House Sitting Magazine Issue 3: September 2016

Welcome to the jungle!

by Ian Usher Welcome to the third issue of House Sitting - The ultimate lifestyle magazine. We hope you enjoy the features and articles we have lined up for you.

This month we have the second of our series of house sitting platform supplements.

It's our pleasure to give you a chance to really get to know the global platform Nomador, but more importantly its wonderful owner Mariannig Ferrari. With an uncompromising stance on her values, she has a true desire to help others. we also have a very resourceful home schooling article from Tracey Tullis at Expat Experiment, we look at house sitting opportunities in China, and discover why "Mobsters are minimalists", as Al McCullough continues his series of downsizing.

As always we look forward to your feedback, questions and suggestions.

You can get in touch with us here: ian@HouseSittingMagazine.com vanessa@HouseSittingMagazine.com

Slowing down the pace in Panama It has been a fun and interesting month for us. Since publishing Issue 2 we have moved on from our house sit in Mexico, and are now settled in a lovely waterfront property in the beautiful tropical Caribbean archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama.

It feels like we have come full circle on a journey that started over three years ago. Vanessa and I met in 2013, and at the time I was living on my own little island property here in Bocas del Toro.

Vanessa joined me on the island in July that year for what was supposed to be a two week holiday, and never went back! We haven't looked back since.

You can read all about this in "Storyteller's share", further on in the magazine, a reproduction in part of TrustedHousesitters recent blog article that told our story and that of four other travelling house sitters!

Ian's island in Bocas del Toro, Panama (2014)

While living in Panama back in 2014, we were also featured on a UK TV documentary about remote off-grid living. The show was called "New Lives in the Wild", and you can see our episode at the bottom of the page.

Back in Panama, we are currently looking after two characterful dogs, at the home of one of our former neighbours here in Bocas.

Turbo and Rosie, our two jungle dogs

The house is completely off-grid. Solar panels charge a bank of batteries for our electricity.

There is a backup generator if the sun doesn't shine. All water comes from rainfall, of which there is usually plenty. Large tanks under the house hold thousands of litres, but we still have to be conservative in our water use, as long dry spells are common.

There is no road to the house. There is just a wall of thick jungle beyond the property boundary.

We have to travel everywhere by boat, which has its own particular challenges - there isn't a petrol station just around the corner, so fuel management is vital.

There are daily routines and regular easy maintenance tasks, but the reward in terms of a wonderfully unique experience are beyond measure.

As I write this welcome note for the September issue of the magazine on a sunny Sunday morning, we are looking forward to dropping the boat into the water, and heading around the bay to a beautifully secluded jungle restaurant tucked away in a remote corner of the archipelago. Steak, chips and beer will be the order of the day.

Ian catches up with old friends at Rana Azul restaurant

Vanessa helps out behind the bar when things get busy

Editor's Note: We plan to take a closer look at the particular challenges and adventures offered by off-grid and remote house sitting in a future issue of the magazine.

Ian and Vanessa (currently house sitting off-grid in Bocas del Toro, Panama)

See our episode of New Lives in the Wild by clicking the "Play" button below:

You'll find extra news, reviews and snippets throughout the magazine!

How to select the perfect house sit and ask the right questions Mariannig Ferrari

Introduction to home schooling Tracey Tullis

From house sitting to farm sitting Donna Mulvenna

Destination China Vanessa Anderson

House sitting in China Betsy and Pete Wuebker Kelly Hayes-Raitt Liz and Josh Smith

Storytellers share Stories from the TrustedHouseSitters blog

Getting more bang for your buck Ian Usher

Mobsters are minimalists!

Al McCullough

House sitting opens more than homes...

Kelly Hayes-Raitt

Meet, greet, eat - Pancetta and leek crustless mini-quiches Jen Evans

It's all change at House Sitting World Interview with Louise Read Jen Evans

Photo gallery Resources In the next issue...

Nomador Feature Supplement Discovering Nomador Interview with Mariannig Ferrari

Building trust, building relationships Mariannig Ferrari

Homeowners - how to be a perfect host Mariannig Ferrari

Homeowner story - Discovery, connection, experience Mariannig Ferrari and Nomador homeowner, Catherine

10 commandments for house sitters Mariannig Ferrari

Breaking down barriers - the unexpected bonuses of house sitting Mariannig Ferrari and Nomador house sitter, Alina

Find out more about Nomador

How to select the perfect house sit and ask the right questions

by Mariannig Ferrari, Founder, Nomador House sitting is rapidly becoming more and more popular, which also means more and more competition among house sitters.

Because demand is higher than availability, house sitters have to use every trick in the book to stand out from the crowd in their search for the right house sit.

Does this mean forgetting to be selective?

Well no, it shouldn't.

The international community of house sitting travellers is getting so huge that there are as many different needs and motivations, as there are different homes and ways of living in the world. Which is a good thing!

We have learned through experience that the "perfect house" for one sitter may not be so perfect for another. Or, that what you'll appreciate at one time of your life may not be ideal a few years later.

House sitting successfully does require some adaptability. But to select the house sit that are the right ones for YOU, also requires that you know not only your dream location, but also your own needs and limits.

So how do you select your perfect house sit?

At Nomador we often use the motto, "People, Places and Pets - Be inspired". We propose you use this as a guideline and then the right house sit will be the one where YOU feel:   

Happy with your relationship with the home-owners.

Comfortable, safe and secure, and able to manage all responsibilities for the home.

Confident and happy to care for the pets and animals, if any.

1. Define WHY you want to house-sit Please don't jump at a listing just because you're interested in the destination! This may seem basic, but we've seen too many people fall into this trap.

Try to define the main reason why you want to house sit. You may have several motivations, but what is most important to you?      

Saving on accommodation costs in order to travel longer and further? If this is the case, you may be less selective about extra comforts and luxuries.

Discovering new cultures and ways of living by staying in local homes? So in this instance you won't mind if the house you care for isn't close to major tourist points of interest.

Taking care of pets because you miss them so much at home? In this situation, you may choose a house-sit based on the new friends who'll be in your care.

Exploring a region or country? You'll need to find assignments with few pet-related obligations.

Meeting locals and travelling more meaningfully? If this is your goal, finding opportunities that are in-between house sitting and volunteering may be for you.

Gaining references because you're new to house-sitting? Then you may need to start by accepting house sits that may not be the most attractive.

Many people tend to answer the "how" before answering the "why". And knowing the Why is the key for making the right choices, like in many life circumstances.

2. Identify your basic requirements Of course you're not looking for 5 star hotel-like comforts, but you will certainly have one or two basic requirements that you would NOT want to negotiate. These are your absolute musts points that are vital to your personal daily comfort.

They can be:     

fast internet with a large download because you need to work online. easy access to basic commodities because you won't be renting a car. a good quality bed because of back pain. no remote locations because you house-sit solo and feel safer with neighbours close by. and so on…

You're the only one who'll be able to define these.

Be clear about your basic requirements and don't let your interest in the destination disrupt your decision making. Or the chances are that you will eventually end up having a horrible holiday experience.

3. Take time to examine each listing in-depth You've just spotted the type of listing that makes your heart jump?

Don't be too hasty.

Of course you need to be reactive and send an application, but make sure to go into more depth as your communication progresses.

Preparing in advance will help you identify potential "red flags" and not get carried away at first contact.

An easy way to do this is create your own house-sitting decision making sheet like this: Start by listing your basic requirements. You will then write down all the points that need to be checked step by step. These will be answered either from the listing, little by little in your chat space, or when you talk directly by phone or Skype.

It's as easy as that!

At Nomador we have prepared this model here to help guide you but we encourage you to build your own!

Decision-Making-Sheet.pdf (53.9 KB)

Then all you have to do is tick-off the items in the appropriate columns. This process will assist you in eliminating most of the major risks of disappointment.

More importantly, you can see in one glance if the result is in accordance with your motivations to house sit, and that all your basic requirements are filled.

4. Ask the RIGHT questions the "kind" way Your decision making sheet will certainly help you to not forget any important points. The thing now is to use it wisely.

Most owners won't appreciate being subjected to something similar to a police interrogation, as I'm sure you wouldn't either. So remember that you need to build trust and confidence first.

By asking too much at once, you can risk discouraging them from talking further with you.

Take your time Encourage a dialogue by explaining why you would be the best house-sitter for them. End by asking one or two questions. Why not ask about your basic requirements so you don't end up wasting your time and theirs? This also shows your interest in their home without overwhelming them.

You'll be able to check the rest step by step as your dialogue continues. The owners will also have their own questions, of course!

Ask questions in the kindest way Lending your home, pets and personal belongings to someone is no easy matter. Never forget that, so try to always put yourself in the home-owner's shoes.

You must reassure and help create confidence, the friendly way. Some questions are very easy to ask. "What's the price of a bus ticket?" is an easy question, and it's just as easy to give an answer.

However, "Is your home clean?" Well that's a more delicate question and just as difficult and embarrassing to answer! Particularly since cleanliness is so hard to measure. Having a different concepts of "cleanliness" is the reason for most house sitting disappointments (for both sides).

So how can you find a kind way to ask questions without breaking the spontaneity of the relationship that you're starting to build?

We've written out some examples below, but encourage you to make the wording your own.

You want it to sound like you!

One way to introduce your questions into the conversation is: "Nomador recommends we check different points before validating, and I have used a list they provide on their site. Do you mind if we have a look at them one by one? So we can make sure we don't forget anything important?".

Here's a diplomatic way to ask something when it's tricky, regarding cleanliness for instance: "Of course we want to do our best and it's very important for us that you are happy with how we care for your home. So if you were to describe your dream house-sitter, what would you say?

Are you very house-proud – do you have a place for everything and everything in its place? Or would you describe yourself as "non fussy" and be happier if we weren't either? What's your lifestyle?".

We have noticed that in most cases the answers to these questions come spontaneously and are straightforward: "Oh I'm obsessive about cleanliness, I vacuum every day", or, "Well, our home is very lively as you can imagine with the dogs. Plus I work a lot and to be honest household chores aren't my priority in life."

Both answers clearly give you an idea of what the house will be like and give an idea about your cleaning responsibilities while living in the home.

For your caring and open-minded questions - when it comes to dog education for instance: "What education methods do you use with your dog(s)? Do you apply any rules, like feeding them after you eat or not allowing them on the couch? Or, do you just take things as they come? How would you like us to behave with them, so that we understand? We wouldn't want to create a disruption in habits!"

By encouraging a good and positive dialogue, you will learn a lot. You will help to eliminate any grey areas which can be a cause for so many misunderstandings.

Owners will be grateful for your efforts. Even if you eventually say "No thank you" because of a few points that are red flags for you. Or if things don't meet your personal requirements as house sitters.

On the other hand when you say, "Yes, we'll be happy to come!" you'll have prepared yourself for a successful house-sit and can just look forward to the experience in your new home!

Introduction to home schooling

by Tracey Tullis

I travel full time with my family, house sitting here and there along the way. My husband Rob and I both do freelance work online and home school our seven-year-old son Malik, as we travel.

We know firsthand, if you're a family planning a sabbatical, round the world trip, or extended travel, no matter the term, education for the kids is always a concern.

Edventures - Learning on the road As it is now, more and more families seem to be taking long-term trips (aptly called "edventures"), where kids learn on the road.

One obstacle that parents face when considering pulling their kids out of school to go on a longterm trip, is figuring out how to facilitate learning for their children while travelling.

Many things influence how to approach "edventuring". Like the age of the kids, length of time away and possible state or federal accountability.

However, aside from age and logistics, a framework must be laid first.

This is an introduction to home schooling - basic guidelines for philosophies that give ideas on frameworks, and links to helpful information and other resources to inspire you to delve a little deeper.

Resources and support There is a staggering amount of information available online about home schooling. It's hard not to get bogged down by the sheer volume of opinions and educational options.

So where should parents start?

What home school method will best suit your family?

You first need to define your philosophy of education. The "how" you will educate must come before "what" you will teach.

The different methodologies - options for "how" The most talked about options for educating kids on the road are:   

home schooling unschooling road schooling or world schooling

None of these is an exact science, but one thing is true of them all - each style can be customized to best fit the needs of the child and the family.

The basic definitions for each methodology Home schooling Generally involves some sort of registry for common core subject based learning like math, science, reading, writing, and geography. The curriculum type and quantity can vary depending on the family.

Some home schooling families choose to mirror traditional school with tests, grades, and yearly goals. Others forgo testing and benchmarks, but still follow a curriculum framework.

Travelling kids can learn via online school classes with curriculum, assignments, and testing. All work can be done with an internet connection to access virtual classrooms.

Of course, there are different obligations and legalities that can go along with traditional home schooling on the road. These can vary depending on whether or not you are registered, and on your home country or state educational requirements.

Unschooling Also known as "interest led" or "child driven" learning, unschooling is home education that allows kids the freedom to learn about the things in the world that interest them.

Parents don't dictate what kids should learn, but they provide access to knowledge on whatever their child is interested in learning about.

Road schooling or world schooling This philosophy is a bit of a mixed bag.

I've found most traveling families follow the unschooling methodology, but use these two terms to describe learning from real world situations on the road.

These kids delve into learning about the history and culture at famous tourist sites, use currency conversion for learning and practicing math, and derive many lessons from the litany of experiences associated with extended travel.

These are general guidelines for each philosophy and they all can be blended as well.

Be open-minded when learning about the different approaches, and know that you can customize a path for learning that will best suit your family and your travel situation.

Here are a few resources I think best define and outline each type of educational philosophy: 





This article, An Introduction to Road Schooling, is road schooling 101 at its best. It also includes curriculum ideas by grade, and different road schooling/world schooling projects that are fun for any kid taking a trip.

Jon Holt is regarded as the "father" of unschooling. His book "Teach Your Own" is a great indepth resource to learn about the foundations of unschooling. You can also check out Wikipedia to get a good overview of this philosophy.

Home schooling is an extremely broad topic but I found this post about homeschool and travel to be very helpful and enlightening.

Our favourite resources If you want to delve a little deeper, here are some great educational websites and curriculum ideas as well:  

Here's a short list of our favourite sites, (great for primary school and beyond) from our own Expat Experiment website - 7 Awesome Free Educational Websites We're Using Right Now. This article Resources for Traveling Home Schoolers is huge! It's loaded with a ton of information and links to great learning sites.

The developmental benefits that aren't part of any curriculum I think travel enhances education. It broadens kids' perspective and teaches life skills that just aren't taught or developed in traditional school settings.

There are opportunities for kids to learn on any length of trip, but if you're planning something more long term, get ready to grow and learn a lot as a family too!

The prospect of home education can be exciting and overwhelming Start by choosing a methodology, and consider how your child learns best. Be open-minded and flexible, the beauty of home schooling is if something isn't working, you have the freedom to change it.

There's no bureaucracy standing in your way.

Remember, the education piece can be customized and opportunities to learn exist all around you.

You just need to get into the right mind set!

Tracey, Rob and Makai are a Canadian family who has been travelling and doing some house sitting along the way since April 2014.

They love sharing what they learn about the places they visit, as well as documenting the challenges and rewards of living an unconventional family life, on their blog The Expat Experiment

From house sitting to farm sitting

by Donna Mulvenna How one woman set a frantic pace around the world and established a profitable farm sitting business along the way.

The leap from house sitting for free, to farm sitting for profit The fascinating thing about life is that sometimes, one seemingly minor decision can have an enormous impact on your lifestyle, the people you meet, the things you do and the places you see.

When the last dairy goat farmer within traveling distance of my south eastern Queensland home told me she was going out of business my response was, “But where will I buy my goat milk?”

“I suggest you buy your own goats,” she said. And to my astonishment, that is exactly what I did.

At the time my experience and knowledge of goat husbandry was below zero, but how different could it be to looking after a horse, a dog, some chickens or a guinea pig?

Very different as it turned out.

I settled into a new reality, where I didn’t have a holiday for half a decade because it was virtually impossible to find someone as responsible, loving, and efficient as I was to look after a dozen goats for an extended period of time.

Later, a change in personal circumstances and the subsequent sale of the herd opened a new chapter of my life. Like many people I dreamed of long-term travel but the reality was, I needed an income.

Broke in Edinburgh...

Fast forward, and here I was sitting almost broke in an Edinburgh cafe wondering what on earth I could do to generate the time and money I needed to continue my travels.

I had met many people who I called real travellers. An outdoor educator leading mountain treks and kayaking tours, a non-Scottish busker playing the bagpipes, and a zoologist monitoring an otter population in the Outer Hebrides.

I wasn’t qualified to do any of that.

...but I could milk a goat!

Milking a goat might not have seemed the most impressive skill to my bagpipe playing, zoologist friends, but it opened the door to a lifestyle that allowed me to live in some of the

most beautiful places in the world, meet the most fascinating kind and inspiring people, pretty much kiss a monotonous life goodbye, fund long-term travel, and have money in the bank.

My hobby and commercial farm sitting service was fully booked within a year, the average farmer leaving me in charge for a month at a time. Sometimes longer, but rarely shorter as in my experience, it takes one week to get to know the ropes, one week to have the place shipshape for the owners return, and any time in between to really enjoy yourself.

A lucrative, niche market Unlike a previous foray into house sitting, farm sitting was virtually competition free. I barely had to market my services because a farmer being able to take a worry-free holiday was newsworthy and word spread like wildfire.

It was so popular farmers began organizing their annual holidays around my availability and somewhere in there I needed to book time for my own travels as well.

Enquiries came from all around the world, Hawaii to Vietnam, the USA to Bulgaria, and Australia to France. The majority of commercial placements, those that have the highest financial return, were in Great Britain.

For almost a decade I strutted my stuff from Land’s End to John O’Groats and everywhere in between, enjoyed a 12-month placement in the Loire Valley of France and a dream job on Norfolk Island in the Pacific.

Doing what I genuinely loved During my time as a farm sitter, I heard many people say, “I wish I could do what you are doing.” What had become my ‘normal’ was something viewed with fascination, respect and sometimes the envy of others.

I was fortunate to travel the world and earn a living doing something I genuinely loved. Most days I felt like I was living a dream. Other days, I woke up at 4 am on a blisteringly cold winter’s morning and asked myself what on earth I was doing.

However, the rewards of traveling while enjoying the comforts of home, making new and lifelong friends, visiting extraordinary places where the average tourist would never see, far outweighed any of the challenges.

If you ever doubt yourself ...

My advice is, if you ever doubt yourself or are wondering what possible skills you might have that would enable you to travel the world, for virtually free – don’t. 

If you think you are too old – don’t.



Too broke – don’t.



Too fearful – definitely don’t.

It doesn’t matter what your passion or skill-set is. There is always someone out there who needs it. You just have to find them.

To be a farm sitter you just have to do it well; everything else falls into place.

Donna has written a book all about her farm sitting adventures, which is full of lots of relevant information. You'll be surprised what you can learn about farm sitting. And you'll find lots of tips and advice that will help if you ever decide to house sit on a "hobby farm".

About Donna Mulvenna Donna left her life of farm sitting to follow her new boyfriend to the French Amazon. There she lives a life half wild, where she refuses to own a mobile phone, rarely wears shoes and is passionate about living on a whole food, plant-based diet.

If she can't be found swinging in a hammock typing away furiously at her keyboard or somewhere off the coast reading from her sea kayak, you will find her hurtling along the great Amazonian rivers in a sprint canoe.

“Farm sitting was a seemingly minor decision made in an Edinburgh Cafe. However, it paved the way for an extraordinary life and turned me into a more relaxed, adventurous and interesting person. Meeting the love of my life was a consequence of that person I became, and now I’m living in one of the most exciting, confusing, frustrating, mysterious and chaotic places in the world and have never felt happier.”

You can read all about her life in the wild in her new book "WILD ROOTS - Coming Alive in the French Amazon"

Destination China - is there a future for house sitting in China?

by Vanessa Anderson The most popular countries for house sitting have traditionally been the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Here you will find a few thousand opportunities at any one time.

Why so many?

Primarily because people from these countries love travelling and often spend extended time away from home.

House sitting extends its reach to China More recently house sitting has extended its reach across Europe and beyond. As more and more people retire to different countries around the world, we are starting to see some unusual destinations appear on house sitting platforms.

One of these is China.

Having someone look after your home isn't always only about the pets. Even without pets, it is beneficial, especially in China to have someone take care of your property. In south China the weather is humid subtropical, resulting in a battle against mould and mildew!

A well aired property can help prevent this, but you often can't leave windows open to the elements (let alone the risk of petty theft), when you leave for vacations or trips back home.

We know all about this because we spent time last year living in the modern metropolis of Shenzhen, on the Chinese mainland just across from Hong Kong.

Learning calligraphy on a night out with our students in Shenzhen

We needed to top-up our depleted travel funds, so we hot-footed it to China to take advantage of the good salaries being paid to TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualified English teachers. More on that next month!

Immersed in the bustling Chinese community of Nanshan District, we lived close to a very large expat community. They live and work throughout Shenzhen, and arrive from all over the world.

Were we house sitting?

Sadly not. But we did spend a lot of time pondering whether house sitting was likely to take-off in China. Would the locals ever embrace the idea of having strangers in their houses, and was there perhaps an opportunity among expats or teachers who had made China their temporary or permanent home?

We learned from our students that while the idea was tantalizing to many as a travel option, house sitting was unlikely to accepted by the conservative Chinese anytime soon. It is a difficult enough concept to entrust your home and possessions to strangers in China, so to allow westerners into your property is a step way too far!

And while overseas travel is booming, the large family unit means there's usually someone left at home who can keep an eye on properties and pets.

Owning pets for pleasure is still a relatively new idea too. But we did witness a growing number of Chinese middle class buying dogs out of a love of animals, and congregating in the city parks to exercise and pamper their pets. This often involves dressing them in outfits and small booties to keep their feet clean!

So what about the expat community?

Normally, locations that house large overseas communities, especially Americans and Canadians, are likely to need the services of house or pet sitters at some time throughout the year.

The more the world opens up to global travelers and workers, the more expat communities are created. This has resulted in specific areas of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and Asia already becoming more popular on the house sitting circuit.

However, the demographic in China is a little different. It consists of many ambitious young expat workers, who are generally single and often share apartments. They don't normally have pets, but if they do there is always a mate to take care of them.

But there are also a large number of expat families living in modern, high quality apartment complexes paid for by the international business who have transported them to work in the large "first tier" cities of China. These people simply don't seem to be aware yet that house sitting is an option for home or pet care.

So why aren't these families utilizing the services of home and pet sitters?  



Possibly because many of these expats are workers, not retirees, and consequently don't have pets.

We found first tier cities to be so safe that possibly they haven't considered it necessary to have their home and possessions looked after, especially in the more secure gated communities.

Perhaps it is not considered because there's a perception that it would be difficult to get a visa. In fact it is now quite easy to obtain a tourist visa for up to a month, or even much longer for Americans.

But there IS another demographic that is (very) slowly taking to the idea of using house sitters.

House sitting for teachers China is home to a huge number of international teachers who have been attracted, as we were, by the competitive salaries and low cost of living. It is said that if every qualified TEFL teacher in the world went to China, they would still need many more to fill the vacancies currently available!

This is where we have seen more opportunities for house sitting. Professional teachers with working visas and 1-3 year contracts are invariably offered a return flight home each year to see family and friends. If you are on a longer term contract you are more likely to have pets, or rescue animals that you want to give a good home to. And so house sitting suddenly becomes a viable and necessary option.

With over 200,000 officially registered expats in Shenzhen alone, and a further 200,000 estimated as unregistered, this provides a big opportunity for the growth of house sitting. And this is just one city.

The modern skyline of Shanghai

Take into account Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Wuhan and you have a huge pool of teachers that might possibly like to know about house sitting. But it will take time for word to spread.

China is a huge country, by some reckoning a little larger than the USA, and so there are huge possibilities for travel adventures. As teachers with paid vacation, house sitting could also

provide an option for a short stay in another city. In this case there would be no need to obtain a visa, which would provide more reassurance to the homeowner.

Look for a house sit in the city of Xi'an - to be close to the Terracotta Army

So it seems the opportunities are there, and I wonder if it's just not really been considered.

Perhaps it is only just taking off, in a similar way to the recent slow emergence of Airbnb and couch surfing in China.

As the Chinese travel more and more extensively, they are starting to become more aware of western options for accommodation, and are creating similar opportunities within their own culture. They may not take to house sitting, but the expat communities certainly could - if only they knew about it!

Time to spread the word!

We have found three house sitters who picked up assignments recently in China, in the cities of Shanghai, Ningbo, and Ya'an (close to Chengdu) in panda country. You can read these stories in the next article and discover some of the pros and cons of living and house sitting in this fascinating culture.

We thoroughly enjoyed our year in China. It was full of contradictions, challenges, surprises and delightful meetings with some of the friendliest and open people we've ever met.

It's not for everyone, but if you want to find out what China is really all about, not just through the media, then this could be an eye-opening experience!

House sitting adventures in China Introduction by Vanessa Anderson

We had hoped to house sit our way around China, but only found a couple of opportunities in Shanghai and Ningbo. Unfortunately these assignments didn't fit with our plans.

We did manage to pet sit a small bowl of goldfish for a week in Shenzhen. I hear you laughing, but let me tell you this is more taxing than you might imagine.

Have you ever tried replacing the water in a bowl of 20 tiny fish? Each one seemed to have the ability to jump in several different directions at once! Fortunately all were recaptured and returned to the bowl, and we handed back our charges a week later without a single loss.

Betsy and Pete Wuebker were more fortunate than us. They secured an assignment in Ningbo over the holiday period of Spring Festival.

House sitting provides great opportunities to meet like-minded people, and while in Fiji back in February, we met up with them while they house sat a little further along the coast from our beachside property. They told us about their experience.

We also have two more stories below Betsy's, from others who have also secured house sit assignments in China.

Read on to find out more from Betsy & Pete Wuebker, Kelly Hayes-Riatt, and Liz & Josh Smith.

Editors' Note: So it seems that house sitting opportunities are often found among the teaching community, which is enormous throughout many of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier cities in China. The problem is of course these teachers are generally unaware of house sitting as a home and pet care concept.

If you want to spend time house sitting in China then teachers' forums and groups may be a way to introduce the topic, and offer house sitting services.

A walk on the wild side - house sitting in Ningbo

by Betsy Wuebker

We noticed the listing for Ningbo, China on Trusted House Sitters. Having spent time in Vietnam and Laos, we were already in Bangkok, Thailand, so were kind of already "in the neighborhood".

Of course we had to organize a visa, so we followed the instructions on the Bangkok consulate website, to the letter, in terms of documentation. In addition to our personal documents, the homeowner had to provide us with a letter of invitation to visit his apartment. We also needed a copy of his apartment lease, and his identification card from the university where he is employed.

We arranged for an appointment at the visa center and it was very smooth sailing once our documents had been checked.

The representatives dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" for us, steering us toward the 10year multi-entry visa program. This has been recently established for US citizens and is a more cost effective option, at around $200 USD each.

We were house sitting for an expat couple who both teach at the university in Ningbo. They had two rescue dogs who needed to be cared for while they traveled out of the country to have their first baby back home. Mum had already returned to America and Dad was meant to follow on after we arrived. In the event he had to leave earlier so we had to orientate ourselves, which made things a little more challenging.

It was overwhelming when we arrived in Ningbo. Our contact was waiting for us, but then we had to walk briskly through a gauntlet of screaming private taxi drivers at the train station. We are not used to be "screamed" at and found it quite daunting!

One thing we noticed was that Chinese leash laws appear to be non-existent, and many of the people in our compound let their dogs run freely. Not all of the dogs were socialized well, so we had to be on guard when we ventured out to walk the dogs.

But it was easy enough. There was plenty of green space in the apartment compound. The dogs were very used to their routine, wearing their sweaters or raincoats if the weather required, and they rode the elevator up and down with us like little champs.

However, riding e-bikes in Chinese traffic was an eye-opener. The pedestrian isn't respected and there appears to be no real right-of-way laws, other than red lights at intersections. Electric bikes go everywhere, sidewalks, traffic lanes, etc.

I think there's a good chance house sitting will increase in China, particularly within the expat communities. Expats want people they can trust and they tend to trust those from their own cultural background.

In 2006, in a brutally honest assessment, Betsy and Pete acknowledged that they would both need to continue working until the day they died.

They felt trapped! A change was needed.

They sold their businesses, downsized, figured out how to make some income online, and set off on a series of amazing travel adventures.

In 2014 they took the plunge, setting off on a two year journey (maybe more!), using house sitting as their accommodation option.

Read more about Betsy and Pete at their inspiring website: PassingThru

Our second story of Chinese house sitting adventure comes from Kelly Hayes-Raitt, who also writes for us this month about the generous, sharing and caring nature of house sitting in her article: House sitting opens more than homes, it opens doors!

One-woman diplomacy in China

by Kelly Hayes-Raitt

"Are you a man needs parts" the translation on the mobile phone read. I looked at the young smiling Chinese woman and shrugged my shoulders.

Although I undoubtedly looked road-weary in the stifling humidity with my skirt clinging to me, I sure hoped this 55-year-old woman didn't look like a man needing "parts"!

The young woman reached for her phone and spoke into its corner again, this time more slowly.

"Are you a man needs parts" came back the translation. "Yes, I'm American," I grinned as she nodded enthusiastically.

House sitting in a "small" Chinese village has its moments. Although this town, Ya'an, two hours from Chengdu in panda country, has 1.5 million people, very little English is spoken and in the two weeks I house sat for BunBun, a lionhead lop bunny, the only non-Asian people I saw were the expat teachers I was sitting for.

I had to get used to being a one-woman diplomat, as I was frequently and openly stared at. My smile was quickly met with vigorous smiles, head nods and thumbs up, however, so I really felt more like a celebrity!

Some considerations for sitting in China:  

    

Can you handle the isolation that comes with being the foreigner?

Will you be able to connect to the internet through a VPN? Many sites - including Google and Facebook - are banned in China. (I was house sitting behind the "cultural curtain"). If your home owners are expats, chances are they can hook you into their account, as mine did. But best to ask ahead of time.

Be prepared: Chinese beds are hard, hard, hard!

Many old Chinese apartments are ridden with mould. I'm only moderately sensitive, but I was sick during my entire sit.

Be sure to ask which banks take foreign ATM cards.

Be prepared for creative jerry-rigging. The clothes washer, for example, drained into the bathroom - allowing me to wash both my clothes and the bathroom floor simultaneously!

While I may not be a man needing parts, I sure felt completely welcomed by "my" Chinese community, proving, once again, how house sitting opens the most unexpected doors.

When not searching for a literary agent, Kelly Hayes-Raitt finishes her book about refugees while house sitting in some of the world's most troubled places.

She blogs at LivingLargeInLimbo and invites readers to sign up on her web site to follow her ramblings - both geographic and literary. If you mosey on over to her website you can sign up for an mp3 of her reading the first chapter of her book about a beggar in Iraq!

Her newspaper column can be read at ArgonautNews.com

For our third story about house sitting in China we talked to Liz and Josh Smith at "Peanuts or Pretzels", about their time house sitting in Shanghai.

Like us they have also spent time teaching in China and have had some amazing experiences.

We'll be talking to them more about this over the coming months.

Shanghai surprises An interview with Liz and Josh Smith

How did you find your house sit in China?

We found our house sit in China on the Trusted House Sitters website. It's the number one place that we go to find house sits, and we love that we get notifications each day of new sits.

In fact, we had just finished our teaching contract in Guangzhou, China and were on a break traveling through Laos before returning to travel in China when we saw the house-sit posting.

We knew we'd be going back to China soon, and the house-sit looked amazing, so we had to jump right on it!

Were the home owners Chinese or westerners?

The people we were sitting for were from the USA, actually not far from where Liz grew up.

They were renting the apartment and were actually teaching English in Shanghai for some time.

They were on their summer break and wanted to return home to visit family, but needed someone to look after their pets in China (a dog and a cat).

What type of property, pets, living environment The primary reason they needed a house-sitter was actually to look after their dog and cat.

After being on the road as digital nomads for quite some time, we miss having pets to snuggle up with and give some love. So we were very happy to take care of their animals while they were away. And as if that wasn't enough, their property was actually a beautiful loft apartment in the popular French Concession district of Shanghai!

This was our first time in Shanghai, and we felt so lucky to be in a prime location in the city, close to all the action, and surrounded by amazing restaurants and entertainment (both Western and Chinese). We were spoiled really. And we thoroughly enjoyed our days walking the dog and living expat life in Shanghai!

What particular challenge did you encounter that would be seen as different from those of western properties/pets?

We didn't really encounter any major challenges. The French Concession and Shanghai is fairly westernized, and the apartment we were in was renovated and quite modern. I think the only minor one is that many Chinese people don't pick up after their dogs, or use leashes. But we always made sure to put the dog on a leash and pick up after her, which got us a few stares from locals. And you do have to be careful of cars and motorbikes on the sidewalk...that's always an issue in China!

What is your most memorable experience from your time in China?

Oh, we have SO many great memories from China. After living, teaching, traveling and housesitting there for over 18 months - we could never choose just one. But overall, what we will take with us the most are our friendships and personal connections that we made. We feel like we have family in China now, between our students (adults), our co-workers, and friends. It was a wonderful experience and we still talk with them to this day. We are looking forward to visiting them in the future, and even having some of them come and visit us in the States.

With everything going on in the world, and the misunderstandings of different cultures and countries, we think it's more important than ever to make these personal connections - and facilitate a real cultural exchange that can have a positive impact on the world as a whole.

Did you find it easy to mix and talk with locals?

Yes and no. During our house sit in Shanghai, there were many people who spoke some English and there are many westerners in Shanghai too. But even if they don't speak English, there are so many translation apps out there to help you, and during our 15 months living and teaching English in Guangzhou, China, we actually picked up enough Chinese to get through the basics with people. We were spoiled having our house-sit in the French Concession though, because there are so many western restaurants, shops, and other expats around. It almost doesn't feel like China.

During our time living and teaching in Guangzhou, China we also had an easy time interacting with people and making friends. Many locals in our neighborhood wanted to talk with us, even if they only knew a few English words. But through technology apps, broken Chinese / broken English, and body language, we managed well. Plus, we became very close friends with our coworkers and often interacted with our adult students outside of school. We also had a great group of fellow foreign teachers in our area who became quite close too. So there was never a dull moment in China!

Any cultural differences that make house / pet sitting more difficult?

If it was a Chinese family that we were sitting for, then we imagine there could be some cultural differences. However, everyone loves their animals and their homes just the same. So overall, we don't think the differences would be too big.

We were so fortunate to house-sit for a great couple who we ended up getting along with quite well. We hit it off immediately, and would talk a lot during the sit to give them updates and send photos of the animals. When they returned home, we all had dinner together and talked a lot about staying in contact in the future (we already stay in contact on Facebook).

They even said that they are planning to be away again next summer, and offered us the chance to sit again for them. We will surely be up for this, because we miss those animals SO much! They were wonderful and it was very hard to leave them. They told us that the animals were very sad after we left, and the dog was even sitting at the door waiting for us to return. So we hope to see them again one day!

Josh and Liz are married "travel nuts" and entrepreneurs who are always up for laughter and a good adventure. As digital nomads, they combine their passion for the travel industry with their digital marketing expertise to help people plan their trips. They also help businesses succeed in the digital and social marketing world.

You can read more about their travels and adventures at their website: Peanuts or Pretzels

Storytellers share On the TrustedHousesitters blog there is a regular feature by Charli Moore, called Storyteller's Share.

We were excited to be featured in this month's series about "How house sitting gave me the freedom to travel".

Vanessa talks about how teaching English in China led us to teaching English online, and how this, coupled with house sitting, has given us the freedom we have longed for.

Here's our story followed by another from Thrifty Nomads, where Jen and Ted talk about how they also sold all their possessions to live as nomads*.

There are three other stories - all are inspiring. You can read them all on the original version of this article at the TrustedHousesitters blog (link at the bottom of this feature).

Our three-year journey to freedom began on a small Caribbean island off the coast of Panama. I met Ian briefly in London before he returned to his small island home in Bocas del Toro. A subsequent invite resulted in a visit, and a two week holiday evolved into a new way of life that provided the freedom I'd been looking for all my life.

As we explored how our life might take shape, we realised we didn't want to return to corporate life or the trap of the 9-5 work routine. We knew we wanted to travel and explore new cultures, but we also needed to find ways to support our unfolding life together.

Our first decision was to free ourselves of all property ties. We'd previously used house sitters in Panama, but this didn't provide the complete freedom we longed for. My house sold first, and while Ian awaited completion on his, we went road tripping in an old RV, exploring the southern states of the US. We also house sat in the wonderful city of Austin, TX where we stayed for a couple of months.

However, at the end of six months, funds were running low. We had tried all sorts of online businesses to support ourselves - building websites, publishing e-books, paid blogging, etc., but none had provided a consistent income.

House sitting was put on hold and we headed to China to become English teachers. This provided the best solution for continuing our travels and earning money at the same time.

China was such an eye-opener and we loved living and working in Shenzhen.

A year later, with our travel funds replenished and an offer of on-going English teaching online, we were able to formulate our ideal long-term lifestyle. Since leaving Asia, we've house sat almost continuously in Australia, Fiji, the UK and Mexico, working as online teachers in each location. In between we've travelled to India and Abu Dhabi and are planning a long trip to Cuba. We have no property or debts, have minimal possessions, and are completely free to house sit, travel and live wherever we wish.

Tomorrow we catch a flight from Mexico to Panama, where we'll be house sitting for one of our previous neighbours, returning full circle to the beautiful archipelago where our journey together began. Three years on we have achieved the freedom we longed for.

House sitting full time keeps our accommodation costs low enough that our part time English teaching pays for our flights, travel adventures, and day-to-day living costs. It has also given us time to fulfill a desire to create a FREE monthly online magazine to support the community that has helped us achieve our dream. We now have the time to publish House Sitting - The ultimate lifestyle magazine, through which we hope to inspire others to follow their own dreams of freedom.

Click here to visit the TrustedHouseSitters blog page to read all of this month's Storytellers Share stories *reproduced with permission

In 2013 we sold all of our possessions to travel the world and then live in Australia for one year.

Since that time, we’ve left Australia and have been living nomadically for 2+ years.

This last year of travel we particularly owe to house sitting. For us 2016 has mostly involved exploring Australia and Canada via sits, although it was our first sit in Munich, Germany last year where we became hooked on the concept. We’ve had plenty of adventures caring for people’s homes and animals around the world (chasing escaped cats in the wee hours of the night being one of the not so fun ones!).

The people you meet housesitting are so warm, trusting, and open. It seems harder and harder to find people these days who are open-minded enough to consider inviting someone they've only recently come to know to step into their shoes for a while, but with each sit we’re reminded of how incredibly awesome it is that such people still exist! Our housesitting experiences have given us not only the chance to meet unique people, but unique pets too (including worm farms and chickens!).

Given that we can’t yet have pets ourselves, housesitting has temporarily scratched that itch.

The opportunity to explore pricey parts of the globe – Germany, Australia, and Canada, with free accommodation has also been incredible and will be hard to give up whenever we finally do “settle”!

Follow Jen & Ted's house sitting adventures via their blog Thrifty Nomads

Money Matters - Part 1 of 3

Getting more bang for your buck!

by Ian Usher

Let me ask you a simple question...

Would you rather earn $25 an hour, or $10 an hour?

A simple enough question. I feel reasonably confident in assuming that most of you have answered "$25 please."

Now, let me add a little more context to the same question.

Would you rather earn $25 per hour in a city where a taxi ride across town costs $25 and a meal out for two costs $50, or would you rather earn $10 per hour in a city where a taxi ride across town costs $2 and a meal for two will set you back about $10.

Hmm. There's a bit more to think about now.

Instead of simply looking at the bottom line in terms of numbers of dollars, perhaps it's more beneficial to assess what an hour of work will actually pay for.

When viewed this way, the $10 per hour scenario looks more attractive. For one hour of work you can pay for five taxi rides, or a meal for two. However, in the $25 city your hour of work will only cover one taxi ride, or half of your meal out.

Now I'm sure some of you are a little ahead of me here, aren't you?

How about earning $25 per hour, but living in the city where a taxi ride costs two bucks, and your meal out costs just ten dollars?

Now your hour of work will pay for a taxi ride into town, a meal for two, a few extra drinks, a taxi back home at the end of the night, and you'll still have some change left over.

Surely though this isn't possible?

Actually, it is!

Designing your life Modern technology offers some amazing options to design your life in ways that weren't possible a mere twenty years ago. You're no longer tied to a physical location to make your income. Working online offers a wealth of possibilities.

Many companies now allow, often even encourage, remote working. For most people this simply means staying at home for the working day, instead of suffering the daily commute.

However, what is to stop you signing in from a much more remote location? You could be logging on to the company's servers from Chiang Mai in Thailand, Lima in Peru, or Bocas del Toro in Panama. There really is a world of endless choice on offer.

Alternatively, you can carve out your own little part of the online business environment. Maybe you can offer tax advice or financial services to a select group of customers. Perhaps you are a wizard at website design.

Maybe you are fluent in a second language and could offer your services as a translator. Could you enjoy sourcing unique local products and selling them to a worldwide audience?

Many people now make money writing. You could blog for popular websites, offer information, advice or even online training on a wide variety of topics.

Making choices - teaching English Our personal version of location independence is based on a choice we made a couple of years ago. After a period of extended travel in the USA in an RV we found our travel funds severely depleted. We had to find a way to make money so that we could continue our travels. After some research we decided to live in China for a while, where we could work as English language teachers.

With a small investment of time and money we gained our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificates, and a month later had jobs working on a casual basis for a language school in Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong.

Our year in China was a wonderful experience, and we were paid well. Our living costs were low and it was easy to save money. But the opportunity we were eventually offered provided the final piece of our personal freedom jigsaw puzzle.

The company we worked for had recently started an online school, in addition to the bricks and mortar centres in which we had worked. Would we like to teach online, our employers wondered? We hadn’t ever considered this as an option - but quickly transitioned, realising that this would facilitate our freedom lifestyle while we continued to travel the world!

We've now been working as online teachers for a full year. During this period we have spent time in China, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Fiji, India, England, Mexico and Panama. We've taught lessons from each place (apart from India and Abu Dhabi, which were short stopover holidays), and now have the security of a decent income, no matter where we are.

Our income is based on Chinese wages paid to native speaking English teachers, who are highly respected and valued. But our expenses are based on costs in countries where prices are much lower.

Most recently, in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, we could pay for a week's worth of fruit and veg at the local market with the equivalent of an hour's work.

A beautiful stone-oven pizza and a couple of margaritas in a trendy downtown restaurant also cost no more than one hour of our income. Or we could pay for at least six taxi rides with the same hour of online pay.

As house sitters, our accommodation costs are practically zero and our location choices result in very low expenses. And we don't have to work full-time - we usually average around 10 hours of teaching each week, plus our house sitting duties.

Time freedom creates opportunities We consider ourselves as semi-retired.

This time-freedom we have created allows us to pursue other interests and passions. When we were offered the opportunity to take over this "House Sitting Magazine" it was like a dreamcome-true for Vanessa, who has always wanted to work in publishing. We couldn't possibly have taken on a project like this if we were both working 9-to-5 to service a huge mortgage.

Quite possibly we wouldn't have had the creative spirit either!

Could you structure your life with more freedom?

One of the first tricks in being able to do so is NOT to think in absolute dollar terms per hour worked, but more in terms of what an hour of work can buy you in other locations!

We'll delve into the mathematics of freedom in a little more detail next month.

If you have a story to share about your freedom income, we'd love to hear about it, and may be able to feature it in a future issue of the magazine.

Mobsters are minimalists!

Part 2 of "How to sell all your stuff" by Al McCullough

Have you ever seen the movie Goodfellas?

There’s a line from Henry Hill (Ray Liotta’s character) as to why he doesn’t get caught ... because he’s got things organized!

Well guess what amigos, you too can be just like a mobster and live the life you always wanted … by being organized!

Okay, you won’t be eating steak and lobster and drinking champagne every night. But on the flip side you shouldn’t have to worry about sleeping with the fishes either.

Last issue I wrote about how simple it is to get started on downsizing, de-cluttering, and getting rid of stuff. And it doesn’t matter if you’re moving, traveling, or just want less stuff.

Cleaning out your closets is an ideal first step The next step is to go through your cabinets, drawers, and any other place you store “stuff”, because those places have hidden treasures of pirate-like proportions!

When it comes to cabinets and drawers, gut them.

Totally. Empty. Them.

Maybe you’ll be like my family and find six carving sets. You only need one, so that’s five carving sets you could be able to sell (in my family it's carving sets, your family could be spatulas, I won’t judge).

By emptying cabinets and drawers it allows you to see what you have.

Then you can assess what you need Not what you WANT. What you NEED. Repeat that.

Not what you WANT. What you NEED. Remember last issue when I said decluttering is a repetitive process? Well I hate to say I told you so.

And here’s another important thing to remember - remove any emotional ties to your stuff.

Are you emotionally attached to your stuff?

I have a relative that keeps a broken wine opener because it belonged to her father (who is no longer with us). The memory of her father isn’t in the wine opener. The wine opener is a trigger.

So, here’s a tip when it comes to stuff like that. Take a picture of it and store it in the cloud – be it your OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud, where it will live on forever!

Time to get organized You’ve cleared your cabinets and put back only what you NEED. You’ve dumped your drawers and put back only what you NEED. What you're left with is a pile of stuff.

What now?

Time to weigh your options. You can:   

Sell all your stuff Donate your stuff Trash your stuff

Take your pile of stuff and figure out what is past its prime. Got a broken wine opener?

Probably best to trash it. Extra carving sets? You can probably try selling them first, and if they don’t sell, donate them.

You can do the same with almost all your stuff, in that order too.

Now you should have at least two piles of stuff:  

Stuff to sell or donate Stuff to trash

Look at that, you’re organized!

Okay, so what do you do with that stuff you’re going to sell? You need to know a couple of things first;  

What is it worth?

Where’s the best place to sell it?

It's funny how numbered bullet points work - number 2 above can help with number 1.

Actually, those are both interchangeable, so number 1 can help with number 2. Okay, I confess, the order doesn’t matter, you just need to know where’s the best place to sell stuff and how much it's worth.

Being the helpful person I am, I’m going to guide you through the numerous places you can sell all your stuff… ... next time in House Sitting Magazine.

We are Shelly and Al McCullough and back in 2014 we made a huge change in our life. We sold all our stuff, quit the cubicle, and moved from Canada to Panama.

We were never the type to accumulate a lot of stuff, and we often had yard sales just to purge stuff we no longer used and/or wanted. Every spring and fall we would go through our closets and figure out what stuff we didn’t wear so we could donate it and get rid of stuff.

Prior to our move, we sold EVERYTHING. And after a year of living abroad an opportunity presented itself for us to travel. So we sold everything ... AGAIN! And all that stuff brought us here. SellAllYourStuff was created to help others that want to lead a minimalist lifestyle.

You can also read more in Al's books - available on Amazon here:

House sitting opens more than homes, it opens doors!

by Kelly Hayes-Raitt

In my eight years of full-time house sitting, among my favorite "sits" were the ones that didn't ever happen!

Several years ago, I responded to a TrustedHousesitter post in Lebanon. Since I am writing a book about my experiences in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank with war refugees, I hungrily applied with a long note about my travels and book.

That started a lovely exchange with Judy, who lives in the hills of Shemlan overlooking Beirut.

When she changed her travel dates and I couldn't take the sit, we stayed in touch.

Generosity that extends beyond hospitality In 2013, when I based myself in Beirut for the summer in an attempt to return to Baghdad, Judy invited me to spend a long weekend at her hillside home to escape Beirut's scorching heat.

Her generosity went beyond her hospitality. She and her husband helped translate tricky conversations with my contacts in Baghdad about the recent uptick in violence, and whether I should go through with my plans to revisit Iraq.

When my contacts admitted they were afraid to be seen with an American, I cancelled.

Stuck in Beirut, I stayed with Judy and David as they nursed me through a week of intense intestinal infection – fever, chills, vomiting, listlessness. It was horrible.

And they helped me through it.

Ironically, the day I was supposed to fly from Beirut to Baghdad, the worst bomb since the end of Lebanon's civil war was detonated in Beirut's outskirts. From her hillside terrace, Judy and I watched the smoke bruise the sunset.

What happened after Katrina?

The last section of my book is about evacuees of Hurricane Katrina and the disastrous flooding that followed when New Orleans' levees broke.

I spent a couple of weeks helping clean America's poorest neighborhood that was devastated by the storm. I was surprised to hear exactly the same words from Katrina evacuees as I'd heard from Iraqi refugees: "My family is scattered."

"Our history is lost."

"Our lives are in limbo."

I'd hoped to return to New Orleans to see how the devastated Ninth Ward neighborhood was faring 10 years after the hurricane.

While brainstorming plans, a house sitting assignment in New Orleans came through on TrustedHousesitters' daily email. I responded, explaining my work and my hope to update my research.

Melanie wrote back, "The posting was a mistake. But my husband and I are so moved by your writing, we'd like to host you for a week."

I spent an extraordinary week with Melanie Clary, Chris Brown, their 2 dogs and 2 cats. House sitters themselves, we had a lot in common. They told me about their post-Katrina volunteer work in a local animal shelter trying to reunite pets with their owners.

I had a chance to revisit the areas I'd helped clean years before and update interviews with people I'd met. Melanie even lined up two speaking engagements for me!

I also write a column for a weekly newspaper in Los Angeles. While house sitting, I've interviewed women leaders in Malaysia about the changing definitions of rape, Boy Scouts at Hiroshima's Peace Park about the 70th commemoration of the atomic bombing, newly arrived Syria refugees in Berlin, and children born with birth defects likely caused by Agent Orange who live in Hanoi.

Read one of Kelly's touching "Living Large in Limbo" articles at this link.

I'm humbled by and grateful for the unexpected opportunities house sitting has given me.

House sitting has not only opened homes, but opened doors!

When not searching for a literary agent, Kelly Hayes-Raitt finishes her book about refugees while house sitting in some of the world's most troubled places.

She blogs at LivingLargeInLimbo and invites readers to sign up on her web site to follow her ramblings -- both geographic and literary. If you mosey on over to her website you can sign up for an mp3 of her reading the first chapter of her book about a beggar in Iraq!

Her newspaper column can be read at ArgonautNews.com

Pancetta and leek crustless mini-quiches

by Jen Evans

For this month's recipe I decided to go with something that could be left for your hosts to enjoy for a few days after you said your goodbyes.

A little tidbit that they would snack on while having fond thoughts about their amazing house sitters and the glowing review they would be leaving for you.

And this recipe is just the thing. Plus, it couldn't be easier to make. The most important ingredients are the base. You can change the cheese and use different fillings as long as you stick to the proportions.

Ingredients (12 Quiches)      

150 g (5 oz) diced Pancetta (or 5 strips of bacon diced) 200g (2 cups) Leeks, (white and light green part only) 7 eggs 295 ml (1 ¼ Cup) Heavy or Thick Cream, or "Half & Half" 200 g (2 cups) grated Swiss Cheese Dash hot sauce (optional)

Method         

Crisp the Pancetta in a skillet over medium heat. Set aside Add the leeks to the pan, and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until they are lightly brown and caramelized. Set aside and allow to cool.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until the yolks and whites are fully combined.

Then stir in the cream and most of the cheese (reserve some to sprinkle on top) Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

Ladle the egg mixture into the tin and fill each one until it is near full. The quiches will expand slightly with cooking.

Sprinkle each with cheese.

Add to a 350 degree (176 C) preheated oven and bake until the top is golden brown (about 30 minutes).

Allow to cool before removing from the tins.

Probably the best job ever?

by Ian Usher

Our friend Kris (http://ShortChick.com) just sent us a link to this awesome freedom lifestyle job currently on offer.

Check out what RatRaceRebellion.com have to say about this job opportunity:

This is a work from home job where the “world” is your home!

Memobottle is a young and growing Australian company that wants to eliminate the millions of water bottles that end up in landfills, byways, and oceans.

So they invented the memobottle — a durable, reusable bottle that’s easy to carry due to its flat shape. (You can see them here)

To spread the word about memobottles, the company is hiring someone - from anywhere - to roam the planet with a furnished laptop. “Bring your passport. The world is your office,” the company says.

Pay The job pays $50,000-$110,000 Australian dollars (USD $38,215 – $84,073 at current exchange rates)

What You’ll Be Doing “We’d love you to help create compelling social media posts along your travels and help document the many landscapes, cityscapes and cultures of our amazing planet. You’ll be tasked with helping us grow our brand globally by expanding and nurturing our retailer network.”

(Don’t worry, you won’t be starting cold. Memobottles are already sold in stores internationally and on Amazon) Here is a video about the job from MemoBottle.com:

APPLY FOR THE JOB HERE Applications close 30th September 2016

It's all change at House Sitting World Many of you know House Sitting World as the popular Facebook Group that has grown to include over 13,500 members in just a few short years. Originated by Nat & Jodie of House Sitting Academy, it has recently been taken over by Tim and Louise.

As self proclaimed "nomadic grandparents", they also have an entrepreneurial spirit that has led them to embark on a fantastic new web based project.

The result?

They recently launched a new version of the House Sitting World website, offering a variety of services to help and support the growing house sitting community.

One new feature - Sit Alert - provides an aggregate of house sitting listings from a number of platforms. But... this is only one of many new and unique offerings.

We caught up with Louise Read to find out more about the couple's ideas and inspirations, as well as their future plans for House Sitting World.

As the new faces at House Sitting World, could you tell us a little about yourselves?

As you mentioned, we are "nomadic grandparents", with 7 grandchildren! We're a semi-retired, professional Canadian couple who simply walked, or were pushed away from the demands of our respective industries.

Tim worked in the energy industry for 20 years and I (Louise), spent 10 years in the video game industry before returning to executive management.

We have a long history of home ownership, love working on property, caring for gardens, landscaping and smaller maintenance tasks. Additionally, we love handling large dog breeds.

House sitting has allowed us to combine our experience with our desire to travel.

How did you first get involved with house sitting?

We were presented with an opportunity in early 2015 when the energy industry took a nose dive.

Tim, along with hundreds of thousands of other professionals, was bought out or released from employment. We saw this as a chance to do some of the things we'd been discussing for several years.

Given our background with home and pet ownership, and our desire to travel and learn, we looked into house sitting and its advantages. How much money could we save on accommodation if we exchanged our services for lodging? Well, it turned out to be a lot. To date, house sitting has saved us over $15,000 in accommodation!

We house sit for 3-5 weeks and then take an adventure trip somewhere. Our house sitting gigs reduce the cost of traveling and we use the savings to pay for our extra special adventures.

House sitting has brought us into contact with a variety of cultures, and introduced us to new food, music and people. Through it all, we've become better people simply by having to be more flexible and more accepting of new or opposing cultural ideals.

What has been your most memorable experience so far?

You mean other than staying married whilst getting a website developed, and administering the Facebook page?

Well, it would have to be the 5 geriatric Labradors, all over 100lbs each, in the countryside of Wales, UK. Two of them were escape artists, and looking for them by torch-light, with bulls and sheep in the neighbouring fields was a bit of a challenge. We worked hard on this house sit, but, the payback was we are now great friends with the owners and have been asked back a number of times for repeat sits.

How did you become involved with House Sitting World, and ultimately take over both the website and the Facebook group?

Nat and Jodie the founders of The House Sitting Academy, and House Sitting World, had spent time with us in 2015 talking about roaming incomes.

They were privy to our Sit Alert plan and some other features we had begun working on. In 2016, they approached us with a proposition to take over HouseSittingWorld.com because they thought our ideas were a great fit for the site.

You mention on the website that "House Sitting World exists to make the life of a house sitter easier to manage". Can you tell us more about how you will achieve this?

Let's begin by making it clear that House Sitting World is NOT another platform.

There are lots of platforms in existence and one more isn't going to make life easier for sitters.

House Sitting World is a service that provides information to house sitters and home owners about the house sitting lifestyle and community.

Our long term mission is to help the house sitting community - platforms, sitters and home owners - develop and maintain high standards that make house sitting a great experience for everyone involved.

We want our members to find sits quickly, plan their travel needs easily, and learn where to go for the best possible information about house sitting.

The Sit Alert is one feature that we felt could really impact a house sitter's time, giving them the ability to find sits quickly.

Yes, Sit Alert already appears to be a popular new addition to the website. Please explain for our readers how this works for both the house sitter and the home owner.

The Sit Alert creates a win-win situation for both the sitters and the owners, and it's a win for the platforms too.

House sitters can find emergency, or last minute house sits to fill any gaps they might have, and home owners can access a greater number of sitters than simply being on one platform.

The idea was to minimize the stress of finding a sitter or a last minute gig - the Sit Alert feature was the result.

The owners at this time have very little involvement. If they have a listing on one of our partner sites, their profile will display automatically in the Sit Alert.

From the platform perspective, the house sit is seen by more than just their own membership, which can lead to a new member applying for, and securing the sit. It's a great way of getting the message out to the general house sitting population.

A really important point is the agreement of the house sitting platforms to participate. This service only works with mutual understanding and co-operation between the platforms and ourselves.

For the sitter, it's all about maximizing time and minimizing effort. Sitters need to regularly search for new listings because homeowners usually select their sitter from the first 15 applicants. Sit Alert pulls in a variety of listings and one of the categories is “just posted”. Quick action on a sitter's part will increase the likelihood of securing an assignment.

You may spend hours each week reading through listings. Now you can take a quick glance at the Sit Alert and find the one or two sits that meet your essential needs and wants. We think sitters who use this service regularly will reduce their search time by 80%.

Just think what you could do with all that extra time!

One of the greatest benefits is for new house sitters. The first sits are the most difficult to secure. Because Sit Alert highlights emergency opportunities, new sitters have access to a market that really needs their services.

Think about it for a minute, the owners need a sitter and the new sitter needs the sit. It's a great way to jump start your house sitting travels!

This is such a good time-saving idea, providing an easy way for sitters to access a central listing service across multiple platforms. Whose genius idea was it?

We were house sitting in a small village in England and I was doing my daily search for house sits to make our early applications. By the evening I was pretty frustrated with the whole process and questioned out loud, "why isn't there a central listing service for house sitters?"

Tim immediately thought I might be on to something. It's not often one stumbles across a great idea that actually helps everyone - the sitters, home owners and platforms. In the end as the idea developed, it was more of a collective resolution.

It's obviously an evolving project, so which platforms have you partnered with so far?

Right now we are in partnership with Nomador and House Carers. There is another platform working toward the integration necessary to show their listings, and we continue to chat with other platforms. We'd like to have most of the platforms using Sit Alert.

Will they? Who knows but we're not going to stop asking!

What does it cost to subscribe to the Sit Alert service?

While we are still developing this system, it's free. Eventually, we see it pricing out at around 12 cents per day.

When the charge comes into play, you will still have a 30 day free trial - will this allow a person who trials the service to have access to all of the facilities available?

Yes. And remember, the Sit Alert is only the first of our features. We have more in development!

And please test drive it. We would love your readers to let us know what they like, what they would like to see and how they can collaborate to help the site develop into a great resource hub for the community.

The "Graffiti Wall" sounds interesting?

We hope this will become a story sharing place. You might want to tell people about a great experience or a special moment. Let's face it, there are a lot of great stories that arise from house sitting. We hope people will share photos, stories, v-logs and blogs about their travels.

It's intended to be driven by the community rather than by us.

As the nomadic workforce grows, more and more people are offering their services, products and income ideas. We love your new "market place". Can you explain your vision for this?

This is a great question. The full time house sitting lifestyle is fantastic, but economically the money is all going out with nothing coming in. Eventually, a house sitter has to generate an income. The problem is where, and how do sitters advertise their products and services?

We thought it would be cool to add a marketplace where house sitters can promote their services or products to the community at large. Importantly, there won't be any charge associated with this service, beyond the cost of subscription to House Sitting World's services.

You've spent quite a lot of time house sitting and travelling in Europe. Can you give our readers three great destination tips? 

 

Bruges, Belgium is amazing, right out of a fairy tale and should not be missed. The food is over-priced so eat outside of the old town square. Time your visit right to also take in a phenomenal and free music festival in Ghent at the same time.

Florence, Italy has, without doubt, the best Gelato on the planet. A great afternoon is to sample every Gelato store you come across!

Never order off the menu in Crete. Ask them what's for dinner or, take a visit to the kitchen and see what they've got. Either way, leave it up to the staff and your meal will be excellent.

HouseSittingWorld provides a perfect remote income opportunity for you - does this mean that there's more house sitting and travel on the agenda?

Does it? Maybe in the future it will be a source of income - but right now, not so much.

However, we're encouraged by the feedback and with a few adjustments maybe it becomes something more.

We hope to continue our house sitting explorations by October and hopefully next year there is enough revenue from House Sitting World to afford us a couple of meals while we travel, make new friends, meet with old ones, and create new memories!

Last month we looked after six lovely cats in a very nice house in the picturesque Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende. One of the main features of the city is the beautiful Gaudi-inspired Parroquia. We took many pictures. A couple of our favourites are included above.

You can find out more about the beautiful and inspiring city of San Miguel in this Huffington Post article: 10 Reasons Why People Fall in Love With San Miguel de Allende This month's gallery features spectacular churches, cathedrals and temples from house sitters and travellers all over the world. We received some pix with details and captions, some without. We've created the gallery without captions, purely as visual inspiration.

If you would like to submit pictures for possible inclusion in coming months - any type of animal, or anything related to house sitting - please email them to us at: gallery@HouseSittingMagazine.com Many thanks to all contributors to this month's gallery: Amy & Tim Diana & Jeremy (http://wantingtowander.com) Gail & Randy (https://branded.me/gail-randy-harrison) Maria & Mark (http://catmadsitters.com) Jill & Gav (http://jillgavhousesitters.com) Dianne & John (http://20yrsfromnow.com) Louise & Tim (http://housesittingworld.com) Vanessa & Ian (http://longtermhousesitters.com)

How to save money on flights with SkipLagged's unusual technique Each month, in this section, we introduce you to a handy resource. Some you may already know, others will be useful additions to help you on your journey.

In this issue we're going to take a quick look at a fantastic flight search tool which can offer extra options that you won't find on the regular search websites like Expedia, Kayak and Skyscanner.

I (Ian) first came across this concept in 2011, almost by accident, and the term the airline used at the time was "short checking".

My friend wanted to fly from Whitehorse in Canada to Denver, Colorado. The quotes he was getting were around $500. He thought he might get a cheaper flight to Las Vegas, visit a friend, then get a cheap short-hop home from there. The flight from Whitehorse to Las Vegas came up at just over $300.

The amazing thing was that the route stopped off in Denver on the way, before a final flight to Las Vegas from there. Even more amazing, it was on the same flights - same airline, same flight numbers, same times - as the $500 quote to fly to Denver.

Why not book the flight to Las Vegas, and simply get off at Denver?

This would save almost $200. We couldn't quite believe this was possible.

This is exactly what my friend did. He asked the airline before booking, and was told he would need to "short check" his luggage to make sure it came off the flight at Denver.

These fares, now referred to as "hidden city fares", are quite common. Website www.skiplagged.com can help you find them.

This short video explains how SkipLagged works:

Obviously airlines aren't too keen on customers doing this, as they lose out on income. On most "hidden city" flights you can only take hand luggage, as most airlines won't let you "shortcheck" your hold baggage.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the website in action. I searched for a flight from Cancun in Mexico, to LA. Here is what I found:

From Cancun, United flights to LA transit through Houston, Texas (IAH). Towards the bottom of the page you can see the price for Cancun to Houston, Houston to LA is $208. Departure is 7.56am, arrival in LA 10.56am - total trip time 7 hours.

However, there is a better deal available. If you book your flight to Sacramento instead of LA your ticket will only cost $161. You'll be on the same flight from Cancun to LA via Houston. In LA just get off without returning for the Sacramento flight, and you've just saved yourself $47 with a quick search.

There are a few considerations when doing this, which SkipLagged.com outlines as follows:

The story behind SkipLagged is interesting. The website was built by computer wizz kid Aktarer Zaman in his early 20s. He incurred the wrath of both United and Orbitz, resulting in a huge court case in 2014/2015.

It was a real David vs Goliath battle, but in the end Orbitz backed down and a judge threw the United case out of court. SkipLagged won to continue offering cheaper "hidden city" fares.

Great work Aktarer!

Read more about the court case here: How a 23-year-old beat United Airlines

Many thanks to Jack Janssen, co-author of "Another Cocktail Please", for bringing SkipLagged to our attention.

We'll tell you about another great resource next month.

In the meantime, for links to house sitting platforms, comparison articles, books, websites, downloadable forms, and lots of other useful house sitting resources, take a look at our "Resources" page on the House Sitting Magazine website.

We've come to the end of the main magazine, but WAIT - there is still more to come.

Carry on reading our house sitting platform special SUPPLEMENT. Find out more about Nomador.

What you can expect in Issue 4 Issue 4 is packed full of valuable information for house sitters, travellers, expats and digital nomads.

We feature the third of our House Sitting platform supplements, with an in-depth look at HouseCarers.

Next month's gallery is a free-for-all - anything goes. Please send your pix to gallery@HouseSittingMagazine.com - we will put a link to your profile or website too!

You can find previous issues of the magazine on our bookshelf here: http://issues.HouseSittingMagazine.com Or go to HouseSittingMagazine.com and download our app for either Apple or Android devices.

If you've a story to tell, please get in touch, but until next month, when we will be publishing Issue 4 from Nicaragua, we wish you happy travels wherever you are in the world!

Vanessa and Ian (currently completing a house sit in Bocas del Toro, Panama, then moving on this week to Granada in Panama, where we are looking forward to catching up with some house sitting friends)

The small print Reproduction - Reproduction in whole or part without written permission of the publishers is prohibited.

Disclaimer - Information provided in this publication is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only.

It should not be used as travel, lifestyle, financial or legal advice. You should always consult with your qualified and licensed professional practitioner. The publisher accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions, advice, representations or information contained within this publication. The publisher expressly disclaims responsibility for any adverse effect that may result from the use and application of the information contained in this magazine. Readers should rely on their own advice and enquiries when making decisions affecting their interests.

Publishers - The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers. House Sitting The ultimate lifestyle magazine is published by Ian Usher and Vanessa Anderson. Email: contact@HouseSittingMagazine.com. The publishers assume no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Copyright 2016 by Ian Usher. All rights reserved.

Affiliate disclaimer - Our website and apps do contain links to affiliates via advertisements and these are financial relationships. If you choose to apply for any service or product through an affiliate link we may be compensated by way of a small commission. This should never negatively affect the price that you pay for the product or service.

House Sitting Magazine offers a FREE subscription service, and we use affiliate sales to ensure that our subscriptions remains free. They help us to fund the production of this magazine to the house sitting community.

We will always try to link only to information we have tried or used ourselves, and that we think you will find beneficial and good value. It is your choice, as with any advertisement, whether to obtain further information or make a purchase..

Discovering Nomador Vanessa interviews Mariannig Ferrari, founder of Nomador This month we had the absolute pleasure to talk more with Mariannig Ferrari, who has put her heart and soul into developing a house sitting platform, worthy of the sharing economy.

Mariannig has years of experience, first with a house sitting agency in France, and later by evolving this idea into an online matchmaking platform for home owners and house sitters to connect.

We found out more about how she entered the industry, developed her unique "trust based" website, and how she perceives house sitting as a link between people and cultures.

Interview How were you first introduced to house sitting? Can you also tell us a little about how that led to you running a French house sitting agency.

I entered the house sitting world eleven years ago as a pet and home owner. We have entrusted our own home to house sitters more than ten times since then. As you'll see, it's been a long story. A long experience in this market, accompanying all its evolutions!

My very first experience was in 2005. Of course, platforms on the internet didn't exist at that time. We were leaving for Corsica. We couldn't take our 3 dogs and 2 cats with us - with our four young children, the car was full enough.

Putting our pets in a kennel for a month was heartbreaking for us all. After a lot of searching I found a small European agency. It was the prehistory of house sitting in Europe.

Fee-based agencies would send lists of adverts by postal mail to a retiree base. I've heard that when the postman delivered the weekly list to them, they rushed to the phone and if they were in luck (i.e. the phone at the agency was not busy), the house sit was for them!

Because of my previous work experience in personnel recruitment and management, it was obvious to me that some newer techniques needed to be applied to the emerging house sitting market, to really match the homeowner's environment and requirements on the one hand, with the house sitter's skills and wishes on the other.

And so I created Ilidor in 2007, which still operates as a recruiting agency for French speaking owners who prefer to ask a professional to take charge of the whole process for them. By creating it from scratch, I learned all about owners and sitters needs, as well as about the joys (and issues too!) of the house sitting industry.

What prompted you to develop your own house sitting platform when there were already other well established websites?

When you are my age (57 now), your motivations become different. I concentrate on life choices that are meaningful to a community. We didn't launch a platform to grasp an opportunity - we didn't really need it. However, with our background in house sitting, it would have been be a shame not to share our knowledge and bring added value to the whole international house sitting community.

Our philosophy is a little different. We want to provide a cheaper, friendlier service in an environment that is as secure as possible. We achieved this using the appropriate tools that we had already developed.

Nomador appears to us to be more than just a service to house sitting, rather it's a community based on the principles of the "sharing economy". How to you communicate this message to your members?

Since the beginning, we have tried to communicate more on aspects that go far beyond the first obvious cost saving advantages of house-sitting. We created some features that are probably less profitable to us on a short term basis (like "Stopovers"), but that instead aim to develop and nurture the sharing spirit.

In our blog we try to publish some articles that are really useful to people. For instance, we are really excited about a new series that we will start soon, that helps international house sitters better understand the importance of cultural differences in house sitting.

After all, sharing is caring!

When we think of Nomador we also think of trust. This is something you've really tuned into.

What made you realize that this should be a key feature of the Nomador platform?

To be honest, we did not need to "realize" this for Nomador. We had already developed these tools in order to measure trust at the French agency!

But the progression to using the internet has allowed us to widen what we had always provided on a smaller scale at the agency. Trust Profiles, Reviews (for every member, sitter or owner), Identity Checks, etc., are all integral options on the Nomador platform.

Nomador has grown considerably since its inception in 2013 - how do you continue to attract new customers and in which countries do you have the most house sitting opportunities?

Our platform has been developed in both French and English, and because of our history and reputation in France, we have many more house sits within France of course.

Our development abroad has been slower. Because we have chosen to offer a "Freemium" subscription, we have had less money in the short term to spend on marketing and advertising.

However, promoting to other countries is becoming our priority now.

Although the website can accept French listings, we have an excellent online translator that will translate the information to English with one simple click. Don't ever be disinclined to pursue a house sit because it is shown in French.

What is your current ratio of available assignments to house sitters registered?

We currently estimate a ratio of roughly 1 to 8. This represents a good chance for you to be selected for a house sitting assignment.

The registration on Nomador is the same for home owners and house sitters. As a member what difference does this make, and why did you structure subscription in this way?

When Nomador first came to life in 2014, there was not even a distinction between owners and sitters. There was only one registration button on the home page, which invited you to "Join the community". Every member was granted the same rights.

Our business model has not changed since. Each new member was asked to fill in a profile first, just like on many collaborative consumption websites. But we rapidly realized it was a little too early, and the house sitting world was not ready (especially owners) for this particular concept.

So we changed the home page to add the more classical buttons: Become a house sitter, or Find house sitters.

But this initial choice has imparted the platform since the beginning. For instance, the review system (the same for sitters and owners), has existed since the very beginning. And this makes a big difference, reminding that each one is at the heart of an "exchange of service".

What do you think sets Nomador apart from other house sitting platforms? Please tell us about any unique features.

The Discovery Option allows you to test the platform and all its features for FREE. We were the first house sitting platform to ask a member to upload genuine IDs before contacting a member (like on Airbnb). It's not just a tick box for a member to say "ID document available" - it means that the document has really been sent to us for validation. A huge amount of moderation work for us!

The review system which is available for all members - home owners too can be reviewed.

The simplicity. We leave a wide margin for creativity in our profiles, and this is deliberate. By asking too many closed-ended questions, all profiles would look the same. Similar to the way some CVs all look the same when all people follow the same patterns.

Our profiles are all quite different. Some are empty, others are detailed, and this alone is already a good indication of someone's personality, their real motivation to be involved with house sitting. It promotes authenticity.

Do your family share your passion for houses sitting?

My husband shares my passion for the Nomador platform. As an IT engineer with a long experience in managing the development of websites, he has been a fantastic co-founder and partner.

This platform is a combination of my background in managing a house sitting agency, and his technical skills that enabled him to choose the right development team.

But now that we're becoming empty-nesters, I'd like to house sit more myself and travel. And as we say in French, "qui m'aime me suive" (Let those who love me follow me). I know he will follow!

As for my children they're a bit young to house sit - all four are in their early twenties. But having grown up with pets they are big animal lovers. They are all users of collaborative consumption websites (car-sharing, wwoofing, couchsurfing, etc.), and my biggest mum's pride is to see them grow as globally-minded citizens of the world.

You mentioned in an earlier interview, that each of us can play a part in making a better world for future generations. You also said that you believe house sitting has its place in creating links between people and cultures. Can you explain this more and why this is so important.

International house sitting, whether you open the door to foreigners, or go house sitting abroad yourself, is a marvelous way to broaden your horizons and learn. By creating friendships abroad, we all participate in creating bridges of understanding between countries. This seems to be even more important than ever for the future generations.

As Mark Twain said: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness".

By launching Nomador and helping the international house sitting community of like-minded people grow, we hope we will play our tiny part in facilitating international friendships.

Next month we will be finding out more about Nomador's new series to help home owners and house sitters understand the cultural differences they may encounter in different countries.

Building trust - building relationships!

by Mariannig Ferrari

Trust is a word of crucial importance on a house sitting website. You need a healthy dose of trust to entrust your home to strangers, right?

Trust is not easily measured or defined, but it is a fundamental element of all matchmaking websites that allow "strangers" to meet on the internet.

What is a trusted website and what does it mean to be a trusted host or house-sitter?

This is such a vast and complex question!

Matchmaking platforms have popped up all over the internet in recent years, and have given birth to new forms of peer-to-peer exchanges. This is made possible through the digital

progress. It is encouraged by our new aspirations to create links and become more savvy consumers and travellers.

What we are speaking of here is "collaborative consumption" or "sharing economy" websites.

So what are we all really talking about when we talk about trust?

Each website should empower its members to build the type of trust that is suited to its activity.

The big question is - what kind of trust?

If you decide to use car-sharing to go from A to B, you need trust in a stranger’s punctuality, safe driving and pleasant company. If you welcome a couchsurfer, you need to trust the stranger you will host for a night.

But house sitting is another matter!

With house sitting we are talking about entrusting our dearest belongings, our home and beloved pets to a stranger we’ve never met before… and while we are away! It's not quite as simple as renting a car to someone, or welcoming a host for a night!

So how can you trust a stranger in your home?

The fears that are related to house sitting are generally unfounded, but totally logical. Those who invite house sitters for the first time may sometimes face their friends’ amazement, "A stranger in my home? Never ever!"

Spontaneous fears are usually:   

How can I be sure that they won’t be out all day and leave my pets alone?

And what if some of my belongings disappear?

Are they going to invite people into my house without telling me?

We ran a leading French house sitting agency for eight years before launching Nomador. As part of an international house sitting community, we have been able to gather statistics on several thousands of home sits. 97% of our users found the experience "very satisfactory, going beyond their expectations."

Why the magic sometimes doesn't happen For the remaining 3%, the real disappointments or reasons for being dissatisfied, were very far from the initial paranoia.

When the magic of the experience does not happen, it is almost always because of minor misunderstandings - such as a different understanding of the word "cleanliness" or "tidyness".

Believe it or not, the disappointments are a bit more frequent for the house sitter, but they don’t always want to report it. Usually because a friendly link has been created with the home owner, and they have nevertheless had a nice holiday!

House sitting, just like family or friend relationships, requires adaptability and openmindedness. Each home is different, and everyone has a different way of living.

This is what explains the 3% "not totally satisfied".

But these are just details. The initial need to have pets well looked after at home, and to have the home secured by honest people is fulfilled.

Could you manage without a baby sitter?

If you want to eliminate major risks, just proceed with the same care as for other important activities of daily life.

I like giving the example of babysitting. Baby-sitting is as old as the hills, and also feeds its own paranoia. But most parents could not do without a babysitter.

Wise parents take precautions before entrusting their children (and their home) to a new babysitter or an Au Pair. They ask questions, they ask for references, they take the time to explain their expectations and give plentiful instructions.

The keys to a successful experience are exactly the same for house sitting.

Choose a secure website It's not that complicated, but you must choose a secure website, and then use the tools at your disposal with common sense. They have been designed to help you build and consolidate trust!

On Nomador all members have their ID checked before they can contact an owner. As far as I know we are the first ones to have real ID checks as a basic component of the building of trust.

This allows owners to view a "Trust Index" on member's profiles.

This Trust Index is the sum of all documents that have been submitted to our website for moderation. These documents include proof of identity, such as passports, proof of criminal checks, and proof of domicile, for example a utility bill or invoice.

At Nomador it is NOT just a box to tick.

Documents must be submitted, and each one is examined by a website moderator. This is a necessary step to lay the foundation of trust, the one which is common to all internet matchmaking activities - knowing that a person has a real identity.

This filter is certainly a deterrent to people who are not motivated or are just curious tourists.

This is because uploading documents requires effort and commitment.

It also means that our members trust us, and this is also why we have opted for secure connections to our servers.

For the same reason (personal safety), we do not to keep documents on our servers. They are erased as soon as they are checked.

Use the platform tools to build trust step by step    

An internal messaging system The assessment system - designed to be really house sitting related.

Each personality emerges through badges that reflect the member’s main qualities.

Written recommendations may also be displayed by subscribers.

Become part of a community of people who share common values In just a year since launching in 2013, we have gathered more than 10,000 members from all over the world. We are working at creating a community of people who share the same values:    

Trust, care and sense of commitment Generosity of spirit, sharing and being of service to others Curiosity, open-mindedness and adaptability Global awareness and to always strive for deeper understanding When people choose to join the Nomador community it indicates to all that they share these states of mind and values. They don't just want to save money on pet boarding solutions or on accommodation.

Like any community, we attract people who recognize themselves in us, and this is also a way of building a trusted community.

Homeowners - how to be a perfect host

by Mariannig Ferrari

Make your house sitters feel at home Is it the first time you've had house-sitters?

Then these tips will come in handy!

Remember, the secret of success is both parties sharing the benefits of the deal. You get back what you put into it!

1. Make it easy for house sitters to get to you Send maps and detailed instructions, as not everyone has a GPS. Be clear about what time you prefer people to arrive. But don't ask for the impossible and allow for flight times and traffic conditions.

2. Be ready when they arrive!

This isn't the time to be packing the suitcases or checking the windows upstairs are closed.

Make house sitters feel the place is theirs as soon as they arrive.

Introduce them to the pets and give them time to make a fuss of the animals. Remember they are keen to reassure you that your pets will be well cared for.

Show them round house and even the neighbourhood. Where are the local stores? Introduce them to the neighbours. The more relaxed house sitters are now, the happier they'll be later.

3. Prepare instructions well in advance Give plenty of thought to the contents of your Home Book - a book of instructions and relevant information. The Nomador Home Book can be downloaded from the website and adapted to your exact requirements.

Make sure every important detail is written and avoid that embarrassing moment of having to say "And I forgot to write…"

Information such as how to contact you in an emergency (or otherwise) is vital. Also the numbers of the plumber, local medical services, etc. Further information makes all the difference, such as recommending what to visit in the area and where to eat out.

4. Make your house sitters feel comfortable Details make all the difference.

Check what people like to eat for breakfast. Find out in advance if they have any special preferences or dietary requirements. Get some basic supplies ready for them. This gives house sitters more time to settle in, and they can do their shopping later in their own time.

Prepare your home as if you were welcoming your best friends!

Take enough time in advance to clean it, make sure your place is looking its best. Your house sitters will feel cared for.

5. Make sure the bedroom looks welcoming and free up plenty of storage Empty drawers, shelves and wardrobes in the bedroom are important for house sitters to feel welcomed. They can unpack quickly and be more at home.

Free up space in the bathroom for personal toiletries and provide towels. It may not seem like much, but it's the thought that counts!

A bunch of fresh flowers in the bedroom, a bottle of water, or a few chocolates in a bowl, even a selection of literature on what to do and where to go.

6. Prepare a welcome meal Treat house sitters like friends of the family. Nothing particularly special, it can be the family's favourite dish or a ready-made meal. Avoiding fuss makes people feel at home, and means less complicated washing-up before you leave!

7. Tell house sitters what news you want Some homeowners don't want regular updates (except for emergencies of course). They like to leave everything in house sitters' hands.

Others like to be kept up-to-date.

Whatever is best for you, but make sure you are clear.

House sitters feel happier when they give you peace of mind. Specify phone, email, text messaging or whatever, and definite times. But remember house sitters from abroad may pay roaming charges and that cross-border text messaging can cost.

8. Give clear details of your return trip For your return trip specify your ETA, and remember home sitters have their own travel arrangements to make.

Give house sitters plenty of warning if you have to change the date or time of your return. The unexpected is never easy to deal with, and house sitters generally like to plan cleaning the house in advance, so it is spick and span on your return.

Depending on mutual travel plans, it's best, whenever possible, to suggest a good last night's sleep in your home especially if departing house sitters have a long day of travel ahead.

9. Show your appreciation Saying thank you is fundamental, of course, but its importance can't be underestimated, as too many articles have a one-sided view of house sitters as taking advantage of free accommodation.

Why not bring back a present in appreciation? Nothing complicated, of course, but a small gift from your travels always gives pleasure, and says more than words can.

10. Don't forget a reference Don't forget to write up an endorsement or reference of a positive experience. Your comments in appreciation will be helpful to your house sitters in the future, as they pursue their house sitting career.

On Nomador they will help to build the Trust Profile that we and our members, value so much.

Discovery, connection, experience

by Mariannig Ferrari and homeowner Catherine

After three years of expat life, Catherine's family returned to France with two new South African friends - Jana the Labrador and Plume the cat.

But then began the holiday headache.

What was the solution that would make sure their pets would not be uprooted yet again?

Catherine had heard about house sitting and decided to take the plunge. But strangers in her home? That was a brand new experience.

So of course, we were very curious to hear her feedback and share it with you. Because as you know (or will soon discover), Nomador is all about discovery, connection, experience, pets and places.

But… at its heart, it is all about people like you!

Now let's meet Catherine and her family…

Why Nomador was right for our first house sitting experience Java and Plume both became part of our family on 31 December 2011.

We were new expats in South Africa, feeling a little bit isolated at the other end of the world.

My husband wanted to have a cat, while I was more a dog person. So we made the choice to have both at the same time - so that they would grow up together.

Java the Labrador is very lively. She is an energetic dog who loves playing. Plume the cat is a bit shyer, she prefers cuddling or staying around the house. But she'll come as soon as you call her name.

Java always greets us in an exuberant way no matter whether we've been away for an hour or for three weeks, while Plume comes and rubs around our legs. We certainly miss our walks with Java and cuddles with Plume when we are away. But, most importantly, we never come home to a sulky dog or kitty. They always show their love for us when we return.

Discovering Nomador We'd never used house sitters in our home but after some online research, I registered with Nomador through the Discovery Option. This free option was one of the reasons why I opted for Nomador rather than for other sites where subscription was mandatory.

Because I had no idea whether it would work out for us or not, I didn't want to pay before testing. I wanted to try it out first to see if I would receive applications. And before committing further it was important to see if those applicants would seem trustworthy enough to leave our home and pets with. It was all such a new experience for us!

So, I listed our home on the Nomador website, and if I remember well, received more than a dozen applications.

Making connections The site's Trust Profiles assisted a lot when we were assessing trustworthiness. We could see the candidates' photographs, as well as the list of IDs (email address, passports, home address, etc.) that had been checked by Nomador moderators.

It also helped that we could start chatting through the internal chat system. We could do this before we had gained the confidence to give people our phone number and real identities.

Among our initial favourite candidates were a couple of retirees who we met with on Skype.

We had a really great first contact with them. However, after thinking about it more, I started to have some doubts. Java is so energetic, I was afraid she might be too strong for them and even make them fall down. So I decided it might be wiser to look for younger candidates.

That's how we ended up finding our house sitters.

The first time experience When we first met them, we felt quite confident. We had also had a Skype chat and felt sure we could trust them. Before we left they came and had dinner with us and stayed for a night.

The relationship was built in a natural way.

I was a bit stressed because I had the feeling I had not taken enough time to give all the instructions. But my fears were unfounded and everything went fine!

Since we had spent some time together before our departure, Java and Plume had time to get used to them, which made it a gentle transition. That they started to play with Java immediately upon their arrival also meant they had it in the bag!

So we left feeling mostly secure, but the rapid update of news and photos reassured us even more. This confirmed we had made the right choice.

We have been very pleased with our experience of using house sitters to care for our pets at home, for a number of reasons:    

Knowing the pets were comfortable at home in their daily routine. Java was once boarded in a kennel and was traumatized for a long time.

Peace of mind during our vacation, knowing our home was protected even if we were far away.

Receiving updates and photos provided added reassurance.

Returning to find our home in almost better shape than when we left, was a bonus!

We can say that we left our home and pets in the hands of people who were strangers, but they totally deserved the trust that we placed in them. We've made new friends and still write to each other - we could never have imagined it would go that far!

So yes of course, we will list our home again for our next holiday. We've found out it is the best possible solution for our pets.

Will you follow Catherine's example? Posting an advert on Nomador is unbelievably quick and easy.

And it's FREE of charge!

Final thoughts from Mariannig At Nomador we are always interested in hearing feedback from members and we are always delighted if they can help the community by sharing their experience. As the founder of Nomador I'm committed to sharing in every way and also love to share my own professional experience and thoughts.

Entrusting your home to people you don't know is certainly no easy matter! Trust is a fundamental element and you must understand how to build it. Catherine's testimony is interesting because although she was new to house sitting, she took her time to select the best house sitters. And she respected all important steps (except maybe one)! 

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She used the internal email system to create a good dialogue with her candidates before deciding to go further by phone, or Skype in her case. Skype is an excellent choice as it allows you to see each other. It feels more like "meeting" in person.

She was able to identify the right questions, in order to find people who would be able to (and be happy to) cope with Java's energetic temperament. This also means taking your time.

After they reached an agreement, she came back to Nomador to validate the house sit with her candidates. Very important - it allowed them to assess each other at the end of the experience.

So next time Catherine lists her home, prospective house sitters will be able to see that she's received a positive review. And if they chat through the internal chat space, they can even read the endorsement from her previous house sitters. This is how we are building - little by little - a trusted community on Nomador.

What else could she have done?

Catherine explained that she was a bit stressed because she was afraid she'd forgotten to give some important instructions. This is where she could have used our "home book" on the website.

It's a very helpful downloadable document that collects all the important information (addresses, phone numbers, service providers, places to see), and instructions (home, devices, pets) for the house sitters.

By filling in the Home Book in advance, you can be sure ALL important details are covered and ready for when your house-sitters arrive.

Make good use of the Home Book - it really does help!

10 things every house sitter should do

by Mariannig Ferrari

That's it - your application to house sit has been accepted! But it's your first time and you want to be remembered as a good sitter.

Read on for a few friendly, helpful tips!

1. Take a gift from back home. Best choice? Try a local food specialty, a hand-crafted object, a CD of music from your part of the world. Don't spend a lot of money, keep the gift simple.

It's the thought that counts. But if you are travelling abroad, be careful. You need to make sure your gift will get through customs (no uncooked food, etc.)

2. Arrive right on time. Don't turn up late (or too early for that matter). Some people keep working right up to when they leave on vacation, and if you don't get there when you say, you can seriously inconvenience them. If your journey's longer (or shorter) than expected, phone or text to give advance warning. Your call will be much appreciated.

3. Show an interest in house and pets as soon as you arrive. This gives your hosts instant reassurance. Any worries will be put to rest. You're there to provide a service, of course, but to your hosts, you're still a stranger. Their home, pets and treasured possessions will be in your hands and they may feel a little anxious. Don't forget to ask for the "home book" or any other instructions. Check for all relevant instructions and useful phone numbers.

4. Ask homeowners if they want regular news or updates, and if so, how. By email? By telephone? How often? Make sure you do as asked. Some people like to be kept in touch at regular intervals. Others want to leave everything in your hands with no news - except in an emergency.

5. Be polite to neighbours. You are the homeowner's ambassador. It's always a good idea to introduce yourself, especially if you are house sitting for a long time. It's also a good way to find out more about your new neighbourhood.

6. NEVER invite anyone into the home, unless you've first asked for the homeowner's agreement. Remember it's NOT your home. This is the basic rule of home-sitting.

7. Take care to hand back home and gardens exactly as home owner left them. If you moved anything, put it back in its rightful place. When they get back, home owners have a right to feel at home again! A good tip - take photos if you move things around. It's easy to forgot after a month, exactly where things went.

8. Don't take things from the store/food cupboards unless you can replace them. And don't eat or drink any personal item, especially wine! An off-the-shelf pack of coffee is easy to replace, but a bottle of Bordeaux may be priceless, if not money-wise at least in terms of its sentimental value.

9. Ensure the bedroom and bathroom are spick and span. Depending on instructions, either take off, wash and put back clean sheets, or leave the bed ready to make up again. Wash towels and remove any clogged hair from shower drains! Above all, ensure that returning homeowners have the least possible work to do on arrival.

10. Check if returning homeowners would like a meal. When some families get back, they simply like to rest after their journey. Others may want to share the pleasure of being home with a meal. If so, why not rustle up something a little different, like a special favorite from where you come from? It's the thought that counts.

Editors Note: If you need inspiration for meals, try one of Jen Evans' recipes that feature every month in House Sitting Magazine.

Above all, what everyone wants is to make the time to say "Goodbye", into a moment of friendly "Au revoir!"

Breaking down barriers - the unexpected bonuses of house sitting Introduction by Mariannig Ferrari with house sitter Alina

At Nomador we love to communicate about the unexpected bonuses of house sitting. Because house sitting is not all about saving on kennel fees or finding free accommodation!

When a home (and pet) is the core of a new relationship between strangers, it can break down some barriers that you might not have imagined.

So … let's introduce you to Alina's experience.

When we first talked to her, she was a new member and is now one of the ordinary (but very fantastic!) people who form the Nomador community.

Long live Google and the keywords "house sitting" We come from Mangalia, Romania, and we had never house sat before. But now, at the time of writing we have had three experiences with Nomador, and a fourth will be taking place shortly.

Mangalia, Romania

I guess you'd like to know our motivations?

We of course, we want to discover fabulous destinations and extraordinary people!

But we also live in a rented apartment in Romania, and the owner is not OK with us having pets.

I grew up around dogs and cats. My husband had several dogs and loved them deeply.

Especially a boxer who was his best friend when he was a kid. So we loved the idea of caring for pets that need affection and care when their owners are away.

We built our profile on Nomador and started looking for house sits in France.

Applying for house sitting experiences soon became like a drug for us, because we could see the potential to meet interesting people and visit fascinating places.

We did not really have to apply to many listings before we received an answer, but it was enough to lose hope a bit at first.

Overcoming cultural prejudices Losing hope may have had something to do with our nationality. Of course, the fact that we were 'newbies' in this field didn't help either. French people find it hard to trust Romanians this is what we've learned from our discussions with the French owners we met.

However, we don't hold it against them. We try to demolish all prejudices and unveil the kindness and hospitality that characterizes most Romanians.

We consider ourselves the unofficial ambassadors of our beautiful country. We are proud to prove that Romanians are smart (we're so modest!), kind, funny and most importantly, trustworthy and reliable.

Trust your instinct I usually go with my gut when it comes to people. The fact that I'm a writer helps me when evaluating an online discussion. I can feel in the tone of the text if the person I'm corresponding with is honest and trustworthy. I usually get the correct vibe but, of course, mistakes can happen.

However, up to now we have had the amazing chance to meet only wonderful people through Nomador.

I need to say that the Trust Profile helps us too when deciding if we should apply for an assignment. We have only house sat for owners with high trust profiles. We also do our best to maintain our own trustworthy profile.

As house sitters we get anxious too!

Do we have any fears or worries before engaging in a house sitting assignment?

Well, our safety is sometimes a small concern, but that's because I tend to worry too much. You can't avoid being a little anxious about going to meet strangers, and stay in their house in a different country than yours.

Then there's the fact that something might happen to the pets during our stay. This is why we are always extra careful with following all the rules and keeping an eye on the pets' behaviour.

In the beginning, we were a bit more anxious because everything was new for us.

We actually found out about house sitting only a few months before our first assignment, and we didn't know exactly what to expect. However, our first house sitting experience was extraordinary.

Gordes in France

Making friends... with the homeowners From the moment we got to meet the owners, everything was OK. We talked about Romania and France, wine and food, cats, traveling, and work. We discussed various things, from our trips, to our culture, and their trips, and their culture.

We got to discover wonderful people who had many interesting things to say.

We love France, so Nomador is like a blessing from the sky for us. Paris and the Cote d'Azur are our top destinations, but we want to discover the entire country. Italy would be great too, as well as... well, the rest of the world!

We also selected to house sit exclusively for owners who went to the trouble to post pictures too. We are not very pretentious, but we prefer homes to apartments.

We also choose our house sitting experiences based on the pets. We focus on cats and dogs.

We love animals, so it doesn't matter if, for example, it is a rescue dog, or a boxer.

Becoming friends… with the pets Forming connections with the pets is an important part of the house sit experience. We cared mostly for cats and, as you know, cats are pretty independent.

At first, they ignored us and came in just for food. But after a couple of days, we were friends and affection was very important for both parties.

We truly love animals (I am a vegetarian), and the connection gets so strong that we really miss them and their unique ways when we leave. For example, the way one cat stood on our laptop to make us play with her, or how a dog woke us up every morning with the sound of its paws on the floor.

I remember that one of the cats, Bricole, used to sit on an aquarium, trying to catch the fish inside, with her paws. And Perle, a sweet dog we cared for, who was a bit blind, would always look in the wrong direction when we called her name. Also, Mici, a cat who loved to steal our mouse (she knew that a mouse must be... a mouse!).

It's so easy to love an animal, even if it's not yours. We try and send pictures to the owners, of us with their pets, so they can see that we get along more than fine. My husband always creates fun toys for them and plays with them. They come to me for cuddling and affection.

Now that we have house sit a few times, we have considered the qualities that help to make us excellent house sitters and we would say that the top three are seriousness, adaptability and kindness.

We really do think this is a great way to travel and experience the world and to make friends of all kinds!

Bricole on the aquarium

Final thoughts from Mariannig If you've followed the launch of our community, you know that the inspiration behind Nomador is all around people. We want to help create international connections that are more about friendship than business.

Thanks to the continual progress of the internet, more and more fantastic websites are helping to change the way people travel and meet. Youth exchanges, volunteering, couch surfing, home-swapping, eating in locals homes, car sharing.

At Nomador we are big supporters of them all!

But our core purpose at Nomador has always been house sitting, and we're delighted that Nomador can play a little part in the building of international friendships.

I think that Alina's testimony is a wonderful example of the benefits of international house sitting.

Her experience is what we at Nomador aim to create:   

Travel in a life enhancing way by being of service to other families.

Connect globally with other like-minded pet, garden, home, and travel loving people.

Find your vacation solutions economically, in a high-trust, do-it-yourself environment, built around human values rather than just financial considerations.

Global connections

A final word for homeowners If you are a homeowner, I truly hope Alina's story will help you understand that house sitters need just as much reassurance as you!

They may not pay for their accommodation, but they do pay for travel, which sometimes includes expensive flights, and they also want to be sure they have a friendly home base as their temporary home.

TV programs and popular myth often have a one-sided view of house sitters, as people simply taking advantage of free accommodation. This is a huge pity in my opinion!

Because they are nothing but ordinary and trustworthy people who love pets and travels …

Just like you!

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