Sight unseen

I don't always meet the pet owners

I’ve been having big thoughts about the intimate nature of the petsitter relationship. I see the owners in person for such a short time and then they entrust me with their homes and animals. Even more remarkable is that, sometimes, I never meet the owners in person. It’s happened a couple of times in my petsitting career that I’ve connected with the owners online, we’ve chatted via video call, and then I’ve arrived at their home after they’d left and I’ve departed before their return.

View from the train from New Jersey to Connecticut, on my way to a house I’ve never seen and hoping I’ll find the house key. (Spoiler: the key was where they said it would be.)

It’s trust on both sides. The homeowner trusts me to take care of their stuff and leave everything as I found it. I trust the homeowner that I will have a safe space, a good Wifi connection, and a grocery store within walking or delivery distance.