Our little family is hoping to spend a week or two on a pet-sit during the school summer holidays (for us in the UK that’s 23rd July - 4th September), ideally by the beach. But there seems to be loads in early July, and loads for later in September - but not so many during the actual holidays.
So am I too late with owners posting early and finalising sitters? Or are owners waiting to finalise their summer trips so they haven’t posted yet?
There are some lovely sits listed, but for whatever reason they don’t seem the perfect fit (not family-friendly, too many animals than we are comfortable with, extra duties like looking after an Air BnB).
So are we too late? Or too early?
Thanks, Ally and family
You’re not too late. A lot of owners start looking 2-3 months beforehand and there are also quite a few sits more last-minute. Especially in the UK you should have lots of options. THS show me over 3000 sits there. There are fewer sits in Italy/Greece/Spain etc., though, and they tend to be popular. We have had some nice sits there as well, but you might have to compromise (although running an AirBnb is an unusual request and I’m not sure if that’s even allowed on THS).
@AllyMac I don’t think you are too late, but the more requirements you have that narrow down the choices, such as popular summer beach destinations, your need for family friendly, etc. will mean you’ll need to keep on top of searches. When I’m in active search mode I keep a THS browser tab open to keep checking as well as having my saved searches set - just to ensure I don’t miss any perfect opportunities! But as I’m working that’s easy to do.
@Timmy rightly indicates that THS have a strict third party policy and managing holiday accommodation of any kind is not permitted within our model, so if you do see someone requesting that please do let us know. A quick DM with the link to Angela, myself or our MS moderators can fix this. New postings are all checked but sadly some owners make later amendments which bypass the initial check. It is rare though.
Keep looking, don’t give up and I’m sure with the high level of sits being listed you’ll be reporting back very soon to share where you’ll be spending your summer vacation!! Good luck and have a lovely weekend. All the best, Vanessa
I don’t think you are too late. Last year we confirmed a 2 week family friendly sit for the summer after the May half term. Unfortunately it became a casualty of COVID, but we then managed to secure 2 different shorter sits only a matter of weeks before the start dates.
Be flexible where you can, and try to adapt to any setbacks. If one sit falls through, there are always others, which might prove even better! There is always the chance that you’ll accept a sit and then see another great looking one posted. It will come up again and if you favourite it you will be notified.
I’m not sure there is ever a perfect time to apply for sits as some homeowners post them a long way in advance and others leave it later. We’ve had one sit in August booked a year in advance after being invited! We’ll probably look for another much nearer the time. Just go for what appeals to you at the time and suits your family and your level of confidence. Good luck!
Thanks @Vanessa_A, wow you are certainly very proactive when you are searching for your sits! I have set up some saved searches so I get alerts whenever there is a matching sit, but crikey I am getting a bit addicted!
And thank you, and @Timmy for the advice about the Airbnb duties. I cannot for the life of me remember now where I saw that but I know to notify admin if I see it again.
Thanks for the advice @Debbie. It seems that I am probably overthinking it a bit too much. I should just relax about it and see what happens.
It sounds like you’ve had some great summer holiday sits as a family in the past. Good luck with your next searches too!
@AllyMac relax and see what happens is a good approach to housesitting. Now we have quite a few good reviews we often get invitations to sit. This can lead to us going somewhere we hadn’t necessarily considered or planned to visit.
During the Easter holidays we did a fantastic sit in East Lothian, Scotland, as the result of an invitation. Probably one of our favourite sits so far. We discovered a wonderful area with a bit of everything, that we’d never considered visiting before. Better still, we got to hang out with lots of adorable pets!
I think going with the flow, accepting invitations where we can, and seeing where THS takes us is the way to go!