David & Gillian

Hello,

As first-time sitters we’ve composed a few bullet points ahead of posting a (pretty lengthy) summary of ‘us’:

UPDATE: We have recently secured four sits and have updated our availability calendar accordingly. Each sit was confirmed via a What'sApp video call which proved to be a perfect introduction all-round 😊

* Firstly, as ‘newbies’ we have no Aussie House Sitter reviews just yet so please do read 16 reviews from previous Air b’n’b stays (including four from Australia) They can be seen at the bottom of our profile page. From these reviews you would hopefully be able gain an assurance and close understanding of our character.

* We are both very active and relative to our age, a very fit couple.
* We’re extremely clean and tidy by nature and possess an innate sense of the responsibilities necessary to take every appropriate and possible care of your home, your garden and your pets/animals.
* We’re very much animal lovers with a great deal of previous experience (with many different dog breeds and sizes) but would be perfectly comfortable and confident in any ‘house sitting’ circumstance.
* Our applications and subsequent approvals for the entry visas into Australia automatically trigger an intensive criminal background check and we have also completed our ID checks by the ‘Aussie House Sitter’ preferred provider.

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Gillian and I have been inseparable for 40 years. We met in September 1983 and were married in August 1985. We sold all our possessions in May 1987 to travel and work around the world and we managed to keep our adventure going until the spring of 1992.

Along the way, we worked in Hong Kong (teaching English, working in a dubbing studio and undertaking scuba diving maintenance work) In Australia (we managed an amusement arcade in Newcastle, NSW and also managed a small service station in Merryweather, NSW and of course took the obligatory fruit picking opportunity in South Australia.

Eventually, when we arrived in the United States we worked a number of jobs over several years. A Limousine Chauffeur (David), Nanny (Gillian), Gardener (David), Pool Maintenance and Housekeeper & apartment Management (Gillian) and Real Estate Signage (David)

This 5-year trip turned out to be the proverbial time of our life.

In May 1992 we returned to the UK to start a family and ‘start over’. We secured jobs and worked until late 2016. We both worked in the cable TV/telephony/broadband industry. David began in the installation, repair and maintenance sector which lead to senior management and a career spanning almost 25 years. Once our son began his schooling, Gillian began working in a customer support/service role leading to underground fibre-optic cable design and delivery.

As we’d always planned (now that our son was fully independent) again our ‘stuff’ was sold off and we have been travelling since November 2017 returning to England a number of times for short-medium stays. 



During November 2017 to May 2018 we took a 6-month trip through Mexico and Central America. Along the way we wanted to try some volunteer work, ideally with animal and/or children's charities. We taught baseball and soccer to underprivileged children in Progreso, Mexico and later on in the trip after reading about a situation in the local paper we tracked down a local charity and found an unusual opportunity where we helped to build a safe enclosure for an injured/rehabilitating crocodile in Maya Beach, Placencia. We registered to volunteer at a local kennels for stray dogs in Placencia but sadly the management had to close down for a period of weeks due to sickness.

Today, we are both extremely content just ‘being’. Wherever we might be, we are very content doing what suits our routine. Another example, in 2023 we began the year spending 6 weeks in Deerfield Beach, Florida staying with a lifelong friend and we ended up helping two of his neighbours with their home maintenance to include external house painting, interior decorations and landscaping/gardening.

March 2023, we flew from Miami to Bangkok, Thailand. We spent 9 weeks on Koh Samui island before heading to Malaysia (for 5 weeks) then onto Indonesia (4 weeks) and then to Japan for 2 weeks. Just a little aside; as a measure of our fitness levels, while in Japan at the peak of their summer we tracked our walking tours and in 13 days we walked a little over 90 miles in 35 degree heat and high humidity (apologies, I just wanted to include this mean feat to help reassure you that while we’re not as young as we used to be, we can be very active when it’s required and when it suits; hope that doesn’t sound too conceited 😃)

After Japan, we returned to Lembongan Island, Indonesia (a 30 minute boat ride from the southern tip of Bali) for a month and lastly we spent the final 2 weeks of our trip before heading home in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand.

In September we flew back to England to renew (David’s) passport and visit Gillian’s family. In December we returned to the USA for 90 days (our visa limit) and the newest adventure is our return to Australia on April 23rd (flight booked). Note: the four Aussie Air b’n’b reviews further below are from a 5-week tour of Western Australia in January 2019. We always said we must return and now is very much the time.


We have today (3rd March) received our tourist visas (as mentioned above, the application triggers an intensive criminal background check and also our ID has been verified and approved by the preferred Aussie House Sitters provider) so we can enjoy multiple visits into Australia over the next 12 months and we plan to do just this. We are permitted a 3-month stay upon each visit. Our first trip is a flight from London into Brisbane where we have a confirmed booking for a rental car and we can therefore travel wherever in Queensland you may be located.


A few additional notes:

Hopefully you will see from our uploaded photos that we love dogs; to be fair we love all animals, and we clearly show that we love travel - you can see from one photo (showing us trekking back in 1987) sharing our food with Nepalese children (and a random dog 😂) as we hiked northward through the Himalayas. Another shows us at the Upendo orphanage in Diani beach, near Mombassa, Kenya. We had purchsed 35 pairs of shoes for the children and were handing them out with an assortment of other goodies brought from the UK.

We tried not to upload selfie after selfie so if you have any questions around ‘us’ and/or our lifestyle and accompanying photos, please do message. A video or phone call on WhatsApp would be most welcome.

My phone number is included as a means of contact but ideally as we don’t tend to purchase a data package (when out of the UK) we usually rely on wifi. Having said that, an old fashioned text is fine as a means of instant contact.

 Note: our phone number may not be accesiible due to this sites security restrictions. Please message on the Aussie site if you have any questions.

We are both non-smokers and take an occasional glass of red wine.

We hope you enjoyed reading that rather long intro/profile, but please do feel free to ask us anything. Just below, I have pasted directly from our Air b'n'b account reviews of our stays so you may gain an idea of our character. There are four from Western Australia.


Thank you for reading 😃

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Please see 16 reviews from our Air b’n’b stays/account (unedited):

Kim, Mae Nam, Koh Samui March 2023:
“David and Gil are my inspiring married couple. They were very friendly and kind to me and to locals. They made a YouTube video for me to help my business, best gift ever. Absolutely a pleasure hosting both of them. Definitely, I would love to host them again.”

Max, Breezy, Bangkok, Thailand August 2023
“Thank you very much for your kind support with my maintenance issues, we are very happy to hear that you had a great stay in our place. Great guest! Communication was easy all time and took very good care of the room. It's been left tidy and clean. I'd absolutely recommend Dave as a guest. Thanks for your stay, I'm happy to host you any time in the future.
Kind regards Max.”
Pattaya, Thailand September 2023

Lily super host, Pattaya, Thailand August 2023.
“Dave was a super nice guest. Can’t wait to see you again”

Marisol, Progreso, Mexico 2019:
“Wonderful guests”.

Sonny and Rita’s cabins, Costa Rica 2018:
“David & Gill are the most welcome and fun Guest! Every Host will enjoy having & meet this wonderful couple. Rita & I are looking forward having them again 😁.” Rita & I thank you both for finding us and enjoying your time with us. We very much enjoyed chatting with you both, missing you already. Think your Dog knows you’re gone b/c we haven’t seen him😉🙃. Anyway, you two have fun and enjoy Mexico. Thank You again 🌈

The Wildmans, Belize 2017:
“Dave and Gill have been great guests! They were taking a great care of their place and carefully observed all the house rules! They kept the room tidy and clean! All the equipment they used have been returned in a great shape! Our chickens loved getting snacks from them and one got so much attached that still is looking for them around the pool. Dave and Gill are wonderful people! They have been staying for quite a long time and all the guests loved chatting to them! We recommend them without hesitation and wish them all the best in their future travels! And we definitely happy to see them back any time!”

Oscar, Mexico, 2017:
“Dave and Gill was a extraordinary guests, they take care of the condo as if they was the owners, perfectly clean and none problems. They are allways welcome to my place. Dave thank you very much to stay with us, it was a pleasure. Hope to see you again soon.”

John, Florida, December 2019:
“Dave and his wife were pretty much the perfect guests. They were actually great company with many interesting stories to tell about their years of traveling. We talked for quite some time around my pool, had a drink together and enjoyed each other’s company, I think. They left my room in pristine condition. I would recommend them as guests to anyone.”

Jereme, Memphis USA, June 2019:
“Dave was an Awesome guest! He communicated well and took very good care of my place. I recommend Dave to all other host.”

Claire, Perth, February 2019:
“Where to start, Dave and Gill are such beautiful souls and we wish they could move in! Down to earth, funny, considerate and friendly... they’re the kind of people you want to surround yourself with. They treated Boho Betty like she was their own (they have an RV at home too so appreciated her a little extra!) I think even our dogs miss them as they moped around the rest of the afternoon after their departure! If you haven’t had a bit of D&G (Dave and Gill, not Dolce and Gabana) in your AIRBNB then you’re missing out. Safe travels guys! Welcome back anytime! Claire and Tee :)”

Melissa, Bustleton, Busstleton Western Australia, January 2019:
“Fabulous guests. So very polite, easy to communicate with, tidy & respectful of the rules of our home.”

Debra, Albany, Western Australia January, 2019
“Dave & Gill were a very cruisy laid back interactive couple with an avid love of travelling and experiencing and seeing as much as they can in the interim. They were a pleasure to host and I wish them well on the future ventures. Deb Spence. C'est La Vie.”

Norriel, Perth January 2019
“Dave and Gill were pleasant friendly and enthusiastic guests who fitted in well. They were respectful and left the villa clean and tidy. They are welcome back anytime.”

Mike, Phuket, Thailand, December 2018
“Easily one of the coolest couples to come visit so far. Just very friendly and straightforward people ... great guests!”

Irene, Nai Yang Beach, Phuket, Thailand December 2018
“Nice couple, clean and positive. Welcome back any time!”

Sasha, Jaibalito, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala February 2018
“Dave and Jill are amazing guests: they bring happiness and harmony to your home! They make themselves at home, want to help and are so nice to talk to. I missed them when they left and so did the other guests!!!”

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