Are You A Flexpat?

There is another new breed surfacing as more people drop the traditional lifestyle models and take on new and exciting ways to live cheaply that allow travel to many exciting and exotic locations.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

An article over at Trusted Housesitters describes the new "Flexpat" trend,
you can read more here

Top 5 benefits of a Flexpat Lifestyle:

1.    Experiencing a range of cultures and lifestyles
2.    Meeting new people and creating lasting relationships worldwide
3.    Excitement and adventure
4.    Flexibility to try different ways of living
5.    Less financial commitment than owning property

Guess after two years with no fixed address I can most certainly add Flexpat as my lifestyle status!

http://blog.trustedhousesitters.com/flexpat-lifestyle/

How To Get The Best HouseSitter

Leaving what for most is their most valuable asset in the hands of a complete stranger is a daunting process. 

There are several things you can do at the time of listing your housesitting position that will help you greatly to secure a house sitter who is going to do a fine job for you.

It is my belief that most housesitters want to do a great job and take pride in the way they return both your home and your pets.  To attract the person who is serious about what they do, well it makes sense that you have to put some effort into your listing.

When you’ve done a lot of housesitting you get good at reading between the lines.  People leave clues and if you haven’t included certain details, you can bet that a good house sitter will disregard your listing.

Seven things you must include if you don’t want to be the listing that gets all the fly by nighters.

1.  Make It Appealing

Your text in your listing needs to be appealing.

Think like a real estate agent does when they are listing properties.  Make your property come alive for us.  The good sitters take the cream off the top because we know we have good references and we know we present well, so we go for the great listings and leave the rest.

The more appealing your listing is, the more appealing your applicants will be.

2.  Include Photos

I rarely consider listings without photos.

Please include relevant photos of your property and the animals that will be cared for.  Many include pictures of historic landmarks.  I can get sightseeing tips on Google once I get the sit.  What I want from a listing is to ascertain if I think I can live and work in your property. 

If there are no pictures of the inside and outside of the property, then I assume you have something to hide.

3.  Incorporate Details That Will Be Relevant to a Sitter

There are very many types of sitters but in general there are two types of people you want to attract, travellers who may wish to take in the sights and people like me who live and work on the road. 

Many listings only speak to travellers, but someone like me who works from their laptop will be home all day with your pets.  I believe the reason I’ve had such great results with the pets I’ve cared for is because I’m home with them 90% of the time. 

The sorts of things that someone with a mobile office seeks to know are:

After being on the road for several
months, this well designed and ultra well
organised home office was heaven for me

• Do you have fast wifi 

• Is your property easily accessed via public transport 

• Are there shops near by

• Do you have a separate office space

• Is your space quiet

The more detail you have in your listing, the more likely you are to attract the right person.

4.  Share Your Dates

Sounds like a DUH point huh!  Well you would be surprised how many people put up a listing and give no indication when they will be away.

If you only have a vague idea of your travel plans, that’s better than no details at all.

I would view a listing without dates with extreme caution because it would indicate to me that someone who can’t get that detail right, well I’d wonder how organised the rest of their life is.

The good house sitters aim to have their calendars full months ahead.

By being vague you could lock out the perfect person.

Someone really good may not even consider your ill-defined offering, but they could have been the absolutely perfect to look after your property.

As housesitting becomes more and more popular, there are many perfect sits all around the world.  The smart sitter will go for the people who provide the most details initially.

5.  Animate Your Pets

When it comes to pets, I have a couple of things I’m looking for beyond the usual - “they're well behaved”. 

I look for three key things

• Names of the pets included in the listing

• People talking lovingly about their pets

• Pets likes and dislikes

One Very Sweet Cat As It Turned Out

I remember one sit in particular, the owner headed up their listing with ”San Francisco Bay area 2BR house with 1 sweet cat”.

This delightful photo of Sylvie was included with the listing.

When I turned up, that was exactly what I got .... a delightful and sweet cat and a very successful sit. 

Of course, if they're not sweet don't describe them that way.  Its important that you are honest and that honesty, even if perhaps they aren't the best behaved will pay off in the end.  Maybe you'll get someone who enjoys the challenge of a spirited dog.

Another listing described how they took their dog to the park for an arranged meeting everyday with neighbours and their dogs.  This showed me that they must really love their dog if they are willing to put their life on hold everyday at 3pm.  The couple treated me exceptionally well too.  Like I say people leave clues.

6.  Describe Your Area in Detail

The Saturday Morning Markets in Sechelt BC Canada

Again the details bring an area to life.  For instance most say “plenty of restaurants and cafes nearby", but the following actual example gives so much more detail.  "The neighborhood is wonderful--ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, but safe. Some of our favorites restaurants in walking distance include Vietnamese, Mexican, Japanese, Korean, Ethiopian, and vegetarian food".

This high level of detail will also repel the people who are wrong for your sit.  For instance someone who is used to living in a gated community may have struggled with this ethnically diverse community.  I loved it because it reminded me of the eclectic suburbs in Melbourne Australia.

Perhaps your area has local markets or bike and hiking trails.  Bring your local area to life for us so we choose your over the listing that is in an area that sounds much more alive and appealing.

7.  Be Generous

I’m very generous with my time and what I do when I’m in a sit.  If I see something that needs doing and it hasn’t been mentioned, such as watering the garden if the weather gets unexpectedly hot, then I just do it.

I often get a sense when reading listings that some people think they are doing the sitter a favour by letting them stay over.  Indeed there is huge value in being able to stay rent free in a beautiful setting.  But something that is important to remember is that having your pet in a kennel or cattery will cost upwards of $40 a day.  That’s a saving of $560 over a two week period.  Plus the pets won’t fret so much if they are in familiar surroundings, so you don't come back to sick pets and massive vet bills when you return. 

Plus you have someone in the house ensuring the place looks lived in and that someone is home.  Anyone who has returned home to find their house ransacked by alert burglars would consider having the place look lived in as a priceless gem.

I believe the core essence of a successful sit is mutual generosity of spirit and genuine gratitude shown by both parties for the equal exchange that is occurring. 

Every sit I’ve done so far the people walk out telling me to eat whatever I like and use whatever I like.  They show a degree of trust that makes me want to do an extra good job for them. 

So when you write your listing, put yourself in the sitters shoes and bring your listing to life .... I’d like to bet you get a much better batch of contenders to choose from.

The Tale of the Office Power Play

All well for two weeks, now an imposter not only lurks but perks the top spot in the office.

I thought the power plays in the corporate world were horrendous but nothing compared to the power plays of two part time pets in San Francisco.

When I first arrived little Sophie the lovingist little dog wanted to come and sit on my knee in the office. There just wasn't room, so I bought her groovy little growlie day bed in and put it beside me.

She was happy with that arrangement so long as she got the right amount of pats and attention throughout the day.

Marcel the very sweet natured three legged cat with a cone on his head was happy down in the lounge for ages.

Then one day he decided he'd get in on the office action when he figured out he could lay in the sun and get some of the extra attention too.

All went well with that arrangement for days on end.

In fact both would share the floor when the sun was in the exact right spot.

Then sweet and timid little Marcel who has been very quiet for the whole time just yesterday he stepped up and decided the growlie bed was for him, leaving Sophie out on the carpet.

Now there is a race for top spot.

Even though he's only got three legs - Marcel seems to be winning

But Sophie has fought back with a valiant strategy to achieve the sympathy vote .... she took up residence in my backpack.

The coaching lesson in all this:  with the right fire in your belly, anyone, despite their circumstances can claim their rightful place in the world, if they have the courage to make the move.

AND there is always a bigger bed ......... luckily big bro Luke has been at behavioural bootcamp while I've been here and his vacant bed has now been made available for Sophie allowing my KnoMo backpack to remain in its original shape. 

But we all know what's going to happen next ............ yep you guessed right!

The Power Play Continues.................



Love my part time pets!

The Power of Pinning

As I flew into Vancouver earlier in the month, it was a relaxed and sunny September morning. It was the day after having spent four days in San Jose with 800 like minded individuals with hours of magnificent learning in our heads and anticipation in our souls, but alarm bells were ringing. I could sense that feeling of fear welling up as the ecstatic feel good factor of the weekend started to wear off.

The last four and a half months for me could be described as tumultuous, even in its best light. To the outside world, me selling up my home, totally turning my life on its head, leaving all my friends and family and all that is known and comfortable to me in the southern hemisphere; embarking on a journey of pure trust in the northern hemisphere, could and should seem like madness.

The feeling inside is very similar to the bewildered early days of sitting on a meditation stool at my gym, feeling lost, without purpose and with no idea where I was going. Those feelings still simmer up as I land in an unknown city.

Luckily the tools that I've gained such as The Attraction Program (still to this day a constant companion) and the constant connection with the higher part of me that knows I've taken the red pill and can't go back, makes the experience seem less insurmountable.

Only a few days into the journey I can honestly tell you there have been deep moments of grief and sadness plus some highly elated times of sheer potential. The latter particularly when at the end of the motivational four days of Experts Academy, the presenter Brendon Burchard took us into a guided meditation.

The energy in the massive ballroom was powerful. All 800 people in the room, had made shifts in their emotional being over the weekend, each tapped into the power of potential held within their message.

When everyone else was dreamily wandering around a beautiful green countryside with their joy filled inner child, happily contemplating their future, I got the unexpected.

What I got was a crystal clear picture of my Cute House back in Hepburn Springs.

The one with the garden at perfection with lavender and roses in full bloom. 

It wasn't the one that had punished me with icy cold winds howling through every crevice during our alpine winters.

It wasn't the house with the uninsulated tin roof that became like a tin shed in the red Australian desert every time the mercury hit 30 degrees.

It most certainly wasn't the house that had been remortgaged to finance the dream, to a point where the weight of the debt became too much for one little person to bear.

What I got was the pristine, pure essence of the home that I had loved .... despite what it had thrown at me.

The image shone the pure light of the house that supported so many of my students on their way to greatness. It was the house that pinned me down so hard in a remote location so that I wouldn't be able to cop out and go back and get a "real" job, like I'd been urged to do so many times by well meaning friends and family.

As I sat in the meditation my shoulders were pinned into my chair by the shoulders of the two men beside me. These two men carried an incredibly strong masculine strength. One a very tall surgeon from Germany, seeking ways his expertise can enhance the after care healing of patients after their surgery, the other a very strong family man whose business was buildings.

Being pinned isn't traditionally seen as the ideal spiritual path. My natural first instinct was to lean forward and break free. But there was nothing threatening, it was just the reality of the environment.

I'm beginning to see the power of pinning - it stops you wandering off your path of purpose.

As I fought the urge to free myself, I felt the strength within these strong shoulders supporting me, the yin and yang of my journey represented so powerfully. For the first time in a long time, I felt totally safe. I quietly wept tears of grief and acceptance all at the same time. It felt like the Cute House was coming to say goodbye and urging my soul to pass through these two masculine pillars of strength, and activate the next part of my journey.

What I saw ahead was a dark void but I stepped confidently into it because I've come to understand deeply that its facing the darkness that eventually illuminates the path to the light.

The portal opened quickly and my courage was rewarded. I got to fly. To soar over this magnificent land we were envisaging in the mediation, to soar higher than I had ever been before. It felt amazing. It felt like I was ready.

So why, as we circled Vancouver, a city from the air so beautiful with all its water and trees and natural beauty oozing from every square inch, my home for the next five weeks ......why did doubt drop in?????

The fear dropped in because I'm human.

The difference for me now, is that those moments don't stop me. I know how to honour them for a few moments, then I just get on with it.   

"Your Success is Determined By
Your Comfort with the Uncomfortable"

Paula Abdul

So as I sent the negative thoughts packing and replaced them with the now anthem like phrases from the weekend, "I Believe" and "Its My Time" I looked out the window and there was this weird cloud that was only raining on a small piece of sea, the rest of the sky was blue. It looked tornado like, this thin wispy narrow shape spiraling downwards. It was completely peaceful.

As the plane circled around the cloud to land, the most magnificent rainbow appeared from the cloud. Then as the plane lined up with the runway a second rainbow formed and I was sitting looking at two magnificent rainbows painted lovingly against the grey cloud by the energy of the land.

This double rainbow always reminds me of Dolly Parton's insightful words -

"you gotta get a little rain .....before you get a rainbow"

I saw the same magnificent double rainbow strategically placed over a shopping mall in my last days in Melbourne. As I shopped for last minute items, my ego threw me every negative reason to stay. Then the skies opened and out came the rainbows.

A freak of nature ..... perhaps? Or was it the every present, ever loving voice of spirit reminding me:

I am loved, I am never alone ....... trust! 

The Moral of this Story

• Sometimes you got to give up more than most to get further than most

• Fate favours the bold

• The biggest leaps of faith bring the greatest rewards

• Trust your signs

The rainbow over JB-Hi-Fi Essendon the day before I left Melbourne - sorry seat back and tray table were securely fastened and my camera was safely stored in the overhead locker for the rainbows in Vancouver.