Housecarers.com

Monday 14 April 2014

More on the House-sitters

Jen and Steve from Ontario, Canada are now here in town, staying in a nice place for a couple of weeks before taking up residence in my apartment May 1.  They will be house and dog sitting for a month.

I have learned some more about them and their motivation to sell everything and quit their jobs in order to fulfill their desire to travel for a year more or less, depending on how long the money lasts.  They have been regular, normal people for 20-plus years, working and raising a family.  When the kids moved out (for the last time) about three years ago, the itch to do something radically different began to grow.  Some family members began to have life-threatening illnesses, and their own family doctor, a very healthy man who exercised and ate healthy foods his whole life, suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack.  The phrase, life is short, began to be a mantra for them.  They realized that working another 20 years with the idea of retiring and travelling THEN was something that life could simply not guarantee for them.  That was when they put their plans in motion.

Telling friends and family was at first greeted with great surprise and concern that they may have lost their minds, but, they say, most people came around and supported the idea eventually.  They know they will have to return to a "normal" life in about a year, and go back to working for the next 20 years in order to officially retire around 65, but taking this adventurous sabbatical will, I think, open their eyes and minds to many new possibilities and ideas for their future.  Already, in just a couple of days of being in Mazatlan and meeting expats and snowbirds and hearing their stories, I can just hear the wheels are turning in their minds.  Taking the plunge and doing what they are doing cannot NOT change them - forever.

I am very happy to be their first stop on this journey and I will try to help make it a great experience!

For those wondering - I found Jen and Steve on the website www.housecarers.com    There are three websites that I have used.  The housecarers one, www.trustedhousesitters.com and www.mindmyhouse.com

I, myself, have a profile on housecarers.com as a potential house-sitter.  I think it is a great way to travel the world inexpensively and uniquely.  Yes, there may be pets to take care of but not all of them have pets, and taking care of a cat or two is much easier than dogs.  So, if you have an adventurous streak and love to travel, check out these websites for yourselves.

Of course, one consideration for travelers should be emergency medical insurance.  My new portable business as a Skymed representative for Mexico now allows me to offer emergency medical evacuation services - something most people assume is a part of their travel/medical insurance policy, but if you read the fine print, being evacuated to your home city is something you will have to pay for upfront and claim back - if you qualify and meet the restrictions of the policy. It can cost many thousands of dollars upfront - who has that much room on their credit cards in an emergency? Skymed is a service offered to supplement your emergency medical policy and once approved you can never be cancelled for any reason.  You, your travel companion, your family, your vehicle, even your pets will be transported home at your request should you have a medical emergency while travelling, and you will not have to pay a dime upfront or file a claim, nor are there any deductibles.  I am very happy to be able to offer this valuable service.  For more information:

www.skymed.com/susanjessup

email: sjessupskymed@gmail.com

2 comments:

  1. Hi Susan, greetings from Northern Ontario. I'm just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
    http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Chris,

    Thanks for the comment. My goodness you have over 4100 followers! How on earth did you do that?

    ReplyDelete