House Sitter Profile
Responsible, considerate, respectful, adventurous, and dog-adoring couple looking for house and pet sits
We are Mark (from the US) and Liesbet (from Belgium), a married couple in our forties, who moved ashore mid-2015, after an eight-year journey and life aboard our catamaran Irie. We are nature lovers who care for the environment and adore dogs. We are very compassionate about them, have an easy time connecting with them, and involve them into our lives as much as possible (or desired). Our own rescued Australian Shepherd mixes, Kali and Darwin, who were our full-time companions for many years, sadly passed away. They were an inspiration and a deciding factor of the routes and decisions throughout our travels. As of June 2019, we have a new furry companion named Maya. She’s a 5-year-old Shepherd mix, adopted from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.
Mark and I have lived an alternative lifestyle since meeting each other many moons ago. Our adventures include a yearlong camper trip throughout Mexico and Central America, an eight-year sailing trip throughout the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and three years of full-time house and pet sitting throughout the US. We are responsible, considerate, social, respectful, honest, punctual, clean and organized people who are great at communicating. We leave no footprint and don’t require much. That being said, we do love a good shower, fast internet, a decent place to work, and a comfortable couch! We both work from home, are non-smokers, don’t use drugs and have clean police records. One of us is allergic to cats, but outdoor ones will lovingly be taken care of and cuddled by the non-allergic one.
House sitting gives us a pleasant break from the road and a convenient focus on our freelance careers. Sits of about one month work best, but we consider shorter (or longer) term assignments as well. We hope to mean the world to your beloved pet(s) and to make them a temporary part of our lives. Compassionate about dogs, we love walking and hiking with them, taking them with us to dog friendly places, cuddle them as much as they like, and even snuggle up with them in bed or the couch if allowed! Just “tolerating” animals is not our style. Our own dog Maya is extremely well-behaved and mellow and is friendly with people and other dogs.
We have owned and maintained several houses, a truck camper, a sailboat, and currently travel in a 19ft camper van. We have been house and pet sitting successfully since October 2015, with raving references.
We have been fortunate enough to have cared for and shared our lives with several dogs (and cats) over the last 20+ years.
Having lived in many remote places on our own, we have learned how to deal with issues ourselves and to be pro-active about possible problems. We are extremely responsible and there is no worry about your house and pets being taken care of very well, while you are away. We treat animals, houses and properties as if they were ours, with the necessary amount of love, care and respect. You will come home to a clean home and happy pets!
Completed house sits with immaculate 5-star reviews: 2 weeks in Gloucester, MA / 2.5 weeks in Greenwich, CT / 2 weeks in The Villages, FL/ 3 months in South Kent, CT / 4.5 months in Heath, MA / 1 week in Truro (Cape Cod), MA/ 3 months in Rocklin, CA / 1 week in Fairfax, CA / 3 weeks in Costa Mesa, CA / 1 week in Oakland, CA / 2 months in Sebastopol, CA / 3 weeks in Oakland, CA / 3 weeks in Sebastopol, CA (repeat sit)/ 1 month in Santa Fe, NM / 1 month in Rollinsville, CO / 3.5 months in San Diego, CA / 6 weeks in Albuquerque, NM / 2 months in Santa Fe, NM (repeat sit) / 3 weeks in Ojai, CA / 3 weeks in Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA / 1 week in San Diego, CA (repeat sit) / 5 weeks in Albuquerque, NM (repeat sit).
To find out more about who we are and what we have been up to, check out our blogs “It’s Irie – Sailing the World the Way It Is” (www.itsirie.com), which documents our past sailing adventures, and “Roaming About – A Life Less Ordinary” (www.roamingabout.com), to read about our house and pet sitting lifestyle and recent RV adventures.
Check out our 5-star reviews here.
Read our house sitting posts here.
