Oscar Delissen, blogger bij Resource Unusual houses and their furnishings make me happy. I would love to visit as many houses with eccentric furnishings as I can before buying my own home in a decade or so. This is a hobby I can easily combine with vacationing.
Approximately five years ago, I registered on a website for homeowners and house-sitters. Many homeowners like having someone house-sit when they are away on holiday so that their cats, dogs, fish, bonsai trees, house plants and mailbox get taken care of.
A drawback is that you are not very flexible while on vacation; you can’t visit another village for a few days. Moreover, there are responsibilities. However, if you consider the fact that you can spend your vacation in a fully furnished house in a nice environment free of charge, or even for a small payment, the choice is easy.
You more or less immerse yourself in someone else’s life for a week or two
The thing I enjoy most is that you feel the presence of someone living in the house: Yesterday’s paper lying on the table, the Christmas cards on the mantlepiece and the residents’ slippers semi-hidden under the sofa. The art you see hanging on the wall is what someone else considered nice enough to decorate the home with, and the indentations on the couch reveal the preferred spots. You more or less immerse yourself in someone else’s life for a week or two. This is completely different from a hostel where new guests arrive every two weeks and which never becomes a home.
This summer, I looked for a holiday address closer to home. I got in touch with a Wageningen professor looking for someone to take care of his house and two cats. Upon arrival, I saw a beautiful monumental building from 1872. And, although the house was not located in an exotic holiday location this time, it was fun to experience Wageningen from a different home base for two weeks. I am still considering whether to sign up for one of his courses next period. Perhaps I should first inquire whether his cats still have diarrhoea.
Oscar Delissen is a fourth-year Food Technology student. He is studying in Bolzano, Italy, for the next six months.
