Home is where our backpacks are. That’s just the way it’s been for us for almost 5 years now. We refer to our hostels, hotels, apartments and house/pet sitting jobs as “home”. And although we’ve enjoyed all of our temporary homes over the years, there’s just something extra special about the island of Grenada.
We first came to this southern Caribbean paradise in April of 2014. We had just joined Trusted Housesitters that year and landed our very first international job, pet-sitting an adorable dog named Spare and living in a cute cottage on a gorgeous property, set right on the beach. We spent almost 7 months in Grenada last year and the island really got under our skin… in a good way.
There’s just something about this country!
We knew we would come back one day, but we just didn’t think it would be so soon. However, over the years we’ve learned to go with the flow and follow the opportunities…and all signs pointed to us returning this year.
Spare Dog’s owners invited us to come back to look after him again (how could we say no?!) and there was another house/pet sit on the island which lined up perfectly with the dates that we were needed with Spare dog.
☞ See Also: Mount Cinnamon Grenada – Review of This Luxury Boutique Hotel
The journey from our pet-sitting job in Costa Rica, back “home”, was fairly straight forward. We packed up our backpacks, said goodbye to Jack the puppy, rented a car and navigated our way from Platanillo to San Jose, Costa Rica. Although we were only in this Central American country for two weeks, we still enjoyed the lushness of the rainforest and the beautiful ocean. We even saw our first toucan!
Our flight to Grenada via Miami left the following morning at 6:30am, which meant either sleeping in the airport, which we’re quite accustomed to, or, spending the night in a hotel nearby. We opted for the latter this time around and enjoyed a comfortable night’s stay at Adventure Inn.
The room was huge, and ours had a jacuzzi! I hadn’t had an actual bath in about two years (to clarify, I had showered, just not bathed). I basically spent the whole night soaking in the tub and went to sleep with wrinkled (but softened) skin.
A bonus of the hotel was its close proximity to the airport, and it included a free shuttle in the early morning for us to catch our flight. The room also included a huge breakfast spread, but since we had to be at the airport at the ridiculous hour of 4:30 am, we missed out, but were instead given a small take-away box.
After a total of 12 hours, including our Miami layover, we arrived in Grenada!
Driving in from the airport was like a trip down memory lane. Even though it was nighttime by this point, every roundabout we took, every street we turned down and ever little shop we passed by, we were reminded of our life here and we excitedly reminisced about our past adventures.
We loved hearing the familiar (yet, difficult to decipher) Caribbean accent from the airport attendants, and we gave the all-important customary greeting “Evening, evening”. We welcomed the sound of the screeching tree frogs as we drove through the jungle – they only sing at night, which makes it difficult for some to sleep, but I find it quite soothing. The usual trade winds were blowing and the evening air was warm and humid.
We received an incredibly warm and generous welcome from the owner of the first two dogs that we are taking care of, and couldn’t be happier with the home we’re staying in for the next two months.
Our office is located on a massive patio overlooking the ocean and we’re able to take breaks to cool off in the pool. We are looking after two beautiful dogs, Macy: a 13-year-old shepherd mix, and Pumpkin: a 7-year-old terrier mix, each with their own unique personality and character. After Macy and Pumpkin’s owner is back on the island, we’ll be moving homes and taking care of Spare Dog once again, for three months this time.
Since being back, we’ve been reuniting with our old friends from the island, and have been making new friends as well. We can’t wait to get out and explore more of the hidden gems that we missed during our last stay. Although small in size, there are so many things to do in Grenada. We’ve been here for almost two months now and truly feel like we’re home.
In case you missed it, check out our video below of our current temporary home and pets 🙂
For more information on Grenada, click here to see some of our previous posts…and stay tuned for new ones!
A special thanks to Adventure Inn for hosting us for one night, and for driving us to the airport far too early in the morning 🙂 As always, all thoughts, opinions and reviews remain our own, despite any complimentary services received.
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Funny how when you’re travelling, a temporary base can start feeling like a home very quickly! I get that with certain places too… The owners of Adventure Inn sound so kind for driving you to the airport and giving you takeaway breakfast!
Hi guys, another great post. Love the ‘home is where the backpack is’ line. SO true. Sounds like you’ve found yourself the perfect place to set up base for a while. I’ve read so much about house sitting (mainly on your site) and am SO desperate to give it a go. I am a little bit allergic to friends of the furry variety though so i’ll either have to dope myself up on antihistamine or avoid those house sits. So don’t want to limit ourselves though! Watch this space. Enjoy your time in Grenada – don’t stop inspiring :).
Gabby
I haven’t been to Grenada yet. It looks so incredibly beautiful.
Thanks Camille!
It’s so true how travellers find little “homes” all over the world 🙂 Grenada is one such place for us! And you’re right, the owners of Adventure Inn were awesome, and the welcome we received was incredible!
Thank you for commenting.
Aw, thank you so much guys! We aim to inspire and are so happy to hear that you’re considering house/pet sitting! You could go for sits that have chickens/horses, or fish? Or, some of them don’t even have animals, they just need their home looked after. As you say, definitely don’t limit yourself, but also, it would really be awful to be doped up the entire time!
Cheers and happy travels!
We may be a bit bias, but we love it here!!
Cheers 🙂
Welcome to the Isle of Spice and everything nice. So glad you call my island of Grenada home. It is the best unspoiled island in the Caribbean. Grenada is located in both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. From the South West to the North West part of the island is in the Caribbean Sea and the South East to the North East part of the island is in the Atlantic Ocean.
One more tidbit we have rainforest not jungles it is a bit confusing to some when they ask me if we have elephants, tigers, and lions on the island like Africa. Again, welcome home and sit for a spell and take those backpack off your backs for an indefinite stay. Thanks for promoting Grenada. Hope to run into you both soon on the island next time you visit.
hi! Thanks for the useful website. I just wanted to ask if you had problems entering costa rica and how were you able to stay for so long? i was supposed to fly there yesterday but i had to move my trip and buy a new ticket because i needed to show proof that i was leaving the country. I was just planning to take a bus to nicaragua so I had no proof, and needed to cancel my flight… how do people enter the country witha car and how proof that they will leave within the 90 days?
Hi Natalia,
We were in Costa Rica for just 2 weeks, but I believe we were given 90 days on arrival. With many countries, if you arrive by air, you must show proof of onward travel – which, like you said, isn’t always easy becuase you’ll be moving on by bus, train, hitchhiking, etc. We go to Expedia.com or some other booking engine and look for a flight out of the country. We book it. Print out the itinerary, and then cancel the flight. Many companies have a free 24 hour cancellation.
I hope this helps!