Housesitting & Petsitting – A Nomadic Life

I don’t charge to housesit/petsit given that it’s an exchange of services between us. You allow me to stay at your house & use the facilities for free while you’re away while I care for your adorable pets & make sure that the house remains safe, clean & well-looked after.

Because I’m housesitting full-time, I tend to favor housesits that are longer than 1-2 weeks to avoid having to move in/out every few days.

As I’m self-employed, moving in/out more than once a week also makes working on my business difficult. 😉

I’m always happy to discuss this with you and find a solution that would benefit all of us so feel free to contact me! 🙂

I don’t have a maximum length of stay so any stay longer than 2 weeks is welcome!

Of course, feel free to contact me!

I’ve been housesitting/petsitting full-time since 2017.

In numbers…

• 24 houses
• 2-week+ stays on average
• 26 cats
• 12 dogs
• 15 chicken
• 12 sheep
• 10 ducks
• 9 tropical fish
• 3 gooses
• 3 ponies
• 2 goats

On this page, you will also find the wonderful testimonials shared by some of the homeowners I’ve worked with. 🙂

As I’m travelling in Europe until November 2019, I’m open to any housesits in Western & Southern Europe during that timeframe (France, Switzerland, UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain)

I will be back in New Zealand in November 2019 so will be able to housesit in Auckland from then on, more precisely around Auckland Central, with a preference for the Grey Lynn, Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Orakei, Mission Bay areas as this is where most of my friends reside.

I’m also open to housesit outside of those areas, close to the sea when it feels right (a wonderful family with adorable pets & a gorgeous house… if this is you, let’s talk! Haha).

Feel free to contact me!

1. First, check my calendar below to make sure I’m available for the period you’re away.
2. Then, feel free to send me a message with the form below and to let me know a bit more about yourself, your fur family, your house, what you will need me to do while you’re away, etc…
3. I’ll come back to you within 48 hours to set up a meeting (face-to-face in it’s in Auckland. Skype otherwise).
4. After our meeting, we both decide if we’re a great fit and if so, we confirm the housesit/petsit for the period requested and any other periods in the future! 😉

I take great care of your house as if it was mine while you’re away (with or without pets ;)) .

That includes:

• Keeping the house safe, inhabited & clean
• Collecting the mail
• Watering the plants
• Weeding & gardening (if needed)
• Any other household routine you might need me to carry on during your absence

I’m very tidy, respectful & quiet.

I might have a friend over for a tea once in a while but I will NEVER host a party or anything of the sort.

Housesitting doesn’t include:

• Looking after your kids, members of your family, guests, people in general
• Sharing the house with other guests
• Running your home business at your place
• Professional cleaning services (I’ll keep your house tidy as it was but I’m not a professional cleaner ;D)
• Paying for rent, power, water or Internet use
• Paying for pets’ food, vet bills (Please organize yourself in advance to cover those costs: make an arrangement with your vet, leave some emergency money for these things)
• Paying for your staff myself (gardener, house keeper, and other staff – this should be arranged prior to your departure directly with the staff or by leaving money for those specific purposes)
• Paying for damages I’m not responsible for and that might occur during my stay, as a result of normal use and/or a preexisting poor condition (a dying washing machine, a pool leak, a falling tree, erosion, moist, etc… – please make sure your house is 100% safe before going away ;))

I will always pay for the things I might have damaged during my stay. Though that never happened before given as I’m extremely careful.

To be able to accept a housesit, I’ll need:

• A bedroom, a bathroom
• A comfortable & quiet living space
• Enough storage space to hang my clothes and store my possessions
• A STABLE & UNLIMITED Internet connection (this is really important as I work from home)
• A table/desk & chair to work
• More generally, a cosy, tidy, 100% safe & « functioning » house. 😉

Please let me know if you have any security cameras installed inside/outside the house (for obvious privacy reasons, haha!)

If your kids/family are planning to come & go off the house while I’m housesitting, I’m afraid we won’t be a good match as I need some privacy & a relatively quiet environment to live in 😉

I’ve cared for all sorts of pets: dogs, cats, rabbits, fish, guinea pigs, ducks, gooses…

As I need to be able to work consistently throughout the day, I only petsit well-behaved, sweet-natured & toilet-trained pets.

I can also look after low-maintenance farm animals if needed.

As a general rule, I prefer looking after 2 animals maximum to make sure I provide your fur babies all the care & cuddles they deserve while also being able to work on my online business throughout the day.

I will love & look after your fur family as if it was mine!

That includes:

• Providing your pets with care & company
• Feeding them as you would
• Going on walks or exercising as requested
• Following your instructions
• Making sure they’re healthy & bring them to the vet when needed
• Sending you regular updates & photos of your pets (you decide if and how often!)
• And lots of cuddles! 😉

Unfortunately, petsitting doesn’t include:

• Paying for your pets’ food, toys, accessories myself
• Paying the vet, the groomer myself (payment must be arranged in advance or money should be left to use for those purposes before you go)
• Paying for any damage caused by your pets 🙂
• Looking after an additional pet not mentioned during the booking process
• Following unreasonable pet instructions (ex: NEVER being able to leave the pets alone, share my own food with the pets, looking after your kids, fixing the house…)
• Training your pets (they must already be well-behaved, house & toilet-trained)

We’re potentially a good match if your pets are:

• House-trained/toilet-trained
• Independent, allowing me to leave them alone for at least a few hours if I have a meeting or want to go to the movies.
• Healthy, not requiring constant medical supervision or medication.
• Relatively quiet (no continual barking, digging in the garden)
• Sweet-natured (aggressive behaviour is no-no for me! ;))
• Well-behaved on walks and with other dogs