A Few of My Favorite Things (about THS)!

Just thought I would share some of the things I love most about THS – partly because I feel like this section can become a little complaint-heavy (when I’m actually really grateful for the app and happy with it overall!) and partly to make explicit the things I like so that those things don’t change :upside_down_face:

  • First, I love how well the concept works. THS is a win-win-win. :100:

  • I also really love how much variety I see in the types of users here. There are some sit listings I see where I think, No way would I want to deal with this owner/situation…. And there are probably other sitters who think the same about the sits I’ve loved. But that’s the beauty: On THS, you can post what you expect and want, then find the profiles/listings that align with those preferences while ignoring those that don’t.

  • I love that THS treats us like adults capable of communicating and negotiating our own expectations with one another. While that also means there’s a little trial-and-error and lessons learned along the way, I personally think this is vastly preferable to excessive top-down policy.

  • The app’s core features are exactly what they need to be (at least some majority of the time). Sure, there are bugs and opportunities to improve, which can sometimes be frustrating. But all-in-all, it does its core job well and – at least for me – has facilitated several highly-rewarding opportunities that would not have been possible without it.

  • I like that THS doesn’t spam me. The notifications I receive feel appropriately paced and controllable.

Well done, THS. :smiling_face:

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Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things.

Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles,
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favourite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favourite things.

When the dog bites, When the bee stings,
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don’t feel so bad. :musical_notes:

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@Colin I couldn’t help but SING-read your comment :rofl:

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What’s come over you? :thinking::grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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On some of our sits, we feel so lucky and believe that we could not even purchase/buy/pay for the experience even if we wanted to.

I don’t believe that anyone is renting out their entire luxury fully-furnished home and car, and telling you to “help yourself” to anything in the home! And with bonus pets included!

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I was just going to put that, you beat me to it. :grinning_face:

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I love that I’ve met so many wonderful owners, sitters and animals who I wouldn’t have met without THS. I’ve visited placed in the UK and beyond that I wouldn’t have without THS and saved a fortune on accommodation with the bonus of the company of a variety of animals. I’ve got to know alpacas on two different sits, they were certainly two of my favourite things!
Probably lots of other things but these will do for now

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The Sound of Music was the first film I ever saw, and skipped I around for months afterwards singing the songs at the top of my voice.

My mother was right to be worried :rofl: :rofl:

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One of my favourite films of all time. If you haven’t been, go to Saltzburg and do the tour

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From a Jimmy Carr show (as I remember it):

Audience: «I study Musical Theatre»
Jimmy Carr: «That’s a great way to tell your dad».

On topic:

What I like with THS is pretty much the same as we loved doing home exchange for years.

Getting to live like a local in a local neighborhood. Going to the shop, walking the dog in the morning with other dog-owners walking theirs, see people come from the train station when the day is over, schoolchildren with their backpacks. Nodding to the neighbor hanging clothes on the line, see a woman paying respects at the local temple on her way to work.

This is a wonderful and authentic way to explore a country and a culture. So different from hasting around with an itinerary, lining up to take photos in front of «x», coming home with 7000 photos and not really having been present anywhere.

Whether it be a little village up in the mountains with winding, paved streets and the grocery store in the next village, or in the suburbs of Tokyo where it is dead quiet only 10 min. by train from Shinjuku. It is a possibility of immersion of culture more than you can as a tourist in a hotel room.

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Thanks @one-eyed_scallywag for the lovely feedback, I’ve made sure the wider team have read it :blush:

Thank you also to @Colin for the chuckle :rofl:

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Ooh, we are off to a sitting today with bee-hives - Luckily we don’t have to tend to them- so hopefully will avoid being stung

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@Itchyfeet
Karyo is jealous! He always says he’d fancy having a go at beekeeping. We almost went on a course once but it was £150 each!

I think they wanted us to experience getting stung before we even set eyes on a bee so declined :sweat_smile:

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Hopefully you can sample the honey :honey_pot:

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We have only been on one sit with beehives, but these are not even noted in their listing! One dog, a curly-coated retriever named Clyde.

Maybe there should be a tick box for “beehive” as an amenity?

If you fancy doing a sit near San Francisco, CA, with a beehive, let me know! I will hook you up with the owners. We have sat there 3 times (I think only 1 of 3 was actually on the THS platform).

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We were welcomed this afternoon with a jar :grin:

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We have also done a sit with a beehive and left with a jar of honey and honeycomb!

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@Debbie we too once did a sit with beehives. At handover the hosts showed us a large drawer full of jars of their honey but they did not offer us one….!!:flushed_face: and I adore Honey!!!

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Over the last 3 years, THS has alllowed me to meet lots of wonderful animals and get pet companionship, plus I have been able to travel and stay in some of my favourite places for much longer than I could normally afford.

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We also did a sitting with beehives but, fortunately, they left us a jar which is delicious. We had a very quick handover and didn’t notice the sign outside stating Honey For Sale £7.

On our second day the front door rang and a man stood there with a £10 note in his hand asking for honey. We didn’t know where it was kept so frantically opened drawers till we did find a stock.

He said he had been knocking on the door for weeks but no-one was ever in so this may have been the first jar they sold :laughing:

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