Tender Loving Care for your home and pets

Julie & Wouter

7 reviews

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Julie & Wouter

Tender Loving Care for your home and pets

Brussels, Belgium

7 reviews

Join to Invite Julie & Wouter

Sits for free

About Julie & Wouter

Hi!
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to read our profile.

I'm Julie (35), I work as an art critic and curator/ researcher. Besides that, I specialize in the 'art of conversation': I'm trained in different conversation techniques and what I mostly do is developing settings for and/or leading conversations about art, for instance philosophical conversations. When I'm not in a museum or theatre, I can thoroughly enjoy reading books, having good conversations with old and new friends, taking long walks in nature (I'm a bit of a birder) and of course, hanging out with animals. I like some physical activity: yoga, walking, biking, horse riding... but I never take it to the extreme.

Wouter (33) is a 'creative bootstrapper'. He is extremely curious and shifts his focus every so many months or years. He studied art history, has a passion for all things new and innovative. As son of two interior designers/architects, he has a fond eye for style and design. Whether he's designing a website, introducing people in retirement to using tablets or the internet, creating a new-media game or organising artist retreats (just some of the things he has done the past year), what is always key in the various things that he does is that he gets joy and fulfillment from helping other people move forward.
There's very little that can't arouse Wouters curiosity. He loves cooking (whenever we're abroad he loves discovering new ingredients and dishes), music (he plays the piano) and right now he's into photography. He's very social and outgoing.

We both like and need the energy of vibrant cities but equally love to retreat into nature every now and then to replentish. We have carved out a lifestyle for ourselves,
different from the 9-to-5, where we can do what we're passionate about. We love our life building upon trust, respect and the joy of helping other people.

Why we want to house sit

As we are both working as free-lancers in the artistic/ creative field, we both strongly feel that a change of context/ scenery every now and then fuels the creative process and definitely helps with focus ;-).

We don't like to travel as 'tourists', we rather prefer to get to know a place by living there for a while as a local, taking it all in more slowly. We love how housesitting brings us to places that we otherwise might never have visited.

Last but not least, we thoroughly enjoy meeting new pets/animals, spending time with them and getting to know their character. If we would not live in a city apartment, we'd probably have a whole zoo of pets, but as currently our lifestyle does not allow for that, petsitting is as good a way to live out our love and passion for animals.

Our experience

For already ten years, Wouter and I make a pretty great team in enjoying life to the fullest and we complement each other in many ways. We're reliable, honest, easy-going, well-organised and respectful. I'm the 'voice of reason': I'm the one on top of everything, great at multi-tasking, and I like to keep things tidy and well-organized. I'm going to be the one sending you regular updates ;-). Wouter is the creative one: he has rebuilt our Brussels apartment from scratch, including making some of the furniture (cupboards, table,...). He knows how to repair almost everything (plumbing, electricity,...) and is up for all kinds of small handy-man jobs. He also loves working in the garden (as an aspirant-cook, he also loves to experiment with new ingredients). We have pet-sitted (usually cats and dogs but also already for birds, snakes, a turtle and fish aquariums) for many friends and family in Belgium, The Netherlands and Jamaica. Since last year we've also discovered the trusted housesitters platform and did two successful petsits past summer in France. We're very attentive for animals that require special attention or animals in need of help. Over the years, we've saved numerous abandoned cats in Brussels and taken some in (the most recent is Rosie). We have dealt with taking care of a very old dog as well as a dog that required special medication and I have all the patience in the world needed to befriend extremely shy cats/animals. You can rest assured that your pet(s) will get plenty of love and attention!
We speak Dutch, English, French, German, and a little Spanish and Italian (and speak some words). Wouter also knows some Mandarin.

Reviews (7)

Michael And Liz - Félines-Minervois, France

21 August - 06 September 2018

Julie and Wouter proved to be excellent sitters for our 6 spoiled cats They showed sensitivity to the needs of the individual cats, and allowed each cat to find its own way to make friends with them We had nearly two days with Julie and Wouter before we left them, and we departed without a qual... + More

Julie and Wouter proved to be excellent sitters for our 6 spoiled cats They showed sensitivity to the needs of the individual cats, and allowed each cat to find its own way to make friends with them We had nearly two days with Julie and Wouter before we left them, and we departed without a qualm, fully confident in their abilities and their commitment to our demanding feline household Julie emailed photos while we were away, which we enjoyed as we could see how relaxed the cats were with their sitters When we got home, the house was very clean, the plants were in good shape, and the cats were in good health and showed no evidence of stress, and, thankfully, nor did Julie and Wouter! We hope they'll come again

Organised

Reliable

Self-sufficient

Tidy

Pet care

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Kim & Laura - London, United Kingdom

16 June - 22 June 2018

Julie was the most fantastic house and pet sitter. She committed months in advance and was really great with communications before and during looking after Sherlock and Harley. We got daily updates and pictures and came back to very relaxed and happy kitties. Julie also looked after our house and... + More

Julie was the most fantastic house and pet sitter. She committed months in advance and was really great with communications before and during looking after Sherlock and Harley. We got daily updates and pictures and came back to very relaxed and happy kitties. Julie also looked after our house and it was left very clean and tidy and bedding washes etc. We would welcome Julie back to our house anytime and I think Sherlock and Harley would too. Thanks Julie :)

Organised

Reliable

Self-sufficient

Tidy

Pet care

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Tiina - Todi, Italy

06 May - 28 May 2018

Julie & Wouter were wonderful housesitters. Our dogs were very well taken care of and house was in perfect shape. They are very easy going and independent people. Took over the tasks and we could happily leave everything and not to worry during our stay away. I can highly recommend Julie and W... + More

Julie & Wouter were wonderful housesitters. Our dogs were very well taken care of and house was in perfect shape. They are very easy going and independent people. Took over the tasks and we could happily leave everything and not to worry during our stay away. I can highly recommend Julie and Wouter. And I hope to see them again

Organised

Reliable

Self-sufficient

Tidy

Pet care

- Less