'TrustedHousesitters is helping us live the dream!' - Julie & Jake's inspiring story

Back in October 2022, Julie and Jake left the United States to live in Germany to travel and find new adventures. Before leaving Tucson, Arizona, the couple had regularly fostered cats and dogs from their local shelter. Whilst looking for pet care opportunities, Julie and Jake discovered TrustedHousesitters and have never looked back…

“We moved [...] with the goal of traveling and seeing the world. After settling in, we scheduled a trip to Hamburg in early December. We were only there for three days, but swiftly realized how quickly travel expenses (particularly lodging and dining expenses) can add up. We felt our dream of frequent travel was now unattainable… until we discovered TrustedHousesitters! We both love animals [...] so TrustedHousesitters offered the perfect service to suit both of our interests.”

As pet people, Jake and Julie were also keen to meet other like-minded people and become part of a community whilst moving around. Forming new friendships with two and four-legged creatures was top of their priority list.

“We thought going into travel pet sitting that our favorite part would be traveling and seeing new places; while that’s obviously been incredible, we’ve actually most enjoyed meeting new people and their pets.

We relocated to Germany knowing no one and having no friends or family here, so travel pet sitting has allowed us to build connections and a community for the first time since our move. We’ve met some incredible pet owners, many of whom are actually ex-pats themselves.

"Pet owners have been so hospitable and welcoming and have made Europe feel much more like home. Additionally, we love meeting all the pets! After fostering for so long in the United States, it feels quiet without having pets home. It’s been great to meet so many wonderful pets and care for them while on a sit.” 

After such a positive experience in just their first few months of pet sitting, they have since been keen to spread the love of the TrustedHousesitters community. Whilst not being able to foster at this particular time, this has been a great alternative for them and allowed them to continue their passion for pet care.

"A love for animals is a must! The pets are the priority, so great sitters must truly want to spend time with the pets and care for them as opposed to simply enjoying the travel aspect. It’s also important that sitters are responsible and trustworthy people, as they’ll be caring for people’s homes and their cherished and beloved pets. Great sitters will love and care for people’s homes and pets as their own.” 

Whilst every sit is memorable for every pet sitter,, for Julie and Jake their favorite pet sit was their first. Let’s rewind back to January 1st 2023 and introduce you to one of Amsterdam’s finest Burmese cats, Cocopops:

“Our favorite and most memorable sit was our very first one, which was in Amsterdam. We kicked off 2023 there from January 1-9 with Cocopops, a senior Burmese cat. From the get go, the pet’s owners were very welcoming and hospitable. We were warned that Cocopops could take a while to warm up to people and that she’d probably keep her distance for the majority of our time there.

By day 2, Cocopos was climbing up to us and positioned herself so we would hold her on our chests like a baby. We created such a bond with her that we’ll never forget. 

[...] We couldn’t believe how good of a deal we were getting - exchanging pet care (which we love to do, anyways) for a beautiful place in a new city [Amsterdam] to stay! We realized during this trip that we didn’t need to give up our dream of frequent travel and that it was realistic in the best way possible - in a home, living like a local, with pets.” 

So, where could their next adventure be? Where are they planning to head next?

"A lot has changed in the past few months for us, including us packing up all of our belongings and officially relocating to Munich from Braunschweig. Travel pet sitting allowed us to explore the city first and see if it was somewhere we'd want to live - and it was! We looked for apartments during our May-June pet sit, and are now officially Munich residents. Our next planned pet sits are for three weeks in Rome from July to August, and three weeks in Edinburgh from August to September."

If you’re keen to follow Julie and Jake’s adventures and future sits, you can follow them on Instagram: @petsittersabroad or TikTok: @petsittersabroad.