Remote Work Mentor

Remote Work Mentor

πŸ” Chicken Poo, Chard + a day in the life of a newbie house-sitter in France | Part III | #107

Vive le Routine! A French house-sitting diary.

RoRemote πŸ’š's avatar
RoRemote πŸ’š
Apr 26, 2024
βˆ™ Paid

πŸ’š Digital Nomad Stories is a publication + community aimed at those who travel + remote work. If you enjoy it, why not consider supporting it for only €5.00 a month (€1.25 a week!), you’ll get access to full archive, mid-week community threads and the friendly comment section. Content may contain affiliate links.

πŸ‘‹ Welcome new subscribers! New reader, please start here πŸ‘ˆ

πŸ‡«πŸ‡· Edition #107 is coming from around Tarbes, in South West France.

Bonjour! For new readers, in recent times myself and my family have been embarking on a new nomad family type adventure, with our first house-sit contract in SW France.

Note: For pet and house sitting visit TrustedHousesitters to get 25% off annual memberships use: ROREMOTE25


TLDR: πŸ«±πŸ½β€πŸ«²πŸΎ In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years nomadic) family. For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

All my web and FREE resource links are here and you can book a 1:1 here.

πŸ™πŸ½ This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe here to show your support.


Earlier this year, as part of my Menopause 3 Month Sabbatical Break, where I aimed to save costs as a Nomad, I tried:

  1. A €50 lodging + food per day in the Spanish Pyrenees month long trip

  2. House-sitting as a means to saving on travel accommodation costs

✍🏻 Notes: If you want regular updates, see y’all on Substack Notes.

Finding our first house-sit was quick, with circumstances meaning that in fact, one contract turned into two in succession, resulting in two positive sitter recommendations, but more on that later!

Cat cuddles in the French Countryside

House-sitting 101

So in recent weeks, our days have involved a very definite routine. If you have never encountered or know nothing about house-sitting, it involves an exchange in the following way:

  • House Owners (HO’s) - offer their home for use to sitters.

  • House-sitters (HS’s) - agree to take care of the house, including any tasks required, from being in the house (for security reasons) for the period requested, caring for plants and gardens or/and caring for domestic pets and in some cases, farm animals.


Affiliates corner: Here are some of the products and services that I rate: Digital Nomad Spain set-up Advice, Nomad Health Insurance from SafetyWing or from Genki - Insurance for Nomads, best mobile laptop stand from Nexstand Laptop Riser 10% off code: ROREMOTE10, for pet and house sitting visit TrustedHousesitters to get 25% off annual memberships use: ROREMOTE25 and for reliable Spanish Accounting and Business Advice via Entre Tramites.


In our first French house-sit, as part of the agreement as house-sitters with the house owners, in exchange for a months accommodation in a beautiful French country house, we had agreed to take care of pets and carry out these basic chores:

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Remote Work Mentor to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
Β© 2025 Rowena Hennigan Β· Privacy βˆ™ Terms βˆ™ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture