Pandemic sitting across Europe

by Jenni Flett

It’s morning and a message pings into our inbox.

I'm sorry, but we don't think we'll be able to travel anymore, so we, unfortunately, have to cancel the sit.

In the afternoon, another message comes through - the same news.

Our next two house sits, both only just arranged a few weeks prior, are gone. We're only three weeks away from finishing our long-term summer sit in Bulgaria, and we have nowhere to go.

One day of travel restriction announcements from various governments across Europe dismantle our plans. We frantically set up search alerts and start applying. Fortunately, within a week we have our first rescheduled sit setup in Switzerland.

All we have to rely on is Switzerland keeping Bulgaria off their quarantine list.

New plans come into fruition

The last three weeks consist of early mornings and late nights, checking alerts and various sites for sits within Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Countries might be adding more and more countries to their lists, but they are trying their best to keep borders open, so we decide this is the safest way to plan.

Somehow our manic applying lands us three back-to-back sits from Interlaken to Germany's Black Forest region. We now only have three weeks of the year left to cover – a feat we thought impossible when the competition for sits is so tight.

We book our flights and leave Bulgaria. To lessen our chances of picking up the virus, we arm ourselves with masks, antibacterial hand gel and wipes. We make a socially distanced dash to the train and travel straight to Interlaken.

The odd ones out

Our hostel seems to be taking every precaution to keep people distanced and safe, but we soon realise outside of public transport and paid accommodation, nobody seems to be overly bothered about the ongoing pandemic.

For context, we spent the summer in a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Sofia and had been limiting ourselves to going out one day a week. We wore masks and were especially careful everywhere we went, from shops to the occasional café or museum.

Our house had the benefit of a huge garden, so we had fresh air, a menagerie of animals to keep us entertained and we threw ourselves into work.

Now you can argue that this is a small Alpine town, but it's a touristy one, and our biggest fear isn't so much catching the virus but spreading it. While nobody here wears masks indoors, we continue to do so even if we get odd stares. On the other hand, Hen does have a bright blue beard, so staring is to be expected.

Where it all began

Rewinding to March, we hesitantly leave Norway and return to the UK and our year ahead looks to be in tatters. Then, by chance, we we’re able to fly to Bulgaria to do the three months sit we had organised in September last year.

The only catch? A two-week quarantine with the homeowners.

For the first two weeks, it feels much like a Workaway or similar experience. We help with cooking, learn the routine, partake in gardening and have long debates over coffee in between. It has its moments of, "I just need some space", but overall, they leave happy in the knowledge that we know how to do everything!

The second wave

As we get ready to leave, we're apprehensive about doing handovers, especially as a second wave seems to be gripping Europe again. Our next sits aren't long-term; they're one to two weeks long. Fortunately, they're all within a short train journey from each other.

We figure airports and cities are high risks, so we try to avoid both, and instead go for rural or village sits. But what about the handover?

The new normal for house sitters includes the way we do handovers. We hear from friends in the UK who are doing virtual handovers or socially distanced ones. Yes, people are a bit more careful, but not much has changed in terms of the process.

We arrive a day early, get to know each other and go over the pet routine. As a bit of a hugger, this is something I (Jen) have to reign in, and of course, we're careful, but the handover experience isn't quite as strict as we imagined it would be.

Why did we choose this lifestyle?

Before any whisper of a global pandemic, we had a whole year mapped out. We were to travel to Europe to look after new furry friends, and this was a unique way to learn all kinds of skills.

Our future dream is to have a sustainable homestead. House sitting affords us several opportunities to look after chickens, learn about vegetable gardens, how to make goats cheese, beekeeping and befriend interesting people, while simultaneously helping to keep their pets safe and happy.

Home is Scotland, but having lived for three years abroad as teachers, hotel managers and au pairs, we don't have a house. That was to be rectified this year. We were to invest in a home to rent out, but alas that has been significantly delayed.

Instead, we find ourselves stuck in a peculiar limbo, with no home to return to and family who are high-risk. For these reasons, we've decided to stay in Europe and not go back to the UK.

What happens next?

As we edge closer to the end of the year, we have managed to secure sits to take us to January, although this can all collapse at any point if the situation suddenly changes.

That uncertainty is scary. There is this constant anxiety we can't shift.

The story of the year has been as follows:

Sit cancels, panic, organise new plans, panic again as they fall through, organise again – it goes in circles.

This year has been a test of our ability to be super flexible, we’ve had to change our behavior, and think about how we travel. It has also brought into question our life decisions.

Had it not been for the pandemic, we would have a little more security.

Suddenly we're faced with a moral dilemma. Do we continue to house sit abroad and travel? Is that selfish, risky or both?

To us, it's been essential because of our circumstance, but we've also taken all steps necessary to be as careful as possible and changed our plans to lessen the risk. We've cancelled trips to see family and friends; we're not travelling in between sits and choosing sits where we can spend most of our time working from home with pet cuddles.

No big city breaks, no trips to overcrowded places and staying distanced.

To the brink and back

If we had a house to hunker down in, yes, we probably would have stayed at home. We were incredibly lucky our long-term summer sit went ahead; otherwise, this would be a different story. That one sit meant we could avoid blowing our savings on a 6-month rental at home.

We know that everyone has had very different experiences this year. This community stepped up in offering temporary accommodation and supporting each other.

Honestly, we felt so lost in the beginning. We've lost a family member to the virus; our mental health has been pushed to the brink, and sometimes all we want is to come home.

What's kept us going is knowing we have friends and a community who support us, an understanding family and pets who still need us.

We started this year thinking we'd walk away with a host of new skills and pet pals, and ultimately that has happened, just not in the way we imagined.

A full-time pet sitting couple from Edinburgh and Brighton respectively with a love for sustainable and slow travel. Jen is a writer, and Hen is the photographer behind the scenes. Follow our wee adventures on Instagram where we talk frankly and openly about our life on the road.

instagram.com/hoopla_adventures/

More about house sitting here:

HouseSittingMagazine.com