Canadians

Greg and I have been more successful in this adventure than we ever imagined. So, was it luck? Not really. Armed with posters to pin up everywhere, we left home ready to drum-up business. We soon set the posters aside, as we were sabotaged by those who do this for a living. So, what next?

We registered on two more house sitting websites, and I monitored all three obsessively. We subscribed to a daily email of new postings, but many were often taken within hours, so I soon began obsessively (yep, that's my personality) monitoring the site with the most traffic.

Openclips - Creative Commons License

I also used Craigslist in the cities we were in ... no one could sabotage those posts! Although this lacked the structure of the house sitting sites, we made up for it with a policy that for all who contacted us, we insisted on meeting them and their pets in their homes. Security and cleanliness will always be our priority, as well as a good fit for everyone.

So, we've had bookings from TrustedHousesitters, Housesit America, and Craigslist. We're now scheduled until April 8th, after which we'll head back to Canada. So, we worked at the planning; it wasn't just luck.

I'd like to share some questions and comments we've received:

Don't you feel socially isolated, moving all the time?

Not at all. We've socialized with the homeowners themselves. From the initial back-and-forth with email and texts, to keeping in contact while they're away, these relationships have developed. We've also been out socially with some of the homeowners, before and/or after the sit. We still keep in contact with most of them, and have been asked back by every homeowner so far. So, it's been very interesting getting to know the homeowners, as well as their pets, of course. We've also socialized with each other more!

One homeowner made fresh fish tacos for us!

So what do you do otherwise with your time ... just kind of read books all day?

This was said to me at the dog park. I so wanted to say "the same as anyone else, only it's just not our pet!" ... but I held back.

And to the comment ... Oh, you're not as weird as I expected!

This was said when we met family members of a homeowner. In all fairness, all she knew was that someone they found on Craigslist was going to live in their home ... and, in her eyes, maybe rob them blind! My thought was why she didn't say "you're not weird after all", rather than "not as weird as". So, how weird are we anyway?

OK, friends, be kind!