Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Author: Liesbet (page 66 of 66)

Gloucester, MA: October 6th – October 20th 2015

November 17, 2015 / / 2 Comments
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Our wonderful companion for two weeks

When Mark and I first found out about house sitting and the opportunities it offered, we immediately knew it was “our thing”. And, when we actually started browsing the availabilities online, the real excitement could begin! We felt like kids anticipating something fun to do, like teenagers planning an adventure out of the house and like adults browsing real estate pages online. It was almost comparable to planning a holiday. Almost… We came across a few potential house sits, sent off some messages and soon after, committed to our first long term house sit, which isn’t until January 2016. Landing our initial “gig” quite easily, we were encouraged to keep looking for something that would take place a bit sooner. Continue reading

The Convenience of a Home Base

November 15, 2015 / / 24 Comments

The idea of a house and pet sitting lifestyle sounds great in theory and is pretty amazing in reality as well, but… what to do in between assignments? That is, if you don’t have a place of your own like us. Staying in hotels is cost-prohibitive, a hassle and contrary to our frugal manners. The chance that one house sit position smoothly transitions into the next is pretty rare as well. And, visiting with friends is not a long-term solution. So, what is the answer? Continue reading

Joy of the Seasons

November 12, 2015 / / 1 Comment
Surrounded by colors
Leaf playing with Sophie
So many leaves!

In the past, whenever autumn came around in the northern hemisphere, I was sure to receive an email from my mom, mentioning the burst of beautiful colors surrounding her on walks. With the Dutch equivalent of “You should see all the trees! They are turning yellow, orange and red. So pretty…” she tried to convince me I was missing out on the magical change of the seasons. I would agree it must be spectacular – I grew up near the forests – but I subconsciously shivered, looked out of our boat’s windows at the blue sky, the turquoise water and the white beach and tried to imagine wearing a thick coat, while actually being pretty comfy in my bikini. Nope. Perpetual summers were definitely better! Continue reading

A New Lifestyle – House Sitting

November 10, 2015 / / 21 Comments

When Mark and I decided to sell our boat and floating home Irie, we had no idea what we would do next. Nor did we want to jinx the prospect of selling her by making plans ahead of time. From experience, we knew this would only lead to disappointment. So, when people asked us what we were going to do after leaving French Polynesia, we just answered with our life’s mantra: “We’ll see what happens…” When we both left Irie permanently, a month before a prospective buyer was involved, the obvious solution was to move in with our parents for a little while. Last summer was divided between Belgium and Massachusetts, USA, until we came up with a plan…

Continue reading

The Idea of a Book

November 10, 2015 / / 5 Comments

DSC03792I have always – jokingly – said “One day, I will write a book”. When people suggested “You should write a book,” I laughed it off with a “suuuure!”  People say a lot of things. Everyone who travels frequently or extensively has friends suggesting the book idea. And, a lot of people do write books! If you want to dive into a book project, you have to at least like to write, and, ideally, you are good at it as well… Continue reading

Our New Blog is Here!

November 8, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Hello everybody and welcome to Roaming About!

Mark and I are excited… about selling Irie, making plans again, incorporating a new lifestyle, and the creation of a new blog! We have successfully left our previous – eight year long – cruising life behind and are now semi-settled in the United States. What our plans are and what has been going on the last couple of months will soon become clear in upcoming blog posts. For now, I just want to refer everyone to our previous website It’s Irie if interested in stories and photos of our past sailing adventure in the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and to point out that this is the place to keep up-to-date with our current comings, goings and doings!

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