Here, in her own words, is Caretaker Gazette subscriber Lynn Woods' first person account of her adventures in international housesitting. In addition to world travel, Lynn enjoys soft adventure sports (tandem skydiving, whitewater rafting and ziplining), wine appreciation (she even teaches a course in this), gourmet dining and cooking, movie nostalgia and European History.
Greetings fellow peripatetics, sojourners, adventurers and others born under the wandering star. My name is Lynn Wood and I am a native born Texan (Houston), but live throughout the school year in Natchitoches, Louisiana, home of the movie Steel Magnolias and oldest city in Louisiana. I had taken a sabbatical from Northwestern State University, where I am a professor of Hospitality Management Tourism and Recreation and was looking for a perfect place to find a “niche” for a few months.
I had done housesitting years ago when I lived in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It’s quite common there for individuals to have a “holiday home” or even an ideal situation of living six months on St. Croix and six months in New York for example, which was the case for one elderly gentleman who I housesat for. Besides Mr. Charlie, I did housesitting for a couple who had a Doberman Pinscher named, Sandy, who was supposed to be taken to the beach three times a week. Of course, after I got there, Ms. Sandy got to go to the beach EVERYDAY! While teaching our students, who are getting ready for their field experience, I came across a reference to The Caretaker Gazette in Richard Nelson Bolles’ book, What Color Is Your Parachute? What a great idea for our students in Hospitality Management and Tourism, I thought, since many of the positions that I teach about in my classes involve lodging, resort or dude ranch management. The Gazette would be the perfect publication to subscribe to. The wonderful thing about the Gazette is the variety of positions… everything from fulltime Jack-of-All-Trades to simply housesitting or even house swapping while on vacation. It’s a kind of giant equalizer, by that I mean, people from the upper classes, call upon people from all sorts of classes for help! People who may not ever have a chance to reside in a luxury domicile can, and people who need to get their estates in order can find reliable assistance.
As a result, I just returned from two months living in Kenilworth, England. My journey to Kenilworth began with an ad in The Caretaker Gazette. A resident there was looking for someone to housesit for two months, and take care of their cat. I quickly replied. The homeowners and I knew it was kismet when I answered the ad, because we both have the identical surname…even though we are not related. Sebastian looked like the kind of cat that needed a lot of stroking but plenty of independence too! The homeowners picked me up from Coventry Coach Station where I had taken a coach from Heathrow Airport, and then drove me on to Kenilworth. Char and Joe were gracious hosts for one night before setting off the next morning for Spain. Sebastian and I then were left alone in the house for over two months.
Kenilworth is the site of Sir Walter Scott’s novel of the same name and home to the Earl of Leicester’s Kenilworth Castle, Robert Dudley and a favorite of Elizabeth Tudor. One of the pubs here, The Virgins and Castle, was frequently patronized by none other than William Shakespeare. Besides being able to design a guest lecture series with neighboring Universities and doing some much needed research, I have managed to integrate myself with the locals by taking an Indian cookery class, joining a social club and going Royal Scottish Dancing each Thursday night! Weekends can be spent punting down the river Avon or journeying to such historic castles as Warwick or Stoneleigh Abbey for a Jane Austin tour. How delighted I was with my housesitting position! Char and Joe returned from two months in Spain to a well kept house, and a very happy, spoiled cat Sebastian. The only one who wasn't so happy was me since it meant that I would be leaving my idyllic setting and returning to the U.S. It is true that you really never get to know a place until you actually live there. My experience in England was absolutely WONDERFUL!
The friends I have made here in Kenilworth, I am sure, will be long-lasting. The opportunity of living in another country and learning “how the natives do it” would not have been possible without The Caretaker Gazette. It really is true that living somewhere is quite different than just visiting. So if you are getting started in a career, or wanting to retire and move to a new location, or wishing to just simply go someplace unique and different for a holiday… The Caretaker Gazette might just be your answer. All it takes is the right attitude and willingness to help people who need someone reliable.
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