411: Transitioning from International to Local Pet Care with Kelly Hayes-Raitt
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When making big decisions, it's important to gather new information and seek out novel experiences in order to fully understand the situation before moving forward. In this episode, Kelly Hayes-Raitt, known as the HouseSit Diva, shares her experience of using international travel house and pet sitting to find a new place to live. By experimenting across different cultures and lifestyles, Kelly emphasizes the importance of embracing each step as an opportunity to grow and learn. She also discusses how she transitioned from being a free house and pet sitter to offering a paid service in her new hometown, and how this change has affected client expectations. Whether you're planning a business shift or a major life change, new experiences can teach you a lot!
Main topics:
Should you still do travel house sitting?
Finding a new home
Shifting from free services to paid
Growing a business in a foreign country
Main takeaway: Big changes take a lot of time and new information!
About our guest
Kelly Hayes-Raitt admits she sleeps around. Usually with animals.
As a full-time housesitter and traveler for the past decade, she’s learned a thing or two about housesitting and shares her knowledge and experience in her popular book How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Divaavailable in soft cover or Kindle at Amazon (http://amzn.to/2hlj7UP) or ebook on her web site (www.HouseSitDiva.com).
Before nomading, Kelly reported live from Iraq during the early weeks of the U.S.-led invasion. Her journalism has won several literary awards and has been widely published in anthologies.
Lately, she’s turned her energy toward helping other writers get their books jumpstarted. Her coaching clients call her “inspiring,” and students in her workshops rave about her unique teaching techniques. Learn more about working one-on-one with Kelly at www.JumpStartMyBook.org.
Links:
Episode 009: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/009-interview-with-the-house-sit-diva
Episode 016: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/kelly-is-back
Episode 020: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/020-new-starts-with-the-house-sit-diva
Episode 027: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/026-fostering-relationships
Episode 035: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/035-housesitting-in-the-time-of-coronavirus
Episode 091: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/091-coping-with-the-unexpected-with-the-house-sit-diva
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
house sitter, sitting, house, traveling, people, lisbon, set, homeowners, portugal, international, pet, visa, kelly, experience, country, live, speak, work, platform, clients
SPEAKERS
Collin, Kelly
Collin 00:02
Welcome to pet sitter confessional an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Today, we're brought to you by time to pet and the peaceful pet music calm music for pets YouTube channel. Today we have a super special guest back on the show Kelly Hayes rates the house that diva is going to join us today to talk about her journeys in travel housesitting, and how it helped her find a new place to live, internationally and all the steps and things that she's learned along the way. Kelly, I can't tell you. I'm so excited to have you back on. It's crazy. It's been like 300 episodes, that you back off. For those new listeners who haven't delved that deep into the archives, could you please introduce yourself and tell us all that you do?
Kelly 00:44
Sure. Oh, Collin. It's such a pleasure to be back on. Yes, my name is Kelly Hayes rate, I had been a house sitter for full time for the last 12 years as an international house sitter. I've been a free sitter. So I've been the doing it in the model where I pay for my travel to go to an exotic place and take care of someone's home and pets. Well, I have a chance to explore a new place and I don't get paid for it. I'm changing that model. And I know we're gonna be talking about that in a little bit. But I've written a book called very cleverly called, How to Become a house sitter insider tips from the house sit diva. And that's available on Amazon and on my website at WWW dot house CIT diva.com. And I love to talk house sitting. So I'm glad to be here.
Collin 01:35
Glad to have you. And I do think that since it's been a minute and since the last time we had you on there's been a lot of things that have changed globally and in the world. So how have I wanted to check in and see how things have been since since COVID, since the pandemic and how that's really been impacting or what you've been seeing with the international travel housing community.
Kelly 01:54
Yeah. All good questions. So let me just tell you a little bit about my own personal experience during COVID. Because it was really quite interesting. Prior to this, I had a house in Santa Monica, California that I had rented out as a vacation rental. And then I lived elsewhere as a house sitter. And that's what made my financial model work. I sold my home in 2018. So by the time 2020 came rolling around, I was literally homeless. I had scheduled a variety of different houses throughout Europe in the summer of 2020. So that was my goal was to move to Europe. Of course those house sits all evaporated during the during the pandemic. And I was stuck in London. And I was fortunate to be stuck in London, because I have friends there and I had can speak the language, which was a big help. In Portugal right now, and I don't speak the language. So it definitely helps to be stuck in a pandemic and a place where you can talk to other people. Just to say the least the very fair, right? It's the
Collin 03:01
little things right?
Kelly 03:02
It's the little Berg's. So I had had a house that's scheduled for the end of March 2020 in North London, and UK went on lockdown in middle of March. So that house it evaporated, but this couple who were so unbelievably kind, they'd never met me except during our zoom call when we set up the house that they told me they had a third floor loft that they usually used as a vacation rental and they would not be doing that during the pandemic. So they offered it to me for free. And I went and lived with this couple for almost three months, I had my own space, my own kitchen and bathroom privacy to do what I needed to do. Then I because we were a bubble, I went and walked their dog with them every day. So I had the best of both worlds. I had company plus I had privacy. But here's the cool thing, Colin, these people were professional caterers and so every three or four nights, they'd invite me downstairs for a gourmet dinner. Wow. I know what it was like. They're gonna have to pry me out of this room to get rid of me. I know. They were I mean just so unbelievably kind and that that's the house sitting community right. And ironically, at the time I was travel writing. Just you know what I actually was doing a lot of travel writing. And the online platform that I wrote for asked me to write a piece about how the Coronavirus could leave me homeless. And I that was published I posted on our Facebook and a woman that I had house set for five years before in London contacted me and said she had just bought a house in Edinburgh. And she and her husband were stuck in Dubai and didn't know when they'd be able to leave and she wanted to know if I would go up and stay in her new home and accept all of her furniture that she had had in storage and just set up the household And I did that. And I not only save this woman, her storage fees, but also in Scotland, if you have property that is sitting vacant for a long period of time, they double your your taxes, your real estate taxes. So I was saving her that as well. And in exchange, you know, she took care of all the utilities are just amazing. She was so wonderful and so gracious. And I ended up staying in that place for a year and a half during lockdown. So again, the house sitting community kind of came through to help me at a time when I literally had no where to go. just extraordinary. I know of a lot of other stories like that of other house sitters who were International House sitters, they did it full time, and were stranded and and were, you know, their community, their house sitting community kind of provided that safety net, it was really extraordinary. So So you asked how it how I think it changed, certainly travel shutdown. So that meant that there was not as much International House sitting. I can only speak for the UK, when the UK was bouncing all over the place. They were on lockdown, not on lockdown, and back on lockdown. And it was just crazy. And so during those periods when things were opening up, people were doing a lot of domestic travel. And that provided different kinds of house sitting opportunities. So I saw I did do some house sitting around Edinburgh and other other communities there are the other houses sits right around there and in London. So that's kind of where I bounced between. And so I did have an opportunity to continue to house sitting during that period, but I just did it within the country. Yeah, and I think that's kind of what most people were doing at that time were house sitting as they were staying a little bit more local. And I found that homeowners preferred local people. In fact, there was one woman in Edinburgh who did ask me to house it for her cat while she went and took care of her aging parents in another part of the UK. And she said ordinarily, we wouldn't have someone local, we'd rather share Edinburgh with somebody who wants to experience it. But we're concerned right now that somebody might not be able to get in, because the rules were changing all the time internet for international travelers. So I was actually add an advantage being in the UK to get other UK sets. Now, I think everybody's just like, Footloose, and fancy free and just out there in the world again, and there's just all kinds of house sitting opportunities. So it's I think it's a really exciting time to be a house sitter.
Collin 07:39
Well, that was my one question I had is what really what the atmosphere felt like coming out of COVID coming out of lockdown internationally, and really how people were feeling as far as the openness to accepting these international travels and the clients owners being willing to have people come in, because I could definitely see a situation where people were more more reclusive, more unsure, more hesitant about those kinds of big grand changes or these big plans. Because they know at a moment's notice things could could change. But it really sounds like it's just come right back or even better to where it was
Kelly 08:15
before. I feel like it's like its comeback. I mean, there were baby steps. You know, we still had to wear masks initially, right? We still had wear masks on planes and going through airports and some countries required COVID certificates, COVID vac certificates, I found that people were the homeowners were a little bit more skittish about having a stranger come and stay in their home. And so part of the conversation was around where I stood on on being Bakst. And where where I stood on, on, you know, COVID hygiene techniques. And I also would ask the homeowners that too, because you know, people were all over the the map on that one. And and I think it was really important that we had a good match on that. That's no longer part of the conversation. But it but it was for a while. And and actually my initial sets, once I did start traveling again, internationally were for people I'd sat for before. So there was a there was a comfort level there.
Collin 09:15
Which is really important when you have the agony of relationship that's already built into that and you know who to reach out to, you know, that you have that that know, like trust factor that continues to persist. And especially with these big kind of, well, that with I just think of just the grand nature of the international travel, they're coming in how much more of that trust is necessary when you're linking up with those owners.
Kelly 09:36
Exactly. Yeah, I am. I'm a big believer in keeping those relationships up. So and having repeat house sets. So you've
Collin 09:49
done a lot of change over the years in that story. And you mentioned you're in you're in Portugal now and you were in England for a while and but you've done a lot of international trade. Travel. And so part of why we want to have you on is that you made a big decision to, to move to a brand new location. And but you've done that you've made that decision through the kind of house, it's that you've been able to take on over the years. What What was that process? Like? And I just personally, I don't even know how I would begin to narrow in on a big question of where to live internationally.
Kelly 10:28
I know it is a big question. Well, I have had a chance to do a lot of traveling, I've traveled to 77 countries. And I've house that in 20 or 2122 countries, something like that. So I've been really fortunate in my life to be able to do that kind of traveling. And I have a sense of what what suits me and what doesn't suit me. I'm a city girl. I'd love Europe, I love European cities. So I wanted to be I knew I wanted to be in Europe. So just that just fits my lifestyle, I wanted to be in a place where I could get on a plane and in and out or be in an entirely different culture, different different country, different food, different language, all of that, and have all that on my doorstep. So I knew Europe was where I wanted to be. As I mentioned, I had had a lot of European House seats lined up for the summer of 2020. Because I wanted to go and experience a couple of cities that I hadn't been to that had looked good on paper. But I couldn't do that I did a lot of armchair traveling. So I took a lot of virtual tours in different cities that I was interested in. And I did a lot of you know, there's so much available online now to figure out, you know, what a lifestyle can be like. And so I settled on Lisbon. Lisbon also has a Portugal has a very good visa program. That makes it very welcoming at this moment right now for for new immigrants here in this country. So I took advantage of that. And so once locked down ended, I kind of made my way down to Portugal and over to Lisbon so that I could start that visa process. And I did that by house sitting column. So I have sat in different parts of Portugal. That helped me decide that I did want to settle in Lisbon, which are kind of already nukes. I am a city girl. So this is the city. But then, you know, I had to go back to the States to the United States to be able to apply for the initial visa, I would need to set myself on the path for residency in Portugal. So I went back to the States, I had nowhere to live. I have set. So I had to I had to apply for my visa in San Francisco and I had two different house watch was three houses but two different houses in the Bay Area while I made that initial application. I wanted to go visit friends because I knew it would be a while before I'd see them. So I have sat in Chicago and visited a cousin and I have said and in the Tampa Bay area. So I was traveling around the States as an opportunity to to visit people and using house sitting to do that.
Collin 13:11
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Collin 13:32
If you're looking for new, fascinating software, give time to put a try listeners of our show save 50% off your first three months by visiting timeshare.com/confessional. I did I did have a question Kelly about the visa issues because that sounds really, really complicated and is an aspect of the International House sitting that it that I know a lot of people might not consider is it different than just going and traveling for vacation like is are the different requirements that that you need to be aware of, or at least consider when going into something like this?
Kelly 14:07
Well for the International House sitting I mean, I would never tell anybody in immigration that I was coming to housesit because in some countries they look at that as a barter situation and they consider it work and so you need a work visa. I see. So so for the International House sitting I always said I was visiting friends which is also the truth because by the time I'm doing that I have communicated with the homeowners and we've become friends. So I you know, I don't feel like I was lying or being misleading but but but that's really important to keep in order to keep myself in that visitor zone visitor visa zone, right. Yeah. But But here I was coming to relocate. So I've put myself on the path for permanent residency and possible citizenship here in Portugal. So that's, that's an entirely different Visa Stream than anybody who would be coming as a visitor or anyone who would be coming to work for a short period of time. Okay, different different bases. Yeah,
Collin 15:02
gotcha. So what's the what's the timeline for something like that? And how did you because I know, just me personally, if I know I had a deadline, something like like the house, it's would would kind of make me a bit nervous if I ran out of time, or if I had to extend something, or if there was a delay. So what was the timeline that you were looking to, to get that kind of visa.
Kelly 15:24
So there's, there's a lot of moving parts in that one, because a lot of it has to rely on on the Portuguese Border Control Agency. And Portugal is sort of notoriously bureaucratic, not in the best of ways. I'm trying to be diplomatic about this. So I had to apply for this initial visa in San Francisco. And that could take the getting the the visa back, could take anywhere from a matter of weeks to a few months. And so I gave myself kind of the maximum amount of time because this was also I'd buy plane tickets, too. So you know that that was factor. And then I just, I just filled in that time. So even though I did not get the visa earlier than I thought I got it just as I expected it to come it came at the at the very tail end of of that window. So I was glad that I had given myself all that time. So I didn't have to keep re booking airline tickets, and then scrambling to try to find where it was going to be. So I just played it safe on the time on the timeline.
Collin 16:34
Yeah, and that's kind of the name of the game with that. Let's just go okay, we're gonna plan for that. It's just like when you budget for, you know, big projects. Okay, what's the timeline for this? And then I'm going to double it and probably half again, pretty much. So you're, you're you're in San Francisco, you're waiting for your visa, you're you're seeing friends and you're doing some other visits, when were you able to make the jump back over to Lipson and Lipson. The podcast hosting platform that we use is Libsyn. And so I my brain does not work. So I will say that one more time. When were you able to make that jump over to Lisbon? Finally,
Kelly 17:26
April 17 2022. Yeah, that's it. And so when I first got here, I had an apartment rented because that's a requirement that you need in order to get that initial visa, which is basically a glorified visitor's visa and allows you to stay here for four months. And and then what the the Portuguese border control agency does is they schedule an in person meeting with you where they go through all your paperwork again, and then issue your your residency. So So I saw I already had an apartment here, but it was unfurnished because I had gotten rid of everything when I sold my house. So, you know, I was literally living in this flat that had no lights, I had electricity, but there's no lights because that's typically not a thing in Portuguese apartments. I had a blow up bed, a fork and a knife that I'd pilfered from a restaurant. And, you know, a coffee craft so that I could you know, something that I always carried with me house sitting one of those little plastic, you know, coffee filter things, didn't even have a coffee mug. It's like, oh, my gosh, that's all I had, and in a corkscrew in a wineglass because, you know, priorities. I got the corkscrew before another coffee cup. So what I initially did then was I went back to house sitting. So I got a house sit here in Lisbon for a couple of weeks. And that gave me a decent bed, Netflix, a coffee cup and enough time to start figuring out how to furnish my place. And then it was that was great. That was just the respite I needed to be able to start the furnishing thing. And I've continued to house it now in Lisbon. And I'm now getting paid. So I've made that transition from free house sitter doing the international traveling to a paid house sitter, which has been an interesting transition.
Collin 19:34
And I want to touch on that in just a minute but I did have a question about going back to your your process for finding your place because you know, International House sitting and as far as this exchange is, is new to a lot of people and I've I've personally seen a lot of people who feel as though it's a like it's a scam or it's not real or how could that ever work or what is actually going on here when they find out about this process? So walk us through how are you finding these these sets? During this transition period? I know you mentioned how you were connecting with people who you had set done these visits with previously, but what are the options out there for for finding these kind of International House sets? And and what variety can people expect to get from them?
Kelly 20:22
Okay, that's there are 50 platforms out there that were potential house sitter could join, put up a profile, and then start perusing the different houses that are available. Again, this is the model that's free. So the house sitter pays his or her own way to the location stays in the home for free, but has the responsibility of taking care of the pets in the home, sometimes the garden, maybe a few other things like bringing in the mail. And, and then there's no there's no money that exchanges hands. So the homeowner is welcoming the house sitter, the house sitter is taking care of everything, while the homeowner is away on on holiday. So the way to find that is this, I said there's 50 Different platforms out there, I think for getting started, I would recommend that people look at the smaller sites, because there's just better hands on service, and there's a lot less competition for them. So two sites that I really liked that are smaller, and one of them is housesit match.com. house sit match.com. Full disclosure, I am the blog editor. But I've been a member of this, of this platform for a long, long time, and the owner is extremely hands on about matching people up. And if there's any problems, she's right there, there's also a she has a lot more house sits available than she has house sitters, so there's a lot less competition for them. Another one I like is house sit mexico.com. And there are several house sitting platforms out there that are very country or regional specific. And those tend to have a lot less competition. So if you knew that you wanted to experience Mexico, through house sitting, that's a great platform to join, because then things are narrowed down. And lane as I said, there's not as much competition. The big one out there is trusted house sitters.com. They've been around since 2011. And you know, they have 1000s of house sets the command from all over the world. They've become just unwieldly big though it's it, they're really hard to navigate now. And for homeowners, what they've done is they've limited the number of house sitting applicants to five people at a time. So unless you're like right on it, it's really hard to be able to apply to a Senate. But that said, you know, I've been a member of them since 2011. And I've gotten a lot of my International House sits through them. I'm just backing off from them right now. Because I just find them not quite as user friendly as they used to be.
Collin 23:07
Sure. Well, I think what's important there is to go back to what you said a really great sentence there of if you want to experience blank if you want to experience Mexico, through how sitting, try these other things. And that's what I really get out of what love what's your, your your story, Kelly is that your this is about searching for experiences. You were doing that when you were traveling and doing the house sitting with Lisbet to try and find if you want to live in Portugal. And you were wanting to experience that. So this is a very experiential service that we can both provide and give if we are looking for that kind of thing. And that that's where I see a lot of this being able to help us figure out or learn new things or just experience different ways of lifestyle, different countries different whatever we want to do through housesitting is, that's the mode that we're going to be going after these experiences. So we kind of have to figure out what experience is what I like. And then can I match that up with being able to do that through housesitting.
Kelly 24:09
Well said I mean really beautifully said. So in my book, I have a right at the beginning I have a chapter with a quiz is how sitting right for me is how sitting isn't right for everybody. Some people don't like living on top of other people's stuff, or they don't like the responsibility of of having to take care of any animal full time, right? Like if the animal is sick, you got to drop everything and take care of the animal. So it is a huge responsibility. On the other hand, for me, I love the experience of living like a local. I love the experience of having furry friends when I'm traveling. I like the experience of of landing in a new place and having a network they're already set for me and that you know, the homeowners are there. I usually ask them to introduce me to a friend of theirs that I could go out and have a cup of coffee with a glass of wine or take a walk or something. So I can see something that's off the beaten path. Sometimes those people have, like, introduced me to some fantastic experiences that I never could have had on my own. For example, in 2019, I have sat in, and I'm gonna butcher this name, sorry, all your French speakers who were listening, radio and young, French island that's just east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. And I had never heard of radio Nyan before I saw it come up as a house sit on one of the platforms that I was a member of. And I was there for six weeks. Beautiful Island, extraordinary. And the homeowner introduced me to a friend of hers and, and Anna and I went scuba diving together, which was a lot of fun. But then this was during whale migrating season. So she arranged for me, for the tourists to go out and snorkel with whales in a Zodiac. So I was snorkeling with a mama and a baby humpback. It was just I was like, it was amazing, right? I never would have been able to do that if I hadn't had. And as this person who is local when I had all these connections, set it up for me, you know, I mean, there's just no way I could have gotten there and found this because this was not a commercial operation. So it was just, you know, incredible. So I've had experiences that have been very unique as that has happened as a result of of house sitting and, and taking advantage of the fact that I've got a local there who can recommend some very interesting and unique things to me. So So experience is the thing and and for me, the living like a local the having the on the ground safety net. Living in usually a safer area than typical tourist trap areas. Because I'm in I'm in a neighborhood or I'm in an apartment building or you know, it's like not a place where there's a lot of scammers hanging out like they would in the normal tourist areas. As a single woman, I really liked that aspect of house sitting. So yeah, I've big advocate.
Collin 27:14
It's so you you made the decision to move to Portugal. But you as you mentioned you You are also going to continue to to house it. Are you still doing the international traveling housesitting? Are you focusing more back on the local
Kelly 27:27
area? Well, my life has just changed with the practicalities. So there's just a lot of moving parts to relocating to a new country. And one of them is that Portugal is just great job of offering new immigrants free language lessons. And I was able to get into a language class immediately, which was just wonderful, because usually you're on a waiting list for a while. But what that means is that I have Monday and Thursday night classes. And I really don't want to miss them. Because this is a great gift that's been given me. So I am getting constricting my traveling right now to just weekend, local trips away. But I also just have a lot of bureaucratic stuff to do here. And so it's just easier for me to be right here in country to handle all of these different, different things that are involved with relocating and becoming a resident of a new country. So while I will still be house sitting internationally, I will be doing that this summer, actually. But right now I'm just constricting myself to local local houses.
Collin 28:34
There's there's a lot of things in life, right that you've had to focus on for now. And just make sure that you get those done. And that's part of our decision processes that we have to go through of going okay, well, I need to put this on hold. So I can focus on this. And then I'm going to put that on hold and focus. I'm just gonna work our way through that. But part of your decision in this is as you mentioned earlier, you've made the switch from doing free visits and three free petsitting housesitting to now charging for that. And so what was the shift that that you decided, okay, this, this is a change I need to make at this point.
Kelly 29:08
Well, it, you know, like a lot of my quote unquote, decisions about how sitting it sort of fell into my lap and it wasn't a decision. Yeah, to be perfectly honest. So I'm on our Facebook group, Lisbon dog and cat owners or something like that. And somebody had posted looking for a house sitter, and somebody commented and said, Oh, you know, you can go on these different platforms and somebody will come and stay for free. And you alluded to this earlier, Colin, this, this original poster wrote, why would I trust somebody who would pay their way to come and stay in my home for free? And so I wrote and I said, Well, I've done that, but if you want to pay me, let's meet Yeah, I mean, it was pretty much just like that. So, you know, so I met the couple met, the dog fell in love with the dog, a couple lives, you know, a half hour walk from me, I mean, it's very easy for me to get to. And they feel more comfortable and confident with the relationship because for them that makes it feel more professional. And they don't have to go through the constant screening process. They're there, they're a younger couple, and they travel once a month for four or five days to Rome or Paris or, you know, take advantage of just being in Europe. So, so it's great. So once a month, I go over and I spend four or five nights with a dog and have a great time. And they have a very comfortable house. And it's it's an I get a little pocket money. So it's a real win win. So they don't need to keep going through as homeowners, they don't need to keep going through the process of trying to find new people each time. Because I'm here. And frankly, I've got I don't know, probably seven or eight clients now and that I'm juggling, and it's all it's been all word of mouth. And it were through this Facebook group.
Collin 31:04
You mentioned a little bit there about the different, I don't know client expectations or interactions with them. Could you walk us through that more about that? Because you've experienced both the free exchange service and now you're going into the paid services? What are the different mentalities like or how do you navigate working with those different clients,
Kelly 31:26
I used to feel that one of the benefits of doing free house sitting was that I wasn't treated like the household help, I was like an honored guest. And most of the time I was sometimes I got the attitude of well, I'm letting you live in my house. Which always bothered me, because to me, that felt very dismissive. And it didn't take into effect the huge responsibility, it was taking on taking care of somebody else's. Everything right, their home, their pets, their their entire lives. But you know, most of the time, there was a lot of graciousness about it and gratitude. But I you know, but being paid, I find that there's a huge level of respect that I'm getting people, people are treating me as a professional. Because even when I wasn't getting paid, I saw myself as a professional. But now everybody else is seeing me as a professional because there is that financial transaction. So it's it is a different dynamic.
Collin 32:28
I definitely, I can definitely see that in in the what that relationship is of, of, you know, they they pay for a mechanic or they pay for help, or they pay for all these other services. And it does set up I think, just as immediate expectations for what's on the table and and who I'm working with on the other end. And, and I know that there can still be some I know, we've certainly experienced it with some of our own clients have the feeling of well, you are the hired help. So XYZ,
Kelly 32:58
but by by, you know,
Collin 33:00
most of the time there is that level of respect that comes with that exchange, because they see, oh, there's value here, I'm giving value I'm receiving value back in this very immediate transaction.
Kelly 33:12
Yeah, it really is very interesting. i There's also an there isn't the competition factor, either with a free house sitting, you know, there's homeowners usually, especially if they're in a desirable place, they get deluged with, with applicants. And so, you know, they get to, which is fine, and they get to pick and choose who they want. But I think that also shifts the mentality a little bit too, because then it's like, oh, you know, everybody wants to come here. So who do I let come here?
Collin 33:44
There's a lot of there's a lot riding on their decision at that point. And, and then this way, you know, you're in the country, you're in the area, you meeting them, you're interacting with them, you can really build that relationship a lot faster, I presume? Or at least make them a little bit more natural in that
Kelly 33:59
aspect. Yes, absolutely. And so you know, and I do get a chance to meet everybody beforehand. And so and I appreciate that, I mean, I always do the video chat, because I'm used to that and and certainly would do that when I was doing international sets before I would take take a detour I'd accept an assignment. But here, you know, it is easier, I get to go over and pick up a key and meet the dog and meet the people even after we agree. Now I still do an agreement. I'm a big believer in having things written down. And you know, so I've taken my house sitting agreement form which is seven pages long, based on you know, everything I've experienced over the years and then send that out to people and ask them to complete that before before the said and it just has everything not just about the pet care. And the you know, for a dog with the dogs triggers are when you walk in the dog and you know where cats could hide, right so you know if you ever put other cats in like the cat Go back at some closet somewhere that you know, likes to hang out. So not only questions about the pets, but also about the neighborhood. Are there any touchy issues with neighbors? Where, you know, when does the garbage go out? How do you do the recycling? I mean, here in Lisbon, it's like every neighborhood has its different recycling rules. You know, that's not uniform. So whether or not they have weapons in the home, or we're security cameras, you know, just a whole range of questions that that are not deal breakers, but it's just information sharing that people would wouldn't necessarily think of when they're having a stranger come into their home? No,
Collin 35:40
they certainly don't, because it's just their quote, unquote, normal life, right? They don't, they don't think about, oh, this is the door that you have to open with your tongue out to the left and your left and your right eyebrow up to get to open just right. Like they don't think about that, because that's just how they live. And so you do have to ask them, these very specific questions.
Kelly 36:00
Have you been to Lisbon and played around with the locks here? Because I have had more than one homeowner tell me I need to be a key whisperer.
Collin 36:09
Well, they see exactly where they go. Oh, is there anything else you need to know about the house? Like, oh, yeah, also, there's, you know, there's a giant monster that lives under my bed. That's nice. Okay, I'm gonna write that down.
Kelly 36:22
Exactly, exactly. So you know, so I ask, I ask all those questions. And I ask questions about how often people want to be communicated with and how they would prefer to be communicated with some people want daily updates. Others are like, just contact me if you have a question. I asked people, obviously, all the information about the vets emergency contact and, and I ask about where's the closest hospital to you? Right? People hospital, okay, so I need help. You know, what the what the International SOS number is, right? Because that's different from a, you know, another country. So all of that stuff is on my forum, and I still send it out to people and ask them to fill it out. And out of Collin, I do that for a couple of reasons. I mean, not only is it about me, so that I have information if something goes wrong, and I have it in my hands and can deal with it. But it and I put and I have it all in one place. But it also makes people realize what the responsibility is that I'm taking on. It just underscores that. And the more I can underscore that with people without sounding obnoxious about it is something I like to do, because I want them to know that whether they're paying me or not paying me, I am providing a huge service. I'm not just hanging out at your house, you know. And so I'm happy to do it. That's why I do it. I really love. I love travel so much. And I want everybody to be able to experience it, even if they've taken in three rescue cats, you know, that shouldn't stop them from being able to experience traveling. So I love being able to give pet owners that peace of mind when they experience travel. And so, but I also want them to understand what I'm taking on as well, you know, so
Collin 38:16
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Kelly 39:46
Yes, and you know I is an American no matter where I live or where I earn my money, I still have to pay US taxes. The US is the only country in the world that has that requirement. In Portugal. I also have to Final taxes here. And so I'm just in the process of finding all this out. But I will be like the, you know, the money that I earn, it's not a lot every month, but you know, it's something the money that I earn as a house sitter will be reported to the government here and will also be on my US taxes. So you know, that's a consideration as well.
Collin 40:22
Yeah. Death and taxes and multiple turns out so you've been, you've been growing this business, you're this this part of the pet sitting in the house sitting now and you're collecting clients? Do you see yourself continuing to grow this? Or make it something there locally? Or is it kind of what's your what's your plans with this now that you're you've started this?
Kelly 40:44
Well, I'm really loving house sitting locally, because it's giving me a chance to see different neighborhoods and Lisbon, right, like, I mean, I got here a year ago, December, found this apartment, and Randy did and it wasn't able to live in it for another five months until I had the visa that allowed me to do that. So it all happened very quickly. I love where I live, I love the neighborhood where I live, I landed well, but I'm also seeing other neighborhoods that are pretty cool. And it's great to live like a local in these other neighborhoods. And that's been a real benefit for me just doing this locally. I what I hope to do is just expand out and see more places in Portugal as a sitter. And then, you know, go back to international sitting and traveling throughout Europe. Once I get the, the Portuguese lessons under my belt, right? Please don't ask me to say anything in Portuguese, please shout,
Collin 41:42
we were going to finish out the episode and I've been practicing all morning. No, I haven't at first. But that is a very important aspect in this entire process, if you are looking at wanting these experiences, and if you are interested in living like a local part of that, I assume does mean having some rudimentary grasp of the local language, whether that's reading or speaking, so that you can make your way in that area and in that community. Oh, that's a
Kelly 42:11
very good point. I have to say that probably every single person I've have set for in the last 14 years has been an expat. Okay. So, American speaking so oftentimes, it's international teachers, it's American teachers who are living in teaching abroad, and they go away for a summer and let somebody to take care of their dog you know, or in the UK I would obviously how sit for Brits, but elsewhere around the world. I'm just thinking through my mind here, it's yeah, it's all been expats who speak English. And so I haven't, you know, I haven't really had any difficulty getting around it. You know, it's amazing to me how many people speak English around the world, especially in cities. It's just extraordinary. I'm in this I'm in this Portuguese language class. Right now. We've got 29 students in there, four of us are from the United States. One guy's for Australia and one guy from Scotland. All the rest are from non native English speaking countries, and they all speak English, proficiently. It just blows me away. I mean, they're from Russia, and Iran, and Bosnia and Germany and Turkey and Nepal. I mean, and they all speak English beautifully. It's, it's humbling actually, as an American that I only speak one language.
Collin 43:37
Oh, yeah, I had a French teacher in high school. And she she spoke something like seven different languages. And I just was sitting there like, well, I'm going to struggle to grasp this extra one here for the day. So I feel really, really that's an important part to know. Like, if that's something that if you feel like is a barrier, right, first, you can select the city that you're interested in very well, right. You can't you can, you can look at areas where you think, okay, maybe that's a lower barrier of entry for me. And then understanding that there is a lot of wide acceptance about that. And you'll probably be pretty surprised about that the prevalence of of English in an area if that's what you are
Kelly 44:15
looking for. Yes, I mean, I've how sad in Oh, my gosh, I mean, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, three countries in Africa. Today throughout Europe, and so, you know, by and large, I've always had English speakers around me. The only time I didn't was this one time in China, where I was in a small communities small by Chinese standards. yawn, China, and I was there when the English speaking school was on break, and I was house sitting for some English teachers. So everybody was gone. I was the only non Asian face I saw for about 10 days, it was very isolating. I, you know, I enjoyed being there and I enjoyed traveling around and seeing the area, it was quite an experience, you know, you could do anything for two weeks, right? That's kind of my feeling two weeks is about my sweet spot. So, you know, if I haven't been to a place I would go for not more than two weeks. So I put up with anything. And putting up with it was like, this was a lovely place in a very interesting place. But it was it was isolating, not having any English speakers around. Sure, for me, you know, settled speak Chinese,
Collin 45:31
that we really can make these what we what we want with it. And so kind of I guess, as you've gone through this process of of using house sitting to find an international place to live, and now integrating yourself into that local community. What are some of your big takeaways or lessons or things that if people are listening to this going, oh, man, that sounds sounds really interesting. Maybe places they could start as well? Sure. And I'm
Kelly 45:57
going to go back to something you said earlier that I think is really, really important, Colin, and that's to recognize that, that house sitting is a form of travel is experiential on every, every level, right? So it's, so I think it's important for anybody thinking about doing it, to think about the kind of experience they want. And that that can change based on that they could change based on 1000 things, right? Like, there are times when I want to focus on a book or something. And so I, I like the place where I would be a little bit more isolated and not have a lot of distractions, that, you know, museums and theater and so forth that I want to go see because I want to really focus on the book. Most of the time, as I said, I'm a city girl, and I like to be able to be in a city where I can go out and experience culture, theater, and dance and, and music and so forth. So, so for me, rural sets are not that interesting, they're not that attractive to me. But I have friends who grew up on farms, and they love to go out and take care of the sheep and take care of the horses and put the chickens in the coop every night. You know, I mean, that's like their idea of bliss. So I think it's really important to think about all of the different factors. So do you want a relaxing vacation? Do you want a more active kind of holiday? Do you want rural city? Lots of culture, more of a retreat? Look at the workload that's involved? How many times does the dog need to be walked every day? How much flexibility were you have with the animals, some animals need a lot of a lot of attention, a lot of constant tension. So you know, how much is that going to impact on on what you want to do? I mean, I've had sets where it was kind of a drag to walk the dog four times a day because it man, I couldn't be out doing other stuff. And I've had other times when it was brilliant that I had to walk this dog four times a day, because they've got me up, away from my riding so that I could get out, you know, right. So it's I think it's it's all about perspective. And that can shift and change based on based on a whole variety of things. So I think that I think that's like the number one thing that I would recommend to anybody starting out in this history is to really consider what your needs are. So that you can apply to how suits that are most appropriate to meeting those needs.
Collin 48:27
I guess my last question for you, Kelly is how many plates do you have now in your apartment? Is it six plates of silver silverware? Look at that, I could just look at Kelly, I'm so glad to hear that. This process has been sounds like you know, it's been a learning experience. And you're finding a place that sounds like it's been a dream and is really coming together for you. And thank you for for sharing that experience with us and giving us the tips of the pieces and looking at the different platforms to go look and how to go about that process of finding sets that would work for us and really just about the possibility of this, if that's something that we're thinking about or wanting to try. I do know that this is there's a lot that goes into this. And there's a lot more here. So how can people get in touch with you and follow along with everything that you're doing?
Kelly 49:31
Yeah, my website is how CIT diva.com. And that's a great place my email addresses on there. It's a great place to contact me through that. It's also we can get an E copy of my book or go to Amazon for that and my contact information is in the back of the book as well. I'd love to answer questions about how sitting so feel free to get in touch. Just yeah, I mean it's just such a great way to see the world and meet people.
Collin 50:01
Yeah, okay, well, I will have links to those in the show notes, Kelly, so people can click right to those. Again, thank you so much for taking time out of your day and sharing this with us. It's been wonderful to get back in touch with you and get caught up with everything that's, that's been going on in your life.
Kelly 50:16
Thank you, Colin, you too. And, you know, happy traveling. Happy travels.
Collin 50:22
While many of us aren't traveling the globe to find where we're going to set down our routes. My biggest takeaway from Kelly is the importance of exposing ourselves to new thoughts, new ideas, new cultures, new things in our lives, to help us make better and more informed decisions. Sure, it helps whenever you're searching for a home or a neighborhood to live. But it also helps in our business. When we look to new ways of operating or understanding ways we don't want to operate. That takes seeking out experiences newness, bringing, intentionally bringing newness into our lives into our business by going to conferences, reading books, listening to your favorite podcast, or, or talking with a best friend over coffee. You see the only way that we are to ensure that we have a full understanding or a fuller understanding of what we're getting into is by trying new things. And while it is scary, it's also critical to the success of your business and running a life that you would love to live. We want to thank today's sponsors tired pet and the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets YouTube channel for making it possible. We also really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
