016- Connections with Kelly
What are ways to meet new people and interact with the community while housesitting?
Housesits are usually not in touristy areas (yay!), but that can make them a bit more isolating, as you're not among other travelers -- plus you have the pet-caring and house-caring responsibilities. Kelly gives us some great tips for making the most out of our stays!
Finding things that interest you, liking writing retreats!
Kelly Hayes-Raitt admits she sleeps around. Usually with animals.
As a full-time housesitter and traveler for the past decade, she’s learned a thing or two about housesitting and shares her knowledge and experience in her popular book How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the HouseSit Diva available in soft cover or Kindle at Amazon (http://amzn.to/2hlj7UP) or ebook on her web site (www.HouseSitDiva.com).
Before nomading, Kelly reported live from Iraq during the early weeks of the U.S.-led invasion. Her journalism has won several literary awards and has been widely published in anthologies.
Lately, she’s turned her energy toward helping other writers get their books jumpstarted. Her coaching clients call her “inspiring,” and students in her workshops rave about her unique teaching techniques. Learn more about working one-on-one with Kelly at www.JumpStartMyBook.org.
Or join her in Cape Town, South Africa, February 1 – 10, 2020, for a magical writing retreat to jumpstart your book! www.JumpStartMybook.org/writers-retreat/
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
0:24
Hello and welcome back to pet sitter confessional this week we have Kelly Hayes rate back on with us again. If you missed her first interview, you can go and listen to episode nine, where we got a brief introduction into what life is like as an international pet sitter and house sitter. This week we've got her back on and Kelly I'd really like you to introduce yourself to the listeners in case they missed that first episode.
0:46
Sure, Collin, thanks for having me back on I'm really excited to be here. My name is Kelly Hayes rate and I've been house sitting and pet sitting internationally full time for the last 10 years. As we know most people Don't house it and pets it full time. But that's what I've been doing. So I've been a full time traveler. And I've had the opportunity to travel throughout and house it throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, the United States. And right now I happen to be in Akihiko, Mexico which is just south of Guadalajara. And I'm taking care of cha cha, an 11 year old rescue pit lab mix. And you may hear her weigh in on this interview at some point she likes to hoard and
1:31
it's always nice when they remind you that they're there.
1:37
Well, you have a great topic that you brought to talk about this time and it kind of plays in with a lot of questions that people have as far as what what else do you do when when house sitting or pet sitting because a lot of times people tend to think it's just sitting around the house and maybe cleaning and taking pictures of the pets or making sure the house is okay. But but you have a A lot of thoughts on this as far as how to interact at the community level and and get involved there.
2:08
I do have a lot of thoughts on this and I'm so happy to be here to share them with you. I share a lot of them in my book how to become a house sitter insider tips from the house diva, which is available in ebook on my website at www dot house it diva calm or on Amazon. But it's, it's it's something that's really near and dear to my heart because one of the things that I love about housesitting is that I'm usually staying in neighborhoods with people around me and I'm not staying in the more touristy areas of cities or places where I visit. That's something I like. But the downside to that is that it can be a little bit isolating because I'm not meeting other tourists and I'm not meeting other people that I might go hang out with. So I have a pretty extensive list of things that how sitters and travelers in general can do to try to enhance their experiences and getting a little bit closer to the communities where they're where they're traveling to visiting or pet sitting in. One of the things that I like to do when I go to a new community is to see if I have an opportunity to volunteer somewhere. I'm here in Mexico right now. Now he's Mexico and their ton of opportunities for volunteers, even even short term visitors to come and volunteer at animal shelters or educational programs for children. There's some some environmental programs here. But I wanted to talk just a little bit if I could, Collin about some of the volunteer experiences that I've had. That's okay. Yeah, absolutely. And I wanted to go visit I'm a journalist as well. That's one of the things that I do on the side. And I wanted to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 70th commemoration of the bombings of both of those cities, the atomic bombings of those cities. So I picked up a house it and our soccer. That was kind of unusual because The kiddies that I was taking care of were semi feral. And so they could be left for days at a time, which is really unusual and a house and a pet set, right and the homeowner was fine with me going away for two or three nights at a time. So Osaka that I was taco house, it gave me a base then to go down to Hiroshima for the 70th commemoration of that, of that atomic bombing, and while there, I met some Boy Scouts from Southern California who had never learned about the atomic bombing. And I met them in the Peace Park as they were going through the the peace museum there on the day before the actual ceremony was going to take place to commemorate the bombings, get a chance to talk with them and interview them about what was what their experience was, what their knowledge was, and what their experience was like going through the peace museum. It's really interesting. I also met a French photographer who was photographing. Get a little emotional here, who is photographing clothing. remnants that have been kept and preserved by the peace Museum, what people were wearing, my mom dropped and keep, he did this, this beautiful displays with the clothing that that made the individual articles kind of tell their own story. And then he researched was wearing the clothing when the bomb dropped, and I did an article about him, and that was that was really an amazing experience to have that. When I was house sitting in Berlin. One time I've had a house out there a few times, it was at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis. And of course, Germany was being so open to allowing Syrian refugees to come in for asylum. And I was sitting with my partner at the time and he and I went down to the refugee center, the refugee center where they were signing in and just helped with whatever we could do for a for a day we've handed out bottles of water and and help people We'll figure out where we're going. And we're so we're very, very, very emotional and very evocative experience for both of us. So I was glad that even though it's just a little tiny thing we did, I was glad we were able to help in some way. I just was how sitting this past summer in forgive my French renewal, which is a French protectorate island in the Indian Ocean. And right after passing there, I was able to go to Madagascar and I volunteered in a place called nosey bay for a conversation of conservation effort that
rebuilds and regenerates coral underwater, and I'm a scuba diver. So it was a really unique opportunity for me to no pun intended, get a little bit more in depth knowledge, coral, but also to you know, to learn how coral can regrow and so what we did was we gathered up pieces of broken coral that was still alive. And you could tell that because there was still color in the coral. And then we would attach it to existing coral reefs. And and I could see I can see the fruits of my labor right away, but I could see what people had done six months before and to see how the coral was attaching and regenerating really interesting. Wow. Last year I have sat in Maputo, Mozambique. The southern tip of Africa, active house up there twice, I just said fall in love with that country. And I learned about a man named Bona Ventura Zika, who runs a program to go into villages and gather up the guns, mostly the AK 40 sevens that were used in the Civil War, if teen 20 years ago, and what he does with those guns is those rifles as he gives them to artists and then make sculptures out of them and he trades the villagers for their guns. He gives them things like sewing machines and farming plows or water treatment systems. And so it's a way for the rural villages to, first of all get rid of their guns, but secondly, you know, get something that's really helpful for them. The artists get the guns and make these incredible sculptures. And one of the sculptures is called the throne of weapons. And it's, it's a throne made of ak 40, sevens, and it's at the British Museum in London. And just last month, when I was house sitting in London, I had an opportunity to go to the British Museum and see this particular sculpture. It's amazing. So that's an organization that I want to get more actively involved with, and I'll be writing about them. So these are just a couple of the volunteer things that I've done in different places where I've How sad that have just moved me and made me feel much closer to the struggles that the communities are Going through, whether it's to achieve peace or to clean up their oceans, or to deal with World Refugee Crisis. And it has been so fulfilling for me. And I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to house and pets it in these different places. Because it makes me feel even more routed to the community then and I can stay longer than I would if I were staying in a hotel. So volunteering is one way to give back to the community where you're where you're visiting, and pet sitting in.
9:33
Yeah, it's a really, you're in a very unique situation where you kind of get transported directly into that area, as you mentioned, that's outside of the typical touristy zone and is just in a normal neighborhood, and to have these volunteer opportunities and to seek those out so that you can learn more about that culture. Give back and really become connected in a very real way is quite a different take on the view of what housesitting looks like,
10:03
yes. And the way that I find these volunteer opportunities is, you know, obviously I watch the news and keep up with what's happening in the country that I'll be visiting, because I like to kind of brush up on that. But I also asked the homeowner for suggestions. Because, you know, the homeowners are great resources far beyond. This is how you feed my pet. And, and they're usually really excited to offer information to me about how I can give back to their community. So it's a really nice way to to to to cement that bond with the homeowner. Right?
10:36
That's great.
10:39
So another way that I connect to communities is through organizations like inner nations, which is a nonprofit organization for ex Pats. It's a worldwide organization, and it's really, really inexpensive to join. And they have different chapters all over the all over the world. You just join once and you can join any of the chapters are Around the world, and, and also meetup, meetup groups, so I check in donations chapters and meetup groups before I go and just see what's happening in the community. through donations I've had an opportunity to go to some fantastic concerts and performances that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. And I've also been able to take advantage of group pricing, good good group pricing discounts for some fantastic shows. For example, when I was in London last month, I went and saw the Alvin Ailey Dance Company dance troupe perform it Sadler's Wells in London. It's a huge, huge auditorium. I was in the second row 44 pounds. It was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had. Oh my Alvin Ailey dance troupe was started in the 1950s by a gay black American dancer who wanted to provide more opportunities for black dancers and They've they're just one of the most political, socially conscious, and physically powerful dance troupes in the world. And so to be able to sit in the second row yeah was, you know, for quite a discount was was really amazing. I've also had a chance to just meet other other XX even though I'm only visiting it's really interesting to learn about other expats experiences in the community that I'm visiting. So for example, when I was in Athens, I went to a dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with about 20 other expats. And we had so much fun, but it was an opportunity for me to get a little bit more immersed into what's happening with Greece right now. From the perspective of other outsiders like me. That that was pretty cool. I've also just made some really good friends. Next week here in Mexico. I have a British woman coming to visit me, I met her in London at an international event that was a writing course. So I'm really excited to be able to share my house it with her and, you know, have have that experience of just, you know, deepening a friendship, which is always nice. Yeah. So I recommend to enter nations, they have different subgroups in different cities for things like hiking and cultural evenings out sporting events, and live concerts and different hobby groups. And meetup of course, is another great resource that's like that, and just an opportunity to, to meet people who have similar interests.
13:40
Yeah, those those electronic ways of doing that these days, make that somewhat, you know, easy and kind of things you don't even think about, as you mentioned, you would have never thought about going to those concerts or finding those, those group discounts unless you would have had those on hand. So that's a really great resource. You also recommend using the homeowner as a resource when going lately,
14:02
I think the homeowner is the best resource because I'm really hitting it off with a homeowner that I'm probably going to hit it off with his or her friends too. And getting a chance and it's a good thing for the homeowner too, because then they have sort of additional eyes and ears on the house and so I think it can help enhance their experience while they're traveling to know that the home you know that I'm kind of being watched a little bit in a in a nice polite way. Sure. But it's for me as the pet sitter, it's just a great opportunity to have somebody to just buddy up with and and go out to a museum or an evening out or company to walk the dog sometimes. So most recent experience that I had with that was in rain, y'all where I was there for six weeks this summer, and my homeowner introduced me to one of her friends and who is a newly retired school teacher. And loves showing off her Island. We did a lot of the touristy stuff together. That was a lot more fun. But we also share for into this for me, we went snorkeling with humpback whales. Oh
15:14
my goodness.
15:16
me Wow.
15:18
Oh not jealous, not jealous. Yeah,
15:20
exactly. And that's not something that I necessarily would have been able to arrange myself because she has a friend that she's been diving with for many years. And so it was through this friend who doesn't really advertise commercially so I wouldn't have found out about this particular opportunity. That was a very we were in a small Zodiac boat and really get around and it was thrilling.
15:50
Yeah, that's fantastic. Yeah, I can't imagine that having that opportunity and then having just that, that local knowledge to show you around and get access To those kind of things, it's just something else.
16:03
Yes, that's a great way to just, you know, it's fun for locals to do this because it's an opportunity for them to see to kind of revisit their community through a foreigners eyes. And it's a lot more fun for me because I can get a background that goes maybe a little bit beyond what the, the the display is saying in the museum or whatever. But it's also a chance to just see some off the beaten path places to win that makes it fun. But I've made I've made girlfriends that I am still in touch with 10 years later friends with girlfriends,
16:34
from my home, for my homeowners who have introduced me to people, and it's just been wonderful. Yeah, and have that ever expanding network that you're, you know, that you have access to and just that friendship that's going to last but to never, never have known or had a thought to, to, to go that route. So that's, that's really cool.
16:54
Right? So one of the other things I do when I'm pet sitting is to
17:00
Try to immerse myself a little bit in the community through my own personal interests. So for example here in IE heat, when I heat Mexico when I first started house sitting here 10 years ago, one of the first things that I did was go to the IE writers group, which is the largest and oldest English language writing group and Mexico. And I made great friends that way. But I've also learned a lot about writing and about critiquing by participating in that group so frequently over the last 10 years. And it's, it's helped me grow tremendously as a writer. So that's one of the things that I do when I'm house sitting here is I do that. And now I'm going to expand that into other places where I've house sitting. So I'll be house sitting again in London next summer. And I'm already working with someone that I met through inner nations to coordinate for me an opportunity to teach my writing workshops, which I've done here and now he as well. So here, I can Pets it in another in another country another place using the connections that already made and share my knowledge and experience with people who would value that. I'm going to be doing that again this February two in Cape Town, South Africa where I'm holding a 10 day writer's retreat. I'm thrilled about that. I was in Cape Town last February, following a house it and just fell in love with it. And I can't wait to go back and I can't wait to share magic a cape town and the magic of writing with a group of very self selected participants. So I'm extremely excited about that. And if any of our listeners are interested in that, they can check out my website at www dot jump start my book.org jumpstart my book.org and all the info is there and I'd love to talk to you about it. schedule a consultation Good talk. That's one of the ways that I get involved in the communities is by just sharing my knowledge and my passion and my expertise.
19:11
And then what a better way to use your time than to know that you're going to be in an area and then to look around and go, what else can I be doing? How else can I be expanding my not, you know, my projects, my expertise, how I can be sharing with this with others. And you know, this is a very, very interesting fit that those two have with this is that you can do that and in sit, house it and then bring all of that with you and then also have people pouring into you while you're doing that and just the different experiences you get from sharing with others.
19:44
It is it's just it's great. And I think that's one of the things that I love about pet sitting especially internationally is that it's really opened up a lot of possibilities for me, and I noticed that I become a lot more creative, not just in the way I live my life in the way I approach Traveling. And, and that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing for everybody to be able to develop that. Right? Right.
20:10
So, you know, you've talked about these, these ways of getting connected with others. But how do you use social media whenever you're doing that?
20:19
Well, I'm going to admit to Collin that I am a social media idiot. Pretty much all I do is Facebook. And there are a couple of housesitting Facebook groups that are just a wonderful way to kind of find out where people are. And so sometimes I posted there and someone has said, Oh, I'm going to be in London at that time. I'm going to be in Hanoi the same time you are let's let's hook up. And that's how we spend fun. And one particular time and I had a great time doing this was with a woman named Julian we've become very, very good friends. We were both house sitting in Hanoi and found out about that through Facebook and decided to take a walking street food tour together. And we hit it off so well and so since then we have crossed paths how sitting in Singapore, London Cardiff. And then she invited me to such as Spain where she was housesitting last year for carnival. And an Ellen we've connected to an RE so it's, it's just become a really lovely friendship. We have a lot more in common besides how sitting and pet sitting. But that's what initially brought us together. So it's just really lovely. Another time that Facebook helped me out was when I was in rain, yo, which, frankly, you know, I didn't even know where it was until I saw the listing for the house sitting granted my Atlas Atlas meaning the internet
21:51
was bad. I'm sorry, I just
21:53
exactly. So I decided to go to reunion and I was there. started posting on my first personal Facebook page. And wonderful couple Bo and Peter from Copenhagen, who I had met two years before when I was house sitting in Vietnam and they were on vacation. We really hit it off. And then they came to visit me here in Mexico the following fall. We had a chance to pal around a little bit. So here I am in Radioland. I did I post and I get a message from Peter saying both are going to be there this week.
22:31
Oh, wow.
22:33
Two guys from Copenhagen. And we ended up you know, palling around in a room. Yeah, we had a blast together. And it's just, you know, I mean, I think that social media has just opened up so many opportunities to stay connected to people that that we need traveling. I mean, I'm I'm old enough that I remember the days before the internet and, you know, it was really hard to stay in touch with people that you need on the road. Yeah, letters, which is, you know, after a while they sort of fizzle out but between, you know, texting and WhatsApp and and Facebook and, and all of this it's just so much easier to to learn where people are and to stay on top of it. So that's one way that I use social media and I'm sure I'm only getting the tip of the surface there because, like I said, I'm kind of a social media
23:26
Well, it definitely, you know, has its their, their pros and cons to it, but you know, staying connected with with people, you know, they said, it's so powerful, you know, making those connections, as you said, you know, you've talked about getting connected through volunteering and inter nations and using the homeowner as a resource and then staying connected with the social media, you know, it's it's a, it's a whole process with that and it's, it kind of helps continue on with all the other aspects of everything that you've talked about of continuing that cycle of staying connected, getting more involved with the community. learning more about the places that you're going to go and really using it as that tool, as opposed to just, you know, something that you stay, you know, using it as a tool for for learning more about an area, it's probably something that a lot of people use it for.
24:17
Yes, and some of the places where I've gone I have joined the Facebook expat groups for that particular country. And haven't really made any friends through that long standing friends. But I've, but people have given me some really good tips, like good tips on how to maneuver around the city, or special or interesting things to go to go and visit and see. So I think Facebook, you know, really can be a great opportunity. And then the final thing that I just wanted to mention is so obvious, but walking tours, and a lot of major cities now have three walking tours where you just give a tip at the end and they're really informative, really Interesting, oftentimes entertaining and a great way to meet other people who are traveling. And these are usually people who are traveling in a different way. You know, they're not on the, on the 32. City Tour. And so they're doing more slow travel. And so it's a it's an appealing way. And I've and I've taken a lot of free city tours. And besides the walking tours or the street food tours, some airlines offer free stopover programs. And when I left Cape Town last year and flew to Athens, I deliberately stopped I was on Turkish air, and I deliberately stopped over on a stone bowl or 14 hours and I took advantage of two of their free stop over tourists that they offer. And I met other travelers that way. And that was really interesting. And it gave me a chance to see Istanbul a city that I'd never been to before even though I was just there before. The day so so check out stop over tourists. There are many airlines that offer them in the in the major city of the country that is the home for that airline.
26:12
Yeah, what a very interesting resource and honestly something that I never would have thought would have even been available for for a traveler.
26:22
Yes, I mean, it's really exciting. You have to hunt and peck a little bit. I'm working on an article about this that I'll be putting up on my blog. And how sit diva.or.com hostesses diva calm. I can't remember my own website. That's how much of a technical lady but Emirates offers a free stopover program and Abu Dhabi it's not free but it's really cheap. It's like, stay in a four star hotel and get breakfast and airport transfers for $45 a night. There's a I'm putting together a list of the There's a whole bunch of them but if you fly Korean Air, he could stop over and soul. So there's, you just be really creative with it. And the way to find these are to get tipped off to them as if you're doing a kayak search and you see that there's a ridiculously long layover in the main city. That's the home countries that that is the airlines home country. Go to that airlines website and look around for layover stopover program.
27:29
See if they've got that going on. Okay.
27:31
Wow. An unusual tip.
27:33
Sure. Yeah. No, well, yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming on this week and giving us such a great insight on getting connected with the culture of a particular community and really finding better ways to spend our time and housesitting. It just personally, it's a very real challenge. You've really challenged me to make sure that I'm using the most out of the opportunities around me. And I know that and I hope that our other listeners can take that to heart to that. There's just So much out there to to, to us and take to take advantage of to see and to learn from. Because it's a big world and it's better to get exposed to it and learn from it as well.
28:14
And Amen. Yeah.
28:18
you've, you've mentioned a few ways already, but what are some ways that people can get in contact with you? And definitely plug your book again?
28:27
Oh, thank you. My book is called How to Become a house sitter insider tips from the house sit diva. And there's a lot of very practical information that that I've learned over the last 10 years and I've learned also from my friends who how sit and I think it's a good book for anybody who wants to get started trying to figure out how to get started with housesitting, or who's been housesitting for a while and kind of want to up their game a little bit. It's available in softcover and Kindle on Amazon and it's also available as an E book on my website, which is www dot how CIT diva.com. And for more information about my writing programs, and particularly my writing retreat in Cape Town, South Africa, which I'm so excited about, people can go to www dot jumpstart my book.org jumpstart my book.org. And, you know, I made this a.org because I'm going to be donating a portion of the proceeds that I get from the writers retreat to a local orphanage in South Africa. Another way to kind of give back and become part of the community, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's a it's an orphanage that the that the owner of the b&b where we're, where we're hosting this writer's retreat is support. So I'm really glad to give back that way. And I'd love to reach it and have anybody reach out to me and talk about how sitting you're talking about writing my two biggest passions.
29:54
Yeah. And how to how to further their, you know what they're interested in. That's great. So thank you again. for coming on again and talking to us about that and we will definitely have you on again soon Kelly.
30:05
Thank you, Collin.
Keywords: people, opportunity, homeowner, house, community, sitting, stay, places, new start, friends, traveling, pet, expats, London, visit, connected, traveler, volunteer
