Pet Sitting & Digital Nomads

Hello everyone, welcome to the Heart Led Soul Fed podcast. I'm Christine J Gold, and yes, medium, mentor, pet and digital nomad. So I wanted to share my experience. Uh, I, I've been inspired by a few, uh, others in the, in the pet and house sitting community. And, uh, really it, it is very much growing. Um, more and more, um, countries are opening up in regards to, uh, you know, your, uh, how long you can stay. I know a lot of countries where you can stay for at least a year on a digital nomad visa. And, um, the monthly requirements, your income requirements, it, it varies on the country. But I wanted to share, you know, my story. Um, if you didn't know, in November 2021, I sold everything I owned and I dove into the world as a digital nomad. Now I mean, there were varying factors, um, you know, everything going on with the pandemic at the time and, uh, the fact that, um, I had hit a spiritual wall in a sense, um, as well. I was, uh, I had non-alcoholic fatty liver as well, so I decided— I found a vegan community in Peru and that's where everything changed. Not only— I mean, you know, you should know this. If not, go listen to previous, uh, episodes. But I lost, uh, 30 pounds. I gained so much energy. Um, I've learned a lot of things about the body-mind-spirit connection, clearly. Um, and, and I mean, our body is a temple. That's, you know, first and foremost. And I'm not here to judge or preach However, if you need help, reach out. I've, you know, I, I really don't want people to go through the, the pitfalls that I went through, and I'm all about working smarter, not harder. So I get asked all the time, pet and house sitting, how do you do it? How do you travel? How do you become a digital nomad? Well, it's a decision you have to choose. You have to decide if where you are, you know, are you happy? I mean, really, that's what it comes down to. Are you happy? Uh, because it's not an outside thing, meaning, you know, material items. It's always been an inside job. Uh, and that goes for, you know, if you're having health issues, you start from the inside. And food is, you know, everything. Um, and supplementing is everything. But here's the thing, you have to detox and reset. All right, so I really wanted to create a space for people to connect on this and ask questions and even be inspired to live their soul's purpose, because that is my mission— for you to step into your purpose, whatever that happens to be. I want you to thrive. We're, we're— I feel like we have survived. Uh, it's time to thrive. Right? And the only way we can do that is through community, collaboration, connection, co-creation. And spirituality is number one. I've done a lot of different things in my life, um, you know, from sales to waitressing, uh, door-to-door sales. Oh gosh, what else? Reception, administration, HR manager. I've done a lot of things. Anyways, what, what do I know? I know that, um, myself having my dark night of the soul, everything changed and the world changed. And now that everything is opened up, you know, people are asking, well, how did you get into pet sitting? Well, I've really always loved animals first and foremost. You're not doing it for the money and you're not doing it to have a vacation. Okay, let me just be clear about that. If you are, you need to rethink that because the pets are going to pick up on that. So, um, I just have some tips. I also have a PDF, like a checklist, uh, when you're starting, what questions to ask, what sites to go to, where are all the communities. I mean, there, there's a few. Trusted House Sitters is the one that I'm part of, I actually have a referral link where you get 25% off. So if you're interested in that, let me know. Uh, or if you'd like the PDF, uh, to go through everything, because what I've learned is communication with home and pet owners, number one, first and foremost. And it's always good. I mean, obviously if they're on the other side of the world, you're gonna meet virtually, right? So you need to just really That's why I teach intuitive development and energy, um, development. Because if you're getting a vibe and something's not right, you will find out the hard way, or you will just say no, or you're going to ask more questions. So just be aware of that, okay? You might be excited to go to Australia or Spain or wherever, but if it seems like it's too much Like, you know, you got to ask yourself, do you— are you allergic to cats? Do you want dogs on the bed? Do you want to be walking dogs? Like, do you want cats? Do you want dogs? There's horses as well. There's people doing it as couples. Um, there's so many ways. And then you have to ask about house rules, like the rules for the house. Are people allowed to come over? Um, what, you know, what did the— what's the animal schedule? What are their quirks and perks? Um, anything, alarm systems, you name it, deliveries, you have to cover all of that. And then of course you have to have an action plan. And I have a very detailed spreadsheet for all of the contact information, anything and everything you can think of that might go wrong, just in case. And if the pet is well, right, is, is not well, sorry, is sick, you have to You have to know all the vet information, what to do in case of emergency. Are there medications, right? Do they have separation anxiety? Are they aggressive? Um, there's lots of— some animals don't like men. I've seen that quite a bit with dogs. So you have— or, you know, small kids. Or there are people that want to bring their own pets, and some can and some cannot. So you have to, um Yeah, and then about house care, like, um, what if you break something? What if something goes awry? The— a pipe burst, you know, you got to have all of that information handy so you're not scrambling. And, um, as well, some homeowners want everything perfectly clean, and some are medium, and some don't care. Like where I am right now, she said, you know, mi casa, si casa, my house is your house. You can eat anything in the fridge, anything. You can, you can have people over. You can, like, it's, it's amazing. She said if you need to stay a few more days, go for it. She's very generous, but not everyone is. Everybody has different, you know, whether they're comfortable or not, right? So, and also the keys situation. Now, many people are coming on board with door codes, right? So you don't have to worry about the key exchange, but But if there is, you know, you have to work that out. What if you get yourself locked out? You have to have emergency contact. You have to have a way back in, right? And, um, and of course if it's stored on your phone, and, um, I know Trusted House Sitters has a pet guide, but I also keep a pet guide. I have a free PDF for that. And if there's any special care, like I had mentioned, for anxious older cats, dogs, rescues. I mean, I've got Willie here behind me. He's such a sweet boy. He's a Bichon mix. He likes to bark a lot. Um, it just— but here's the thing, I reward him, you know, if he stops right away. That he's food motivated is what I'm saying. So you have to know these things, and you have to be, you know, am I comfortable with this? And especially if you're traveling to another country, you know, there's a lot of unknowns in there, but the whole idea is to have fun with it. Be open, be heart-led, be soul-fed. I mean, the whole reason for this podcast— and yes, I talk about a variety of things because I've been through a, a variety of things. So if there's something that sparks your interest, that, you know, go back to even your childhood. Did you always love pets, or do you just like to travel? Because there are um, house sits where you're just watching the home and there's no pets. So you have to decide, right? Not everyone's an animal lover. I understand that, and that's fine. So, um, what else? I, I get, you know, whether— and then there's Rover as well, Rover.com, which I don't get a lot of. Um, there's Kijiji, there's Craigslist, there's Facebook groups. There's a ton of those. There's a big community on YouTube. You just have to go and search and, and find and seek and see if that's for you. And I always recommend if you're starting out, start in your city, in your town, local. Find out how that works for you, and then you start building referrals, and then you start getting reviews, um, you know, whether they're published on Facebook or Google. I mean, you can start your own, your own business, uh, in the blink of an eye. It's quite easy to do, and it really is up to you what you'd like to do. Um, so really I'm just here to offer, you know, inspirational conversations and stories and how to make travel and remote working a way of life. Now whether you're doing, you know, uh, you're swapping the, the pet sit for the house, once you get into that country, if you're part of a community on a forum like Trusted House Sitters, you just start booking it out. I mean, I'm booked solid until mid-February and then my plan is have a nice beach vacation for a little bit. And, um, after that, I believe I'd like to go to Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and UK. Um, I know Australia is, is on the list as well. So really, the world is your oyster, and, um, exploring pet-friendly experiences, house sitting, it's It's not about the money anymore. I mean, yeah, you can say, oh, easy for you to say, Christine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had all those responsibilities. I made $100,000 plus a year, but guess what? I was always on the road. I never took care of myself. I was drinking, I was smoking, I was miserable, but I had everything, right? Okay, um, so I know a lot of people that have sold everything and they've been traveling for years. Don't you get lonely sometimes? But in those in-between, uh, experiences, there's so much joy. You really find out who you are as a person. You find out what you will and will not, uh, accept in your life. You realize you have a lot of BS, like old BS belief systems, and, um, that it doesn't matter what other people think because it's none of our business. So get out of your own way. I know there's people, you know, that— what about retirement and all of that? I mean, you can do 6 months and then come back. You— there's lots of flexibility. You just got to find your lane and, and reach out and ask questions. Don't just put it off and think, oh, that's not for me. If you've always wanted to travel, this is the best way. I mean, I have a digital business as well, and this for me is fun. This is gravy because I love animals and I love meeting new people. I love finding out, um, you know, where people are from and what's going on. I mean, the gentleman that pet-sit before me for the woman that I'm pet-sitting for, he had left. He fled Ukraine and she was his beacon of light. And he petsit for 2 weeks, I believe, and then he stayed for a couple more days until he got himself situated. I mean, what a— what an amazing story. Um, I, I feel like we're really here to help each other and, uh, create community and collaborate. And it's not a competition, but it's a co-op-petition. Uh, so Ask, do you have any questions? Do you have any feedback? What— do you have any experiences of your own? Um, comments, tips, you can leave them here live, on the replay, whether you're watching or you're listening to wherever you get your favorite podcast from. I'm interested to know, um, if you've been thinking about it, you're already doing it, um, how do you find your sits? How do you find your, your travel experiences? Um, because everything is, is changing, and the more that we can share, um, the better it is. And I'm also writing a blog about my experiences with pets, uh, with animals, and, uh, it's called Dear Pet Parents. And, um, the reason I labeled it that is because, uh, there needs to be more responsibility in regards to the energy that we come in with, our vibes, because that's what animals pick up. So, uh, I feel that's why we have a lot of separation anxiety, we have a lot of aggression issues. It's because of us. We are willingly or unwillingly passing that along to our pets. And, you know, then there's the medication piece. And, um, honestly, it— the healing starts with human first, because animals are unconditional love. So just start on that basis. And, uh, yeah, because I'm seeing a lot of helicopter parenting, putting pets in bubbles, um, just being frustrated and giving up, um, or just keep rescuing animals but they don't take care of themselves. I see a lot of that. I get it. So thank you so much for joining me, and I will leave all the links. If there's something missing that you're looking for, whether it's that free PDF, Getting Started as a Pet Sitter, Digital Nomad Travel, Pet and House Sitting, let me know. And if you're looking for a pet or house sitter, feel free to comment as well, because where I am right now there is a huge waitlist in, in Calgary for paid house or pet sitters. So it's not just free, there is a lot of paid opportunities, and a lot of people are traveling and they want really good care for their pets. So, and I believe in, you know, that if we're taking care of ourselves, naturally that gets passed along to whoever is around us, including, you know, family It's our responsibility to, um, to be the change, to be the example, to be the love, to be the peace, to be the joy, to be the natural abundance. It starts with us. All right, I'm sending you lots of love. Take care, and I look forward to seeing you soon.