Things I never thought I’d say
Any good house sitter knows that to have an enjoyable experience, you need to be adaptable. As we mentioned in an earlier post, we’ve learned tons since we’ve started to house sit; about ourselves, life and how other people live. And yes, I really did say that baby cockroaches are cute. So here are more adventures in house sitting with things I never thought I’d hear myself (or Tim) say:
One room cabin
– Conversation had in the middle of the night, in the dark, when we were staying in a one room cabin.
Tim: Did you hear that?
Nat: What?
Tim: Rats running across the roof.
Nat: Can they get in?
Tim: I hope not.
– I use it like a squat toilet (Nat on how to use an outhouse without touching the toilet seat)
– Pee cup or drink cup? (Tim holding up two cups…when you have to use an outhouse that’s 50 yards away in the middle of the night you find other ways to relieve yourself)
Outhouse
– The dog has fleas (Nat holding up a flea)
– The dog has worms (Nat coming in from a walk with the dog)
– There’s a rat in the chicken coop again (Nat to Tim)
– Can you make more mochi? (Nat to Tim)
Gecko eggs
– Have the gecko eggs hatched yet? (Tim to Nat)
– I think I got a sunburn in the shower (Nat after using the outdoor shower)
– Woody Harrelson just drove by (he lived up from where we were staying)
– Eeek! A gecko just fell on me! (Nat sitting at the breakfast nook)
Ants vs cockroach
– I just watched three ants take down a cockroach (Nat to Tim)
– Don’t leave me alone with the cat! (Tim to Nat at our latest house sit, the cat has the most evil meow and isn’t too friendly, yet.)
House sitting isn’t for everyone but if you’re open to new, sometimes flinch-inducing situations, it’s a great way to see the world, save on accommodations and provide a service. Not to mention meet some interesting people you probably would never have met otherwise.
If it’s something you might be interested in, you can find great opportunities on Trusted Housesitters (US).
Man, you guys are house-sitting rockstars. I would NOT be that adaptable, and likely run screaming in the other direction. 🙂
I know you have a bug issue we did to to some degree but it faded during the process. Otherwise we’d be in straight jackets right now.
Hahaha! Hilarious! Made my day!
Glad we could do that for you 🙂
Travel presents us with moments of things we never thought we’d do but I loved this post on things we never thought we’d say. It shows us how important a sense of humor can be and how it can turn around some not-so-good experiences! Very funny!
I don’t want to know where we would be without a sense of humour.
“Don’t leave me alone with the cat!” — that’s priceless! It’s good you’re in this together, dealing with ants, cockroaches and gecko eggs would be more than I could handle alone!
We definitely help each other out and make each other laugh when it comes to bugs.
You’ve had some real interesting sits! We’re not big fans of geckos despite the insistence of some that they’re keeping the bug population down. What about the fact that they poop everywhere?! Your outhouse looks like a nice one compared with some I’ve had to use. Hey, it’s all in a day’s travels, yes? Fun post!
Nobody ever talks about the poop! And the outhouse hadn’t been used in a while, we power washed the heck out of it before we used it 🙂
Oh man, why did I click?! It’s almost midnight and I’ll probably feel creepy crawlers on me all night. Lol! Glad you guys have a sense of humour about it though 🙂 Anita is right – laughing is important when you’re in these situations.
Haha made you click 😉 You have to laugh about it, it was a daily occurrence with the bugs.
This is so funny and totally believable. I am tremendous, indescribably gecko phobia, but travelling in many South Asian countries and staying in sketchy guest houses I came to develop Stockholm syndrome and even found a few baby geckos cute. Now, sitting in my unexciting climate-controlled apartment I am asking myself, “WHAT WAS I THINKING!” But travel is indeed transformative.
We agree, right now in a bug free house it’s hard to believe I found them cute 🙂