Introduction
We're Dan, Jacqui, Ollie and Milla. A family of four from Australia - mid thirties, eleven and eight.
After some solid research into schooling online, working out budgets and potential future income sources, we bought four one-way airfares, sold our cars and nearly everything we own, and have taken off travelling indefinitely with just a backpack each! We plan on travelling and living in different countries around the world for at least three years, and hopefully more....
We aim to experience the world and give our kids an education that can't be gained within a classroom.
We're new to Housesitting, but we love the idea of it as we love animals, and having a temporary home for more than a day or two will allow us to give the kids some routine, and focus on online school work.
We all like to get outdoors and camp or hike, all enjoy experiencing new things though Milla is a little less adventurous (she'll have to grow out of that quickly!)
Jacqui likes reading, music, food and beaches, and loves to be around water (though she's afraid of sharks!)
Dan loves to experience new cultures and foods, research things in depth and kick back with a book at the end of a long day.
Ollie is into computer games, sport and started to get pretty good at guitar before we went away. He is adventurous with everything in life and is very empathetic.
Milla is happiest when she is drawing or doing something creative, and loves to laugh when Dad does something silly. She also likes reading and singing.
Prior to setting off on our travels, we lived in Melbourne where we were lucky to live in a fantastic neighbourhood with good local schools, parks and community.
We were in involved in scouting in Melbourne - Dan and Jacqui as volunteer Scout Leaders, and the kids in Cubs and Joeys.
What We Will Do For You
* Take care of your pets, exercise and feed them as required, keep litter trays and food and water bowls clean, administer any medication required, and provide them with love and affection.
* Look after your home and belongings respectfully, and treat your home as our own. Maintain lawns and gardens, water plants, put out the garbage, collect mail and deliveries and deal with any unexpected problems or emergencies diligently.
* Show up! We realise that travelling and planning can be stressful enough without wondering if your housesitters are going to arrive. Once we have an agreement, we will stick to it.
* Honour any agreements, arrive on time (barring unforeseen circumstances), and keep in touch while you're away with status updates on your pets and home.
Why we want to house sit
One of the main goals of our trip is to try to experience different areas and cultures on a deeper level than simply passing through seeing the sights.
We don't think there's a better way to achieve this than to live within a community as a local, and spend some time really getting to know a place....
On setting out on our travels two of the hardest things to give up were the normality and comforts of living in a place for more than a few days or weeks, and that we obviously now can't have any pet