Being a temporary local

This entry is written from Canmore, Alberta where I am house sitting for a friend. Travel writer Rick Steves describes travel as intensified living. He recommends enjoying the differences we find and trying to become temporary locals, ideas consistent with my approach to travel. One way I have found to live like a temporary local is house sitting. 

House sitting in Canmore, Alberta

From mid November 2012 to mid January 2013 I did a house sit with a small dog in Lethbridge, Alberta, where I had previously lived. A 6-week house and dog sit over the 2013 Christmas season in Toowoomba, Queensland was the starting point of a 2 ½ month trip to Australia, one of my favourite destinations. 

Windmills at Toowoomba's Cobb & Co museum

One house sit allowed me to reconnect with once familiar people and places and the other to make new acquaintances. Both of these sits were arranged through the agency House Carers.  http://www.housecarers.com/ 

Sculpture at Galt Museum in Lethbridge with view of rail bridge.

Reference

Rick Steves' Spain 2013, p. 37-38.