My location-independent freelance writing lifestyle lets me house-sit in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and other northern California and world locations.
I love to travel to interesting places — to experience different local cultures, to see different local geographies. And I also love living in my rural corner of the world near Mount Shasta in far northern California.
And since I make my living primarily as a freelance writer, I can easily do both.
Here’s how I do it. My life partner Stephanie and I have set up a website that helps us get house-sitting jobs in northern California. If you click over to the site I created — HouseSit.info — you’ll see that we primarily do it during the cold winter months so we can get out of the snowy mountains were we live and get down to the much warmer and milder climes of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and nearby Bay Area spots. However, we love San Francisco so much that we often house-sit there in other seasons.
The short-and-sweet one-page website helps a lot. Note that we build rapport and authority, and we use a mix of text and pictures to sell ourselves. The site has brought us several quality offers, but so far we’ve gotten the majority of our gigs through word-of-mouth.
An Example
Over the last year-plus we’ve house-sat in a stunning two-story home in Bernal Heights in San Francisco for nearly 8 weeks, including a 3-week stretch last October. Here’s my freelance-writing workspace…
And the view when I’m sitting…
And looking out the window toward downtown…
I’m definitely a country mouse, but the one city I truly love is San Francisco. It’s a kaleidoscope of the world’s cultures, all within walking distance. And just being in San Francisco gives my creativity a major boost.
Some other places Stephanie and I have house-sat recently:
- Santa Cruz, CA
- Soquel, CA
- Scotts Valley, CA
- Redding, CA
- Ashland, Oregon
And we’re expanding our range to select southern California and Arizona locations, and even to long-term house-sits abroad.
Why do people want us in their homes? Usually they have a dog or cat and they need a pet sitter. We don’t charge as long as it’s a quality home in a good neighborhood and we don’t have much more to do than take care of the pet, get the mail, and clean up after ourselves. It’s a win-win.
Your Take
How do you manage your livelihood and travel? Have you done much house-sitting? What would you do if you had a location-independent lifestyle?
I’m not sure I’d want the responsibility of house-sitting as I’m the OCD type who freaks out about whether I locked the door on the way out and have to go back and check, just in case. I cannot imagine what that would be like in a place I don’t know well – I’d probably be checking everything twice – windows, doors, etc.
That said, you do a great job on your site to make people feel like you are the right person to trust with something so important. Being pet friendly is a plus too, because that would be a key in me ever inviting someone into my home – knowing I could trust them to be good to my Schnauzer and three kitties. 🙂
Kristi, it is a lot of responsibility. Most people who let someone stay in their home do it because they love their pets and they want those pets to be loved in well-cared for while they’re on vacation.
And thank you for your kind words about the website. It’s important to establish trust and credibility; we do that through initially through the website, and then through e-mails, phone calls, and great references.
I’d spend 6 months ex-pat and 6 months in San Fran if I could. Just not there yet.
I know what you mean Dave. I lived on Kauai from 1996 to 1999. I loved it there, but I also wanted to spend a lot of time in the western United States, especially far northern California where I grew up.
I really wanted to live November to April on Kauai and May to October on the mainland, and I could have done it except for one issue: I had two young golden retrievers and it would have been too difficult to shuttle them back and forth, especially with Hawaii’s laws. I could have found a good home for them on Kauai, but instead I chose to keep them. Thus we moved to the mainland on March 1, 1999.
I’ve never heard of house sitting before, im not sure if its just a US thing but it sounds like a very good idea, especially considering the harsh winters you get. Id always assumed California had good weather all year around I didn’t realise the weather was different in the North and South.
Very few places have good weather all year round. The subtropics is an exception, and that’s where the Hawaiian Islands are, including the island of Kauai where I used to live.
Most places that have mild winters have very hot summers. The Mount Shasta area where I live has perfect summers, but gets a lot of snow and wind in winter.
I have never been a professional house-sitter myself, but I can attest that you are excellent at the job.
The closest I’ve gotten to “independent living” is renting my place out for the summer and then traveling around the west to Wyoming, Montana, and all the good places. But after a few months, I get tired of “living in a van, down by the river.”
Eric, I’ve also spent a year or so living in a van after I left Kauai in 1999, and I did it with two golden retrievers. Over all I really liked it, but it can also get old, especially when it’s cold.
Okay, John, may I have your overflow work? My daughter and her husband have a house in Bernal Heights – it’s lovely. Love the multi-level back yards and the way those yards join together to make community.
Stephanie and I absolutely love Bernal Heights in San Francisco, in part for the reasons you mentioned, but also because of the large dog-friendly park on the top of the hill, Cortland Street, and proximity to the Mission district, especially Valencia Street.
Now I’m really missing San Francisco…
I lived in Sausalito on a boat for years… I miss the bay area too!
Brilliant!
Enjoy.
I remember when I lived in Redwood City for a year; The City was so close we’d go every chance we got just so I could get out of our small apartment. (I was pregnant with my son back then.) The view was always incredible, I remember, but I’m still a SoCal girl at heart, and missed the beaches and desert climate. When there was serious fog or tons of rain, I admit I honestly didn’t know what to do, lol.
My lifestyle as a freelance writer makes me location-independent, but being a mom of an 8 month-old has me firmly rooted in Portland, OR. Not that I’m complaining, but it would be nice to do things like house/pet sit; I’d be fantastic at it! I could even offer free grooming (I’ve been a groomer for fourteen years) as part of my perk package just for the chance to travel a bit.
Maybe when Little Owl’s a bit older and my client list is built up more. It’s something that seriously appeals to me. I love your site, too, John! I never would have thought of a site and business cards for house sitting.
Delena
Every place has its strengths and weaknesses. I’m not a big fan of the Bay Area in the summer. Way too much fog for me.
It was fairly easy to create the site and the business cards. Something for everyone to consider if they’d like to do something similar.
I’ll vouch for the wonders of house-sitting, John. I’ve been “sittin'” house for two sets of friends in the Washington, DC area for a couple of years. They both have cats and I speak Quat like a native, so the felines and I get along just fine. I also have a good bark, so if you encounter more multi-week gigs in Bernal Heights than you & Stephanie can handle, just give me a call. That also goes for any boat-sitting in Sausalito. Well, not rowboats….
Moulton, I’m glad we both enjoy this lifestyle. I’ll definitely keep you in mind if I find out about Bay Area house-sits that Stephanie and I can’t do.
The only place I’d want to house sit – or more likely ranch sit – would be at least two hours from any large city and the more remote the better. I’d love to live way off the grid. Maybe even where you have to pack everything in – but at least for now as long as you could get high speed wireless. 🙂
I’m also a country mouse Gail. I’ve lived most of my life in rural areas or small towns, including right now.
I’ve grown to appreciate certain built-up places. San Francisco is, for me, the best city on the planet, and I’ve been to over 25 countries.
That said, Stephanie and I would be interested in house-sitting in a beautiful rural area.