House Sitting in Sweden – for too long!

Apologies for the lack of proper updates recently but as we are now literally counting the hours down till we can get back on the road in Lightning our motorhome I thought now was a good time to let you know what we have been up to…

We have now been ‘static’ at a house sit looking after someone else’s 6 dogs & a cat for nearly 3 weeks and both myself and Mrs Nomadic Dad are climbing the walls!

When we excitedly got in touch with the the pet’s owners above via Trusted House Sitters several weeks ago we thought looking after the animals in a large 7 bedroom house in the Swedish countryside was an amazing opportunity as it would give us all, but mainly the kids, some much needed space after living in a 7m long motorhome for several months already. However what we didn’t think about was how much work it takes to look after so many animals in addition to our own small Jack Russel dog whilst also trying to keep the HUGE house clean AND fighting off flies & wasps in the way above average 30c temperatures Sweden has been experiencing!

Another thing we didn’t really think about was how important the location of a house sit is. This current house sit is next to a fairly busy road with no footpaths and the local supermarket is a 15 minute drive away. The most interesting town nearby is an extra 30 minutes onwards from the supermarket by car and to get back into Stockholm via public transport would involve at least 2 buses and a lot of hassle plus we can’t leave all the dogs for more than a few hours 🙁

I have personally managed to escape for a few days to Stockholm to see and go out with a couple of mates of mine – one a true friend who flew in from the UK especially in order to help me let (what’s left of) my hair down. Poor Mrs Nomadic Dad however sent me a message when I was out saying she was starting to feel like one of the inmates in the new series of Orange Is the New Black she has been watching 🙁

I’m sure you are reading this thinking – yeah what did you expect in exchange for nearly 3 weeks ‘free’ accommodation in a HUGE Swedish house!? However in my defence, our first house sit felt a fairer deal overall than this one as we ‘only’ had 3 of their dogs to look after for a week and the location of that one in Scotland had several lovely walks nearby. I’m also happy to admit it’s also our own fault that we agreed to staying here an extra week over the initial 2 weeks we originally agreed upon as maybe 3 weeks anywhere might have been hard after being on the road so long already.

I hope the above doesn’t come across super negative on House Sitting as like I have said above we have had 1 great house sit and this one which has been important for us all but not as great. My advice for those wanting to house sit was make sure you ask enough questions such as their pet’s exact dietary / exercise needs, any medical problems and if you plan to use public transport REALLY look into how reliable and easy it is to use where you will be based.

In addition to the above advice, some of the positives from this house sit for us all overall are…

• Space – Each of us has had the opportunity to have our own space including our own beds
• Homeschooling – We have been able to do a lot more extravagant homeschool activities due to the extra space here and by being able to make use of the things you take for granted in a normal house such as an oven for baking or several pots and pans for science experiments
• Animals – The children have really bonded with several of the animals here whilst also learning a lot about the hard work required to look after so many
• Minimalism – Reminding ourselves how little we need to make us happy – less is most definitely more in terms of possessions (and cleaning!) and I really enjoy the minimalism that living in a motorhome forces upon us as a family
• Lightning – Being able to give Lightning our motorhome a proper clean both inside and out as we had the space and equipment to get everything out and wash covers etc
• Headspace – Having extra time to stop and process what we have been doing up until this point in our adventure without having to worry about where we are staying the next night or spending several hours driving
• Friends – Making us REALLY appreciate how important friends, community and just people in general are having been pretty isolated in the Swedish countryside

So moving on, next up for us all is Copenhagen as we head back South from Scandinavia towards Germany which we can’t wait to get to as our youngest will also turn 6 whilst we are there 🙂

House Sit

Feeding time – again!

Our Scrufts Dog Contest

Nintendo Labo entertaining us

Eldest doing his first Lego Creator’s set

Well deserved beer on a mate’s boat

View from the boat in Stockholm

Civilisation in Stockholm

Pride 2018 Stockholm

Stockholm