The World of House and Pet Sitting

House sitting near Cocles Beach, Puerto Viejo

Could have been fate, or karma, or just plan luck, but somehow we have ended up “sitting” since the first of the year. The first four months of 2012 found us in Arizona sitting for 2 dogs and 2 cats. Then came May and Costa Rica, where we spent 6 weeks house and pet sitting. This time it was in a beautiful home a block from Cocles Beach, a popular surfing spot just outside of Puerto Viejo. The 2 dogs and 2 cats were very well behaved and we shared many laughs watching the 3 little kittens discover their world. It’s June now. 

Artist's hideaway 

We’re still in Costa Rica but now we’re sitting at an artistically bedecked tropical home at the opposite end of Cocles Beach. Only one cat here.

Yes, it’s beginning to feel like we are on a permanent vacation. Each place we sit at offers us new neighborhoods to explore, people to meet and new home design ideas. We’ve decided that it’s a lifestyle well suited to us. We’ve already learned to travel light and be open to “whatever.” At this point we are seriously considering registering with some international house sitting services and see what comes of “it.” Perhaps fate, karma and luck have some fun adventures in store for us. Belize, Costa Rica (of course), Columbia, Nicaraqua, Panama, any Caribbean islands, Connecticut and Florida are all high on our list, but, we’re open to anywhere new and exciting.

Aspiring Beachcomber.

Be honest, who hasn’t aspired to be a beachcomber at some point in their lives. I could credit growing up on Long Island Sound or possibly my fascination with old Gidget movies. Whatever the source, it is an aspiration that has stuck with me. Perhaps because the requirements are simple. Location. Check. I am living on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica with access to miles and miles of tropical beaches. Free time. Check. Retired. No schedule to keep, except perhaps “Taco Tuesday” at Tasty Waves Beach Cantina.  Coconuts. Check. Coconut water, milk, meat. Coconut crusted everything. Coconut oil. Coconut carvings. And lastly, Sea shells to collect. Well, believe it or not, there are not many shells on the beaches. Miles of smooth black, white and golden yellow sand beaches, but not many rocks or shells. Great for swimming, not so great for collecting. Each morning I’d go out and walk along the beach to see what I could discover. My favorite finds have been sea urchin shells. Usually 3 or 4 a day is all I would come across. You can imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I came upon hundreds of sea urchin shells that had washed ashore. I have cleaned them all and already begun to string some to hang on the porch. Something every good beachcomber would do. I think I will be successful in my new endeavor.

Life at the beach

Timing and coincidence has brought us to the beach for 2 months. We’re watching the house (and puppy) of a good friend of ours who lives one block from Cocles beach in Puerto Viejo. Instead of waking to the sounds of howler monkeys we hear the waves from the nearby beach. We’re also an easy walk to any number of restaurants, bars, and shops. We’ve been taking full advantage of the calm Caribbean waters that occur each September and October in this area and have been able to snorkel several times each week. We still make the trip back to the jungle a couple of times a week to visit but for the rest of this trip in Costa Rica it looks like we will be “beach bums.”