The Biggest Lesson House Sitting Taught Me About Travel
Staying in someone else’s home offers much more than room and board. (Photo: iStock)
Over the course of the past three years, my travel partner Kenin and I have discovered that slow travel has become our preferred method of getting around. For the uninitiated, slow travel is a newish movement of traveling that is quickly gaining in popularity. It’s where you rent a place or you house swap or house sit for a significantly longer period of time than a regular vacation. Different travelers have different meanings for slow travel, but to us, it’s where we get to shack up in an area for a few months and really take the time to delve into the culture and community of that area.
When you mix slow travel with house sitting, you get an almost unbeatable combination. The blend of nearly free accommodations and having plenty of time to really take in a destination is perfect. However, we’ve recently discovered another reason that’s even better: It gives you the ability to live in someone else’s shoes. Over the last couple of years, we’ve had the ability to live the lives of completely different people while staying in these individual homes.
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We’re currently enjoying our summer in New Hampshire, staying in a 200-year-old farmhouse with sprawling acres of lush land all around. A couple weeks ago, our friends decided to pay us a visit from New York City and take advantage of our digs. Of note: These friends happen to be very heady. One of them has a Ph.D. in Anthropology, and together, they’re the minds behind the website Cool Anthropology.
We invited them over for a fondue dinner, inspired by the owner of our home, who is Swiss. While sitting around enjoying bread, veggies, and meats dipped in delectable cheeses, our friends asked us what inspired fondue. Off the cuff, I mentioned that the homeowner had all the necessary equipment for fondue, so why not? It’s then that she pointed out how Kenin and I seem to assimilate into the home and lifestyle that surrounds us in whatever house we are currently staying in. Once she said that, we thought back to all of our other house sits and realized just how true that statement was.
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We love housesitting when we slow travel. Living in someone’s home gives you a tremendous opportunity to see life through someone else’s eyes. The woman who owns the home in New Hampshire suggested that I plant a garden since I am here for a few months. This is something that I would never do on my own, since I have very brown thumbs. But after some coaxing from the homeowner and the help of our extremely friendly next-door neighbors, I decided to get out of my comfort zone. We took an old boat, filled it with dirt, compost, and manure, and planted some cabbages, marigolds, and lettuce. Now, they are growing fine just fine — and this makes me extremely happy. Gardening is a hugely valuable skill, and an experience that I would have never had if I were only here for a week or two or if I spent all my time in a hotel or resort.
Our boat garden! (Photo: Lauren Bassart)
Another prime example of housesitting-as-teacher was when we spent our last two winters in Calgary. Kenin and I went out almost every single day despite the brutal winter weather. We visited farmers’ markets and local museums and ate at local restaurants. We shoveled snow (so so much snow) and even took skiing and snowboarding lessons. After completely falling in love with the city, we decided we wanted to give back to the community that showed us so much. We sought out ways to help and began volunteering through a chapter of the Kiwanis Club. Even though we are nomadic, they invited us in with warm hearts and gave us the opportunity to do good in a community we grew quite attached to while housesitting.
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Kenin & Lauren with some members of the Calgary Kiwanis Club. (Photo: Lauren Bassart)
Slow travel has really helped us understand the way of life in different places. It gave us a chance to understand why certain places have certain types of architecture and terrain. We have a better understanding of the local cultures and attitudes. We gained insight into a region’s economy, politics, and environment. We now also have friends all over the world that we care about a great deal. We’ve even picked up local accents and phrases. Most of all, though, we’ve gained something incredibly powerful: Perspective. Living the life of a local not only teaches you about a local region, but it helps you understand the hows and whys behind it all.
Vacationing is a great way to destress, but if you want to really and truly get to know a place and the people of an area, I highly recommend settling in for a few weeks and really digging into the local scene. Education through travel is so enriching, and it helps you grow intellectually and culturally. Even if you can’t take months or weeks off of work, get creative. Try a house swap for a weekend with a friend in a nearby city. Sign up for a house sitting site and find a home nearby that you can take care of and live in while someone else is away. Get out there and see the world through the eyes of a local and learn what life is like in their shoes. I promise you, if you do so, you’ll be a much stronger and more well-rounded person as a result.
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