There’s hardly a more tranquil place on Earth. And I was lucky enough to be there, in a sort-of house-sitting capacity, in May. Surrounded by rolling hills and farmland, just 40 km from the holy city of Santiago de Compostela on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, stands a renovated stone albergue (hostel) that has served pilgrims since 1523. The Ribadiso Albergue property was restored in the 1990s and is a pilgrim favorite. It’s been used as the setting for videos. The Xunta st

It’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Easter. How can I refuse an invitation to walk the eight miles from the tiny village of Nambé to el Sanctuario de Chimayó? It’s the largest annual pilgrimage in America! Why would I miss that when I’m house sitting in Santa Fe at exactly the right time of year? There are many starting points for this famous religious trek to Chimayó. Some devotees reputedly start at the Mexico border; others set off from Albuquerque about 91 miles away; some begi

One day while house sitting on Whidbey Island, I notice the recycling boxes in my homeowners’ tidy garage are filling up. I’ll be conscientious, I decide. I google and find the address for Island Recycling. I load up my car and enter the info in my GPS. Little do I know that I’m in for another “unique place” experience. Little do I know I’ll go back to that place several times, just to take pictures. Really? Well, yes. I turn in at the driveway off Rt 525, north of Freeland,

Certainly an advantage to being a house sitter in a new community, rather than a tourist, is that I have unrestricted time to mosey through market and residential areas that aren’t featured in Chamber of Commerce literature. I particularly like to look for people’s art or public art, as opposed to gallery art, all over a town. On out-of-the-way streets in the town of Langley on Whidbey Island, I got to discover what the ordinary (and extraordinary) townspeople think is import

I’m house sitting in a beautiful home in the town of Langley on Whidbey Island in Washington State, way up at the northwest tip of America where it’s only a giant’s step into Canada. A large, mature, independent cat named Meatball is my charge, plus a few plants. I like this home and this cat! Meatball goes in and out through the cat door, often spending long hours outside. He talks loudly, demandingly, when in need, but asleep, well, he’s all angel. We’re getting along well.

Please note as of 2026, this book is no longer available. It has become the inspiration for Preparedness: Get Ready for Climate Chaos. When people ask me where I’m from, I feel apologetic that I don’t have a one-word answer. “Well,” I say, “I’m a nomad. I house sit for people who live in places that interest me.” You wouldn’t believe how many respond with some version of, “Wow! That sounds amazing! How does that work? How do you find places?” Or they ask right off the bat, “W

“Be wary of stuff. Be careful what you purchase, what you save, what you pack into plastic storage boxes. Stuff can hog-tie your life.” —Hallelujah Haymaker Note: This post was drafted in July 2017, but it felt too personal to share then. “You’re doing major emotional work,” said my friend NK, cracking an egg into the frying pan on the stove. I was staying in Southern California with her for a couple we

I’ve encountered nothing but kindness and charm in Albuquerque, NM, and I’ve been housesitting in this city for three months already. Here in Albuquerque’s North Valley where I temporarily live, I’ve explored several walking trails, for this historic area is criss-crossed by ditches. These acequias, in Spanish, are long old trenches of varying widths and depths that sometime during the year, I’m told, carry water to agricultural fields. Much of the time they are dry and dusty

I’ve been housesitting in Boulder less than a week, and happily I’ve found a walking trail that fits my three-mile round-trip requirement. Goose Creek Greenway, a stream with a winding path beside it, is well-used by a mix of ducks, geese, pigeons, bicyclists, joggers, mothers with prams, fast walkers, slow walkers, and the occasional homeless person with cart. But… A great deal of care was taken originally when planning this trail. The signage is beautiful. … for the three d

“Do you need someone to be the corpse?” I asked the Care-of-the-Body team instructor. “Because if you do, I’ll volunteer. I’d like to doze a bit.” That was hardly an exalted motive, I admit, but it was honest—early afternoon is my usual nap time. “And may I remain clothed?” I pleaded. Yes, was the answer to both questions. I was at an extraordinary training session. I mean, how many people do you know who’ve been trained in how to support a family in creating a sacred space t

It was inspired choice—spending July 4, 2016, morning walking the canals of Venice CA with an old friend (as I’m housesitting in LA for a bit). Residents were out, spreading red-white-blue picnic tablecloths in preparation for parties. They responded warmly to “Happy Fourth!” And this year, because of Hillary, I felt unusually proud to be an American. It’s been years since I visited the Marina/Venice neck of the Los Angeles woods. The area, a few blocks from the ocean, now ab

“So,” I said to a Crestone local, opening the French doors and stepping out to the porch where she stood, hose in hand, watering the flowers around the house where I’m house-sitting, “how long have you been here?” “I’ve been here 27 years,” she said. We exchanged names. She was polite, but she didn’t take my question as the bait I intended it to be, that is, an invitation into friendly conversation. I sensed that she had no interest in me, or probably more accurately, that sh

Recently I was chatting with an 85-year-old cousin, a medical doctor. He’s a widower now. He was very interested in how I worked out the logistics of my nomadic lifestyle—for example, how I manage things like snail mail and medical checkups when I house-sit for people in places far from my previous home. I explained I use my daughter’s address as my permanent address; she generously, periodically, forwards my mail–bless her heart! I explained that I had a doctor in California

How about declaring 2016 the Year of Serendipity? I believe in serendipity. I experience lots of it in my nomadic life (though I often use ‘miracle’ instead); I want even more “unexpected discoveries”; and I’ve been curious about how serendipity happens. So, what serendipity that I picked up a copy of the first Sunday New York Times of 2016! It has an article, ”Cultivating the Art of Serendipity” by Pagan Kennedy. She was a pioneer of the “zine movement” of the 1990s which po

The little black dog is hunkered over, trembling. She’s a naked waif in her new summer haircut that’s removed every vestige of dignity, and with the shaking, she’s pathetic in the truest sense of the word. The little black dog, Coconut, cowers from fright at the noises. Why is she trembling so? Because the Neighbors on the Right (of the house where I’m housesitting) have started shooting firecrackers, and the delicious (to me) smell of sulfur filters in the window. I don’t kn

KEEP VASHON WEIRD, it says. But how do you take a rectangular photo of a the lettering on a curved cup? “Keep Vashon Weird”—That’s the slogan of the little island I’m on now. But I don’t know as I’d describe it as ‘weird’; the word has a pejorative feel. Rather, I’d nominate: “KEEP VASHON PARADISE!” That’s what it seems to be to me, coming from the juniper-and-cedar-pollen zones of the Northern New Mexico desert. I’m thrilled I’m housesitting here for almost three months! Vas

Date: Nov & Dec, 2014 Location: Niwot, CO, near Boulder, in a beautiful home overlooking a golf course Favorite Sites, Sights, and Happenings: It’s hard to scrape even the top layer of possibilities for entertainment, activity, and exploration in and around Boulder when there for only a few weeks. But that’s what time I had, house- and dog-sitting for old friends who trusted me to care for their blind dog, Scooter, when they went to the Big Apple for Thanksgiving. I do want t