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We normally choose the destinations of our house sits fairly randomly. Not putting too much importance on where we are at the start, or end, of the month.

However, May was different. By the end of the month, we had committed ourselves to being in Manchester.

Our friends who live in Manchester, Michael and Simon, had asked us to do a house sit for them at the end of the month while they went on a cruise to celebrate Michaels 70th birthday.

We had to head north!

A Visitor

We also were aware that Karyo’s mum was due a visit.

She comes every year and for the last two years has enjoyed joining us on house sits.

In 2022 she came with us to Leeds, and in 2023 to Brighton.

As we knew we were to be in Manchester this month, which has a convenient airport for her to fly into, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and combine her 2024 visit with our house sitting stay in Manchester.

On this visit she will join us on two house sits. First, in the city location of Manchester. Following that, on our first house sit in June which is a a beach location. For her 2024 visit she will get to enjoy two totally different house sitting experiences.

That is our plan for the end of the month but before that we needed to head to our first of three house sits we have booked in May – Brighton.

May House Sit Number One

After having just done three house sits in a row caring for dogs, to start off May, we had been on the look out for a cat sit.

Luckily, we spotted one which suited our needs perfectly.

Two elderly but self sufficient cats, in a nice house, in Brighton, a city we love – Bingo!

The Home

The house was one of the typical, large, three story, terraced houses found lining the streets all around Brighton city centre.

We have stayed in a few of these houses over the years and really like them. They often have lots of characterful original features combined with modern touches added over the years.

This one had a very swish new kitchen extension added to the rear of the property, with bi-folding doors opening up onto the garden area.

The location was excellent, in a quiet street, yet no more than ten minutes walk to the heart of the vibrant city centre. It was a leisurely ten minute walk to the train station, then a further five minute walk to the beach and pier.

The Pets

In our care for this stay were Louie and Gary. Two, seventeen year old brother cats. If you didn’t know, you would never guess they were brothers. Gary was ginger and Louie was jet black!

Both cats were easy to look after. They had a cat flap which enabled them to go outside whenever they wanted.

Honestly though, neither went very far and were always in sight from the kitchen window.

A 17 year old cat years is equivalent to around 85 in human years and Gary was showing his age. He looked quite frail and spent a lot of time in his bed.

Louie, on the other hand, still thought he was a teenager. He was really active and spent his time hanging out in the garden and generally getting into mischief!

A thief in the house!

As well as keeping an eye on the pets, as house sitters we also have the responsibility of making sure the house is secure at all times. This is usually not a difficult task. However during this house sit we had to be constantly on high alert as there was a habitual thief targeting the neighbourhood, and more specifically our house!

Well, when I say thief, he actually was a cheeky seagull. We had been warned by the home owner to watch out for him but couldn’t believe our eyes when we first caught him in action.

Regularly he would sit on the roof of the house opposite eyeing up our house. If he spotted we had left the kitchen door open, he would swoop down, let himself in, and help himself to a free feast of cat food – totally fearless!!

Meeting Sitter Friends

Before we started house sitting we had no idea about the size of the house sitting community. Also, as with all communities, how small the house sitters world is.

Often, as we move from place to place, we are contacted by other sitters that are currently in the area asking if we are interested to meet. We have had the pleasure of meeting many new people this way.

The surprise for us, is how often our paths can cross with each other. The fact that we are all, always on the move, would make you think that bumping into the same people twice would be rare.

This is true in some cases, but in others not at all. The proof of this was when during our short stay in Brighton we bumped into Antonio, Marcela and their lovely dog, Leo again. These sitters travel all of Europe and, in the same way that we do, have a particular fondness for Brighton.

It was a longshot but as we were back in Brighton, we gave them a call letting them know we were here and to ask where in the world were they? To our surprise and delight, once again, they were on a house sit within walking distance from where we were.

Of course, we arranged to meet and enjoyed an evening catching up and sharing news.

This was the third time fate had put us all in the same place, at the same time!

May House Sit Number Two

For our second sit this month, as we needed to head north towards our final May destination of Manchester, we decided to look for something in Birmingham.

After some research of available house sitting opportunities, we applied, and were accepted for a sit in Erdington, a suburb of Birminghm which lies about five miles north east of the city centre.

This turned out to be another lovely sit. Once again we were looking after two cats. This time, Soba and Olive.

We were on to a lucky streak as far as easy pets goes.

Similar to Louie and Gary, the cats from our last sit in Brighton, Soba and Olive were a doddle to care for. They had a cat flap to let themselves in and out, and neither seemed to venture much further than the boundary of garden.

The Home

The house was a 120 year old semi-detached. It was beautifully decorated and had a huge garden which we made good use of as the weather was great during our stay.

A huge selling point of this property was that it was within very easy walking distance of Sutton Park.

The Park is a 2,400 acre National Nature Reserve and is one of the largest urban parks in Europe.

We visited Sutton park daily. With its vast wooded areas, seven lakes, wetlands, and marshes with their unique variety of plants and wildlife, there was always something new to discover.

May House Sit Number Three

We had just one more house sit booked to do in May, this one was for our friends, Michael and Simon who live in Manchester. They have two dogs, Freddy and Luca, and had asked us if we would look after them whilst they were away on holiday.

This was the third time we have looked after Freddy and Luca. They are lovely dogs and spending time with them is always a pleasure.

Karyo and I previously lived together in Manchester for over fifteen years and we have fond memories of the city. Since leaving the city in September 2020 the only time we have revisited is when Michael and Simon have invited us to house sit for them.

This house sit was a Win-Win-Win!

We got to meet our friends again, spend time with Freddy and Luca, plus we got to spend some time in the fantastic city of Manchester reminiscing about the many great memories we have from when we lived here.

A Visitor

For our Manchester house sit, we had a VIP guest as Karyo’s mum flew in from her home in Greece to join us.

Karyo and I have been together for 21 years. At some point during almost every one of those years his mum has come to visit us.

When we gave up our permanent address in 2020, we had no intention of stopping this tradition. She missed 2020 because of Covid restrictions, so this is the third year she has come to accompany us on our house sits.

Previously she joined us in Leeds and Brighton. This year she will join us on two sits, This one in Manchester and next month in East Wittering.

When we first told Karyo’s mum of our idea to sell everything we own and become nomadic travelling pet and house sitters, she struggled to understand why on earth we would want to do such a thing! I think she thought we had fallen on hard times and needed to sell up! 😅

Joining us on house sits has really opened her mind to the concept. She now understands it much more and loves visiting the different places and caring for all the different animals with us. She has taken to it like a duck to water.

I think if she was younger, she would be happy to become a house sitter herself!

Meeting Sitter Friends

Rita and Phil are, in our eyes, House sitter royalty. They have been house sitting for many years. Having completed well over a hundred house sits, they always have plenty of stories to tell.

We had the pleasure of first meeting them early on in our house sitting days.

It was January 2022, we had a handful of house sits under our belt and we were taking a holiday in Gran Canaria. Coincidentally they were also on holiday on the island so we arranged to meet.

They were so kind, passing on tips and knowledge to us as newbies at the time. I remember leaving that meeting totally inspired and motivated to really make a go of this house sitting adventure.

Fast forward four years and we are still going strong, as are they.

Over the last couple of years we have all managed to meet a couple more times and as they don’t live too far from Manchester, we had the pleasure of meeting them once more whilst we were in the area.

Where Next?

Our couple of weeks in Manchester went really quickly. Karyo’s mum had enjoyed the company of Freddy and Luca and was already looking forward to her second 2024 house sit with us.

Before we knew where we were, we were all settled on the train heading for our first housetsit of June – East Wittering.

More on that next time.

Until then, as always, thanks for reading.

Hugs, Colin & Karyo xx