We're a retired US Navy couple (Lieutenant Commander and Senior Chief). We've been abroad for over a decade and have just sold our beautiful home in Hout Bay, South Africa, our cars, motorcycles, and nearly everything else we own and go where the winds take us. As much as we love the Cape Town area, we find we're happiest when we're traveling and seeing what's going on someplace else. Sometimes the grass is greener...sometimes it isn't...but we'll never know until we check it out.
We're both avid yoga practitioners with Jonathan having a teaching certification, we love the hustle and bustle of city life as well as nature and are out walking for a couple of hours a day wherever we are. Leigh Ann likes a bit of gardening and dabbles in the kitchen, and we both spend a fair amount of time reading. We love good food and believe some of the best is what's local and really enjoy finding it.
While we were in the Navy, we did five international moves with our two cats, Velveeta and Tortuga. Wow, did we love those two! Sadly, after 18 years they weren't able to make the move with us to South Africa, but almost every day reflect on the fun they added to our lives.
We adore all cats and and non-aggressive dogs. Leigh Ann does have a bit of preference for cats...even ones that give her the cold shoulder! We'd love the opportunity to spend time around pets and maybe even some farm animals during our travels.
We're rather handy people (Jonathan especially) and problem solvers (Leigh Ann especially). Perhaps that comes from a career in the Navy or it's just inherent to our personalities. Either way, there is little that we can't do in terms of taking care of a property and pets. And whatever we may not know, you can be assured that we'll figure out.
We want to house sit for a couple of reasons: first, from our personal experience we know the importance of having a trusted sitter in your home. While we were in the Navy there were many times when we were both away from home and needed someone to care for our two cats. Luckily, we had friends and neighbors who almost always came to our aid, but once we had to rely on an unknown sitter for a few of months. Although we were nervous about the situation, it worked out just fine and we'd like to give that piece of mind to others. Secondly, we hope house sitting is going to give us a more unique travel experience and a chance to meet some really interesting people. Often the most memorable experiences and good friends are found in the most unlikely places.
We have experience looking after homes and pets of our neighbors and friends while they have been away. We've just come to "professional" house sitting this year with our first sits for two large homes in the UK with dogs, cats, sheep and chickens in Sep We also did a major renovation on our home in SA from abroad, and we are very capable of maintaining homes and gardens in locales where we don't speak the local language and dealing with vets outside our home country.
While we don't have house sitting reviews yet, I've uploaded all our reviews since 2015 to show that we are very considerate people to have in your home.
So, if we have what you're looking for, get in touch!
All the best,
Leigh Ann and Jonathan