The Last Sit

Carlisle
Our final Sit brought us to Carlisle, England and in some ways it was the perfect conclusion to the first part of our adventure. We arrived by train and our host, Peter, picked us up and drove us 10 minutes to their home providing an informative narrative. Peter and Lindsey had an immaculate and comfortable home tastefully decorated and they had a friendly cat name Fliss.

Fliss

The bus stop was minutes from their door making visits to Carlisle convenient. Carlisle has a population of about 70,000 with comfortable shops and restaurants and ample energy. Lindsey prepared a delicious dinner. Afterward we talked while drinking wine. Their home was as comfortable as any place we stayed during our six months and Fliss perfectly behaved. Upon their return from holiday, we shared some coffee and tea and they told us about their holiday of dancing and we conveyed our pleasure of living in their home, experiencing Carlisle and caring for Fliss. We all hugged while they thanked us for taking care of their home and Fliss, while we encouraged them to visit us if they ever come to the States.






Some thoughts on the Sits.
 What a wonderful way to see the world! As the Sit part of our journey has ended, it's nice to reflect back on those Sits.

John: 

Our Adventure began as an idea to live outside of the US and evolved into taking care of homes and pets in Western Europe for six months, travel back to the States for a wedding and rent an apartment in Eastern Europe and travel Eastern and Central Europe until our tenants’ lease expired on May 1^st. We were excited to see places in Europe, place ourselves in situations we had never been and meet some wonderful people.

The Pet Sitting process involves buying a subscription to websites where pet owners post opportunities to stay in their home to take care of their pets while they are on holiday or away for business. The Sits can be for a few days to a few months. Some are posted days in advance of their departure while others are months in the future. Barb was able to reserve about 45 days of the 180 available before our flight to London. Our intention was to have Sits for as many of the days as possible to minimize hotel costs but learned quickly to allow adequate time between Sits for travel. Getting from our second Sit in Ward End England to meet with our Edinburgh host taught us a lesson. The time constraints were too tight traveling from Ward End, England with a departure time of 3:30AM flying to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet our host by noon, the same day.

France

While we were well prepared for the eight hours on a sleepless flight from Orlando, FL to London we had some difficulties moving from city to city using multiple forms of mass transit on average every four to five days over the course of six months. But we made commitments to our hosts and knew the end date was November 29^th, the date of our flight back for the wedding, so we persevered and the experiences in the cities and towns and the meeting of our hosts will be remembered for a very long time, especially our hosts. By the time we reached our final Sit in Carlyisle, Barb had secured Sits for 147 days of the 180, on average we traveled every 4 to 5 days, we had been to a dozen cities with populations from 4,300 to 8.8 million, we were entrusted to mostly cats but almost a dozen dogs and two chickens. Two of our Sits were in homes over 400 years old and one was a new, modern condo. 

We learned we preferred traveling by train over flying. The train stations were busy places during the day ranging from futuristic type malls to waiting rooms with small shops and vending machines. But each had display boards of the schedule of trains for the next several hours. The infrequent travelers all seemed to gather around the displays gazing or giving periodic glances to find their connection location and details. We almost always had time before boarding our next connection and enjoyed buying sandwiches and snacks for the next section of the trip and share a meal or a coffee with my lovely partner. Only once was there a security check to board a train. This greatly reduced the hassles of traveling by train compared to flying.

Bus travel is usually the least expensive and as comfortable as trains and with none of the flying hassles. The downside of bus travel is because of traffic, travel time is at risk of being extended. The other negative is some of the destinations are bus stops as opposed to stations. Think about the sometimes random places you see a bus stop sign and imagine not speaking the language, hungry and needing to get to a hotel or make another connection. One of our bus stops in Biarritz, France was in a housing development with only a pizza place and houses. We asked a pizza worker for a taxi company number, preferably English speaking. We didn’t have to travel far but there was a minimum $15 charge to get in the vehicle, so it cost about $30 to travel a few miles. But if you don’t encounter traffic delays and you end at a bus station, as opposed to a stop, the seats are comfortable and the views from the bus are the best.

Bakewell UK

While still in the states, after securing our first Sit, during the interview with our host, we agreed to come the day before their departure. We would have dinner together and stay overnight in their spare bedroom. After the interview, while discussing what we each understood, we both expressed hesitation and some angst about accepting the kindness of strangers before ever doing anything to earn it. We both agreed we would approach it as a learning experience. While it was mildly uncomfortable, our lovely hosts, Michaela and David, were warm, friendly and so genuine we were both at ease instantly and glad to be spending time with them. For the next 12 or so Sits, that approach was, by far, the preferred process and, as it turns out, allowed us to meet some wonderful people with delightful interactions that will be some of our fondest memories. While I usually felt slight angst planning to meet our next hosts, I was able to reassure myself recollecting prior meetings and the moment I started talking to our new host I was enjoying myself. I noticed how I felt just prior to our first Sits compared to the disappointment when our London Sit arrangements did not allow us to meet our host. 

Barb: When I first read about pet sitting, I thought "Yeah, sure. It's one of those things that you read about but very few people actually get do it. It sounds too good to be true." A little research told me it was doable. Do your homework, prepare and go after it. There are legit websites and real people that would love for you to come and pet sit for them.

Bear in Munich

13 Sits. So many wonderful memories. Sure there were issues from time to time but the majority of our time was wonderful. Amazing countries, amazing homes but the best part were our hosts. As we previously said in our blog post "New Friends" we have been lucky to meet some really fantastic people. They were welcoming, accommodating and respectful. They loved their pets and only wanted someone to care and love them while they were away. They were open minded enough to open their home to strangers and trust that we were everything we said we were.

The Sits got us to Europe. We have learned so much since landing in London back in May. If we decided to do it again, there are some things we would tweak but I think we did really well our first time out. 83% of our time for our first 6 months was spent doing Sits. When our journey ends in April, we want to look at pet sitting in the States. It's a wonderful way to see the world!


(If anyone would like more information on pet sitting, please message us privately and we would be glad to share what we know)

Cheers!
Barb and John

A Night in Paris with Grouins

We had our final bottle of sparkling wine on our last night in Bannier-Charente France, staying up later than we had planned. We set the alarm for 6:30a allowing us enough time to put the home back in order, pack and be cleaned up for our ride from a friend of our host that morning. We both woke long before the alarm so we started our short trip for our single night in Paris with less energy than planned. The three hour train ride to Paris was easy but when we exited the largest terminal in the city we were unwittingly on the opposite side of the huge building. So, what could have been a five minute walk to the hotel took about 25.

Our hotel room was perfect with purple bed cushions and transparent red plastic light covers over the bed. We had intended to see several recommended places but did not have enough energy so we opted to find a restaurant bar close to the hotel.

Barb found several on trip advisor but settled on La Pointe du Grouin, pronounced Grow-au and the French translation is snout, as the one found on a pig. It is a wine bar serving small plates. The restaurant owner/chef chose a grinning pig as the emblem for his wine bar. The reviews were all very good and it was only a block away. Barb said we needed cash because the restaurant used a token system for payment.

We walked a couple of minutes, passing several places that looked nice to eat and drink, then saw some people sitting outside. Above a partially rolled up tagged corrugated metal door was painted the word Grouin and knew we were at the right place. We went inside and realized there was no table service so we grabbed a couple of menus and headed for a picnic table for eight with only two women seated at one end. I literally squeezed into the back corner blocked in by a heavy artificial tree and the table. The menu listed different types of wine priced by the glass, 2 Grouin, .5 liter 10 Grouin, and 1 liter for 20. At the top of the menu a note indicated 1 Groin equals 1 Euro.

The menu was all in French so we picked words we thought we recognized for the first two tapas, Grouin pane and Tapenade and Panache de Jambonde pays, we translated bread, olive paste and ham. The total was 28 Grouin, 10 for the wine and 18 for the two tapas. Since I was penned in Barb took responsibility for ordering the food and deciphering the token system and navigating a French menu with bartenders with adequate or no English. Luckily the bartender was cute and she flashed her smile so she didn’t have a problem. Here’s how the system works. On the wall, next to the bar is a “Grouin”, currency, dispenser that accepts paper Euros in any combination equaling 10 Euros. After inserting enough Euros the machine dispenses coins in denominations of 10 Grouin the equivalent of 10 Euros or 2 Grouin. Barb fed in 30 Euros and the machine dispensed 2-10 denomination Grouin and 5-2 denomination Grouin. She showed the bartender the menu and ordered our wine and two tapas returning to the table with a 2 Grouin coin. So, our two small plates and 16 ounces of wine cost 28 Grouin or €28 or $32. I will let that sink in while I describe the food, restaurant and atmosphere.

The Tapenade came with discs of hard puffed crackers and the Jambon plate was dried charcuterie, mozzarella balls soaked in olive oil and herbs on a small bed of arugula. I have only recently incorporated olives into my diet and am proud to say I have not shied away from one in 4 years. The tapenade was scrumptious even though the crackers used to get it to my mouth were flavorless and too crunchy the flavor of the tapenade was fantastic. The second dish was deliciously seasoned mozzarella and cured ham. The wine was dry and pleasant. The restaurant has a good wine selection for people that are knowledgeable.


There were about six tables, all occupied on the front walk. The inside of the restaurant was divided into two dining sections similar in size to the patio area separated by a bathroom area, and the bar with food prep and cooking space. The bar was in the corner of the restaurant immediately in front as you enter the restaurant. One worker takes most of the orders and completes the Grouin transaction, there is the dishwasher and food runner behind him and a third worker with his small work area behind the dishwasher.

After we finished a third appetizer, Andouille de l' argoat & patates which was just incredible, we went to the bar and bought another half liter of wine.

By that time most of the tables were occupied inside and there were still people outside although it felt chilly to us. The bar had a steady flow of customers there placing orders for tapas and wine. One woman ordered some take-away food and a magnum of champagne. While she waited I saw her give the bottle a slight kiss. There was a constant low roar of sounds coming from the two dining rooms with much laughter and talking. Behind the bar the three guys worked continuously and efficiently.
The cashier guided new people through the currency explanation, in French or English, gave tips on the menu items and different wines and completed the transaction by dropping the Grouin coins in a basket and giving the customer a rock with a number painted on it. Our barstools were directly in front of the dishwasher. He completed his primary job easily and had time to slice bread for the cook and pick up dishes and briefly converse with guests.

The bar was busy with a friendly energy and the workers completed their work and serviced customers promptly and politely. The walls were filled with odd decorations and the bar had just enough room for the customers with the remaining space taken up with menus, baskets, glasses, bottles of wine and other supplies. We contemplated more wine but were about out of steam so we left, satisfied and satiated.

I was curious why the restaurant would create a system of currency unique to a single relatively small business. There are several advantages I thought of immediately, employees don’t have to touch any currency for each transaction, less chance the place would be robbed and bookkeeping would be simplified and cash only.

This system would never be accepted in the US and only works for basic reasons, in France tipping is rare so the question of the effect of the token system being advantageous to customers or the workers is not relevant. The main reason this token system could be considered is the menu price is the exact amount owed by the customer. There are no additional taxes or other charges are added to prices. So, if the menu indicates €3.50 you pay only that exact amount. The owner has priced everything on the menu in €2 or Grouin increments so it is plausible to combine combinations of tapas and foods to equal €10, which is the only amount the Grouin machine will dispense. For instance, our initial order left us with 2 Grouins remaining. We wanted more to eat so we selected a tapa for 8 Grouin and two glasses of wine for 4 Grouins. Barb used a €10 bill in the machine and combined with the 2 remaining Grouins we had zero Grouins remaining.

We thoroughly enjoyed the food and the experience and from the reviews it seems we had many others that agree. I may never see a token system at another restaurant so we will remember that uniqueness as well.

If you would like to watch a short video from our night at La Pointe du Grouin, just CLICK HERE

Cheers!
John

A Month in France

John and his convertible

We communicated with Veronica and Frank for months before our housesit. We worked through an issue with needing a car during our stay (Frank ended up buying a very cute Fiat convertible which they graciously let us use). Throughout our conversations via email, John and I felt very good about our impending stay in the rural countryside of France.

We were not wrong. Veronica and Frank were wonderful hosts. Our first night there, we shared wine in the garden and met their family and of course Henry and Etta, They then took us to a local restaurant, L'Auberge du Noyer, where we met many of their friends. Good food, good drink, good music, great company. We headed back to the house with their friend Stephen joining us. I mentioned to Veronica and Stephen how John and I are sparkling wine drinkers. The next day Stephen and his partner John dropped off a very nice bottle of sparkling wine.

The next morning Veronica and Frank headed out. There we were, staying in a beautiful 17th century French farmhouse with two adorable cats named Henry and Etta and a very cute convertible! The house is magnificent! Built around 1650, the house sat on the road used to travel from Paris to Spain. Travelers would stop there to rest before continuing on their journey. The garden is beautiful and the setting is something out of a storybook.

Test taste of roqueforts

For the next 4 weeks we would drive into the nearest town for groceries, visit some of the smaller towns around the area and just relax. It was a nice break from all the traveling we had been doing. We "nested". The kitchen was big and well stocked with anything we needed for cooking so we took advantage of that. We made a lot of meals. The local grocery store, E.Leclerc, was amazing! Foods we do not have in the states and honestly, the quality of food was better than what we are used to. In particular was the roquefort cheese, it was out of this world! One of the best foods I have ever tasted.  Every week, John and I would try different varieties.

Fresh peaches from a neighbor

We loved having a kitchen to cook in! One of the neighbors brought us fresh peaches from her yard. John made jam which was delicious! We also made bruschetta with peaches and goat cheese.

Stephen and John invited us to join them and their friends visiting from the UK at L'Auberge du Noyer. It was country western night and they would be having a bbq menu and live music. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience a little of home in the french countryside! We had a great time! The food was good and the duo played some great country hits. The place was packed!



One day, we had a visitor at the house. I was in the living room when John announced, "There's a chicken in the house". I said "There's a chicken in the house?". John says that's exactly what I said. There in the dining room was a chicken! She walked right in through the open door and was making herself at home. We opened up the door in the dining room and she walked right out.

Henry

Etta

Henry and Etta were great company. Etta warmed up to us right away and spent her nights (and most of her days) on our bed. Henry on the other hand was elusive at first. At the beginning of our stay we went almost 4 days without seeing him. We did figure out that he was coming home to eat and leaving afterwards. By the second week, he was hanging out with us daily and eventually even would nap with us while we watched TV. One night Etta did not show up for bedtime. She did come running in in the middle of night, checking the closet, bathroom and every corner of the room. She abruptly left and we did not see much of her the following day. That night she showed up in the bedroom with a present. Seems she had been stalking a mouse and finally caught the poor thing. John deposited Mickey outside and Etta returned to her routine of sleeping on our bed.

Unfortunately, we left for Paris and Amsterdam before Frank and Veronica arrived home. We're hoping we stay in touch and that one day we can host them in the mountains of North Carolina.

To see more of my photos from France, just CLICK HERE

Cheers!
Barb

What We’ve Done, What We’ve Learned

While the overarching idea, rent our home in the states and stay rent free traveling Europe and elsewhere by Pet Sitting for a year was very appealing and financially sound, we still had to overcome some obstacles - physically moving all of our belongings from place to place, coordinating schedules for Sits while identifying and organizing the different modes of transportation, balancing our budget and finally, enjoying the experiences of our lives.

Etta in France

A critical component for us to be able to travel six months in Europe is Pet Sitting. Pet or House Sitting is when homeowners, going on holiday (vacation) or a business trip for days or weeks, open their home, rent free, in exchange for feeding and attending to their pet’s needs. So, for feeding and playing with animals, we live, temporarily, in homes located in towns and cities throughout Europe meeting some wonderful people and experience things we never thought we would. Since the animals are not on life support requiring 24/7 care and we are not trained veterinarians, we are able to venture out in the area for hours at a time while our furry friends sleep, oblivious to our brief absence. Fantastic! Although the Sits with our new furry friends has been rewarding and memorable, the purpose of our trip was to experience people, places and things.

Since we are in our 50’s, with me closer to 60, moving our 40 pounds of luggage between the six Sits (so far) and four additional stops, almost always via multiple transportation modes in three months has been challenging. Luckily, Barb is a determined person and devoted partner and does her fair share of the physical moving and I have been able to provide any extra muscle when needed. We learned to shift as much weight to our backpacks for the ground transportation since there is no size restrictions and distribute it into our handbags when flying. This has helped tremendously. We realized the difficulty of moving our luggage as we made our way to our first hotel in London but the impetus for change happened boarding our plane on Flybe airlines. I still recall the feeling of angst as I entered our plane’s fuselage, each with our 20 pound backpacks and seeing the overhead not much bigger than a bread box realizing they would never fit. During our next Sit we worked on a solution. Just recently we received our collapsible handcart that should help even more.

The coordination of the dozen or so Sits we will probably need for the six months in Europe have been handled perfectly by Barb. She applies for Sits, always mindful of available time slots in our schedule, arranges interviews and makes sure I look somewhat presentable when we have a Skype call. As far as the travel arrangements, Barb must have travel planning in her DNA or blood because she has always done that in our relationship and has been fantastic on this Adventure. I’ve watched her sit in front of our laptop with her eyes glazing, toggling between many different screens for schedules for trains, buses, airlines, hotels and their cancellation policies, Google maps for walking distances from terminal to terminal to hotel, and other websites. It’s too much for me to comprehend and since she enjoys it and skilled my input would just muddle things.

We did learn a valuable lesson on over committing to our hosts. Between our second and third Sit we had to leave at 3:30AM in Ward End, England to meet our third host in Edinburgh, Scotland by noon. We took a taxi to the airport, flew to Edinburgh, caught a tram into the city to get the keys for our AirBnB, then a taxi to meet our host and finally an Uber to our AirBnB. That was a grind but we did it and since then we make realistic commitments with adequate time between Sits.




After three months of traveling we are reasonably satisfied with our expenses relative to our budget. We still need to be aware of our budgetary constraints but also want to enjoy these experiences. Since we travel to locations based on the Sits we have been to places we never heard of so we never considered them as a place we would want to go. Our third Sit, Edinburgh Scotland, was such a place. After reading a travel book and doing a little internet research the city size was adequate, it had mass transportation, we could easily walk to places and their temperatures would be a high of 75 degrees. We stayed there for one month and saw a good portion of the city and it far exceeded our expectations and we would love to return. Another time we had four days before our Munich Sit so we selected Gdansk Poland because it was exotic, for us, and the flight was reasonable. Our research indicated the temperatures and cost of living was reasonable. Since it has a population of 450K we knew there would be activities we enjoy. We loved it! We could just as easily traveled to popular locations and had fun but I can’t imagine they would be more memorable than Gdansk. We knew the budget could be doomed by rationalizing expensive travel and hotels to popular but out of the way places by the phrase, “We should spend the money. We deserve it and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Pintxos 

I think people, friends, bloggers, writers, recommend places because they enjoyed them, of course, but they probably don’t have the same expectations of places or the same interest as us. Those suggestions are a good place to start but a decision should only be made after some introspection and research. Also, books or the internet should be taken as generally accurate. For instance, Barb found a blog that described a city in northern Spain having a style of eating and drinking that appealed to us, bars giving a free tapas with the purchase of a glass of wine. We enjoy eating small plates of food, going to bars and drinking wine or beer so we planned a trip to Bilbao, Spain. Well, the city was fantastic and we loved it but we didn’t get any free tapas. My point is if we had expected free food we would have been disappointed. We did expect bars to serve small plates and they did and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals and experience.



Sometimes we like to take the “On-Off Tours” of cities. It’s a way to see some of the city and identify sections that we would like to see. We took one of those tours in Munich Germany with the plan to stay on the bus for a complete route identifying stops we would like to go back to on the second time around route. I used the map provided to make note of interesting places. While listening to the guide and seeing the areas I filled the map with notes and asterisks on stops that were places we think would be worth going to. So, we finished the route and decided to go for lunch and discuss what we saw. There were several places on my map I made notes about and two with asterisks. As we read the tour bus brochure we realized we paid for the three different tours so we agreed to try one more tour after lunch. By the time we approached our last stop on that second tour I had made notes on five stops with asterisks next to three. Then we saw the Marienplatz, looked at each other and agreed this is the place to go. Well, two weeks in Munich and we went back to the Marienplatz every time we took the train into the city. Barb and I had a great time in all of our visits to the city but we can’t say we saw anything but one small section. I think most people judge their experiences on cities they visit based on what they have done, makes sense. So, if I tell a person Munich is a great city and we had fun I am actually describing one small section. The converse could also be true if a person tells us a city isn’t worth seeing. My point is if you adhere to limited guidelines based on your desires and a city meets them, it’s probably a place to explore.

I think seeing most of the world class and popular cities would be a great experience but I question if it is worth spending the extra money when you can go to a place you may never have heard of for far less and have a comparable or more memorable experience. Also, cities are not monolithic and are made up of several or many sections each possibly providing different experiences so unless your wants and needs match the personality of the person doing the recommending, you should do you own research and decide if you want to visit.

A minor point and possibly contradictory, is when you are considering saving a euro or two by taking a sleeper train through Madrid, Spain to a destination to avoid a hotel cost. We had that very situation and quickly decided to pay the additional euros for the hotel in Madrid even though we would only be there for part of day. Since we would be going through Madrid anyways why would we not want to see Madrid! This decision to spend the additional money in a city we didn’t research as opposed to sleeping on a train through a world class city was a wise one. (Note: That trip planned through Madrid fell through when we landed a Sit in Amsterdam Netherlands!)

Cheers!
John


Note from Barb: John expressed really well the thought process of how we have been traveling these last 3 months, our expectations, challenges and logistics of meeting every Sit. I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful partner to share this journey with. It can be stressful at times and it was a LOT of work just getting to the point of boarding the plane to Europe but we have said over and over and over again, it was worth it. We have met incredible people which we hope to stay in touch with and maybe host at our home, visited places I never dreamed of and have collected so many wonderful memories.