How I became a traveling pet sitter

Dec 08, 2023

This is my story, not a how-to. You could certainly do some of the things I did, and I’ll share my methods and resources at the end.

Most of all, I hope this story inspires you to share yours and to make your own plot twist and ride its wave.

I’ve wanted to live in Europe for ages…I did once…from age two to five, I went to a kindergarten in Bavaria while my dad worked as a psychologist for the US Army. We lived in a village off base, and I don’t remember any German, but I do remember a few scenes from kindergarten!

Fast forward to 2017. Most of my contract work as a Japanese document reviewer and translator at law firms in NYC had dried up. I had savings from working 10-11 hour days on a big project, and was planning to visit a friend in Stockholm.

Now, I’m a graduate of Wellesley College, and one of the joys of being an alum is the plethora of W FaceBook forums I’m in. One is called Wags & Whiskers, and you can guess what it’s all about. I posted photos of my former cat, Nina, frequently, and loved seeing other people’s (mostly) furry friends.

One day, I saw a post on W&W recruiting a current student or young grad to dog sit for a friend of a W in Antwerp, Belgium. I was neither a student nor a recent grad at the time, but my desire to spend some time in the art deco city of Antwerp I’d visited on my first Europe trip in 1998 made me bold enough to reach out with interest.

I was connected to Sarah, and as we say, the rest is history!

We connected well, and I showed up a month later ready to connect with Sarah and her daughter, as well as Snowy (a rescue dog from Spain), two hamsters, fish, and lots of plants.

Dainty Snowy (P.S. I’ve started to travel with my own pillow, and what a difference it makes to my sleep!)

Sarah introduced me to several neighbors before heading to the US to see her family. I even had a gig as a drop-in cat sitter for Miriam down the street!

I loved being in Belgium, eating orange yogurt, raw herring, and red currants. Wandering among the art deco homes with Snowy was interspersed with conversations with Francis about Japan, dance breaks with Amalya, chats with Eva, Pien, and Miriam.

Sarah generously allowed me to stay for a week after she returned, and I even got an extra day. I was kindly allowed to stay a night in Francis’ mother-in-law’s apartment facing the North Sea in Oostend, and while I managed to rearrange and clean everything according to the very precise instructions I’d been given, Francis got a call the next day saying I’d left my passport! So I postponed my trip a day and waited for the passport to be delivered by post!

I’ve been back to Sarah’s and the Sint Hubertusstraat community every year (sometimes twice a year) with the exception of 2020, and she’s got first priority with regard to my availability.

As I expanded my time abroad, I made use of a membership called Trusted Housesitters and have even sat for old friends (Hi, Jennie!). And I’d love to sit for and connect with you!

I’d love to hear about your dream life.

I’ll share some exciting stories from my sits next time (which may be next week, or in a couple of months LOL).

Big love,

Ariel

House/pet sitting resource links

Here’s a link to info and a discount on THS: https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF112468/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend

And some other sites I’ve heard about:

https://www.nomador.com

https://www.housesittersuk.co.uk

Host a Sister is a group on FaceBook where people can offer and request hosting, with or without pet sitting involved