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Experience and Testimonials

My career has been a journey of exploration: constantly shifting, always in search of work that feels meaningful and inspiring. With a wide range of interests and many jobs to learn from, I've found that variety keeps me motivated. Long-term travel introduced me to the concept of Work Exchange and I quickly fell in love with the diversity of tasks and the sense of purpose it brings. Every new place, person, and project fuels my curiosity and passion for learning.

While I thrive on new experiences, I also value staying in one place long enough to truly connect with the local culture and community. Over time, I've developed a versatile skill set, which you can explore in the Services section.

Below, I've gathered testimonials from people around the world who have welcomed me into their projects and homes, offering a glimpse into the meaningful collaborations we've shared.

We’ve had Christel look after our bulldog, Maui, several times now, and we couldn’t be happier with her care.

From the first meeting, it was clear she genuinely loves animals and has that natural intuition that puts both pets and owners at ease.
Christel is incredibly reliable and attentive to detail. She’s accommodating with our plans, follows our care instructions perfectly and goes above and beyond with thoughtful touches. As bulldog owners know, our breed has specific needs and she took the time to understand Maui’s routine and personality quirks completely.
Her communication is excellent - regular updates with photos that always make us smile when we’re away.
She’s also completely trustworthy; we never worry about leaving our home in her hands. Christel clearly has experience with different breeds and handles Maui’s stubborn bulldog moments with patience, keeping him appropriately engaged and exercised.

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Christel to other pet owners in the region. She’s become our go-to sitter, and Maui gets genuinely excited when she comes over, which really says it all!

Julian - The Netherlands

I’m the owner/manager of an eco hotel in Yucatan, Mexico and I have hosted at least 200 people on work exchanges in the last twenty years. As a small business, “a one-woman show”, I depend on these work/stay arrangements. Christel has assisted me for three seasons over the last few years and she’s one of the best, especially in terms of her diversity of skills, her work ethic and personal integrity.

She is a determined and adept problem solver, and I especially appreciated her patience and knack for working with me in spite of my lack of technical and social media knowledge. Christel seeks to understand what her clients are wanting and needing. Not only that, she is a proficient photographer and social media advisor and designer. If she doesn’t know something, she quickly researches and learns what she needs to know.

See her photos and website adjustments on:

In addition, I have 10 dogs, all rescues from the indigenous village near my lodge. Christel has been a tremendous help especially with those with trust issues. Her sensitivity to their individual personalities, instincts and emotions gains their trust and love quite quickly.

If you are lucky enough to have her assist you, I am confident that you will find her co-operative nature, diverse skills and work ethic extremely helpful.

Lee - Mexico

You will love Christel and not only you, but also your animals
will love her. She’s very sincere and not only takes care for your animals, but also for your home.
Christel lived last summertime for three weeks in our home and she will do it again next summer.
From the first second everything felt really reliable.
You will feel comfortable with this power woman.

Ester - The Netherlands
I’m Orlando and live in Costa Rica. Christel watched after my house and dogs for one week while I traveled in the US. She took on the job with great enthusiasm and paid great attention to my dogs wellbeing, not being deterred by the secluded location of my home.
What I like best about Christel is her positivity.
I highly recommend her as a reliable and trustworthy pet sitter. I would hire her again if she was back in the area.

Orlando - Costa Rica
Christel came to visit several times as she travelled in between sojourns here in Cancun. She was a wonderful help with my happy doggie Lula who absolutely loved her and her sultry afternoons playing in the warm waters & beach close to home.

Christel is a sensitive soul, yet dedicated and disciplined with the patience of job when on line with corporate dweebs while trying to organise chaos and payments past due. She spent several weeks of steady effort to assure a sizable payment for my services so I am also quite delighted.

She also helped extensively in preparing a vacation rental, inside, outside decor and gardening in very quick time, a really good effort much appreciated. I trusted her implicity, making for positive results in many aspects.
And her great preparation and photos (see Airbnb: www.airbnb.com/h/casacebra) really helped increase the number of bookings!

Thankful she was here, I wish her well in all future endeavours and certainly recommend her and her services to anyone.

Patrick - Mexico

It was a pleasure to have Christel around. Looking after our 4 lovely cats.

Christel also made some lovely photographs of my 9 rental units and garden at Casas Karen, did Instagram posts, marketing & made some great flyers (which we still are using) & many other tasks.

Very willing to help out, communicate, organized with great energy. Always welcome back. Thanks Christel!

Karen - Spain

Christel looked after my dog ​​two days a week for several months, and everything went perfectly. My dog ​​loved going there. She is very knowledgeable about dogs, and all the agreements we made were honored.


Paul - The Netherlands

In my business, I have found Christel to be an independent woman with broad interests and a keen desire to learn, making her versatile and capable in many different areas.

She is flexible and adapts easily to new situations.

Christel places great importance on delivering quality work, sticking to agreements and keeping her promises. This makes her a pleasure to work with.

She has gained a great deal of experience as a dog sitter, including looking after our dog, Riva. She has a natural rapport with animals, which always fosters a strong bond of trust. You can confidently entrust both your pet and your home to Christel.


Daniëlle - The Netherlands

I am pleased to recommend Christel, who volunteered at our farm for a period of five weeks.

During her time with us, she demonstrated exceptional commitment, a positive attitude and a great ability to work as part of a team. Her dedication, sense of responsibility and enthusiasm were instrumental to the success of our activities—especially in caring for the animals. My dog even wanted to leave with her! We enjoyed spending time together as a family and I still fondly remember her recipes.

She was a tremendous help to us. Christel displayed strong skills in communication, creativity and manual labor and she was always willing to take on new challenges with professionalism and empathy.

I am certain that wherever Christel goes, she will leave behind wonderful memories and prove to be a valuable asset to any organization or family fortunate enough to have her. I have no doubt that her work ethic, values, and capacity for learning will continue to be valuable qualities in her professional future.

Ana - Honduras

Christel, thank you for your work on our "Women for Women" project.

The photos are truly special and spectacular; we are using them to show people who want to see our products, and they have helped us close several deals. We will also be featuring them on our website in the future.

I always cite your discipline and the way you keep the volunteer workspace spotless as an example—no one else does it quite like you. Thank you for your visit, my friend!

Daniel - Guatemala

Christel was an incredibly reliable and wonderful pet sitter for our Flat-Coated Retriever. She looked after our home and our dog for a week and a half, and everything went perfectly. She is kind and caring, and communicates clearly and promptly. If anything is unclear, she asks questions right away and quickly finds her way around. We felt completely at ease while we were away—highly recommended!

Danielle - The Netherlands

Christel is a wonderful person. She knows how to tackle all kinds of jobs and is eager to learn new things. You don't have to urge her to help, because she sees the work and is meticulous in her execution.

She's a great animal lover and has the potential to become good friends with your pets. She handled our dogs well and played with them endlessly. We will definitely see her again when she looks after our dogs. Fantastic!

Leo & Loes - Spain

Christel was available at all times for the various tasks. Rarely have we had the cabins prepared so well! Thanks to her help, we were even able to go on vacation for a few days and leave her in charge of the animals. Thank you so much; we will call you again next year.

Rosa & Sylvain - Spain

We have already had several good experiences with Christel. She has always taken great care of our dog Luna and our home with great attention and care. She took Luna on lovely walks, and it was clear that she truly had time and attention for her.

What stood out most was the natural connection with Luna. Our dog was visibly at ease and relaxed upon her return. Additionally, everything was handled neatly and responsibly. Christel also kept us well informed at all times.

For anyone looking for a reliable and committed dog sitter, Christel is definitely highly recommended.

Hans & Monique - Spain
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