Tender Loving Care for your home and pets

Julie & Wouter

3 reviews

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Julie & Wouter

Tender Loving Care for your home and pets

Brussels, Belgium

3 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 (3)

Hélène - Paris, France

21 June - 26 June 2017

I couldn't have dreamt of a better sitter for my cat Spencer. Julie really got his personality from the start and she took wonderful care of him. I live on the 5th floor in a flat and Spencer likes to go up and down the stairs and go out in the small building courtyard: Julie made sure he got h... + More

I couldn't have dreamt of a better sitter for my cat Spencer. Julie really got his personality from the start and she took wonderful care of him. I live on the 5th floor in a flat and Spencer likes to go up and down the stairs and go out in the small building courtyard: Julie made sure he got his daily walks and even ended up reading a book in the stairs to keep an eye on him! Julie is a real animal-lover, caring, kind and reliable, my home and my cat couldn't have been in better hands. I'm sure Spencer can't wait to have her again as a sitter! I sincerely recommend her.

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Helen - Quimper, France

28 July - 11 August 2016

Julie and Wouter looked after my two young cats in August 2016. They were wonderful sitters. They arrived the evening before I left and we spent an enjoyable evening swapping tales about our respective cats’ antics. While I was away on holiday they spent a lot of time getting to know the cats and... + More

Julie and Wouter looked after my two young cats in August 2016. They were wonderful sitters. They arrived the evening before I left and we spent an enjoyable evening swapping tales about our respective cats’ antics. While I was away on holiday they spent a lot of time getting to know the cats and keeping them company, and gave me regular email updates. Since they left, one of my cats, Pip, has demanded to play laser mouse every evening, a habit instilled by Julie and Wouter I believe :) As well as being great cat sitters, Julie and Wouter came bearing gifts (Belgian beer and chocolates) and left the house clean and tidy. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to other pet owners looking for sitters. Thank you Julie & Wouter, from Helen, Liesl and Pipke!

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Diane - Sarlat-la-Canéda, France

11 July - 22 July 2016

Julie and Wouter looked after my border collie, Florette, for ten days. They kept in touch with me during my time away and sent lovely photos of Florette obviously enjoying herself and having fun. On my return Florette was happy to see me, but not unhappy that I'd left her, which for me is always... + More

Julie and Wouter looked after my border collie, Florette, for ten days. They kept in touch with me during my time away and sent lovely photos of Florette obviously enjoying herself and having fun. On my return Florette was happy to see me, but not unhappy that I'd left her, which for me is always a great sign.
Also Julie and Wouter greeted and looked after my gite guests, watered my flowers and generally cared for my house. Speaking fluent French and English was also fantastic, as they were able to chat to my French and English neighbours.
I would recommend them to anyone without hesitation, and I hope they can return some day!

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