After six months of full-time housesitting the COVID-19 lockdown forced a change in lifestyle and for many housesitters the absence of animals was a tough task to bear. Emma Cornthwaite shares her take on post lockdown housesitting, and what it means for owners and sitters alike.
Home sweet home, Bear the puppy looks out for his mum!
It hasn’t been the year that any of us expected - plans have altered, circumstances have changed, lives have been turned upside-down and inside out. One thing is for sure - this pandemic has emphasised the power of community, good people and trust.
Everyone on the planet has been affected by Covid-19 in some way and we have all experienced kindness in one form or another from other humans as we help each other muddle through and find some sort of normality. What normal looks like for one person will not be normal for the next and everyone has been managing it in their own way.
For us, ’normality’ was living out of a few bags with no permanent address and a constantly changing environment as we briefly adopted a new family home every few weeks. We were full time Trusted Housesitters and we absolutely loved our unconventional normal.
Being trusted with a stranger’s home and furry family members is an enormous honour and something we never took for granted but we also didn’t realise how much we would miss when it was no longer an option.
Having pets around is such a joy and has immeasurable benefits for our physical and mental wellbeing and we have really noticed a difference since Covid shut down people’s travel plans and meant that barely anyone needed a house sitter anymore. I bet the pets loved having their humans around the house more these past few months but it meant that we didn’t get to cuddle any!
The good news is, the tables are turning and housesitting is making a comeback like the first rains after a long drought. We are so grateful to report that we have spent the last two weeks being back to our old normal, caring for lovely homes and pets while their owners have been able to get away for a much needed break.
Shara left her six month old Bear with us for a week after a last minute call for housesitters
We definitely aren’t the minority either - for every housesitting opportunity in the UK, there are tens of applicants wanting to step up sit for them. Having chatted to the TH community online, they are as starved for housesits as we have been and are longing for more sits to become available.
TrustedHousesitters as an organisation have been really clear about following Covid-19 guidelines from the beginning and have remained supportive of homeowners and housesitters throughout. The communication from the support team is ever-present and we have absolutely no reservations about entering someone’s home and staying for a while to allow them to get away.
Many people are feeling the need to get away, go on holiday, ‘staycation’ in the UK or head to see family as it’s been so long, but they are concerned about not being able to find a house or pet sitter. Our one message to you is - do it. You can trust that good people are still out there and happy (if not begging!) to come and sit for you as they are longing for the affection that only a pet can give as much as you are longing for your holiday!
Being part of the TrustedHousesitters community has been so rewarding for us. We can’t wait to do more sits soon.
Read the Instagram Story thread about our return to housesitting
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