Hi, we are Aldo and Julieta. We come from Chile, South America, but have lived in Canada since 2021.
➡️ Our mission with Happy Soy is to share our story of moving to Canada, petsitting, and traveling in our RV, while giving you all the juicy tips that worked for us and helped us become permanent residents of a new country: Canada.
➡️ We’ve just started a new life travelling full-time as petsitters and embracing the RV lifestyle. So, we want to inspire you to create the life you want, showing that it’s possible to step out of your comfort zone and follow your dreams—whether it’s living in a new country or exploring the open road.
Moving To Canada
We came to Canada through the International Experience Canada program. Julieta arrived on a Working Holiday visa, and Aldo on a Study Permit to take English classes. After more than three years and navigating various work permits, we became permanent residents in November 2023. It might seem easy, but the behind-the-scenes work—waiting, spending money, and completing endless paperwork—was a lot. But we made it!
We crossed from one side of the world to the other with our kitty, Cora, to live this adventure and step out of our comfort zone.
We are animal lovers (which is why we love petsitting), vegan, and passionate about exploring new places.
Our Motivation
In 2021, we traveled to Canada initially for just a year, seeking adventure and a break from our adult life in Chile.
We handled everything—paperwork, research, more paperwork, and more research—on our own to understand what we needed to do to leave our country in an organized way, and it worked out.
Now, over three and a half years later, it’s been a roller coaster of emotions, challenges, celebrations, tears, laughter—everything.
We’ve often reflected on what our lives might have been like if we had known earlier about the various programs available for young people to travel (especially those under 35). If we had had this information earlier, this wouldn’t be our first experience living abroad.
These reflections led us to create this blog, to inform others of the possibilities they have to travel and explore new places. It’s never too late to find a different path if you’re motivated.
More About Us
Some facts you might find useful:
- Before coming to Canada, we were two regular adults (32 and 37 years old at the time) with 9-to-5 jobs, living in Santiago, Chile.
- We had job stability, a place to live, and no major debt.
- We planned our trip entirely on our own—from buying suitcases to tickets and gathering documents.
- We traveled with our 8-year-old kitty, Cora, from Santiago to Toronto, Canada.
- As a bonus: we traveled in the middle of the pandemic.
One day, after much thought, we decided to start this blog. We were not sure if anyone will read this, but if we can reach just one person and inspire them to pursue their dreams, we will consider ourselves successful.
Meet Our Furry Companion
We’re not alone on this journey. Let us introduce you to Corita, our beautiful calico.
Corita is the CEO of our motorhome. She’s a 9-year-old calico who was adopted 7.5 years ago from a shelter in Santiago, Chile. We’ve been together for a long time, and she was the first to secure a ticket on our trip from Chile to Canada.
Her passion is sleeping 23 hours a day and ignoring the silly humans (slaves) who live with her.
She has her own space on this blog because everything we’ve learned to keep her comfortable during our trips is thanks to her.
Petsitting: A Key Part of Our Journey
In 2022, while looking for a way to travel and have someone take care of our beloved Corita, we discovered petsitting.
Since then, we’ve travelled across Canada to places like Victoria, BC; Montreal, QC; Peterborough; Caledon East; Mississauga; Toronto; Etobicoke; Barrie; Oshawa; Burlington; Brantford; Hamilton; Collingwood, and more.
This experience has not only allowed us to live like locals in the places we’ve visited but also helped us secure petsittings all over the country. Today, petsitting is an integral part of our lifestyle, enabling us to continue our journey while caring for other people’s pets.
What’s Next For Us
Since becoming permanent residents in Canada, we’ve decided to embark on a new adventure. After spending so long in the corporate world and working face-to-face, we’re transitioning toward a digital nomad lifestyle that allows us to work from wherever we want.
We’re working to finalize those arrangements in 2024 and start traveling around North America (Canada, the US, and Mexico) in our RV.
For now, this is a work in progress…
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