I’ve done a few house and cat sits in Seattle, but this sit’s particularly memorable because it was my first one outside Australia in almost two years.

My last international house and cat sit was in New York City in March 2020. This is when COVID-19 panic started to kick in in the United States and I thought it’d be a good idea to end the trip a few days early. But now it was time to go back. While I had been looking forward to returning, ensuring I was actually eligible to enter the United States was a bit of a process. I had to:

• organise, download and print my international COVID-19 vaccination certificate
• find a travel insurance company and policy with COVID-19 cover
• print a lot of additional paperwork to fly
• get a PCR test done one calendar day before boarding my first flight. Waiting for the result was the most nerve-wracking part.

The PCR test came back negative, but making my way to Seattle was the next stressor. My connecting flight out of Fiji was delayed by an hour. The engineers were able to resolve whatever the problem was within about 15 minutes and we spent the remaining time waiting for the cabin crew. The delay meant I had less than 60 minutes to get through immigration at LAX, collect my luggage, walk to the Alaska Airlines terminal, check the luggage back in, go through security, and arrive at the gate before my flight’s 2pm departure. I did it, but the drama didn’t end there.

I was meeting Tayla, the girl I was sitting for, at the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport because she was flying out to Burbank not long after I touched down. We found each other at one of the baggage carousels, and I was given a quick rundown and the keys to the apartment. I then realised I’d been waiting at the wrong baggage carousel so I headed over to the correct one only to find two suitcases left. Neither of which were mine. The baggage counter staff told me my luggage wasn’t lost, it just hadn’t been loaded on to my Seattle flight. They gave me an incident number and told me to call up the next day if I hadn’t heard from them. I ended up calling when I got to Tayla’s apartment and was told my luggage had been sent to Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is literally at the opposite end of the country. I guess I should be grateful it wasn’t totally lost and was delivered to the apartment the next evening.

Tayla told me it might take a day or two for Athena (tuxedo (girl)) and Ody (Snowshoe-looking one (boy)) to warm up to me, but they took to me instantly. I think it’s because my carry on bag had Pixel’s scent all over it. Pixel would sit on the Country Road bag pretty much every day during my time in Sydney. Athena and Ody spent the next couple of hours rubbing their faces all over the bag, and climbing in and out of it. They continued to love on the bag until the sit ended.

Both cats are rescues, with one of Tayla’s friends finding Athena in a car park and Ody being adopted from a shelter. Athena’s two years old and Ody’s about a year and a half. They’re very, very playful and love to cause mischief. I don’t remember my cat, Gracie, being anywhere near as mischievous when she was that age. Ody—the cheekier of the two—particularly enjoyed chewing plastic bags, paper bags, plastic straws, and things like my itinerary and receipts. Tayla also said the cats have been known to chew power cords and advised I didn’t leave them out during the day. I’ve made this mistake once before and was sure to put my cords away as soon as I’d finished charging my devices.

Things to do

This Seattle sit was about seeing things I hadn’t got around to doing previously. The Fremont Sunday Market was on my list, but jet lag kicked in four days after I arrived.

Chihuly Garden and Glass & Space Needle (combined ticket)

I’d never heard of the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum despite it being one of Seattle’s most popular attractions. It’s right next to the Space Needle so I decided to buy the combined ticket and visit both on the same morning. A single ticket to the glass museum is $32 USD which I thought was quite steep, but it seemed a little less exorbitantly priced when you add on the cost to visit the Space Needle.

You can also head out to Tacoma—to the Chihuly Bridge of Glass and neighbouring Union Station—to the to see some of Dale Chihuly’s glass work for free.

Ferry to Bainbridge Island

The ferry to Bainbridge Island makes for a fun little day trip. The downtown area is mostly independent stores and places to eat and drink, and there’s a few art galleries and museums as well. One thing to keep in mind is the ferry doesn’t really run to schedule. The one I had wanted to get on Saturday morning was cancelled and the one I was getting back to Seattle was running 30 minutes late.

Capitol Hill neighbourhood

Tayla’s apartment is in Capitol Hill and it’s a neighbourhood I’ve stayed in once before. It reminds me a lot of Sydney’s Surry Hills (Pixel’s home) and is probably the equivalent of Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. Capitol Hill has lots of great stores, a diverse range of cuisines and coffee shops that aren’t Starbucks. Twice Sold Tales is worth checking out, too. It’s a used bookstore with resident cats.

Osara Commissary

Osara Commissary is a Japanese store within the Pike Place Market building. It has all kinds of Japanese homewares and most of the art is drawn by the store’s owner, Mikako Hamaguchi. Her husband happened to be working while I was in there and told me Mikako used to give her drawings away when they first opened the shop.

Next stop

I’m now on my way to Austin, Texas, to look after Shady. Shady’s a cat I cared for in the summer of 2019 and I’m looking forward to exploring the city without the extreme humidity.