Ruba Travel Blog

By Ruba Guest Blogger and Culinary Travel Partner: Oldways–Changing the Way People Eat.

Savoring Food Traditions in France – April 2010

(photo by Elliiot Erwitt, 1955)

Somewhere in your daydreams is a photo of an elderly man in a black beret, riding his bicycle through an alley of plane trees with a baguette under his arm. You know he’s heading home for a looooong lunch, where the baguette will accompany a full bottle of wine, maybe some pâté, a green salad, a small clafouti, and who knows what else, in a country where the old ways of eating will never die.

Or will they? France had an estimated 200,000 cafés in 1960, but the French café federation counted only about 41,500 still open in 2008. And the time that the French are spending at lunch has dropped too, from an average of one and a half hours in 1975 to just 32 minutes in 2005, as “le fast food” becomes more widespread.

Change is afoot in France, and if you want to savor the “old ways” before it’s too late, 2010 is the perfect time to travel, and Oldways is the right guide to have at your side. Oldways, a Boston-based non-profit recognized internationally for changing the way people eat through positive and practical programs grounded in science and tradition, was founded in 1990 to help preserve the world’s fading food cultures.  Every year we travel to another corner of the world for an insider’s tour of culinary and cultural history, and this time we’re taking a small group of food-lovers to Normandy from April 25 to May 2, 2010.

Full disclosure: I’ve been working at Oldways for almost seven years, so I’m not exactly objective. I’ve worn out three passports (including that extra section they add when your passport fills up before it expires) and traveled internationally 62 times in the last twenty years, but I have to say my travels with Oldways have been among the best. One time, for example, we were hired to shepherd a group of journalists, chefs, and gourmet importers through Puglia, in the heel of Italy, to learn more about local food specialties – yes, I got paid for eating my way through Italy for a week. Another time we brought a group of doctors to Tuscany, along with scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, to help the physicians understand the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.

(photo via Indigo Guide)

For our Normandy trip, we’ll be exploring how terroir, often translated as “the taste of place,” can be an important counterweight to the globalization and homogenization of food choices. Join us, and learn why Normandy’s famous Livarot, Pont l’Eveque and Camembert cheeses can only be made from milk produced by the Norman breed of cow, grazed on Norman pastures … how oysters from Asnelles differ from those in Brittany or the Loire … and why Calvados, Normandy’s local apple brandy, must be distilled twice.

Sure you could travel independently, but if you did, could you visit a farm where they raise l’agneau de pré-salé (saltmarsh lamb), or hear about the foods pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry before you visit that legendary embroidered saga? Could you enjoy cooking demos with Susan Loomis, proprietor of a cooking school in Louviers, Normandy and author of On Rue Tatin? Could you pick all the right restaurants where the traditional local specialties are still served? Could you enjoy the company of two dozen like-minded food-lovers, each more interesting than the next?

With just over four months to go before our departure, Oldways’ Normandy: Camembert and Calvados trip is already half full. If you’d like to join us, you can get all the details (and sign up) on the Camembert & Calvados event page.

- Cynthia Harriman, Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies, Oldways

By Ruba Guest Blogger, Connie Motz

Caretaking is a profession whereby one or more people cares for a property (e.g., home, estate, resort, ranch, farm, bed & breakfast, lighthouse, or a private island) in the desired manner in exchange for rent-free accommodations for a set period of time. In other words, it’s a great way to travel and see the world without paying for hotels!

Ruba recently had the chance to interview Gary C. Dunn, Publisher, of The Caretaker Gazette located in Boerne, TX.

Ruba: As far as the actual duties of a caretaker, what’s involved?

Dunn: “They range from simple house sitting assignments where you just water the plants once a week to full time estate management positions.”

Ruba: Tell our readers about a typical caretaker – who are they and what are they expecting to get out of the experience?

Dunn:  “Anyone who has common sense, positive references, and is in good health can be a caretaker.  Caretaking generally attracts people who have a desire to live rent-free and who want to travel; sometimes it’s a pre-retirement couple looking for the perfect retirement location.”

Ruba: Caretaking sounds like a great opportunity.  When and where was your first caretaking experience?

Dunn: “Back in the 1970’s my wife and I did some caretaking at a hunting cabin in rural Pennsylvania and looked after the property – and fell in love with the whole concept of property caretaking. We have also lived and traveled extensively overseas, including in the developing world, living rent-free as property caretakers while we were teaching and my wife was engaged in field work and research in Namibia, India, and Mauritania.”

Ruba: For someone with no experience, how can they break into caretaking?

Dunn: “If you have never been a caretaker, you need to establish a reference list.  Your reference list will not include the names of homeowners but will instead include professional references: your employer, doctor, attorney, landlord, etc.  Have a one-page list of your references prepared and ready to send out immediately.”

Ruba: What fringe benefits can be expected?

Dunn: “Each opportunity is different, so one cannot have expectations but fringe benefits have included: free housing with all utilities paid, free travel, use of vehicles, medical and life insurance, cash bonuses, etc. as well as what many caretakers say is a stress-free lifestyle.”

Ruba: We like the sound of that.  Is there a hot spot destination where caretaker jobs always seem to be available?

Dunn: “We have had positions in all 50 states and 80 countries. Because we receive new rent-free living opportunities every day from property owners seeking caretakers and house sitters for homes and properties throughout the world, it’s difficult to cite one specific area as being the hot spot.”

Ruba: Tell our readers about a typical property available for caretaking or is there a typical property?

Dunn: “There is no typical property, each one is unique. We’ve published rent-free living opportunities in everything from caves to private islands.”

Ruba: What’s the most extravagant property you’ve seen listed?

Dunn: “A few years ago, we had an Estate Manager position that required the applicant to live on three different continents in three different mansions, with a starting salary of $200,000/year, full benefits, and free housing provided at each mansion.”

Ruba: Wow!  Do caretakers tend to return to the same property year after year?

Dunn: “It’s a personal decision based upon the subscriber’s preference – some will return annually to a destination (e.g., England, Australia, or Costa Rica) while others want to experience different geographic locales and travel to a new opportunity each time.”

Ruba: Once a caretaker, always a caretaker?

Dunn: “After their first house sitting or caretaking experience, the majority of our subscribers tell us that they would do it again in a heartbeat.  For some, it was a life-changing experience and caretaking becomes their new career.”

Ruba: This caretaking concept almost sounds too good to be true and you know what they say about that…..how do you know if an offer is truly legitimate?

Dunn: “We’ve been publishing The Caretaker Gazette since 1983 and we’ve never heard of any illegitimate offers. The difference between The Caretaker Gazette and other websites is that our property owners pay to run their ads with us so it decreases the chance of illegitimate ads (we’ve all heard about the illegitimate ads on free websites out there!). We also keep detailed info on each property owner in our advertising database here, so we have contact info to call on – if needed.”

Ruba: Tell our readers about your publication.

Dunn: “The Caretaker Gazette has listings for property caretakers and house sitters in all 50 states and throughout the world.  We’ve been publishing since 1983 and have over 10,000 subscribers.”

Ruba: How often is it published?

Dunn: “Although the issues of The Caretaker Gazette are published bi-monthly, we send out email updates with new listings to our subscribers 4-5 times each week.”

Ruba: Approximately how many caretaking positions are listed in each issue?

Dunn: “Between the issues of the Gazette and our email updates, we publish 1,000 to 2,000 rent-free living opportunities each year.”

Ruba: Once an advertisement appears, how long does it take to fill the position?

Dunn: “That depends on the property owner and how extensive a background check they wish to do and how many candidates they want to interview.”

Ruba:  How can readers subscribe to The Caretaker Gazette?

Dunn: “They can go to our secure website at www.caretaker.org and click on the subscribe button or call us at 830-755-2300 or mail a check or money order to: The Caretaker Gazette, 3 Estancia Lane, Boerne, TX 78006.”

Ruba thanks Gary C. Dunn for his time and his enlightenment on the curious world of caretaking.  For more information, please visit The Caretaker Gazette blog.

Check out Ruba’s Guest Blogger, Connie Motz, on her blog: Travel Writer

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