Debbie's story: From Vancouver to London

I come from Vancouver, Canada and love to travel. I moved over to the UK over 20 years ago, but, recently, I wasn’t sure if I needed to move back to Vancouver. I’ve been very lucky to have seen many parts of the world and something that kept coming up was hearing about being a house sitter. I love animals and also love to have a quiet space that lets me explore areas I wouldn’t normally, especially in a city, I can think I know well."

"I live in Brighton, UK, but I’ve looked at moving back to Vancouver twice, both times led me to TrustedHousesitters, I’ve found them the easiest to use, the most reliable and I get to meet great people and pets.

My house sitting in the UK started before I went back to Vancouver the 2nd time, so I did a lot of house sits which were not that far from me, so that I could build up my references on the site for when I went back to Vancouver for 7 months. I managed to get house sits throughout my whole time in Vancouver. It’s an expensive city to stay in and not have a permanent home, so I achieved quite an amazing feet being able to house sit my way through my entire time there. It made it affordable and it helped me find out that I wasn’t meant to live in Vancouver, but come back to the UK and look to London.

I live in Brighton, which is a great place, but I wanted to have some time in London, so I thought I would live my dream which was to have my home on the coast of England and spend one week a month up in London looking after cats. I couldn’t afford to buy a place in London, so this was the perfect solution to the lifestyle which I love. I’ve had cats pretty much most of my adult life, but, you see, last year, I became the proud owner of a chihuahua puppy – someone I’ve wanted my whole life, but wasn’t sure I could look after her. So, I’m now on both sides of TrustedHousesitters. I’m a sitter and an owner. Thankfully, my husband looks after our dog most of the time when I’m in London (we both work from home), but when we travel, we can now be at ease that we can easily find someone to look after her while we are away. I just had my 1st experience of this recently and it went beautifully. It was a bit odd to be on the other side of the conversation, but it’s great!

Now I get to have my cat friends and my dog and live in 2 of my most favourite places on the earth! It’s great. I work mostly from my laptop, but I do like to go up to London and meet with a few people face to face and see all the shows! I’ve even been called a cat whisperer, which makes me really happy, as there is no doubt, I love these feline friends.

Over the years that I’ve been on house sitters as a sitter, I’ve looked after dogs, cats and birds. One of my favourite sits was in the Okanagan in Canada – there was an organic winery which sold bottles of wines called ‘Hot Flash’ and ‘Rose-eh’ just down the road, so when I walked the dog, we could walk by it every day or walk down a beautiful natural ravine. Plus, I found a golf course not far, which had the most brilliant views of the Okanagan valley – not to mention the view from the living room. Plus, I had to heat the home with a log fire – just like you like life to be in Canada – amazing!

My career is definitely gaining ground here in the UK and I do feel it’s because I can spend that week a month in London, but still have my wonderful lifestyle on the coast of England. It’s been so important for me to be able to explore all my options and being a trusted house sitter has afforded me to do that. To answer those burning questions of 'do I need to go back to Canada or stay in the UK?' It’s quite clear, it’s still the UK. I’m also living my dream of a place in London and having the chihuahua I’ve always wanted – she is gorgeous and we all are very happy!

If Debbie's story has inspired you, and you think she might be the perfect house sitter for you, then check out her profile here. 
We love hearing from our members, so remember to send us your stories too, by emailing stories@trustedhousesitters.com.