House-Sitting in Bulgaria.

I am at the house/pet-sitting situation here in Bulgaria, which I arrived on Wednesday, and the owners left on Friday. This area is a beautiful area of Bulgaria and very easy going with small villages dotted around the Central Balkan National Park. The house is about 15 kilometers from the town of Tryavna, I will be heading to Tryavna each Monday because it is the market day of the week, and most likely on Thursday to resupply with food and check the Internet. The couple left me the old work car to drive into town. On Mondays all the English people meet for coffee, which I will be joining everyone.

A few people have e-mailed me concerning how I am able to find house-sitting situations. When I was in Israel on the farm, the raw food guy from America and I were talking about different types of resources for the long term traveler. Two minds can troubleshoot into ideas that one mind may not think of—the Goggle searching began. I found a few sites on house-sitting, one site in particular called housecarers, the site costs $45.00 to join for thirteen months. I decided to join and searched for any available houses in the countries I will be visiting and there was not a single household looking for a sitter. I, of course, choose patience to see what is meant to be, and what might take place. Most available house-sitting situations are in the English speaking countries.

The extremely positive aspect to housecarers.com is that within my profile I can add three or four countries I will be visiting, including cities, regions, towns, and villages. Once a homeowner submits an ad, the system e-mails the members who has that particular country in their profile, then the potential sitter can send an e-mail to the homeowner. Within the profile the member can upload pictures, and create a detailed profile with the link to a website or blog. This is how the current house/pet-sitting occurred. In addition, I might house sit for their friends who I visit with on Mondays. This is also how I found the house in Romania where I might stay for awhile in August, although that house has no plumbing. During this time I did have another homeowner e-mail through the system of housecarers.com here in Bulgaria, although my plans were already cemented. Once I settle on a plan I will not change the plan, In addition to housecarers.com, there also exists a site called caretakers.com. There are a few other sites on the Internet in connection to pet-sitting, house-sitting, caretaker situations.

House/pet sitting is ideal for the traveler, especially for the long term traveler who prefers to travel slow. Bulgaria is a wonderful country; friendly people, many resources for the traveler with a combination of couch-surfing, organic farming, and house-sitting. The people are easy going and friendly.

The puppy dog is very friendly and enjoys playing tug-of-war, and fetch and catch the ball. The house is a charming little cottage with an efficient stove that creates central heating for the house. This situation has provided me with quality solitude and comforting silence. Throughout this time I will be working on my body through self-massage; my muscles need to thank the makers of the tennis ball. I will resume my yoga routine along with push-ups as I was doing in Beirut. I find it difficult to maintain this routine on the road. My whole diet and routine in life is changing compared to when I left, I must maintain this routine once I move from place to place. It will be a struggle, but it is essential at this point in life.

In addition I will work on my website, and cook some nutritious food. I caught a nasty cough from being around too much second hand smoke in Sofia, and a head cold occurred. This time I am taking the antibiotics, hopefully it will fight this cough.

Today is Monday, I am feeling much better compared to last Saturday when I started the antibiotics.