Johanne and Doug

About Us

Spay and Neuter Clinic, Mexico 2019

“We are committed to providing the best house/ pet sitting experience possible”.

Originally

Doug is from Niagara Falls, Ontario and Johanne from Montréal, Quebec. After many diverse adventures and experiences we found each other in 2011 and  continued to live out our dreams in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

On February 6th, 2016 we sealed our love in marriage, and set upon our new path together.

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Crescent Beach Pier

Our Dreams

We are very excited about this new phase of our lives and are eager to find house and pet sitting situations where we can be helpful and apply the skills that we share. We find it very fulfilling to assist  home owners by providing them with the assurance that their home, pets and property will be well cared for while they are away.

We both have explored the globe widely and our acquired experience ensures that we are able to easily adjust to  a variety of situations. We are well aware and accepting of the fact that local comfort levels vary widely.

We strongly believe in community and we have a sincere desire to contribute in a positive manner to the areas we visit. Hopefully we will leave places we visit just a little better off than before we arrived.

We travel light and are able to work around your dates and needs. We prefer to over lap our stay a few days ahead of your departure to become familiar with your home and pets.

We are very pleased to offer pet care tailored to your animals needs such as medications, special diets, exercise etc.

Our Services

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Staying healthy is extremely important to us both, we are non smokers and have no bad habits. ( Johanne does savior an occasional glass of wine with dinner and Doug really likes peanut butter gelato). We enjoy every opportunity to hike, swim and be out in nature.

House sitting assignments in remote locations are always considered.

Our Past Lives

We have spent many long and glorious hours cruising the B.C. coast on our 36 ft Islander sailboat: Swan. Being on the water has taught us to adapt and to calmly handle critical situations as they sometimes arise. Doug is also a Canadian Yachting Association Sailing Instructor, and has had major offshore experience.

SWAN

Johanne devoted her career to child care working in and managing Childcare Centers in California and Vancouver. Her calm and ever cheerful personality served her very well in this field.

Doug  built a very successful career a real estate consultant and in management. He has also built sailboats, houses and was the Lead Surveyor on  Vancouver’s rapid transit system.

Skill Sets

Johanne, being totally bilingual (French and English) is also functional in Spanish; Doug is determined! We study every day, building our vocabulary and practice whenever the opportunity arises. “Poco a poco”.

AJoJohanne is very good with all animals and has lovingly cared for many different pets over the years. Doug loves taking the dogs for long walks and has considerable experience with obedience training.

We both enjoy landscaping, gardening, and Doug has experience in wood framing, concrete work,  simple finishing and basic electrical and plumbing.

Volunteerism

We often find opportunities to contribute to communities we are sitting in. We find being involved in Spay/Neuter clinics, trash pickups and helping out at schools very rewarding.

 

 

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Doug is a long time dedicated Rotarian and has had the pleasure of serving as President of two very successful Rotary Clubs. ” Being a Rotarian provides me with the opportunity of contributing to others in a small way, even as we live aboard”.

He was formerly a  Board Member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Langley and as a youth mentor was a positive role model to kids.

Drop us a note and to determine if we are the best fit for your house and pet sitting needs.

Skype is also a great way to become acquainted.

References and Criminal Record Reports are available.

Contact Us

Our Cuban Honeymoom

 

Our Cuban Honeymoon

 

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Johanne and I were very thrilled to have the opportunity to travel to Cuba in October to celebrate our wedding. It was a little break between our  steady House Sitting assignments.

I have always had a lot of questions and curiosities about the island and Johanne was eager to explore with me.

When you start contemplating Havana, people will say “it is noisy, dilapidated and the air pollution is bad”.

Yes it can be all of that but what we also discovered was a vibrant city full of magic, colour and cultural surprises.

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arolling-stones

Even Johanne who is adverse to the  crowds of big cities, thoroughly enjoyed our meanderings up side streets and down wide shady boulevards.

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We were told to be prepared for a country economically on it knees after 57 years of a crippling US blockade however we did not see that at all.

The quality of life appeared to be higher than most other Latin America countries, and the expected shortages were not obvious to us.

dsc02900Many  pre-revolution buildings are crumbling, at the same time the government is doing their best to restore what they can.

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Cubans are very resourceful and are quite accustomed to making due with what is available.

We were warmly welcomed and everyone was so polite.

click on A Day in The Life Here

And then there are the cars:

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See more Yank Tanks Here

Most obvious to us after just one week was:

-how  squeaky clean the streets are with virtually no litter in the cities or on the beaches. (Being poor is not an excuse for throwing trash everywhere).

-the level of education of the population with 99.8% literacy the 10th highest globally

-the family unit seems to be well in tact with the average family having just 1.4 children

We also to a side trip to Varardero which makes for a wonderful beach vacation.

So after just one week I would say a few of our questions were answered but many more are yet to be answered.agreatcar

Put Cuba on Your List!!

the joyful travellers