Introducing Suz & Les (Professional House Sitters)
Global house sitters, currently in Turkey!
Meet Suzanne & Les
After arriving back in New Zealand after completing a 3 month trip around Europe and including Tokyo, we did not want to return to motorhoming. (We were tired of doing this after 10 years owning our converted bus/motorhome, plus there were too many other motorhomes on the road vying for that special place to park up!)
Then we thought why not do house sitting full time? And here we are!
Speed Date ( Let’s get to know you QUICK!)
Where’s your current location?
Dalyan, Turkey
Are you looking after pets?
1 dog and 2 cats
How long have you been house sitting?
We began our journey with house sitting in January 2016.
Do you travel internationally?
95 % of our house sits have been international. France, Scotland, UK, Switzerland, Germany and Turkey [our current one]. We have Portugal and Spain in a month or so. We absolutely love learning about the different cultures and especially the food!! Travel and Food go so well together, a bit like strawberries and cream!!
Favorite movie?
That’s a hard one to answer!! So I shall share the movie we watched last night [we don’t watch TV] “The 100 foot Journey”. A movie set in France, one of our favorite countries!!
If you were a superhero who would you be?
I had to ask the Squire about this one, not up to date with superheroes 🙂
Approximately how many house-sitting jobs have you completed?
We have completed 22 and now onto our 23rd. A few have been longer ones e.g. 3 months. Our current one is 2.5 months.
Want to see more of Suz and Les’ adventures, check out their blog – globehousesitterx2
Out and about
Give us the lowdown on your current location?
We have needed to have some down time, and with Dalyan being so hot at the moment we are relaxing with the main activity at the moment is dog walking, swimming in the pool, blogging [me], bike riding [me] and also enjoying going to the local markets for our fruit and vegetables. Going out for coffee/meal occasionally, with the locals.
Before beginning our housesit we did a roadtrip from Dalyan to Pamukkale then back down to the coast with a stay at Kas. Visiting a few places in between those two towns. Turkey has so much to offer and it is one country that we recommend visiting and getting away from the tourist sights to see the real Turkey. The people are so friendly and the countryside stunning. It is not a rich country so don’t expect too much. Having said that the roads were mainly well sealed and comfortable to travel on, some were better than NZ roads!! The coastline is extraordinary. Anyway do not take my word for it, go and find out for yourself.
House sitting and travel locations
Can you tell us about some of the places you have traveled to?
Suz and Lez Travel Map
Location, Location, Location.
Current house sit location?
Dalyan, Turkey
Duration for the sit?
2.5 months
How many pets?
1 dog and 2 cats
Have you sat in the area before?
No
In 5 words or less can you describe the town for us?
Agricultural, tourism, laid back, countryside.
Your House Sitting Story
Can you tell us your story? Why did you start house sitting?
We arrived back to New Zealand after completing a 3 month trip around Europe and including Tokyo. Then thought we did not want to return to motorhoming as we had tired of doing this after 10 years owning our converted bus/motorhome. Plus there were too many other motorhomers on the road vying for that special place to park up!
Then we thought why not do housesitting fulltime? From that idea grew much planning which is now our reality!
How has your lifestyle changed since you started house sitting?
We were used to moving around from our home into our motorhome, which we did live full time for a number of years. We rented out our home. Plus we have travelled over the years to Australia, America, Uk, and Europe, before we began housesitting. With our varied lifestyles it has made us very adaptable, in coping with different environments. Many years ago we owned a small orchard in the countryside so we do enjoy housesitting in the countryside as well as urban areas.
What is the most enjoyable part about house sitting for you?
Meeting new people, caring for animals [we miss having pets] and explore [done mostly in between housesits] different countries as well as the immediate neighbourhood.
What is the least enjoyable part of house sitting?
To be honest there isn’t anything we don’t not enjoy about housesitting. 99 percent of the people we meet have been wonderful with 80 percent that have become friends [sort of like penpals]. We have had a couple of not so good encounters, which we have learnt from, as not everyone that we will meet will be honest and likeable.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start house sitting themselves?
The biggest one would be if you are not genuine animal people – don’t do it. Or if you are just looking to have free accommodation to explore around an area – don’t do it.
It is a big responsibility looking after someone’s [usually] biggest financial asset – their home. Not least of all their much loved pets.
Get some local experience of housesitting behind you before moving overseas.
Do you live anywhere or have a house? (As in do you still have a home that you go back to in between house sits, or do you house sit fulltime?)
We recently sold our house back in New Zealand, which luckily for us was a good time to do so as the housing market has cooled down! When we settle down again we shall re-enter the housing market. Until then we are loving the lifestyle of being fulltime housesitters.
JLTD’s Favourite Photos from Globalhousesittersx2
A little bit of advice
What advice would you give home owners offering their home to house sitters for the first time?
Follow your gut instinct.
Do you have any preferred websites that you like to use? Why?
Have you had any incidents or bad stories when house sitting? How did you deal with it?
Not reacting, being professional.
People are often blown away when they find out what house sitting is and how it works, we have found this the hardest part to explain to people. Have you had the same experience? What do you tell people when they ask what do you do?
Yes, we have had the same experience! We tell them we are caring for animals and their owners home, that is our focus while there. Being a local. Travelling is done in between housesits.
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