Read about other people’s TrustedHousesitters horror stories on r/trustedhousesitters.

I know of two other TrustedHousesitters members (person 1, person 2) who’ve been refused entry to the US within the last few months.

Hi. I’m Madolline.
And I’m seeing the world One cat at a time

My long-awaited international cat sitting trip has come to an end

My long-awaited international cat sitting trip has come to an end

by | 5 April 2022

I’ve spent 74 of the past 75 days house and cat sitting my way around the USA where I co-existed with all kinds of cats, including former street cats and purebred Ragdolls.

I’ve looked after 15 cats and nine different homes in seven cities across the country. I started out in Seattle before making my way to Austin, New York City—where I got sits in Chelsea, South Park Slope and Prospect Heights—Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago and Portland.

This was the first trip I’ve done where I’ve picked up additional sits while travelling. I usually have them all organised before leaving Australia so I was a bit nervous about having a 16-day gap between sits in Salt Lake City and Portland. While I was checking TrustedHousesitters, House Sitters America and housecarers.com every day, nothing suitable came up on any of the websites until I arrived in Salt Lake City at the end of February. The two last-minute sits just happened to be listed on TrustedHousesitters at the same time and they lined up almost perfectly with my existing travel plans. Both ladies proved to be super accommodating of my schedule and offered me the sits.

Some of my favourite cats from the trip were ones I didn’t end up blogging about. I stopped writing after New York City for a few reasons:

  1. The sit in Salt Lake City was relatively short.
  2. The following two sits weren’t part of my original plan so I spent most nights researching what to see and do while I was in town.
  3. I really didn’t have it in me [to write] after being out all day and still dealing with a bacterial sinus infection.

Introducing the other cats I cared for

Bones, the Salt Lake City cat, will be remembered as the most affectionate and needy cat I’ve cared for. Bones liked to be on me at all times and he loved to sleep under the covers. Getting a good night’s sleep in Salt Lake City was a bit difficult as I didn’t want to accidentally squash or suffocate Mr Bones during the night. He’s pretty small and fragile so it’d be easy to do without realising.

Bones is estimated to be around 20 years old, but vets aren’t 100% sure because Bones has no teeth. He’s doing well for an older guy—he can still jump up onto the bathroom vanity, and had no problems following me down to the basement and back up again. I was a little worried about how he’d hold up during my stay—being 20 and all—but we didn’t have any dramas.

I then spent the next week or so looking after a former street cat called Aldo in Denver. Aldo’s half Maine Coon and it shows—he’s a bigger guy and he has the strong, solid build you see in Maine Coons. He was another super affectionate cat which surprised me because he used to live on the streets of the Bronx. Aldo enjoyed weaving in and out of my hair, and rubbing his head against my shoulders when I sat at the dining table. He was also real fond of sitting on my laptop.

My next two cat friends were also rescues. Biological sisters Ares and Olivia were adopted as kittens from a lady who runs a shelter out of her house in Chicago. Ares is bigger than Olivia, but she’s a lot more reserved. She startles easily, too. Olivia, on the other hand, is very outgoing and playful. She enjoyed sitting in the bathroom and kitchen sinks, and spending some alone time on her jungle platform. Michelle, the owner, let me stay in the apartment even though she’d returned to town for two separate overnight stays. Michelle is a flight attendant and is used to what she described as ‘the [travel] lifestyle’ so she was more than happy to offer up her space in exchange for good cat care.

Chicago was somewhere I really wanted to get to on this trip. I did consider spending a couple of days there during my 16-day house sitting gap, but I wasn’t keen on paying between $300 and $400 AUD/a night for a hotel. Thanks to Michelle, I got to spend 10 days there without spending a cent on accommodation. I didn’t know much about any of the neighbourhoods before I arrived, but her Lake View location was a great place to be based. It was central to several bus stops, the Sheridan train line, cafes and restaurants, and a Whole Foods.

The final house and cat sit of the trip took me to Sellwood in Portland, OR. Sellwood’s a very cute, very American-looking neighbourhood. It reminded me a lot of ‘the suburbs’ you see in American movies despite only being about 10–15 minutes from downtown Portland.

This sit was actually the first one I secured for the trip and I remember doing a Skype call/interview for it when I was house sitting in Sydney. I was told the Sellwood kitties are on a very particular diet because the male cat, Frido, experienced a life-threatening medical situation back in December. He was unable to pee because his urethra was blocked by struvite crystals. Since then, owners Sophie and Johnny switched Frido and Pippi from a dry food only diet to a much healthier one. They get thawed out turkey meat twice a day.

Frido was the more outgoing of the two cats, but Pippi was the braver one. Pippi hid from me on the first night, but she had no problem navigating the new butterfly toy Sophie ordered for them. Frido was a little scared of it and didn’t attempt to swat the butterfly for a couple of days.

Next stop

It’s now time to head back to Australia after two and a half weeks in Portland. This trip saw me house and cat sit in several cities I’ve been to before as well as cities which have been on my house sitting bucket list for some time. I’m not sure when or where I’ll house and cat sit next, but I’m always on TrustedHousesitters thinking about how I can make it work.

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A short house and cat sit to mark my return to the United States

A short house and cat sit to mark my return to the United States

by | 26 January 2022

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.

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Where house and cat sitting took me in 2019

Where house and cat sitting took me in 2019

by | 29 December 2019

My first house and cat sit for 2019 was at the end of my December–January winter trip to the United States. I spent just over a week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, looking after a feral cat called Kitty Rumi.

The Santa Fe home—like most homes in New Mexico—was Pueblo style. This is the traditional architecture of the Pueblo Indians who built most things with adobe bricks. I would describe the lady’s house as a cute clay shack. It’s definitely one of the more ‘simple’ homes I’ve stayed in, but not in a bad way. I feel it’s just how homes are designed in New Mexico.

I remember leaving the house one night to walk 20 minutes down the road to get dinner. It was the only time I’d left the house that day because I spent most of it sleeping. It was snowing on and off, it was cold, and it was nearing the end of my trip. I was tired. Anyway, I walked to Annapurna’s World Vegetarian Café where I got a Mediterranean pasta dish and stopped in at Carl’s Jr for my diet coke. I was so excited to get home and eat the pasta—I’d heard great things about Annapurna’s. And everything on the menu sounded so good.

I got back to the house and tried to unlock the door. I’d locked both locks despite the lady saying not to lock the top one. I thought this was more of a ‘I don’t lock the top lock because it’s a safe area’ rather than a ‘DON’T LOCK THE TOP LOCK BECAUSE WE CAN’T UNLOCK IT’. I tried several times. With all the different keys. The top lock wouldn’t budge. I went around the side hoping I could open the glass door where my room was. Nope. Then I went around the back hoping to unlock the back doors. I can’t remember the exact setup, but something prevented me from unlocking the screen door. ‘Well, shit,’ I thought. ‘What am I going to do?’ My phone was unable to call or text anyone because my plan had expired, and all I had was WiFi access. I was able to message (thank you, iPhone) the lady explaining what’d happened. She told me her boyfriend would be over to help out. He lived up the road. Thank god. He was eventually able to open the door and I learned never to lock the top lock again. If it wasn’t for the boyfriend, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Stuck outside forever in the cold. With my pasta and diet coke.

I returned home to Brisbane just before Australia Day. I then did my first local sit for a couple in Paddington over the long weekend in May. This coincided with my 29th birthday. I’ll be looking after Kush Kush for a third time over the next few days. Not long after, I left on my longest house and cat sitting trip yet. I was in the US from mid-June to the first week in August. My first stop was Las Vegas where I was staying in a hotel. I hired a car so I could make it to some of the state’s more interesting attractions before flying to Nashville for my first cat sit of the trip.

I made my way to 12South where I was greeted by cats Nancy and Griffin. Both ladies are quite old and I’ve learned Griffin has recently passed away. I think she was 19. The most memorable (entertaining?) thing from this sit was seeing them drink their water from a glass, not a bowl. I also learned Nashville was full of drunk tourists, but I’m still keen to go back. Just not in the summer.

I then flew out for Austin where I met the couple I was sitting for at the airport. These guys stick out in my mind because they were so… likeable? And personable. Their apartment was in a great location. Pretty much opposite the flagship Whole Foods store and in a less busy part of downtown Austin. Their cat, Shady, was another character. I remember he’d sit on the stove and I’d freak out. Even though I never used the stove, it just made me nervous.

After two weeks in Austin, where it was incredibly humid, I flew out to Seattle. I was very happy to be flying into a cooler city. One where it usually rains at least once a day. I was technically cat sitting in an area that’s not quite Seattle, but is about 20–30 minutes from downtown. I still find it easier to say it was Seattle. The actual neighbourhood is called Lake Forest Park. This sit was memorable for a few reasons. The cats were cute, sure. And the view of Lake Washington was great. But the couple were very particular. Highly strung. And I couldn’t quite gauge that from their TrustedHousesitters listing or the FaceTime chat I had with the husband. Despite it probably being my least favourite sit, I was thankful to get a five-star review out of it.

I took an overnight flight from Seattle to Birmingham, Alabama, for my last sit. This home will be hard to beat in terms of being the most fun and artsy. Clint and Vero, the owners, have also just left on an adventure. Each room in their house was full of unique art pieces they’d made or collected from their travels. They’d even renovated the main shower to resemble (or at least in my mind) a cave/rock climbing wall. I’m not quite sure how to describe it. And their cat, Zoey, still remains the only one-eyed cat I’ve cared for.

Not long after flying back to Australia, I discovered Aussie House Sitters. I’d check the site each morning for sits in Tasmania in the hope of finding one that:

  • was in a central enough location (so, like, Hobart or Launceston)
  • only had a cat or cats (i.e. no dogs or other animals)
  • was more than a few days, but wasn’t longer than two weeks.

I found one in Launceston and signed up.

The Launceston sit was probably my favourite one this year. The home was so homely. The cats—two young Birmans—were adorable. Literally. Their names were Dora and Abel. The lady calls them ‘The Adorables’. And the city was beautiful. My Uber driver on the way to Hobart Airport was like: ‘Launceston is a bit boring, isn’t it?’ I totally disagree. I guess if I didn’t have a car, it would have been very hard to get around and I wouldn’t have been able to visit half the places I did. But I definitely loved Launceston and would love to go back.

And now for right now. Today’s my last day looking after Jaspurr. Another Ragdoll. ‘Do you only look after this type [Ragdoll] of cat?’ my friend’s sister asked. Her question made me laugh, but I can see how she’d think that. Jaspurr’s the first cat I’ve looked after who had his nails painted. Green and red glitter for Christmas. Festive.

This sit began on Christmas Eve and was at a property in my hometown. I decided to take it as a kind of mini vacation. And it has been just that. The couple’s apartment is in West End, but it’s kind of like a community of its own here. Their street is very resorty and I keep thinking I’m at the coast. Despite apartments everywhere you look, it’s very quiet. And the pub down the road’s my new favourite. The Montague Hotel. They have $10 espresso martinis all day every day.

Next stop

What’s in store for 2020? I’m sure it comes as no surprise I’d like to keep exploring the US.

Two Abyssinian cats for company just outside Seattle

Two Abyssinian cats for company just outside Seattle

by | 22 July 2019

This was my third house and cat sit in the Seattle area within the past 12 months. Only this time I was staying in Lake Forest Park, not *technically* Seattle. Lake Forest Park’s about 20 kilometres north of downtown Seattle, but it’s still Seattle to me.

I was looking after two Abyssinian cats, Max and Luis, who were purchased from the same breeder somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. I think they’re either nine or ten years old, and they’re cousins. Luis, the more social and friendlier of the two, is believed to be showing early signs of kidney disease while Max’s only health concern is his weight. I wouldn’t necessarily consider Max obese, but he’s definitely a lot ‘softer’ than Luis. The owners are currently trialling Max on a wet food only diet after advice from their vet. Luis, meanwhile, has access to the biscuits (dry food) via a programmed tag on his collar.

This house and cat sit was the last one I applied for before leaving on my trip. I had a five-day gap between when my Austin sit ended and when my Birmingham, Alabama, one started. Sure, it would have probably cost about the same to pay for accommodation somewhere on the same side of the country. But this place—back on the west coast⁠—looked like a great place to relax. I FaceTime’d the husband one day from work. Before the chat ended, he said they’d love to have me sit for them. He also said I was able to stay a day or two before/after the sit if I needed to. And I did. I arrived a day earlier and flew out the same day they returned.

During the same chat, the husband was rolling on the floor with Max. Max—the softer, less social cat—seems to truly love the husband. And only the husband. The wife told me that when the husband’s away, Max doesn’t think too much of her either. All he wants is to be fed and for his real owner to return. Luis seemed to appreciate anyone’s company. He’d follow me around the house and sleep on the blanket at the bottom of the bed.

Now for the actual house. It overlooks Lake Washington. And what a view. I asked the couple if there was a path/trail or park that I could go to to get a closer view of the lake. The husband gave me a confused look and said it’s mostly private residences occupying the waterfront. He was right. Then he said there are two ‘clubs’, which require a paid membership, where you can access the water. For swimming or boating. This seemed so weird to me—paying to swim in the lake. Paying to view the lake was even weirder.

Not only did the couple have a beautiful house, they had a nice garden as well. I know nothing about gardening and being responsible for a garden like this makes me nervous. Especially given the couple were really particular about everything. Note: The garden was still thriving when I left.

Their garden had brightly-coloured flowers, several different types of succulents and a few oriental-looking trees out the front. I’m not sure how a garden like this would fare outside Seattle because Seattle gets a lot of rain. But I was asked to water it every second day if it hadn’t rained. I was able to water the back garden from the deck while looking out over Lake Washington each afternoon.

My first full day in Lake Forest Park saw me return home to a black out. At first I thought my hair straightener had tripped the power. The couple had mentioned their kitchen was sensitive to multiple appliances being used at once and I was getting worried. I thought my Australian-bought GHD may have overloaded it. But no. It turns out a neighbour had been digging. And, as we all discovered out, they’d dug too deep. The power had been cut to about 40 homes in the area and didn’t return until 1am the next day.

After the couple left for their four-day weekend, the wife messaged me to say there’d been a small earthquake in the area. I didn’t notice anything. I would’ve been totally unaware unless the wife mentioned it. Despite the power loss and earthquake, I made it out of Lake Forest Park alive.

Not long after the couple had set off, they messaged me to say they’d discovered the name of a park where I could view Lake Washington for free. Lyon Creek Waterfront Preserve. It was a short walk away from the local shopping complex and I decided to check it out one afternoon. While it was nice, I can’t imagine paying for something like this. Maybe these clubs offer something in addition to lake access, but it still seems stupid to charge people to swim in a public lake.

And while I was in town, I caught up with the first Seattle couple I house and cat sat for. It was pretty much exactly on one year ago when I met Melinda and Rich. They had two senior kitties, Leo and Lily, who needed caring for for two weeks. We’ve stayed in contact since then and I now consider them friends. Melinda and Rich are now looking at becoming house sitters. They’d like to travel around Europe and they think house sitting’s a great way to do it. It definitely is, you guys.

Places to go

Like I said before, this isn’t my first time in Seattle. So these aren’t necessarily places to check out if it’s your first time there.

Fremont neighbourhood

I’d wanted to go Fremont for a while now. But it was always a bit of a mission on public transport (I’d previously stayed in Capitol Hill and Madrona). And it was still a bit of a mission this time because I couldn’t work out what the go was with bus transfers. I ended up walking from downtown Seattle. About an hour or so later, I made it to the Fremont Troll.

Other things worth checking out in the neighbourhood include the Fremont Vintage Mall, and Peace Love and Happiness Club. Peace Love and Happiness Club has some really interesting plants, succulents, and pottery. ZapVerr, a Thai restaurant, does a great eggplant dish.

Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls is also something I’d wanted to check out on previous stays. I think I had it noted down for my first trip to Seattle, but I was a little apprehensive about renting a car in the city. I wasn’t sure if the driving would be as crazy as it is in Los Angeles or if it was a little more relaxed. But this time I got a car. Snoqualmie Falls is about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle. The falls, of course, are really beautiful. There’s a hike or two to be done, and a restaurant at the entrance.

Mt Rainier National Park (kind of)

The couple I was house and cat sitting for told me Mt Rainier was about three hours from their place. Apple Maps told me it was two. I thought the couple may have been exaggerating or liked to make a few stops along the way. I got to the entrance of the national park within two hours, but the main points of interest were another hour away. The couple was right. I would’ve continued, but my rental car only came with half a tank of petrol. And I knew this when I set out from Seattle, but I didn’t anticipate the three-hour drive. I didn’t want to get stuck without fuel. So after about half an hour in to the national park, I turned around. It was also pretty rainy and foggy the day I drove out there, and Mt Rainier couldn’t be seen because of the weather conditions. But if you have a full tank of petrol, then definitely make a day of it.

Next stop

My next stop’s Birmingham. I’ll be cat sitting for Belgian artist Vero and her husband, Clint. I’ll be here ‘til 28 July before making my way to my final destination—New Orleans—for a cat-free holiday. Then it’s back home to Australia.