Our First International Assignment

Hi friends,

Well, as promised, we've been working diligently on our housesitting profiles, especially the videos! There's so many clips that we've started our own YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SoNatalieChannel.(Jim's clips are still in post-production.)

We've also become bona fide experts on the major housesitting websites. Looking for assignments in Australia? Well then www.HouseCarers.com is probably your best bet. Want to get high rankings as a housesitter on www.TrustedHousesitters.com? You'd better completely fill out your profile, because the more stuff you've got, the higher you'll appear in the search results. But, by far, I have to say that the most comprehensive housesitting site is www.mindmyhouse.com. We're especially fond of that site, because it's helped us land our first international housesitting job! That's right folks, the 1st pin is finally set. We'll be spending the summer months taking care of a home and King Charles Cavalier Spaniel in....F-R-A-N-C-E!

French treats to celebrate our first international housesitting assignment.

What We're Doing Now

One of the options that we're exploring is becoming international housesitters. Housesitting is an affordable way for us to spend extended periods of time in different locations around the world. In  a typical arrangement, the housesitter is asked to take care of the homeowner's property, plants, and pets in exchange for free accommodation. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

For the past week, we've been setting up our profiles on various housesitting websites. These sites act as a "match making" service by providing listings of assignments and sitters available by region. Most reputable sites ask housesitters to provide references, a criminal background check, and photos. The more information you provide, the higher your profile appears in the search results.

While I was out mountain biking, Natalie took a stab at making a video for our profile. Here's some of the early takes as a sneak peek! We'll post the final video once it's done.