Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
26 Apr 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
21
ID verified
Email verified
Badges (5)
Details
Description
We 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 someone else)
We are a 65+ couple and 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 Groningen.
We live in a big old school. A 10 yearsproject, which is never quite ready, but a lovely place. 8 km from Groningen -student- city, easy access by bus.
We live in a farming area and close to a lake.
We like to socialise if we are around and share our main meal ( breakfast and lunch we ususually take apart from each other) watch movies together, play board or online games, have good conversations etcetera. We have a lovely veranda where we like to hang out with a fire. We like open minded people.
Smoking is not permitted in the house ( it is in the garden, though please keep it limited) and we would like you to have a limited/normal use of alcohol or softdrugs. No harddrugs.
Though we like to do activities together, you also need to be a person who can work independently, as we both quite often not around.
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.
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
Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Self development
Movies & TV
Pets
LGBTQ
Charity work
Languages
Cooking & food
Books
Animals
Cycling
Dancing
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We would love to show you around in our province/ country. ( though time can be sparse,)
The city Groningen is the nearby. Of the 250000 people one in every eight is student, so it has a lot to offer. There are always many cultural activities. Groningen has some nice museums.
There is a good bus connection from our home to the city, and it is easy accessible by bike as well.
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.
You could be included in our family traditions like Sinterklaas and X-mass.
We love playing board-games ( Elsbeth and daughter) and online gaming ( Ad) 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 jobs. Sometimes you 'll work together, but you also need to be able to work independantly. We emphasize that a lot, since we experienced this is often the reason for miscommunications.
We would love someone who is experienced and willing to renovate a floor and install a window etc. Carpeting skills is a pre.
Keep your and our area ( like the kitchen) at least mess neutral- meaning you don't make more of a mess, than there allready is.
If we share our meals you are requested to either cook or do dishes. Next to that we request 4 hours help daily for 5 days a week. If we are not around you are requested to look after our cat and after 2 other cats, who live 8 km away. ( about 20 min by bike)
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Portuguese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
I've 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.
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 a huge building, an old school, we don't heat the entire building, just the main living room. In winters it can get cold in the other rooms. Due to this we've decided not to host any longer in wintertime nov-dec-jan.
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, but not strictly. Vegan turned out to be a bit too strict and impractical for us. When we are not around you'll get the meals from us in return for the work/ housesitting.
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. 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 13 previous workaway experiences. Some stays were great, others a little less and we try to learn from those, to discribe 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 cat hates other dogs ( besides a few she really knows well) , so unfortunately we can't take in workawayers with a dog.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Even though our internet access is not great ( we live outside the city in a non-cable area...) it is still sufficient to do work online.
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
Feedback (10)
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
Photos
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)
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
