Pros and Cons

  It's mid-September and here we are in a beautiful home in that no-man's land between Aurora and Newmarket. It's technically Aurora but a 100 meter walk to the north would put us in Newmarket. Regardless, it's close to home and not Jen's house. It's not that we have anything against Jen's house but I suspect they've seen enough of Penny and me recently that a break was required, so here we are.

  Although I didn't write about it, this is our second sit in this house having spent four days here when we returned from Hawkesbury. Our charge is a rather large long-haired shepherd  named Magnum:

  He's a sweetheart but not very well trained. Since he's big and strong some wrestling is required along with some stern commands that can get his attention. Walking him is a challenge. You see, he's not very friendly to other dogs. By "not friendly" I mean he wants to eat them. In order to walk this guy you need to look all around you to ensure you're not going to encounter something that will get him riled up.

  Take the other night for instance. There I was with the thick leather leash extended as far as it would go while he was watering a tree when, suddenly, out of the dark walks a man dressed in dark clothing with a black dog. Well, you'd have thought the guy was walking one of the dogs from the gates of Hell the way Magnum reacted. I was about an inch from being pulled over before I recovered in time to grab his collar as he lunged at the unsuspecting dog and owner. Disaster averted, but not before visions of ambulances and lawyers passed before my eyes.

  When there are no dogs around to set him off he's great although walking him can be a chore when he wants to sniff every tree trunk on a street that's just littered with them. Anyway, I'll come back to Magnum and his house but I need to digress a bit before we continue.

  I've entitled this installment "Pros and Cons" because this place is a perfect illustration of all that's good and bad about what we do. We've been at this almost sixteen months now and we're constantly asked if we're still enjoying it, how do we do this thing and how long will we continue doing this thing. Therefore, I think it's time for all of you to get a peek under the hood.

  If you've been a loyal follower of this blog you'll know we've been untethered and have gone largely where we've pleased. That makes arranging house sits easy. I just peruse the listings and we have conversations like, "How do you feel about Arizona?" or "Here's a nice sit in Panama" or some such place and Penny's response is usually something like, "When do we leave?" Easy. We've been able to be very selective about the location, house, pets and owners, taking only those assignments that satisfy our criteria for a pleasant stay.

  For example, we prefer to stay in houses rather than apartments. If they're close to water that's a big checkmark. Sometimes we ask the owners if they mind if we have visitors stay over. They've all been ok with that. We also look for things like a hot tub, swimming pool, bbq grill and fully-equipped kitchen. Often we're less particular about the house itself if it's in a location we want to visit. If we're traveling overseas it's nice if the owners let us use their car, like in Cyprus. Again, big checkmark.

  The animals are another decision point. We've applied for sits with cats, dogs, fish, rodents  and horses. We're ok with all of that unless the location is one where we want to be out of the house all day sightseeing. In that case animals that require less attention, like cats, are preferred.

  Finally, there's the scheduling issue. To minimize stays at Jen's or hotel stays while on the road I carefully schedule our sits to dovetail and minimize that downtime. I'll only look at jobs that have dates that mesh smoothly with our timelines. Thirty years as a project manager comes in handy here and it's worked well, mostly.

  That all changed in the spring when we decided to stay near home through the summer while the grandchildren were off school. That plan got extended to the end of this year when son David asked me to help him renovate his basement.

  Since agreeing to stay around home planning our housesitting schedule has become immeasurably more difficult because our selection criteria are very specific. During the summer we were a bit loose with those things because we got swimming pools and that was enough for the kids to come visit. Now that I'll be commuting to David's house on an almost daily basis I'd prefer not to be driving ninety minutes each way. Sounds like work!

  As a result, I'm trying to find us a place, or places, to cover the two and a half months from the time we return from our two weeks in Kelowna in mid-October until the end of the year somewhere in the reasonable vicinity of Newmarket/Aurora/Bradford. That means spending a couple of hours each day watching the websites we subscribe to throughout the day in case something pops up that we like. It's a tough order but I'm confident something will work out. Of course, you know that means I'll be driving ninety minutes each way.

  Ok, so what's involved in doing this house sitting thing?

  Let's say we've found a place that suits us. We apply to the owners, who can see our profile and the ton of five-star reviews we've accumulated. That means they'll likely be interested because we're exactly who they're looking for. I'm not overstating this. When people see our application it's a lock that they'll want to talk to us.

  The next step is usually a video chat, which is just like a job interview. We've aced all of those. We're pretty good at this. Really. Usually the owners like us and want us to take the assignment and that's it. Once in a while, though, we encounter homeowners that have unreasonable expectations that we feel we won't be able to meet. In those cases we respectfully decline. As I learned in business, managing expectations is the surest path to success.

  Now it's time for the actual house sit to begin.

  Some people want us to arrive a few hours or even a day early so we can get to know their pets. Spending hours chatting about nothing in particular with strangers can be uncomfortable for me so I generally don't look forward to this part. Penny enjoys it. Just ask her kids who have stood in supermarket checkout lines listening to her discuss any of a thousand topics with the person in line behind her.

  Once the owners leave it's time to get settled. Unpack, buy groceries, wander the house and grounds to get familiar with our surroundings, read and re-read the instructions, get to know the animals. In every house I scan the network to see if there are cameras. Many houses have exterior cameras but no one is supposed to enable interior cameras while we're there. In virtually all cases we've been left with specific instructions as to care of the animals, house, property, etc. Sometimes they can be incredibly specific, like the ones about Magnum's food.

  This guy's on a raw diet and I have to concoct a bizarre combination of these various gross smelling things for his meals. Breakfast is different than dinner. Every other day I'm to add a sardine to his dinner. On every second Thursday I'm to stand on my head and spin plates on my toes. You get the picture.

  Now, as I said, this stuff smells disgusting -- a lot like what it's going to smell like when he's done with it. I don't even think he likes it. I have to coax him to get up off the floor to come over and investigate this putrid mess. He eats it but I'm sure I've never seen a dog eat with less enthusiasm. Anyway, I'm sure it's good for him... just like cod liver oil is good for you.

  Throughout our house sitting adventures we've been asked to do some weird things. Put one cat's food in the kitchen and the other cat's food by the pool table. Don't use the sponge for human dishes to clean the dog bowl. Instead of putting the cat's food where the dog can't get it, put the food on the floor and hold onto the dog while the cat eats. Like that.

  The bulk of each of our stays is pretty standard stuff, just in a different location all the time. We shop for food, cook meals, care for the animals, do the laundry and housecleaning and see the sights. We watch TV, read books, surf the 'net, solve puzzles... all the same kinds of things we'd do if we were home, if we had one.

  Finally, our last day at each place arrives and it's time to clean up. We wash the sheets and towels, make the bed, clean the bathrooms, clean the dishes and put them away, vacuum the floors, feed the animals, etc. It's like a ballet, carefully timed and choreographed to accomplish the most in the least amount of time. In almost every case the owners' reviews have said how clean and tidy the house was when they returned. We rock.

  Pros and cons, right? Nice houses, great neighbourhoods, scenic areas, cute pets. Some pain in the ass other stuff. Most of the owners have been very nice people and we would be friends with many of them if we lived closer. Some of them have not but, thankfully, it's a very small number. We've done seventeen house sits so far and, thankfully, most of them have been simple and fun. While we're doing this we're not paying for rent, property taxes, utilities, house repairs, Internet service or home insurance so our expenses are very low.

  As you know, we love to travel and that's what we've been doing. The difference between the way we travel and the way everyone else travels is we stay in a great house for free. No hotels. No AirBnB. No camping. We just have to get there and pay for our food and whatever else we want to do while we're there. It's pretty cool and we're going to do it for at least a few more months.

  So. I hope I've answered the questions most people have been asking us. If you have other questions please fire away. Maybe it will generate another installment. Since we're not being tourists these days I'm finding it a bit of a challenge thinking of things to write about. Our next sit, in Kelowna, starts October 3. Until then I remain your intrepid adventurer.

Cheers!