We moved from Osaka to Chiang Mai in 2021, drawn by the creative community and the cost of living that lets us work less and live more. Housesitting found us through a friend's recommendation — her regular sitters cancelled last minute and she needed someone to look after her three rescue dogs for a week. That week changed everything.

Southeast Asia has a huge expat pet community, and many of those pets are rescues with complex histories. We've sat with dogs who were terrified of men (Kenji won them over with patience and distance), cats who'd survived on the streets and couldn't adjust to indoors, and a blind Labrador in Bali who navigated entirely by scent and routine.

Mei is the communicator — she sends daily photo diaries that hosts say are the highlight of their trip. Kenji is the quiet one the animals gravitate towards. Between us, we speak English, Japanese, and enough Thai to handle a vet visit.