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Whilst on the North Island of New Zealand, my housesitting assignments offered me a perfect base to discover the Waikato’s hoards of activities from Lake Taupo to the Coromandel Peninsula, including some fabulous city escapades to Auckland, the city of sails. A hands-free stylish bag that would be compact enough for my petite frame, able to pack snacks, an extra layer, maps, and water bottle and have organizational features for all the extra stuff. Baggallini was founded 20 years ago by two flight attendants who were searching for stylish travel companions – bags, purses including accessories – that would offer loads of organizational features in order to ease their busy on-the-go lifestyle. Now a world-renowned brand in the travel bag industry, baggallini’s provides a line of products that are beautiful and keep you organized, helping you move from place to place with ease.

The house sitting formula is fairly straightforward; Homeowners provide access to their home, hence lodging and in return the house sitter cares for their pets and property, a free exchange of services, Submitted by Anya Kay of The Road is Calling The first time I learned about house sitting opportunity, I was so skeptical. The one thing I did not expect to get out of a house sit was to connect with locals in the area and to keep in touch well after the house sit was over. Forming relationships with the families I house sit for is so wonderful, and one of the many reasons I love house sitting.

This is a moot point for short assignments but if your house sitting job is more than a week or two, you might want to request for some amount of freezer real estate, especially if you’re located outside of town. You will be living there for a short or long period, so do ask about your sleeping arrangement, if there’s air conditioning, heating and bed size. You spotted an out-of-this-world house sitting job on a tropical island, fantastic, sounds like paradise and it probably is. The home owner’s BBQ grill hadn’t been cleaned in ages, next thing you know, 2-foot flames were erupting from it while I was frantically looking for baking soda, starch or, of course, a fire extinguisher.

Offering delectable Balinese recipes from succulent vegetarian dishes to fish and chicken options, Warungs come in all shape and sizes. While some adapt their menus to tourists’ tastes and expectations by offering Western fare, others have a very limited local dishes selection. Choose a rice type (the yellow coconut rice gets my vote), go down the line and pick from any of the delicious platters to build a meal of your liking. A plate with a mound of food — and by a mound, I mean heaps of food — will cost you less than the cost of a local beer.