Caribbean Castaways: Julie and Gregory
With thirty two years in the hospitality industry in both the U.K. and the U.S., a penchant for world travel, and over thirty-five countries under our belts, caretaking in a foreign country had always been our dream and was a natural next step for us after forced semi-retirement. To be able to combine a lengthy stay in a new country in trade for property and/or animal caretaking was not only a good fit for us but also an excellent opportunity to live as ‘locals’ in a foreign land and experience their culture for an extended amount of time without incurring huge living expenses. After meeting a lady on a remote beach in Mexico who was doing just that we started subscribing to The Caretaker Gazette seven years ago and would drool over the possibilities but the timing just never seemed to be quite right with family, business, and several remodeled rental properties we needed to tend to. With the downturn in the economy, an unexpected lay off, the quick sale of our beach house in California, and our youngest child going off to college all of the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together and it was the perfect time to start a new ‘career’ caretaking the properties of others. We felt as if we were at the ideal juncture in our lives – the children were gone and our parents are still in good health – it’s now or never!
The opportunity to live in the West Indies for three months during the summer also presented us with the ideal time to vacate Palm Desert, California where we currently reside since it sees summer temperatures in the 110 degree range. The assignment checked all of our boxes – the right time of year, a temperate climate, and an island that we had never been to – Grenada. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Grenada is known as the "Island of Spice" due to the production of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters. The Grenada resort owners close down the small, boutique, resort property every year during the hurricane season and our ‘job’ was to be an extra set of eyes on the property, start the generator once a fortnight and most importantly take care of the beloved hotel dog in their absence. Since we love animals and have handyman skills it was a good fit for both parties.
Caretaking is the gateway to another way of life and through living in a foreign country as ‘locals’ we are able to appreciate the beauty of the country and its people at a much slower pace than if we were simply tourists over for a two week holiday. We gladly perform the minimal amount of chores and thoroughly enjoy taking care of the dog who we take with us on long walks along deserted, sand beaches and on many lovely, wooded trails and rainforest adventures. In exchange for this we get very basic but comfortable housing, the use of a four wheel drive vehicle (a must in these parts), and an idyllic setting to live in while we explore the island and everything that it has to offer. As in most things in life there are also trade-offs: living without air-conditioning in a very warm, humid climate and since the eco friendly resort offers no TV we have had to adapt to getting our news through the internet, and check the weather and track tropical storms that may be headed our way on our laptop. A small price to pay for living in Paradise and experiencing a new way of life!
Other challenges have been the erratic driving practices on very narrow roads often with sheer drops on one side, the abundance of stray dogs everywhere, and a rather nasty mosquito problem at dusk and dawn but we've managed to overcome all of those things despite our initial ‘what have we gotten ourselves into’ thoughts that we shared. Most of the local men carry machetes which we also found a little intimidating at first but over time it becomes the norm and you just learn to accept and adapt accordingly – we even carry our own machete now especially on trails in the rain forest that quickly disappear with rapidly growing undergrowth.
We've also enjoyed the peace and quiet and the escape from the rat race and have been able to indulge ourselves with hours of reading and endless games of Scrabble and afternoon naps in hammocks, all things that we rarely afforded ourselves at home where one tends to be swept up in the daily rush of a sometimes frenetic life. Our relationship has also flourished since we have had to rely totally on one another to improvise and overcome ‘life in a foreign country’ obstacles together and truly work as a team. Unexpectedly we have learned a lot about each other and ourselves – an unexpected bonus! There is a lot of trust involved on both sides when accepting a caretaking position but if a good match is made it is also very beneficial to all parties. We encourage everyone to try it and could never have made this dream happen without The Caretaker Gazette. As soon as we get home we will be looking for our next adventure in a moderately warm climate overseas that will both stimulate and invigorate all of our senses just as we have experienced here. Cheers!
