House Sitting Magazine: Issue 33 October 2020

WORDS TO GUIDE ME

by Victoria Lanier “Bless not only the road but the bumps on the road. They are all part of the higher journey.”

Julia Cameron The reality of this global pandemic hit when lockdowns in my hometown started in March 2020 and international borders closed. The impact on my house-sitting life this year was the cancellation of five house sitting assignments for 2020, three in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia USA, as well as a new booking on Costa del Sol in Spain, and a repeat sit at a small but charming B&B in Salles-Lavalette, France.

As I consider this strange environment and what is next for me as a solo house sitter, I look back at the true spontaneity that drove me to start house sitting in 2014.

This spirit of spontaneity is still within me, but the reality of travel is altogether something new.

A much more cautious approach is the new normal now for me as somewhat of a part-time nomadic solo woman who wants to explore new places in the world. Spontaneity is not so easy now, but I do love the philosophy inherent in this quote “To change one’s life, start immediately, do it flamboyantly, no exceptions.”

William James