Madolline Gourley makes friends wherever she travels. It’s just that many of them happen to be feline.
For the past two years, the 30-year-old Brisbane native has enjoyed a lifestyle of almost free travel in exchange for pet-sitting services, documenting her adventures on her blog One Cat at A Time.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, she had already traversed her native Australia plus 14 US states that way, finding jobs through sites like Trusted Housesitters and Aussie House Sitters.
She happened to be in New York for a job when the coronavirus hit and was forced to quickly return to Australia, but now as restrictions ease she’s begun cat-sitting again close to home, seeing her current one-on-pet arrangements as COVID-safe “staycations.”
Below, her account of how to get started pet-sitting, the zany tales (tails?) and what it was like to pursue these gigs both before and during the coronavirus crisis.
I’ve owned cats since I can remember. My mum is a cat lady, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve acquired my own. Right now I have a cat named Gracie.
I’ve been working in the government communication space for the past 10 years, and each job I’ve done has been a contract, which allows for more flexibility. If I was in a permanent position I wouldn’t be able to travel as often as I’d like. I first heard about house-sitting because a lady where I worked was doing it in Brisbane, the city I live in. She doesn’t own a house, and she doesn’t rent a house — she’s from somewhere overseas. She’s been able to pretty much house-sit her entire time in Brisbane.
I heard this and I thought, I don’t want to do this in Brisbane, but I’m sure you could probably do it other places. I Googled “house-sitting,” and a site called Trusted Housesitters was the first one that came up. I didn’t really give joining a second thought; it was only like 90 Australian dollars back then.
When I say house-sitting I usually mean house- and cat-sitting, but it’s usually easier to just say house-sitting. There’s pets of all kinds with homes all around the world, but I just specifically search for houses with cats in locations I’m interested in. I guess I’m looking for houses with cats because I’m traveling by myself, and sometimes I can be gone for up to three months at a time. I like having that cat to come home to. The house-sits without pets — and they’re not that many of them — they’re not as appealing as the ones with cats. They just want people to water their plants and I guess bring in the mail, so it looks like someone is living there.
My first house-sit outside of Australia was two years ago in San Francisco and it was kind of like “I’ll do this for Christmas. I don’t know if I’ll do it again, but I’ll give it a shot.” And just worked out really well. I fell in love with San Francisco and all the beautiful homes. It’s also a very easygoing, open-minded kind of city. The ad said just one cat for a single sitter — you can also sign up as a couple or even a family — and was right in downtown SF in a modern apartment. So I just applied for it and they responded, and we had a Skype chat that went for about 20 minutes. You don’t always have a Skype or FaceTime meeting beforehand, it just depends. They got back to me the next day saying “Hey, we’d love to have you if you still want to come.”
The best experiences with house-sitting are more people-focused and less “transactional.” I’ve been lucky in that some of the people I’ve met have been really amazing. They’ve gone out of their way to pick me up and take me to the airport, which isn’t expected, but it’s appreciated. I have dinner with one couple I met in Seattle every time I make it back to the city. They’re wanting to start on their own global house and pet-sitting adventure and have asked me for advice. When I was in Austin last year, the people I sat for gave me a $100 gift card for Whole Foods and also bought me breakfast at the airport. They knew I was vegetarian, and they picked up a vegetarian breakfast burrito for me. That was lovely. They also recently messaged me recently to check if I was safe, with all the bushfires ravaging Australia.
A couple in Boulder, Colo., where I stayed over Christmas in 2018, gave me a Whole Foods gift card as well. I didn’t get them a Christmas present and I felt a bit guilty — I usually leave people these classic Australian cookies, Tim Tams, that you can’t get here. If you can get them here, they’re probably insanely expensive.
Sometimes the owners can be difficult. There was another couple in Seattle who were rather standoffish and I felt a lot of the routines they had in place actually made life more difficult. They had a 3-step trash process, also had separate sponges for washing the human dishes and the cat dishes. The sit itself also felt very transactional. They were the type of people that I kind of feel would have had a camera to spy on the sitters. That doesn’t worry me, because I’m not doing anything wrong, but they’re the only people I’ve gotten that vibe from.
And then there’s situational stuff, like when I got locked out of the house in Santa Fe. The owner told me not to lock the top lock, but she didn’t really elaborate to say, “don’t lock it because you can’t get back in.” To me that was like she felt safe in the neighborhood and didn’t lock it. And I was like, “well I don’t want her house to get robbed while I’m at the supermarket, so I’m going to lock the top lock.” I came back and I had all my food, including a hot meal that I was so excited to eat, and I couldn’t get the lock to move. If it wasn’t for the lady’s boyfriend who lived up the road, I really don’t know what I would have done.
In terms of expenses, I don’t usually rent a car unless absolutely necessary. I needed a car in Boulder and I think that was probably $300, maybe $350. I was instructed to get an all-wheel drive because the snow will make getting up the mountain difficult in anything less than an all-wheel drive. I went with the cheapest car, as I usually do, and this wasn’t a problem until one day when the car wouldn’t go any further up the mountain. I was stuck in a bit of an awkward spot on the mountain and there was nothing I could do other than put my hazard lights on. After about 10 minutes, someone eventually stopped. He kind of went on about not technically being allowed to tow anyone, even though he had the ability, and asked if there was someone I could call to help me out. I told him I was house-sitting by myself and I wasn’t from around here. After I said that, I was like “Oh God. I am going to get killed.” He caved in and towed me about 5 minutes more up the mountain before I was right to drive on my own. And I didn’t get killed.
Some of the cats have been kind of cheeky, like two cats in Boston where you couldn’t leave anything on the kitchen counter because they would knock it off. And some of the cats I’ve looked after — quite a few actually — were over 15, so that kind of made me feel uneasy because it’s like what if the cat dies, does that reflect on you? Or do they acknowledge that the cat’s old and this could have happened anyway? That’s always something that plays on my mind when I accept a job with an older cat.
The pandemic slowed down opportunities, but house and pet sitting ads have picked up in the past month or two, with more being added as coronavirus restrictions ease. I also think the increase in ads may have something to do with Christmas approaching and people going away over that time. These days I’ve started doing local jobs again and have secured a 3-week cat sit over Christmas for a Persian called Pepper in Darwin, Northern Territory, a 4-hour plane from Brisbane.
The Christmas sit in Darwin wouldn’t have been on my radar if I was allowed to travel overseas. While Darwin is an iconic Australian city, it’s definitely not the first place I’d choose to spend Christmas. But because of all the travel restrictions, COVID has made me think about where I’d like to travel within Australia.
I don’t think COVID has really changed how house- and pet-sitting operates, but home owners are perhaps a bit more cautious about interacting with sitters when they hand over keys, etc. I always spray or clean any surface (if the furnishings allow) I eat on, and wash the sheets and towels before I leave. Obviously that’s not 100% effective against stopping germs, but it helps.
If you’re interested in house-sitting I’d say start locally. Get a sit in your city before trying for somewhere else in the country or internationally. This will boost your confidence and hopefully get you a 5-star review. They might also be a repeat customer so you can get multiple 5-star reviews each time they choose you on the house-sitting platform.
Also, don’t overthink it. A lot of people back home have asked me “Oooh, how can I do it?” Just put your profile together, add some pictures of you with animals — your friends’ animals or your own animals — and don’t make it too formal. If I read a profile that was too formal I’d think, ‘highly strung, I don’t’ want them in my house.’ It’s best to go in with a relaxed attitude.