In 2015 when the last of our three beautiful cats unexpectedly passed away we left our jobs, sold our home and possessions and ventured out to visit all those places in the world we’d always wanted to see. We loved our jobs and lives in Wellington but we felt this was our window of opportunity and we shouldn’t wait. Turns out it was a fantastic idea!
In the last ten years we’ve visited Malaysia, South East Asia, and Central and South America, Indonesia, Europe and the UK, slow-travelling and doing a lot of house-sitting along the way. We weathered the pandemic for 20 months in Hoi An, Vietnam, taking the chance to foster cats and volunteer at the Vietnam Cat Welfare shelter, but returned to New Zealand in October 2021 and have really enjoyed being back home. We travelled and house-sat all over NZ (and gained a whole new appreciation for what a wonderful country it is) but always knew we weren’t quite done with travel… so early in 2024 we took off again and have just completed four months in Thailand minding a dog and pool villa in Hua Hin, a short petsit in Hoi An for some old neighbours, and returned to New Zealand in November 2024. Currently we’re touring the North Island doing some return sits catching up with old furry friends, and sitting in some new areas through Kiwi Housesitters and Trusted Housesitters.
Most of our housesitting has been gained through established sitting websites such as Trusted Housesitters and Kiwi Housesitters, but we pick up sits from referrals, direct invitations from folks reading our profile and repeat sits.
Sitting isn’t a business for us – we offer a professional service but we don’t do it for the money and we don’t make any money from it. We’ve discovered it’s an excellent way to enjoy the fun company of domestic pets, make new friends of homeowners and their neighbours, offer a win-win situation for ourselves and the homeowner, and to live in parts of the world tourists wouldn’t usually visit.