This was the reply I was given when I announced that I was going to spend the next year or so living in France. Because of its proximity to the UK, where I was living at the time, going to France was not seen as travel. Someone else commented “but that’s just where you go on holidays”.
I knew what they were getting at. To “go travelling” I should be heading off to Thailand, renting a tuk-tuk in India or perhaps go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. France may not be exotic, but that was its appeal. The most adventure you can get here is trying to work your way through the 350-400 different types of cheeses they have. It’s not really living on the edge unless of course you count the cholesterol risk. 18 Alpacas, 11 cats, 4 dogs and 2 turtles later and I have to say I’ve enjoyed it. I’ll get to Thailand at some point one day.
Pet Sitting
Going travelling was something I’d put off for years for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones was that I wasn’t ready to pack in a career I’d spent years building up. I decided instead to take my work on the road with me and work remotely (more on that in a second).
The one problem I had with this was that finding a place to work was expensive. Renting a hotel room or apartment would be fine if I was going to Asia, but in Europe the costs would just be too much. Then I started finding pet owners who needed house sitters; people like me who would come and look after their home and pets while they were away. That’s where the 18 Alpacas, 11 cats, 4 dogs and 2 turtles come in. Not only has it provided me with an opportunity to live in rural France, where few hotels or hostels exist, but it’s provided me with some great travel experiences: like that time I had to rub cream on an alpaca’s testicle! That’s perhaps a story for another day.
Working Remotely
Working remotely has been an experience. Ever since I started working I’ve always freelanced and I’ve always had clients so some parts of this weren’t new to me.
I’d always presumed that there would be certain challenges to working remotely; the distraction of freedom for example, but I’ve not found that to be the case. In all honesty, workplaces are for more distracting and I find I get a lot more done working remotely.
Finding internet whilst moving around is sometimes a challenge but thank god for McDonalds which has wifi in most of its diners around the world. In cities finding internet is a breeze but in the countryside you often have to walk around small towns clutching an iPhone, trying to see where there are open networks that you can log into. If you have a smartphone you can also tether a 3G connection allowing you to work from your laptop, but watch out: some networks don’t like this.
Cheese
It’s impossible to talk about travel in France without mentioning (again) those 350-400 different types of cheeses. I’m not sure how a vegan could survive in France. FrenchEntree.com gives some tips for people of that persuasion but I’m not sure I would want to try.
Anyway, if you do decide to visit France some cheeses you must try are: Epoisses (illegal on public transport it’s so smelly), Camembert (you’ve probably tried it before but most supermarkets have an entire Camembert section) and Valençay; a very mouldy but very tasty cheese from the Berry province; its shape apparently inspired by a very angry Napoleon.
An inspiring article. I work with alpacas here in the UK and they are such beautiful creatures. A rural holiday in France pet sitting alpacas would be heaven for me! I have done a lot of house sitting in the UK and it alwyas includes pets, after all why have a house sitter if you don’t have pets?? An opportunity to do this abroad though is another dimension!
Mandy Allen
Thanks Mandy,
They are amazing creatures. These alpacas all responded to their names which was something I was quite surprised by – lots of fun, although I was a little nervous of getting kicked in the beginning.
Pet sitting, working remotely, and lots of cheese in France? Who in the right mind would say no? LOL~ In all seriousness though, it’s the sort of life I find myself daydreaming about in my office quite often and I wish I was living it. Maybe I’ll try it one day, but for now it’s only a dream. Thanks for fueling my dream though.
Love this. Pet sitting, working remotely, and I will never, ever say no to cheese. Spending time with animals is so great, but I think I’d get too attached to some pets to want to leave people’s homes! 😛
I love that people in the UK don’t see France as “travel.” I’m from Connecticut/New York, and I can’t imagine any place more “travel-y” than France, because it’s overseas and sounds amazing. I understand, though, as going to Massachusetts for me wouldn’t feel much like travel.