For many, travel is a way of life. Take Lauren Bassart. She packed up her hubby and dog and took to the road to travel the world. Recently, Lauren began housesitting for other travelers who needed to leave their pets behind while they explored the world. In this article, she tells us about the experience and what it was like for her family.
As of May 2013, I sold my house in Miami, Florida and began life as a full-time traveller. My Volkswagen GTI was packed to capacity with all of my belongings and the two things that were necessary for my well-being, my husband and my dog. Zoe is my 12 year old Weimaraner. She has travelled all across the North American continent and seen more cities and stayed in more fancy hotels than most humans that I know. She is living the dream and taking full advantage of all of the snuggles and treats along the way. Thus was born our website, TheConstantRambler.com.
The Constant Rambler started off as a blog about two people living the ultimate travel dream. People noticed that we were traveling with our dog and quickly our site became more about Zoe living the dream than about us lame humans. She travels remarkably well in our small car, but that’s because we spoil her and she has her very own doggie condo in the back of the small hatchback.
Quite often, Zoe gets better treatment than we do at pet friendly hotels. They roll out the red carpet and treat her like royalty. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had my name on a chalk board outside of a hotel.
The most commonly asked question that I get since starting this new adventure is “How do you afford to travel full-time with your dog?” There are many ways we do this as travel bloggers. We work with cities and destinations in exchange for coverage, we self-fund our own stays in hotels, and sometimes we stay with friends and family. One of our favorite ways to stay traveling however, is housesitting.
Housesitting is where you stay in someone’s home and take care of there property and/or pets in exchange for a free stay. While the free accommodations are great, my favorite part of housesitting is the fact that I get to be a temporary dog mommy to all these sweet doggies. It’s really fun to go on the road and have new pets to play with when you reach a new city. Many people wonder how housesitting works when you bring your own dog. It is a bit more difficult to get a homeowner to allow you to stay in their home and care for their pets when you want to bring along your own. The important part is to make sure that the homeowner understands that your doggy is well socialized and will be a good doggy friend to their pets. Most dogs that are socialized properly from puppy-age are thrilled to have a new friend to play with.
My view on this situation is, if you want pet-friendly people to make sure your pets are cared for in the best manner possible, then wouldn’t those pet-friendly people actually have pets?!? Interestingly in all the times we’ve ever house sat with Zoe and another dog, it’s never taken more than 20 minutes to get all the dogs socialized and getting along together.
Zoe, as a well-seasoned traveller, and has quite a few housesits under her belt. She gets along great with cats, dogs, and other animals. I really think she prefers the company of other animals rather than her boring human parents. She is pretty easy going and likes to share food, snuggles, and naps. She is extremely social but also pretty aloof about other pets in her space, so it’s important that she always has a space to herself. I really feel like we did a bang up job on teaching her that “the more the merrier.”
No matter what your travel style is, there is always a way to bring your best friend with you. The next time you are planning a trip, add housesitting as another way to stay the pet friendly way. You’ll love the affordability and new friends (both human and canine) you make along your way.
