My new life as a homeless-yet-happy house and pet sitter
Francien Daniels-Webb, a 65-year-old single, homeless, retired teacher has been travelling the world on her own. All done on the cheap, she home and pet sits.
My decision to leave my marriage was an instant one, and as luck would have it my husband was on the same page. My role in the marriage had become one more of a carer then a wife, dare I say it – the mother figure he had missed out on. I was 15 years older and at 60 I was over the chaos and, having already raised my three children and as a teacher, taught thousands of students, it was time for me to move on.
I left the home and virtually everything in it. What he didn’t want I donated to opportunity shops or gave away things to those who could use them. It was unbelievably easy, cathartic and I was thankful for the opportunity to do so. Andy and I agreed on a figure he would pay me for the home. It wasn’t much, but it was a cushion to land on. That was back in 2011, and I am pleased to say that today we are good friends and his partner and I get on very well. I think he feels left out at times as we chatter on.
So there I was homeless at 60. What was I to do? Where was I going to live? Plans to build a self-contained granny flat at my youngest daughter’s home were soon ended. My two grandsons have autism as does her husband, so the chaos I had left in my own home would be pushing onto them. Their home would be pulled apart with strangers coming into the home to build the granny flat, so I made my decision not to do this. Renting was also out of the equation as my Newstart Allowance did not come close to match any place to rent. At midnight, my daughter and I googled options, with the first coming from nowhere: house sitter! Suddenly, another life and lifestyle opened before us. It was unbelievable, and I signed up and paid for a year membership, on an Australia-only site.
My grandchildren on my 65th birthday celebration.
Life is very interesting when you are open to a different way of thinking, and calls to action soon came along. Friends of my daughter came over for a BBQ and I told them I was researching home and pet sitting. The couple faced each other with a grin and voila, here was my first booking for two weeks! They were so happy to stumble upon me, otherwise one of them would have had to stay home with the dogs during Christmas!
I soon had the next six months booked, most of these conveniently back to back. Colleagues at the school where I had worked as a casual relief teacher also booked me to home sit, so within five days I had 15 months booked out in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland, all the way until early 2013. A colleague whose son I had taught at a Special School also approached me to be her son's companion for 12 weeks over three separate sits. No pets, but her oldest son would bring his Great Dane over.
Today, I am a companion for another student from that same school. It is the first time his parents have had a holiday together in 25 years. The lad I spent time with in 2013 and his girlfriend, whom I also taught, are coming over for dinner on Saturday evening. This fact is what every teacher loves to be part of: seeing past students becoming independent.
Perfect match: whippet and fire in Tawonga.
With the home and pet sitting going so well in Australia, I decided to try some sits overseas. This would be perfect way to see the world and visit my birthplace, Netherlands. I migrated to Australia along with my parents, sister and brother when I was seven in 1958. I’ve only returned in 1994 to see my cousins and their families, in 1997 with my daughter, and in 2011 with Andy, six months before our marriage was over.
I had two sits in Nederland and five sits in England, near Brighton, 20 minutes from Harrods, Jane Austen country, Felixstowe and near Manchester. I spent an amazing 133 days between both countries and my inner gypsy was born.
Last year I left for Vancouver, and was welcomed into a family's Airbnb home for a week and then flew to Edmonton, Alberta for my first sit with two pussy cats and to look after the one bedroom flat for five weeks. Before I left Alberta by bus, I decided a stopover in Banff was needed. What an amazing journey, those Canadian Rockies are really something. In Banff it is impossible to take a bad photo. I will certainly be returning there in Autumn and see Lake Louise.
I then left for the US where I was met at the train station in Charlotte, North Carolina by the owners of my first sit in the US. I ended up returning to sit their neighbour’s puppies and then back into my second sit with the first owners. Life on Lake Norman in Davidson North Carolina is a dream and the people I met and sat for were generous, caring, thoughtful, respectful and genuine. I never thought I would ever say that and here I was in my first place!
I then worked my way through house sits in Independence, Missouri, Fayetteville and Peachtree City, Georgia, Orlando, Florida, Leasburg, North Carolina, and Columbia, Maryland. They were all more than I could have ever expected. Return trips were organised and paid for by owners who wanted to see me again before I left for Australia! One lady's parents invited me to stay with them in Connecticut and their holiday home in Rhode Island just 15 days before Christmas. They actually drove me to Harlem where I was staying in another Airbnb!
On New Year's Eve in 2015, at midnight, I left to return home to Melbourne. My darling daughter’s 40th birthday celebration was my reason to come back to Australia. With one or two week sits in Melbourne already booked, I soon found that my year was quickly blocked out. I am looking forward to two special sits in Tawonga and then Mt Toolebewong where wombats and lyre birds are regular visitors. Friends in the US have already asked me to return and I’ve got booked repeat assignment in Australia next year too.
Through home and pet sitting, I have made very dear friends besides experiencing amazing cultures, foods, cities and villages. I lead a perfect lifestyle. If you envy my lifestyle then you are not the first, I am nearly 65 and this proves that you can begin this lifestyle whenever you wish. To be honest, the grey nomads are much in demand and very appreciated by all ages of home owners. In the States they love the Aussies. Well I love the Americans just as much.
In 2018 I plan to teach English in Bhutan for 12 months, as a teacher I am more than qualified. I am interested in their simplistic lifestyle. Once there I am open to where my path leads me. My experience has only been positive, I am healthier, happier and more content than I have ever been. No stress.
I have no fixed address, just a Newstart Allowances which seizes six weeks after you leave Australian shores. In a few weeks I will receive the Aged Pension which will continue when I am overseas. Wow I won't know myself!
We can all sit and watch the world and time pass by through our curtains but being part of the growing number of sitters travelling the world free be the very best decision you have made for a long time. Who wouldn’t like to travel and have free accommodation?
To find more information about home and pet sitting, visit Francien’s website Home Sitters Worldwide.
If you have a story to share please get in touch at melody@oversixty.com.au
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