Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here as a subscriber and get a FREE book as a welcome gift!

This week’s B ME Bites Trivia Question:

Welcome to Edition #79 of B ME Bites!

I’m writing this one from Tasmania.

The last thing I wrote about was our Japan trip, which was amazing! But that was a while ago now. Both the trip itself, and the last instalment of the newsletter about it.

Rather a lot has happened in between, and none of it was the plan…..of course! 🤣

So this edition is a catch-up. Where I’ve actually been, what I’ve actually been doing, and what thirteen months of house sitting has given me.

B ME Bites 79: I’m Writing This One From Tasmania

The van wasn’t finished, so I started house sitting

That’s the short version of the whole thing.

When we got home from Japan, the van wasn’t ready, and I was staying with my parents while I waited on it.

That was only ever meant to be a few months.

It was not a few months.

I had bought the van because I wanted to travel and see different places while I was working. And I wasn’t doing that. So I went looking for another option.

I found house sitting.

Everything from here happened in the space where the van was supposed to be.

The Long Drive To South Australia

It had been 6 months since my daughter Nataasjia had seen her furbaby Lulu.

Lulu had come with me when I left the Gold Coast. Nataasjia had stayed behind and didn’t have somewhere she could have Princess Lulu, so Lulu had to come adventuring with me for a while.

When we got back from Japan, the two of us got in the car and drove to South Australia. Nataasjia wanted time with her grandparents and the rest of the family, and she wanted time with her girl.

We had some time before she had to go back to work, so I found us a house sit in Adelaide where all three of us could be under one roof. Nataasjia, Lulu and me. We wanted to spend some quality time together, just the 3 of us, before we were separated again.

Then It Was Time To Part Ways

Nataasjia went back to the Gold Coast to work and to find somewhere to live. Somewhere that would let her have Lulu.

Lulu went to stay with my aunt and uncle until the van was finished, or until I came home for Christmas, whichever landed first. I was hoping to keep her with me, but it was really hard to find house sits where I could take her with me. So my uncle and aunt got to love Princess Lulu for a while.

And I stayed in Adelaide.

I house sat my way through to late November… and I loved it.

Different houses. Different animals. A different neighbourhood to walk in of a morning. I fell in love over and over again with my myriad of furry companions. Then, in what seemed all too soon, it was time to say goodbye. I did that to myself again and again, and bawled my eyes out…..every…..single…..time. I’ve had a couple of Uber drivers along the way that literally thought I was a nut job! The hardest part is leaving them and moving on, but that’s all part of it, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I was doing what I wanted to do, just in a different way to how I had imagined and in a way that I really loved.

Getting Lulu Home

By late November, the van still wasn’t finished, but I had a dog to get home.

The only way to move Lulu was in the van, finished or not.

So I found a house sit on the Gold Coast, packed her up, and we drove.

I spent Christmas and New Year house sitting around the Gold Coast, close to family, with Lulu back where she belonged.

Back Down In March, And An Idea I Couldn’t Shake

In March I drove back down to Adelaide with the van, to give Dad more time to work on it. I’m sure he was over it, but it needed to be finished.

More house sits. More South Australia. And somewhere in the middle of all that, Natural Food Finder started.

I’d been finding it hard to track down real food that wasn’t full of chemicals, wherever I happened to be staying that month. So I started going and looking myself, verifying places one at a time.

That’s a whole other newsletter, but it exists because I was somewhere I hadn’t planned to be, with time I hadn’t planned to have.

Birthday Season Again

June and July is birthday season in our family, which is why Japan happened June/July last year. So I drove back up to the Gold Coast and house sat there for a stretch.

Which is the entire point of birthday season.

And Now, Tasmania

The next part is something I still can’t quite believe.

I’m in Tasmania, for three months. In a house sit I never even had to apply for.

Digga’s mum messaged me and asked whether I’d be open to coming down to look after Digga.

That’s it. That’s how it happened. Digga’s mum found my profile on a house sitting site and reached out. I have to admit that I did hesitate for a couple of minutes. I usually do a meet and greet before I accept a house sit. I mean, you just never know who is placing an ad. They could be an axe murderer or something. They might say they have one dog but when you turn up, there’s a dog, 3 kittens, 2 budgies, 7 horses, 10 chickens and a goat. Don’t laugh. It’s happened before. That might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

Anyway, I did consider saying no, because I had no idea what I would be walking into. But I thought, 3 months, in Tasmania….how could I actually say no to that? Some risks you just have to take, no matter how much fear you have. And I’m so glad I did!

Digga is now, officially, my new best friend, and it is, without any exaggeration, a dream sit.

I’ve watched whales from the balcony. I’ve seen a wallaby with a joey in her pouch on one of our walking tracks. Last week the whole bay went pink behind the hills at sunrise.

None of this was the plan.

And here I am. Thank you universe!

🚐 What Thirteen Months Of House Sitting Gave Me

🕰️ Your life can start well before the thing you’re waiting for turns up

🏡 Home doesn’t have to be permanent to be a good one

🐕 When it matters to someone you love, you find a way

🌱 The best things I’ve built came out of time I never expected to have

💌 Some of the best yeses are the ones you give without knowing how they’ll turn out

☀️ You can love the season you’re in, even when it isn’t the one you planned

✨ Looking Ahead

A little change from here.

B ME Bites is going monthly, landing on the Friday of the second week of the month. Effortlessly Organic Living will land on the Friday of the fourth.

So you’ll still hear from me twice a month, evenly spaced. And I get the room to make each edition a proper one instead of a rushed one.

I’m in Tasmania for the next while, so we’ll see what turns up in the newsletter for the next couple of months.

In Case You Missed It: B ME HQ Weekly Recap

🌿 Effortlessly Organic Living – Edition #17

Which oils are worth keeping in the cupboard, and which ones are working against you?

📍 Read it here: Effortlessly Organic Living 17: Which Cooking Oils to Use (and Which to Skip)

☀️ B ME Sunlight Bites

A wallaby with a joey in her pouch, a bunny that finally stood still, whales out on the water, and a toast to Dolly. Not one bit of it planned, including the sunrise that turned the whole bay pink.

🎥 Watch here: I Nearly Missed This Wallaby And Her Joey | B ME Sunlight Bites

📺 Or catch up with the full series on the B ME Sunlight Bites YouTube Playlist
(Remember to hit subscribe while you’re there!)

Weekly Challenge

Your mission for this week, if you choose to accept it, is to do the following:

a) Name the one thing you’re currently waiting on. The thing that has to happen before the good part starts.

b) Ask yourself what you’d be doing differently right now if it had already arrived.

c) Pick the smallest piece of that you could do this week anyway, and go do it 🙂

If you’d like a little support, you’re always welcome to hit reply, especially if you’re feeling stuck or unsure where to begin.

B ME Bites is shared on Fridays (Aussie time) intentionally. Wherever you are in the world, it gives you the weekend as space to try one small shift that feels supportive right now.

It might be something new, or it might be returning to something you’ve tried before but didn’t quite stick. Either way, progress often comes from approaching it differently, not harder.

If it feels right, give it another go. One small step is enough.

Resource Roundup

Two things worth your time this month.

Bill Eckstrom’s argument is that comfort is the thing that stops you growing, and that the useful stuff happens once you’re out of the ordered, predictable state. Which is pretty much the whole reason I bought a van in the first place:

🎥 Why comfort will ruin your life | Bill Eckstrom | TEDxUniversityofNevada (12 minutes)

This next one is by Julia Cousens, who spent a long stretch waiting on paperwork she had no way of hurrying along. Five practical things to do when your life feels like it’s on pause. Number 3 hit me right in the heart. It’s definitely what I chose to do in the end, thank goodness!

📖 Tired of Waiting? How to Thrive When Your Life Feels On Hold (Tiny Buddha)

Below is a resource list that has been created with you in mind. Whenever something new that could be helpful is discovered or created, it’s added to the list, so check it out from time to time. If you’re strapped for time, once you open the page below, click on Resource List in the top menu, then click on the “Health Tools” link for a list of items that could be helpful on your path to a better you.

The answer to this week’s trivia question is:

Thanks for reading and the hope is that you found something helpful inside this issue. If you did, remember to share it with others who could also find it helpful, using this link: https://bmebites.beehiiv.com

How did you like the content in this newsletter?

Hit reply and answer either 1,2 or 3, and, if the answer is 2 or 3, give the deets on what would make it a 1 for you!:

1. Loved it!

2. It was OK

3. Meh!

If you have an inspiring story, or a helpful tip or strategy to share, or if there is something specific you would like covered, please fill out the form below so that it can be shared with the community. Please note that this is a subscriber survey, so you may have to subscribe first (hint, hint…… 😉) : https://bmebites.beehiiv.com/forms/8d0dfdd1-4290-4e40-bff9-1f61b812c661

(Or you could also hit reply and give the details that way if it’s easier for you 😄)

Until next time, keep taking one S.T.E.P.S step at a time! (If you missed the issue explaining The S.T.E.P.S Formula, you can check that out here)

Warm regards,

Shari Ware Chief Encouragement Officer at B ME Bites

PS – Here’s your Friday Funny!

PPS – B ME Bites is created using the platform Beehiiv. Beehiiv was built by the creators of Morning Brew, so it’s a newsletter platform built by successful newsletter creators and as such, is so easy to use! If you are looking to create your own newsletter and are looking for a great platform, you can check Beehiiv out here. They have a great free plan as well as paid plans when you’re ready to scale.