If you are considering housesitting full time you will face a number of challenges. Not least is the challenge of solitude, which may suit some but not all. The life of a full time housesitter is ideal for anyone needing to or wanting to be alone for work, or just because. Some people prefer to travel alone and find it exciting. Kelly Hayes-Raitt veteran housesitter shares her skill and experience in how to make friends when solo House Sitting.
How to make friends when solo house sitting
Until recently, Kelly Hayes-Raitt was a full-time, solo house sitter for 12 years. Here’s how she made lifelong friends during fleeting house sitting assignments.
By Kelly Hayes-Raitt
I love solo housesitting – especially when I’m working on a project. It’s as if I’ve created my own retreat!
But, it can get lonely. Here are 8 ways I make friends when I’m solo house sitting:
1. Ask your homeowners to introduce you to a friend of theirs. This is someone you can meet for coffee at some cute café only locals know about, or a glass of wine in a new bistro, or an off-the-beaten-path walk.
I’m still dear friends with a woman in Amsterdam I met through my homeowner. Though I haven’t seen Liesl since my housesit in early 2017, we’ve stayed in touch and developed a lovely friendship.
During an extended house sit in Réunion, a French island east of Madagascar, I befriended Anne, a dear friend of my homeowner’s. Anne really took me under her wing and showed me parts of the island I’d have never found. She even arranged for us to snorkel with a migrating humpback mama and her baby! As a non-local, I would never have been invited on this breathtaking excursion.
Solo House Sitting Is Great When Dog-Walking!
2. Chat up other dog owners in the dog park. You might not get an excursion out of the connection, but at least you’ll see the same people (and dogs!) every day and feel part of the community.
3. Ask your homeowners to add you to the neighborhood What’s App group chat. During the pandemic, many neighbors connected via a group chat. While solo house sitting in London for an extended time when lockdown was lifted, I met up with a few of “my” neighbors and really felt a part of the neighborhood!
Meet Like-Minded Locals
4. Join Meet-Up groups and look for events that interest you. I became a member of a virtual Lisbon Meet-Up writers group before solo house sitting there. By the time I arrived, I had some ready-made friends!
While house sitting at my home in Lisbon, my stepbrother made friends through a running group he found on Meet-Up. The platform is free to join and the activities are endless, from supper clubs to fitness groups and more.
5. Join InterNations, an organization for expats – wherever you are. I’ve found InterNations to be a bit hit-or-miss, but in the countries and cities where they are robust, it’s a great way to make new friends while enjoying a group outing at discount prices. In London, for example, InterNations members enjoy discounted tickets to top plays, musicals and concerts, group themed dinners, city tours, and more – all with other foreigners living in and visiting where you are solo house sitting.
Work Those Networks!
6. Network with other house sitters through the many Facebook groups devoted to house sitting, such as:
HouseSitting Café
Compare House Sitting Websites
HouseSit Match’s FB community.
Let others know where you are! I used to house sit every spring and fall in Ajijic, Mexico – a place where many sitters traveled through. I used to organize dinners for those of us who had known each other only through Facebook so we could meet IRL.
7. Take a walking tour or join a class. I love walking tours and almost always take one at the beginning of my house sits. Sometimes, I meet other travelers who want to meet up again for some sightseeing or a shared meal. While solo house sitting in Seoul, I took several free walking tours with college students eager to practice English. I would always ask them to join me for lunch – and I ended up having some great meals and lively conversations!
…And Work Your Own While Solo House Sitting
8. Post on your own social media networks where you will be house sitting. Years ago, when I was solo house sitting in Hanoi, I posted my location on Facebook. A woman whose name I recognized from some FB house sitting groups messaged me that she was also in Hanoi. We met up for a street food tour and have been fast friends ever since. We’ve enjoyed each other’s company during my house sits in London, Cardiff, Ajijic…and later at her new home in Sitges, Spain and in my new home in Lisbon, Portugal. (And we’re still taking food tours!)
Before I started that incredible solo house sit in Réunion, I posted my destination on my Facebook page. My Danish friends Bo and Peter – whom I’d met during a tour of the Mekong Delta just before that Hanoi house sit and who later came and stayed with me in Ajijic during my house sit (with my homeowners’ permission, of course) – messaged me that they would be in Réunion at the outset of my sit! Since I had about five days overlap with my home owner (flights were wonky), I had a lot of opportunity to sightsee, eat out and take “family friendly” hikes with Bo and Peter. What a great way to optimize my stay on that beautiful island!
Kelly Hayes-Raitt is still solo house sitting, but more locally now in Lisbon while she is tied to Portuguese language classes. She still smiles when she remembers Bo’s diplomatic reference to a hike he suggested as being “family friendly” – aka “Hey, Kelly, you’ll be able to keep up with us.” She’s the author of a “house sitter friendly” book, How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Diva.
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Further reading about housesitting and housesitters
At HouseSitMatch.com we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about housesitters, housesitting and pet sitting. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters and house sitting in London useful.
How to travel on a budget
Solo travel – House sitting is a safer options
Cat sitting tourist sees London for free
What a housesitter does – Top 10 responsibilities
The post Solo House Sitting: 8 Ways to Make Friends appeared first on Housesit Match.
