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| This is the peaceful back porch area, a lovely space to enjoy the beautiful view!! |
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| My cozy room with morning sun streaming through the windows |
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| Gotta watch out for the "concussion beams" on the way to the bathroom - especially at night!! |
As she was showing me around the property, she showed me two darling guest cottages and said "because of course you may want to have guests come visit you, yes?" What a lovely, generous woman she is!
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| One of two "guest cottages" for anyone feeling adventurous enough to join me in France!! |
Last fall while staying with some friends in Spokane (and doing some pet-sitting for them and other friends), I started doing research on house/pet-sitting websites (some that were advertising paid positions but many long-term positions that offered free housing in exchange for taking care of their pets). I found some great opportunities in the Portland area (so I could visit with family and still have a place of my own), but I was amazed when I found out there were hundreds (maybe even thousands?) of house and pet-sitting opportunities available all over the world!!
I started dreaming about the possibility of traveling somewhere far away where I could immerse myself into a new culture and meet new people, but I had a hard time imagining how I was going to make it happen (financially), and how I was going to find “just the right peaceful place” without having to rent a car to at least get groceries, etc. I set my intentions and tried to imagine just the right place – while continuing to look each day online for the ad that would send “knowing shivers” along my spine!
Alternating implicit trust that everything would work out just fine with anxiety about how it would all come about, I would ask myself, “Where am I going to get the money for an airline ticket? Is going away for months at a time to stay in someone’s home for free really possible – or is this just a dream (the “wouldn’t that be nice” kind of dream that would never come to fruition)? I had a mileage ticket that would get me to Mexico or Central America, but I just wasn’t sure that was where I was meant to go. It felt like I wanted to try something NEW and different…so I waited…and waited…and waited (doing my best to trust that intuitive part of me that said YES!!! – your dream is meant to become a reality – just wait for the right time)!!
Last spring as I was considering Ecuador, Costa Rica or other places “south of the border,” I also considered taking a seasonal job in Alaska – but decided instead to spend most of my summer in Indiana with my sister’s family – helping out with my darling (and precocious) great-niece and great-nephews – a wonderful, rich, meaningful (yet exhausting) experience!! After 3 months there, I still had no clue where I was going or what I would be doing next, but I trusted my path would be made clear if I was just patient and trusted in the Greater Presence that guides my life!!
The night before I left Indiana, I remember very clearly thinking that although I had enough to pay my bills if I was away for a few months, I really needed about $1300 more to really feel “safe” about being gone that long – to have enough to meet my estimated financial needs for food, travel, etc. As always seems to happen, I couldn’t imagine how my needs would be met, but SURPRISE!!!! – this time the answer came in the form of travel vouchers from the airlines!!
As mom and I were waiting to fly back to Portland, the gate agent announced that they needed 2 people to give up their seats. They were so desperate they were offering a $1300 travel voucher on Delta for each person who gave up their seat!! (The exact amount I estimated I would need – the synchronicity did not escape my awareness that’s for sure!!)
It took a little finagling to get us home that same night (which was kind of essential because mom and I were both quite tired), but they were able to get us on a flight that got us into Portland less than an hour later than our scheduled arrival (which also worked out well because the person picking us up was also picking up someone whose flight arrived one hour later than our original flight). We would’ve had to wait in the Portland airport anyway so why not make $1300 for an hour’s wait?!?!
Once I got the voucher (and laughed at how my needs were provided for in such an unexpected way), I knew that this trip to Europe was going to come about in ways I couldn’t even imagine!! I spent about a month in Newberg (with alternating anxiety and peace as I tried to figure out where I was going to housesit and how this was all going to come about – then remembering how my needs were met with the airline voucher and reminding myself that I AM cared for by something greater than I can see or predict)!
(There are times when I am so good at trusting my intuition, but more often than not I usually question whether I’m interpreting what I “hear” correctly!! Again, this trip has given me an opportunity to really listen and respond to my intuition – even if it doesn’t always make logical sense to me or anyone else.)
I remember very clearly having a conversation with my sister the day before I found this opportunity. I was in my “anxious mode” wondering should I go here or there? Why hasn’t the right place shown up yet? I can feel intuitively that it’s time for me to leave soon, but I still don’t have any clear sense of where I’ll be going or what I’ll be doing? Out of the blue I said something like, “If a house-sit in France for 3 months in a peaceful location came up, I would take it in a heartbeat!” – and then I switched back into anxious mode wondering if this was the “right” kind of place for me to be looking for to spend my time in Europe!
The next time I signed onto the house-sitting website, here was this ad for a 3-month house/pet-sitting opportunity in France – about 20 minutes outside Bergerac (in a peaceful, quiet setting) with a car available for the house-sitter’s use! Now if that didn’t blow me away and remind me (AGAIN) that we are cared for and looked after by a Presence far greater than ourselves, I don’t know what would convince me!!
So that's the history of how I got here! I've included the links (below) to all the house-sitting websites for those who might be interested in perusing what’s available – so many possibilities in the world and not enough time, but I encourage all of you to dream – and really start believing that if this is something you want to do (or feel “called” to do), trust that you can make it happen!!
http://www.housecarers.com/
http://www.mindmyhouse.com/sitters/search_assignments
http://www.luxuryhousesitting.com/search-luxury-homes.php
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/
And here’s an extension of this website that advertises house-sits for 2 or more months (which is where I found this house-sitting opportunity!!):
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/h/long-term-house-sitting/
Judi!! I just read this, so amazing!! It is SO hard to be able to trust and listen to the deeper intuition, and look where it got you! Amazing about the Delta voucher too, wow!! I just had a similar experience, what a blessing!!!!!!!! Have such a wonderful time, sounds SO lovely! Can't wait to hear more! :D
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