What started as a temporary solution during the pandemic became six years of travel, a portable business, and a completely different way of living.
When the pandemic hit, Katherine lost her job, broke up with her boyfriend, and needed somewhere to live. She remembered pet sitting in her 20s, found a house-sitting website, and figured she’d try it until the world returned to normal.
She called it her “adult gap year.” Six years later, she jokes that it’s become her “adult gap decade.” Katherine is now a full-time professional traveling pet sitter, moving between clients across the United States and occasionally around the world. This summer alone, she traveled through Portugal, Spain, and France while paying for just three nights of accommodation.
It didn’t happen all at once. For the first three years, Katherine kept her possessions in storage because she still wasn’t convinced this would become permanent. Eventually she looked at what she was paying to store things she hadn’t touched in years and decided to let almost everything go. Today, most of what she owns travels with her or fits in her car.
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Katherine also gradually turned pet sitting from a way to reduce accommodation costs into an actual business. She began charging after about 18 months, built a base of repeat clients, and developed systems for onboarding homeowners, communicating expectations, and handling the inevitable surprises that come with living in other people’s homes. Some clients now book her far in advance, and one family has had her care for their cats for more than 365 days combined.
Her lifestyle works partly because she’s dramatically reduced her cost of living. She doesn’t have rent or a mortgage, utility bills or most of the recurring expenses that come with maintaining a home. Pet sitting generates income while simultaneously eliminating one of the largest expenses associated with travel: accommodation.
But perhaps the most useful lesson from Katherine’s story is her approach to uncertainty. Canceled sits, unexpected changes and logistical problems are inevitable. Her philosophy is simple: “If you don’t ask, the answer’s no.” Ask whether you can borrow the car. Ask whether someone knows another homeowner who needs a sitter. Ask whether there’s another possibility when the original plan falls apart.
Katherine doesn’t suggest that everyone sell everything and become a full-time pet sitter. In fact, she recommends starting small. Try a local sit. Learn what your non-negotiables are. Find out whether you actually enjoy caring for animals and living in unfamiliar homes before restructuring your entire life around it.
What began as a temporary response to a wallop has become a lifestyle Katherine intends to continue for as long as it’s fun.
Sometimes your next chapter isn’t something you carefully design in advance.
You stumble into it, discover that it works, and decide to keep going.
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