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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
30 Apr 2026
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 4 days
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Description
We Ad, Elsbeth, Sandra, would like 1 or 2 persons to help us around the house and for housesitting.(for the house, our cat and sometimes the cats of Sandra)
Ad and Elsbeth is 65+ couple, Sandra is a partner of Ad also. We would like to have helping hands. We are young in mind, but physically we/I can use some assistance in and around the house. We live in the North of Holland , close to the city Groningen.
We live in an old school which is a 10 years project, never quite ready but a lovely place. It's 8 km from the city Groningen -good public transportation by bus.
We live in a farming area and close to a lake.
We like to socialise when we are around and share dinner, breakfast and lunch we usually take apart from each other. We like to watch movies together, play board games or online games, have good conversations etc. We have a lovely veranda where we like to hang at a fireplace.
We like open minded people, as Ad and Elsbeth both have another partner as well.
Smoking is not permitted in the house and we would like you to have a limited/normal use of alcohol or soft drugs. No hard drugs.
Although we like to do activities together, it would be better if you are a person who can work independently, as we both are quite often not around. Sometimes we are away for 1 or more weeks and request you to take care of the house and cat as well as for Sandra cats, who live 8 km away. This is some extra work, but also gives you more freedom.
We are looking forward to meet you. One person is welcome, and a couple too, if you can share the room and if you can operate individually, not as a bubble since we experienced it is difficult to get good contact if that the case. Recently we got a few workawayers who wanted the stay as an entrance ticket to stay permanently in the Netherlands. we don't want to support this. And we had 2 workawayers who also worked fulltime besides our workaway stay- that didn't work either.
Without wanting to sound negative... experiences are what we learn from and make us realise what is important for a succesfull stay.
We are looking for workawayers with a minimum stay of 1 month.
I'm not online every day- so it might take some time before I reply.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House & pet sitting
Interests
Charity work
Vegetarian or vegan
Self development
Movies & TV
Pets
LGBTQ
Languages
Cooking & food
Books
Animals
Cycling
Dancing
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We would love to show you around in our province/ country, when we all have the time for it.
Of the 250000 people in the city Groningen one in every eight is a student. That translates to Groningen being a very lively city. There are always many cultural activities, and various museums.
There is an excellent bus connection from our home to the city. Going to Groningen on a bicycle is a nice experience as well.
A swimming pool is about 8 km from here, as are several gyms, bouldering and most other sports available around. There are quite a few lakes close by in which you can swim in the summer. Where we live is a good area for walking, there are lovely walking trails not too far away.
In the weekends we sometimes go out. If we get along, you are welcome to join us most of the time.
We love playing board-games and Ad likes online gaming and we love to watch movies together.
We can help you learning English or Dutch.
Help
The jobs include basic house cleaning, gardening, some painting and other maintenance, DYO jobs. Sometimes you 'll work together with one of us. You also need to be able to work independently. We emphasize that because we experienced this is often the reason for miscommunications.
Keep your own, and our, area ( such as the kitchen) at least mess neutral- meaning you don't make more of a mess, than there already is.
When we share our meals with you, you are requested to either cook or do dishes, besides the working hours.
We request 4 hours help daily for 5 days a week, but you can fill in these hours in a flexible way.
When we are not around you are requested to look after our cat and sometimes look after after the three cats of Sandra, who lives in the city, about 8 km from our home. ( about 20 min by bike).
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Portuguese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
I, Elsbeth, have been a Dutch NT2 teacher for about 5 years, so I like helping foreigners to learn to speak Dutch. We don't request you to learn our language, but are willing to assist you in learning Dutch. I would like to learn some basic Portuguese. Sandra would like to learn some basic Danish, Ad would like to learn some basic French.
Accommodation
We have a spare room of about 18 sq meter, with slant attic walls. Downstairs you may use a private bathroom. Because we live in an old school which is large to heat, we don't heat all of it, just the main living room. In winters it can get cold in the other rooms. Due to this we've decided not to host in wintertime, i.e. nov-dec-jan-feb.
We share most living spaces: living room, kitchen, veranda, garden.
If you like, you can join us for dinner around 6 PM. The other meals are usually not shared, but you can take food for yourself. We eat vegetarian food most of the time. Vegan turned out to be a bit too strict and impractical for us.
Sometimes it is possible for you to stay at Sandra her place to look after her three cats. It is only 2 km from the city center.
What else ...
You need to be an independent person. We like to socialize, but we are also busy elsewhere. Elsbeth with work and Ad as a new pensionada also likes to spend more time out of the house. Besides we both have a partner and are sometimes staying with them ( which is why we like you to do housesitting activities part of the time) So you would join a non- traditional family form. Being LHGBT+ friendly would make your stay easier. As we live in a poly-amorous situation we appreciate the person to live with us to be open-minded/ accepting. We'd like to include you in our discussions / exchange of ideas.
We have learned from 16 previous workaway experiences. Some stays were great, others a little less and we try to learn from those, by discribing more on forehand what is important for us. We had a bad exchange experience with theft in the past, so we want to make a copy of your passport and see your insurance and driving licence papers ( if you want to drive.) as soon as you arrive, It is important that you have a good health insurance. If you don't have any we are willing to pay for it, in exchange for 3-4 hrs/ work extra/ per week. We have some house rules, but I think they all come down to common sense and respect for each other.
We would like to hear/ contact/ read some references about you.
Our kids live on their own now, We see them when they come over, which is most weekends.
Our daughter has some handicaps and has an autistic thinking style, which we find enriching.
Our cat hates other dogs ( besides a few she really knows well) , so unfortunately we can't take in workawayers with a dog.
We are looking forward to getting to know new people, like you !
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Internet access via Starlink, so around 100-200 Mbit.
Space for parking camper vans
There are parking facilities in front of the house, on private property, but it is adjacent to the main road.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Mayday (16 years)
very lovely cat, loves to cuddle and sleep on your bed, if you let her. Lives inside as well as outside. Must be around 15 years old, but aren't sure, she is a stray.
She will consider to let you stay in her house:)
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (11)
During her stay, she took on several tasks with dedication. She cleared out the garden,… read more
Communication was sometimes a bit of a problem, since he didn't know English, but with the help of a translator app we went along fine and after these weeks he picked up some English too.
He was… read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
During her stay, she took on several tasks with dedication. She cleared out the garden,… read more
Communication was sometimes a bit of a problem, since he didn't know English, but with the help of a translator app we went along fine and after these weeks he picked up some English too.
He was… read more
We also shared good times together, walking, driving through the northern part of the Netherlands and visited Groningen, where she showed a keen interest in architecture.
We spent some interesting… read more
They are fair and square, and openminded,… read more
They are very nice and made me feel as another member of their family. They have been very helpful with my English and were always making efforts to make me feel comfortable with the communication.
The work isn't very hard and they were very… read more
He is very open, friendly, works hard and fits in socially with our family.
We had many nice philosophical exchanges about our views in life, he joined watching movies and computer games and even in Sinterklaas with our family.
It felt a little like getting a Spanish son- he'll always be welcome… read more
