House & Pet Sitter

About

A couple of enthusiastic animal lovers, creatives, online professionals, social entrepreneurs and easily adaptable adventurers in NZ and abroad...

Story

Local House & Pet Sitter

animal lover, freelance graphic designer http://www.webdesignandcopy.co.nz, blogger for www.heartofgood.com, illustrator, massage therapist in training, social entrepreneur and traveller...

With a property market demanding unheard of prices, an Auckland designer decided to take a chance on becoming a professional house and pet sitter. Four years on, she still lives out of a suitcase and is still loving it!

Michelle once had all the trappings of a modern lifestyle but personal circumstances lead her to make the brave choice to go travelling alone and upon her return became a house and pet sitter as an alternative to flatting or jumping back into the property game.

Since then she has found love and fortunately Jonathan, being as much of an animal lover as Michelle is, has also fallen in love with the adventurous lifestyle of a house sitter. Together they now run a Facebook page to keep their clients in touch with their homes and pets. Using the money they save on accommodation they're able to travel and enjoy a freedom lifestyle that allows them to do all the things they always dreamt of doing. One of their latest dreams is to build their own 'tiny house on wheels' so they have their own little retreat when they are between housesits.

Some of the best housesitting opportunities come from people needing someone responsible to look after their furry friends, especially those with special needs. “Which is great, I have always been an animal lover and often become very fond of my charges,” she says. Not all housesits have required pet care however.

A keen walker, Michelle loves nothing more than pounding the pavements with a dog to kick start the day. and working from ‘home’ also means she is able to provide plenty of extra company and attention. They are always delighted to have a repeat sit with animals, because “it’s like seeing old friends again.” Having grown up in Zimbabwe with cats, dogs, fish, rabbits, birds and even a couple of tortoises Michelle's animal care skills started at a very young age.

Over the last few years her nomadic lifestyle has given her the opportunity to explore parts of Europe and Scandinavia, trek through Asia where she spent some time volunteering at a rural school in Cambodia as well as a turtle conservation project in Malaysia. She then raised over $4000 to help build a school for an orphanage in Uganda and volunteer her time and skills there through the organisation www.orphfund.org. She's also been able to spend precious time with family and friends overseas.

More recently Michelle created her own social enterprise called COLOUR OUR STORY which facilitates the creation of colouring in books and cards, by children for children. "Our vision is to empower and give voice to disadvantaged, vulnerable children locally and worldwide. At the same time, inspiring a future generation of global citizens who understand the importance of caring for and uplifting one another." You can find out more about this wonderful project at http://www.colourourstory.com

Jonathan has been a huge support in this endeavour and has brought his own skills of story telling, filming and photography to the party. He joined Michelle on her last visit to Uganda to meet the kids at the Orphanage. Previous to that he had started his own platform called THIS IS MY VOICE and created a photography group teaching photography to a group of homeless people through the Auckland City Mission. He also went over to Fiji to film for HeartsforKids, which helped them to raise more money for children receiving lifesaving heart surgery. You can find out more here: http://www.heartofgood.com/this-is-my-voice/

“I have come to appreciate this lifestyle so much more,” says Michelle. “Exploring new places, either while travelling overseas or housesitting here, always turns up the unexpected and delightful. You meet new and inspirational people from different cultures and ways of life and expand your social circle: having that opportunity is more valuable to me than anything else money could buy.”

Michelle has many great references and a police check avialable on request!