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By the pool in Jimbaran, Bali.
His twig and berries stared me dead in the eye.
He should have just donned a jockstrap.
Why bother with formalities?
Some guys – like me – have this thing, where if they scan below another man’s waist line their eyes will combust into flames spontaneously.
I noted his underwear. Or jock strap. And something inside. Then, eyes scanned North of the Border. Fear of combusting eyeballs kicked in.
My almost nude neighbor warmly greeted me, reaching out for a handshake, being adorned in a tight wifebeater T-shirt and said jock-strap-sized underwear.
As you may have guessed by now I did not meet this guy in New Jersey. If I did, you’d be certain we were rendezvousing at a rest stop.
Turns out, my neighbor Wayan lives in Jimbaran, Bali, off the beaten path, up in the hills.
He lives next door to the couple who has just attracted the best house sit. Ever. On earth.
I will relay the reasons in a minute but first, let’s talk about why meeting Wayan’s bits was an important lead in.
Ummmm….it was hysterical! I mean, how many of you Western up tights would greet a neighbor wearing tight underwear on the bottom and a tight T-shirt on top?
How many of you could form a heart felt, intimate bond with a new neighbor if you were dressed like someone trying out for a porno movie?
How many of you would have met someone, today, who was dressed as if he were channeling John Holmes?
I reckon, not many folks NOT living in some tropical paradise.
Blogging from Paradise
Paradise, for the intent of this blog and post, is consistent with the tropics. More importantly, tropical islands.
Bali, Fiji, Penang, Koh Lanta and other tropical islands are just a few spots where I laid my little, itty, bitty head.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about living on tropical islands:
the locals adopt a slow, relaxed pace
stress is fairly non-existent among the locals
people aren’t too caught up on customs/niceties/social norms which tend to stress Westerners (imagine introducing yourself to a neighbor back home wearing tight underwear?)
people in the tropics, from my experience of being on the road for 46 plus months, own less things, and are generally happier, healthier and more peaceful than folks in Western countries
Wayan had Ryan a’crying after our meet. I found his scant garb hysterical, and even more so, he cared not about introducing himself to me, privates first.
Before I delve into another ding-dong joke – I have a few in my arsenal – I just wanted to drill home this point: living in a place where locals are laid back, jovial, jolly, happy and at peace inspires you to be laid back, jovial, jolly, happy and at peace.
As you may imagine, house sitting for 4 months in a place like Jimbaran, Bali, way off of the grid – or kinda off of the grid – up in the hills, on farmland, has inspired me to adopt the pace of the locals. That pace promotes my peace and happiness.
This is just one of the reasons why I feel we have attracted the best house sit ever. We all want to be happy, laughing, joking fools, and my man Wayan inspired me to laugh out loud via his graphic garb.
Reasons Why this is the Best House Sit Ever
As mentioned, Kelli and I are house sitting for 4 months – or longer – in Jimbaran, Bali. We were excited to arrive after a 22 hour long flight because the pictures of this crib sent our way were pretty inspired.
Watch this 1080 HD Video
Watch this video for brilliant proof that this, in fact, the best house sit on earth.
The images didn’t do the place justice. And they were damn inspiring at that!
Imagine a football-field sized plot of land, fashioned into 4 sweeping, dramatic terraces, with 4 guest houses (1 studio, 3 houses) generously laid out across the property.
You have sweeping views of Jimbaran Bay on the West Side and the mountains and farm land on the East Side.
The main home hasn’t been built yet but the owners originally intended to offer villa style accommodations. Evidence can be seen from the dramatic sign on the front gate, the guard house, the stunning, natural-looking pool at the base of the terraces and the attention to detail you’d only find in villas where nightly rates range from hundreds to thousands of dollars….on up.
And Kelli and I are living here, rent-free and utility bill free, for 4 months.
Our duties: every other week we feed and walk 3 delightful dogs – and the cutest puppy in Bali, or in Asia, for that matter – and feed those bad boys. We feed cats daily and make sure they’re inside before sundown, so they don’t become python or monitor lizard food. Yes, pythons, monitor lizards and cobras all reside in these parts. Neat. I guess. Until I see one on my way to the thrown.
(Note; said puppy is so cute I wanted to gouge my eyes with a broach like Oedipus after seeing him for the first time; it wouldn’t get any better after that, so why bother?)
Oh yeah, we also feed 35 chickens on the weekend and take care of a special needs chicken named Bonnie, taking her to and from her luxurious little villa style chicken house for the day.
The Reasons for Being the Best House Sit on Earth
location; Jimbaran, Bali…..and we’re about 15 minutes away from the busy part of town, way off the grid, a 5 minute motorbike ride through wilderness to reach the villa…I feel like I’m riding toward the Bat Cave each time we head home.
Size of property; this is a football field sized plot of land that offers Kelli and I unparalleled privacy if we require it (yes we never had a fight as the married couples say….but just in case)
Stunning landscaping/layout: imagine a Better Homes and Gardens photo shoot. Location; the paradise of Bali. Stone statues, vividly-colored shrubs, coconut trees, palm trees, papaya trees and a wide range of vegetation make this place not a property, but a secluded, private resort villa, a retreat from the stresses of the day….and hell, I don’t stress much to begin with!
Our neighbors….and I’m not only talking about Whacky Wee-Wee Wayan….Our friends Reinhardt and Leeanne are also house sitting here. Yes, the property is that damn big. We couldn’t be more perfectly aligned….which again, is a reason why this is the best house sit on earth
Pretty darn strong WiFi…..not bad for being in the wilderness
dramatic views of the ocean on one side and the hills/farmland on the other side
strength of the USD versus the Ruppiah; 1 USD equals about 12,670 Ruppiah as of this writing….which means in the hood here (where prices are cheaper than in the touristy spots of town) we pay 16,000 Ruppiah, or $1.26 cents USD for a HUGE jug of water….ya know, those big ones used in an office setting
being surrounded by loving dogs, affectionate cats, cute puppies and fascinating cocks (roosters…not my neighb….oh stop it!)
watching 35 chickens – some of whom strut through the kitchen – work the grounds all day long
being so close to civilization; Western style supermarkets, kick ass Western style restaurants, Balinese style warungs, shopping, whatever….all is a 15 minute motorbike ride away
being 15 minutes away from some of the most jaw-dropping beaches on earth…..yes, Pandawa Beach and its white sands, and turquoise-blue, clear, peaceful waters is a hop-skip-jump/motorbike ride down the road, as the crow flies
….If I published 15,000 word posts I’d go on and on, but for now, the fact that we’re living on a huge property, with 4 homes, a resort style villa, with gorgeous views, a stunning pool, and doing this all, rent and utility free, well, I feel it qualifies as the best house sit on earth…..ever.
Why would a blogger be interested in doing house sits?
The Digital Nomad Bit
Have you noted that I don’t do income claims?
Here’s why: I inspire you to retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging.
You may manifest said life through:
making more money
cutting down on your expenses
moving to tropical lands where your net worth jumps 5 fold or greater
If I wanted to limit you, I’d say:
“Hey Pal, you’ll need to make X amount of money to live in Bali for 4 months.”
Since I want to free you, I say:
“Hey Pal, create value, connect with leaders, make more money, do house sits in paradise locations where your currency is super strong, and then, not only will your savings grow, you’ll be cutting expenses, and you can live in the lap of luxury while doing so.”
I feel like Magnum PI here, minus the thick, impressive mustache. I can’t grow one. At least to Tom Selleck-sized proportions. I’d rather not run around in paradise with a millipede on my lip, so I’ll save you the selfie horror by shaving and by sticking to what I do best: growing a Chia Pet style coif, looking a tad bit younger than my 40 years of age (birthday on Feb 8th, woohoo!), and inspiring you to retire to a life of island hopping, through smart blogging.
Magnum helped watch over a stunning estate; Kelli and I are helping to watch over a stunning villa-style resort nestled into the wilderness, in Bali, the Island of the Gods.
Not a bad gig.
I’d rather know the guy with the big boat instead of buying it myself. That’s just me.
I prefer being a digital nomad (check out Jeremy’s bold move and fab blog!); many of my readers feel the same way. We dig experiencing new places, checking out new digs and living a blessed, inspired life, doing our best “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” impersonations while generating steady cash flow online and enjoying the hell out of living in paradise.
Anybody who knows WHY they want to live this lifestyle can:
attract luxury house sits
create a lifestyle engineering blog
become a full time, professional blogger
travel anywhere in the world, indefinitely
retire from the 9-5 gig for good
I prefer to do the house sit bit because I can save more, and invest more of my savings, to grow my net worth, and I can do this from some of the most stunning areas on earth, rent-free. I’ve only attracted 3 house sits to date:
Savusavu, Fiji
Manhattan, NYC (stunning view of the East River)
Jimbaran, Bali
…..but each house sit rates as a 10, on a scale of 1 to 10, so I’m batting .1000 so far.
How Can You Attract the Best House Sitting Jobs?
Take a 2-pronged approach.
Work on your mindset.
Follow practical, simple tips.
Bloggers, I am telling you; even if you’re mainly looking for practical blogging tips here on Blogging from Paradise keep on reading…..because I betcha you wouldn’t mind living in paradise, rent-free, for a week, or for 4 months, right?
If you like taking vacations…..for free…..read on.
1: Mindset Tips
Have you noticed how most people struggle through life?
I’m not talking house sitting here. Well I am. And I’m not.
The point is most people do ZERO mental preparation for the day.
Everything they touch/do turns to crap. Or custard. Depending on your detesting of either feces or whipped cremes.
Anyway, most people or bloggers or house sit seekers will follow the practical tips, or work, but will never seem to manifest their desired outcomes….because most folks in the world do a horrible job at changing their vibe (this woman cooks my dinners; PLEASE click on the link) from “feeling bound” to “feeling free.”
These mindset tips are 15,000,000 times more important than the practical tips because if you do the mindset work you’ll get the jobs, even if you flub up the practical tips.
If however you ignore the mindset tips, you’re screwed, in most cases, because you can’t trick your energy. Or, you can’t outrun your limiting beliefs. Or, you can’t create what you believe is impossible.
In the past year we’ve manifested house sits in:
Fiji
New York City
Bali
Kelli and I didn’t desperately grab at house sits in Aussie-land, Great Britain or France, just to “improve our resume” because we prefer exotic tropics and a lower cost of living.
We had authority, or posture, or a spine, and patiently followed a few practical tips while continually doing the mindset work to manifest 3 brilliant house sits in one year.
Again, logically, you’d go bonkers trying to think through how we were picked from so many applicants but if you do the mental work, and raise your vibe, your thinking mind will largely go, “Night-Night”, and you’ll listen to your intuitive nudges, your Guides, which lead you in the direction of some sensational sits (more alliteration).
Get So Busy with Your Business/Blog/Profession that You Detach from Outcomes
We were hella busy with business after applying for each sit.
OK, I cheated here. I was hella busy after applying for the Fiji sit trying to survive. I was overcoming giardia, during my “Damn that guy looks like Gollum” days in India. My mind was elsewhere. Kelli was focused on her blog, her clients and heck, we were doing our best to enjoy our stay in lovely Kovalam Beach, which we adored.
Kelli was going all Ayurvedic on me. Scrubs. Massages. Potions, lotions and all types of emotions were flowing, let me tell you.
Her energy, and my energy, was almost entirely detached from getting the house sit.
The entrance to the villa/resort/coolest house sit on earth.
It was like we were delighted to see the Savusavu, Fiji sit pop up and it would have been a blast to do it but we could almost care less about it because our energy was focused elsewhere.
Ditto on the awesome NYC sit. We were in Bali at the time, working and enjoying the internet lifestyle. We actually landed this current Jimbaran, Bali sit while living in Ubud, Bali in late 2014.
Again, we weren’t married to the outcome at all. Sure we’d jump up and down like a kid dancing on hot coals if we scored each sit but we gave our logical minds b*tch slaps when our ego/logic/mechanical minds tried to figure out:
how to land the sit, obsessing over practical tips, social media link ups, video blog introductions, etc, etc….
how many people had applied
what “the competition” (what does that mean, in an abundant Universe, anyway?) looked like
how many times we should check our email daily for notifications
So, get so damn busy with life outside of house sits that you forget about trying to nail down the awesome house sits.
Or, become deathly ill with giardia. To focus less on the house sit deal.
Your call.
One note; going with the former is both a spiritual experience and a 6 pack builder. My abs have never been the same. In a good way.
Meditate
Meditation not only brings you peace of mind, increased health, a sense of detachment from outcomes, and serene, calmness….it’ll also help you land kick ass house sits on some of the most sought after spots on earth.
Here’s the 411 on meditation from a Blogging Biddulph in Bali who is like Buddha insomuch as that we both breathed air. I think he did at least.
Meditation is not magical, amazing, miraculous, or anything like that. It just expands your awareness so you can observe what is.
That probably sounds as sexy to you as seeing Dame Edna in a bikini.
Visualize that without hurling.
Anyway, the whole expanded awareness bit just means that you’ll face, embrace and release emotions more quickly if you meditate daily.
Emotions which accompany thoughts like:
“Oh My God I NEED THIS HOUSE SIT!”
“OH MY GOD I’LL NEVER GET THIS HOUSE SIT WITH SO MUCH COMPETITION OUT THERE!”
“HOW IN THE HELL WILL I EVER GET THIS HOUSE SIT!”
“RYAN STOP USING THE DAMN CAPS LOCK!”
“THIS HOUSE SIT WILL NEVER POP UP AGAIN I ***NEEEEED*** TO LAND IT”
Desperation repels. Confidence, clarity, confidence and detachment attracts neat things into your life.
It was no accident that since I started meditating for 30 minutes or more daily, EVERY day, that these house sits lined up.
I experienced those negative thoughts/emotions here and there, but not for long. I faced, embraced and released these feelings, so I could return to being the good old, largely detached, calm, confident house sit manifesting machine I am.
I didn’t need any house sit. I am whole and complete, as is. Meditating helps me become aware of the needy emotions so I could feel ‘em and let go of them. Leaving room for positive, inspired emotions, the types of feelings which move me into positive, inspired, detached actions, which helped me attract these brilliant house sits.
Meditating Tips
Sit for 10 minutes in a quiet spot.
Relax your body. Let peace reign. Feel tension vanish.
Relax your Monkey Mind. I often feel a wild jungle calling out, up in my dome, before meditation sessions. By meditating daily I tame the beast.
OK, once you relax your body and mind focus on your breathing. Follow the air flowing into and out of your nostrils. If something appears to grab your attention, note the thought or feeling, and move your focus back to your breathing.
Continue for your 10 minute session. Add a minute or 2 each week.
Meditate for 30 minutes or longer daily. Preferably on waking. To tame your Monkey Mind. To detach from outcomes. And to manifest a ridiculous house sit, like our sweet, sweet gig here in Bali.
Realize – and Express Fullness – for What You Have
I am a broken record. Or annoying. Or, I may stumble upon truths here and there.
I recall telling Kelli over and over – and myself – that we were whole and complete, living our internet lifestyle (check out Sammi and Yeison’s blog it rocks!), being in Kovalam Beach, at the time that the Fiji house sit was coming together.
I was on a high for I’d just began to recover from my hellish, “there’s an alien inside of my stomach” illness in India. Business was booming. My old blog saw record traffic. Times were lovely. Hell, even if they weren’t lovely I still needed to feel full, to feel grateful and to feel free for what I had, and for what I was experiencing.
This is probably the one part that trips up most folks on the house sit bit. They are sort of aligned with a way cool, life-changing, rare and endangered sit, then they muck up their energy by moving their focus from their blessings to all that they don’t have; including the house sit.
I am no Zen Master in this area but I’m getting better. I would start off each day with:
building a gratitude list for all that I have
feeling amazing about the present
feeling free through my present circumstances
Different routine now but I still get in at least 1 hour’s worth of personal development daily. I still intend to focus on The Universe as the Source of my supply and I don’t depend too much on people or conditions for my prosperity.
Yes I am a Catherine Ponder fan (click that link).
Magnetizing yourself to a lifestyle few experience requires you to elevate your energy to a level few ever reach. Most people focus heavily on what they do not have, sending off an energy of lack. A select few keep most of their focus on what they have, sending off an abundant vibe, which is met with stuff like kick ass house sits, inspiring, prospering ideas and prospering, successful folks.
Beleaguered in Bali
I was terrified.
Again.
I was also sick of the goddamn routine.
Every time I took a trip to the john I had to carry a flashlight to the bathroom because:
scorpions
centipedes
snakes
spiders
whatever the hell else
….could very well be doing a delicate dance beneath my feet, waiting to stick it to the Booley (white guy) who was visiting Bali. I blame them not. If a big, foreign, Jolly Green Giant invaded my home I’d be lobbing spears at the SOB. That’s what you call a dangerous insect/snake centric view.
Anyway, Kelli and I had been living in a villa in the *middle of the rice fields* for about 2 weeks. This is code for a stunningly beautiful place that is frequented by every type of critter imaginable.
Ummm….if no people are around for miles in some directions you will have foot long Tokay Geckos sprinting across your roof, sounding like enraged elephants trampling rough shod on a wooden floor.
The thing was, I was pissed off in paradise. I was terrified in the tropics.
Folks, we’re talking in the middle of the rice fields. Ain’t no lights out there. Which means we’re talking pitch dark conditions. And walks to an outdoor, open air bathroom at 3 AM for wee wees, which means I had to gingerly navigate through grounds with flashlight in hand, and yes, it means large fruit bats with wing spans rivaling Rodan’s would fly above my head when I was doing what one would do in a bathroom (this happened once).
I was living in paradise and everybody jealously threatened to kill me on sight through Facebook messages yet I was a tad bit miserable. I had forgotten what I had, where I was and what I was experiencing.
But my morning ritual soon woke me up.
I couldn’t NOT notice the Balinese Hercules.
Balinese Hercules
His pecs glistened.
His abs were rippling.
He routinely hauled 100 pound bags of rice over his shoulders.
And he looked to be Yoda’s age, some 700 years old. Or, like 70 years old.
I saw no gymer stick on this man’s person (Google it, non Star Wars nerds). He was ripped to shreds. Really ripped to shreds. Like, I could grate Parmesan cheese on his abs, ripped to shreds.
He probably worked just about every day of his life since he was 5 or so. Or younger. Farmers bust their ass bringing bales through the fields of Bali. Every day. Hard, manual labor here, we’re talking, for like 50 or 60 or 70 years of their lives….or longer.
Here’s the kicker: the Balinese Franco Colombo, the Ubudian Mr. Universe, the Ring of Fire Ronnie Coleman smiled. Quite a bit. He would look up at me in my fancy dancy villa compound and would smile. He was not alone either.
I’d see guys who would have been knocked over by a stiff, 5 MPH breeze, walking to and from the rice fields daily, not 95 pounds, my arms bigger than their feeble legs, and these jokers smiled and hit me up with a “Selamat Pagi” in the morning.
These people were genuinely happy for what they had, even though rice farming is one of the most brutal jobs on earth, with workers being subject to the wicked heat and humidity of the tropics, along with the dangerous deluges consistent with monsoons, in addition to dealing with the venomous, lethal snakes that call the rice fields home.
But the pack mules, the manual labors, these folk were genuinely happy with their simple lives and their backbreaking (literally, in some cases) jobs.
If they were happy, I could be happy, despite being annoyed/agitated/scared/worried/anxious about hitting the loo every night, not knowing what critters may High 5 me before stinging the hell out of me feet.
The lesson? Easy to see; in moments of agitation, or anger, or annoyance, you likely forget all that you have, and you may not see how free you are. Learning to cultivate the emotions of feeling:
whole and complete
blessed
grateful
free
….is perhaps the #1 skill for you to develop as a blogger, as a house sit seeker, or as a human being for that matter, because when you feel whole and complete a slew of neat people and things and ideas flow into your experience.
As each house sit flowed to me and Kelli we were feeling largely whole and complete. We didn’t need the house sit. We already had it all, from having food in the fridge, to our blogs, to our friends, to our travels, to animals we met and befriended on the road, to our families, to everything we were experiencing at the time.
What You Should Do to Align Awesome House Sits
If you want to attract the best house sitting job on earth you should practice feeling whole, complete and free now.
Start each day by meditating, by feeling grateful for your blessings, then, by affirming something to this effect:
“I am whole and complete, as is.”
Repeat the phrase like 5 or 10 times with real feeling.
Feel the truth seep through your being.
Feel whole, complete and free.
In time, and with practice, you’ll note 10, 20 or 500 things going on around you, daily, which inspire you to see that you are whole and complete, as is.
Whole and complete folks are set. No need to stuff more food down the gullet, you are already full. No need for dessert. You are satiated.
Once you feel satiated, the desperation, or the heavy longings, or the grabbing, well, all this stuff dissipates, and you become freaking seriously magnetic to awesome ideas, people and circumstances. House sits being one of those awesome circumstances, or things if you will.
Get Super, Uper Duper Clear on Your Dream House Sit
I cared not to scarf down croissantes by the Eiffel Tower.
No tea and crumpets for me, sitting by Big Ben.
I wasn’t keen on eating kangaroo jerky by the Sydney Opera House.
I’ve nothing against France, England or Australia. All countries rock. I just have no desire to apply for one of the 32,364,957 house sits available in these countries.
Here’s how it works:
people from Australia, France, England and New Zealand travel a lot
the traveling crowd needs house sitters
a gazillion trillion opportunities open up in these lands
more than a few house sitters dive at any opportunity to fill up their resume
As for Kelli and I, we were always 100% clear on what we wanted in a house sit, which was:
a tropical location, preferably by the beach
a spot with a low cost of living
one of our dream/fave tropical hot spots: Bali, Fiji, Thailand, Costa Rica
limited responsibilities; since neither of us are uber handy – okay, what the hell’s an Allen wrench anyway? – and since our gardening skills range between a moderately knowledgeable vegetation tender to a slug (slugs make poor gardeners) we decided to only accept sits with few tasks
sits with animals/pets, since we love being around cats, dogs, chickens and any other furry or feathered friends
…..so we figured that our house sit would make a beeline for us.
With clarity comes patience. We knew deep down our desired sits would come to us, even as we saw a deluge of Western country sits pop up daily. A few intriguing house sits availed themselves in places like Mexico but they didn’t pop. Or like, they were semi-fits, which didn’t feel like matches.
Time for a massage.
One day, while I was sitting in a less than powerful but a bit beyond feeble state, in India, Kelli notified me about the Fiji sit. Aha! Clarity.
We knew what we wanted. We were patient. Naturally, what we wanted found us.
The process manifested nicely.
Get super, super, super clear on what you want in a house sit. Add as many details as humanly possible. You can’t get specific enough. Really. Getting clear helps you let go poor matches to make room for perfect matches.
Perfect match = The best house sit ever.
The Rest of this Post Is Worthless…..
….unless you do the energy work.
Imagine trying to cut concrete with a butter knife. Pointless. Impossible.
Now, imagine trying to effectively use practical tips when your desperate, crappy, hopeless energy literally pushes away the awesome house sits you want. Like a horse being led by a carrot on a string, you’re never getting what you want. It’ll always elude you.
BUT….if you do the personal development, and if you learn to vibe high, you’ll have the awareness to cut the string and to enjoy the carrot…..or, you’ll attract glamorous, inspiring house sits in places like Bali or Fiji or New York City.
While Kelli and I both do the personal development/energy work thing, she handles the practical tips exclusively. I shall consult her now.
Be right back……
2: Practical Tips
My wife has the logistics down. Straightforward stuff here.
Create accounts on house sitting sites like:
Trusted House Sitters
House Carers
These are 2 of the better sites around.
OK, now on how to create an account that attracts those fab gigs.
Be Honest
Be honest. Like, share your intent for the sit.
Example; I might say I enjoy doing handy work around the home, that I am a certified plumber, that I am a pro landscaper, that I have my own Jeep to traverse around the grounds and that I am as handsome and as worthy a house sit guest as Magnum PI (were you expecting multiple Tom Selleck references? I think not!).
My nose grew to Pinocchio-sized proportions as I wrote the prior paragraph. I fibbed. I lied. OK, I outright told the tall tale of tall tales, bragging that I’d be the house sit whopper than got away if said home owner wouldn’t select me and my mad Bob Vila-esque skills.
I am about as handy as a pig loves a neat, tidy, orderly environment.
I once set up a desk from IKEA. 4 steps. I nearly missed each one.
Some house sit hustlers lie through their scummy teeth to score a sit. Not I, not I, because the Universe has a clever, ingenious way of calling you on your Bullisht resume doctoring.
Step 1: tell the truth. Explain why you wish to house sit. Share your qualifications. No need to be a staff member on Extreme Home Makeover to make an impression.
You can be:
trustworthy
reliable
dependable
an animal lover who has experience walking dogs, feeding cats, etc
Just tell the truth. Or at least, don’t lie. What a smart start, telling the truth.
No Need to State How Wonderful You Are
We spoke to fellow world travelers who use house sitters frequently. Said couple shared an intriguing turn off; house sitters who bragged about themselves and their accomplishments, said accomplishments being totally unrelated to house sitting.
I get sharing that you are not a scumbag, dirt bag, or rascal who’s on the lam, trying to outrun extradition policies (why do you think this US resident is in Bali? Just joking, INTERPOL)……but going overboard bragging about yourself, your businesses, the fact that you won the softball toss during a school sanctioned track and field event in the 2nd grade (I did, so there) repels home owners more than you’d think. If you’re sharing anything, make it your Facebook Profile and perhaps your Youtube Channel, to prove you’re not a mindless cretin….or that you’re a nice, trustworthy peep.
In essence, who the hell cares if you won “The Best Homemade Pizza Award in Dubuque, Iowa for 2009”?
Can you watch animals? Do you love animals? Are you trustworthy? Are you NOT a party guy or gal? Are you a homebody (you better be, because you’re house sitting, not home renting)?
What Home Owners Want
Someone who’s not a piece of excrement, who will spend most of their time in the house, who’s of high enough moral character not to run off with the silverware, who’ll just plain watch the home by spending most of their time in the home.
Make no mistake about it: I am not doing my best Howard Hughes impression here. I am no recluse, no shut in, no eccentric wild man holed up in a resort compound here in Jimbaran, Bali.
Kelli and I head to the beach, and we go out to eat, and we enjoy shopping at the local supermarket but our job is to watch the home and take care of the 4 dogs, 4 cats and 35 chickens on the premises, so we spend most of our day here.
We also stress this idea of being homebodies on our house sit site profiles.
No doubt, we aligned ourselves nicely for sits because we marketed ourselves as being responsible folks – and we are, honest to goodness my kiddies – trustworthy, good with animals (or completely animal obsessed) and willing to spend most of our time in the home.
Make sure your profile is attractive to a homeowner who wishes to have a trustworthy home body watch their home.
One Caveat
I’m not suggesting you up and get married anytime soon, or you shack up with some dude or broad, just to score sits but realize this: in many homeowners eyes it’s better to find a couple to house sit, versus a single person.
Scratched my head a bit on this one, until I realized that: single people tend to head out, to either party, or to get some tail.
“Tail” means strangers, and strangers aren’t welcome inside most homes. Strangers haven’t been vetted. Strangers may be dirt bags, or miscreants, or High Plains Grifters, so home owners, even if they do trust single folks not to bring venereal vermin back to the house, may just focus their efforts on couples house sitters.
No need to wear the same outfits or finish each other’s sentences; just being a couple could be attractive.
And if you’re single, tough crap! I am joking. You can nail down sits by being transparent, honest and upfront. Single folks get plenty of jobs so keep at it, get your name out there and persist to find house sitting jobs which vibe with you.
Making the First and/or Second Cut
After receiving an email from a homeowner sharing that you made the cut you’ll likely do an interview on Skype.
Be natural, be honest and just relax. Here’s where all of your mental preparation comes into place. You’ll be magnetic to the perfect house sit for you.
Each person we’ve connected with has been awesomely positive, loving, caring and the perfect match BECAUSE we did the mental leg work. The practical tips are easy peasy, the interview is easy peasy and all the action stuff is easy peasy, after you do the mental leg work/inner preparation.
Kelli and I aced 3 awesome house sits, from Fiji, to New York City, to Bali by rocking out our interviews. Our energy is as infectious as the flu in the Tri-State region during winter-time.
That’s pretty infectious.
After making the cuts and nailing down the interviews, we received offers, accepted, and move forward, blogging and house sitting in paradise.
Considerations
Would the plane tickets be astronomical? Would we watch our bank accounts fly into orbit, making Neil Armstrong jealous?
We asked ourselves both questions – OK maybe fibbing on the second one – after pondering the Fiji sit. We hadn’t been offered the job. Heck, we didn’t make the cut, yet we didn’t want to waste anybody’s time.
We knew Fiji was in No Man’s Land. If you ever fly to Avatar – and if you do, let me know if the visa process is a b*tch or not, as I reckon it is – you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to fly to Fiji.
We’re talking:
some of the best scenery on earth
pristine, crystal clear/blue/turquoise/1,403 different shades of ocean
deep green, lush, tropical jungles
an Avatar-like setting of rivers and valleys
the odd encounter with tall, blue, thin fellows and gals, who oddly resemble Olive Oil
Fiji is paradise. In the middle of nowhere.
Something funny happens if you ever travel to the middle of nowhere; you’ll generally pay a ton more scratch to get there. May even need to be squeezed by an airline who owns a good old fashioned Monopoly (yes, Fiji Airways kinda has Fiji to Fiji flights on lock and yes, Rich Uncle Pennybags serves as chairman and CEO).
KC and I spoke to a few folks who told us to expect