Hubby takes his pint mug for his tea, always complains that everyone’s mugs are too small 
. Not sure what we will do when we start flying places!
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If I’m driving and arrive before the HO has left then, like others here, I wait until they have gone before bringing in my stuff, including a large mug, a single-portion slow cooker and a coffee press (although this time I forgot the coffee!). If (as now) my sit overlaps with them before they leave I just take in what I need for the night up to when they leave. I just hope they don’t see what’s in the car!
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@Shannon aaaw…that made me nostalgic! My darling late Dad always drank his tea out of a pint mug with a Union Jack flag on it! Yes- he was thoroughly English!
I say- take hubbies pint mug when you fly!! We always fly with our Italian expresso coffee pot, a collapsible steamer, our two feather pillows, my yoga mat, hubbies guitar and amp etc… and when we go by car!!! Well…its everything but the kitchen sink on board! Including the Portapottie & bedding incase we have to sleep in the car unexpectedly!!
We are always prepared for all eventualities! And when sitting in the UK- it goes without saying-we always have our wellies on board!
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Oh wow @Lokstar that sounds a lot for international travel. I think the mug might make it or I need to prime my friend when we get to NZ. Would love to take our pillows (we do memory foam as OH has feather allergy), it will either be them or the neck massager, whichever takes up least space. Was hoping to fly superlight but will see how it goes.
For the UK winter time we are pretty loaded up, wellies for sure. We bought wellie boot carry bags which are great as we fit our trainers inside the boots and can get sliders and walking shoes in too. Best buy ever as also keeps the car clean and dry especially on leaving day if we had a muddy last walk and boots have been hosed off.
We are looking at a new car and thinking if we keep going with this we might get something that is more van like so it is easier to load/unload but also gives a bit more security if we have a hotel stopover or even a pub stop on the way. I am always a bit nervous of leaving the car unattended when all our life is packed in it. Toying with the idea of something we could sleep in if an emergency but not sure our old(ish) bones could deal with that.
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No. I don’t feel weird at all.
I also drive to my sits, and I bring a LOT of stuff, including food. I always wait until the owner leaves to start unpacking. No hurry.
I like the longer sits, so I bring the things I need to feel at home, because while I’m there, it IS home.
Same thing I think about the things I bring. 
Oh, yes! Definitely have it all packed up before they return.
I always hope they don’t come back earlier than expected, and see all the stuff I brought with me.
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Well, weird, awkward… I am glad you asked. I don’t feel at ease. I thought it might be just me but it seems clear the majority of us only fully unpack and get settled once the owners have left.
I don’t want to get in their way, also, we are all different and I sometimes can feel that the owners feel awkward, too. So I try to make myself as unnoticeable as possible until I see their degree of familiarity, I try to follow suit.
I fly to most of my sits and if we overlap the first night I pack the overnight kit separately so I don’t have to unpack everything. I don’t go shopping for groceries until they’re gone.
When I drive, there’s no night overlap. I leave most of the stuff in the car and I take it out when the owners have left.
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I do the same. I do not travel light, since I am not a tourist, rather I do sittings only locally and drive my own car to the sittings. I bring in my food in a cooler, and my carry-on bag when I first come in, and later go to my car on an as need bases.
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I bring my own spices including salt and pepper, coffee, tea, honey, nuts, rice, oats, mug, absolutely all toiletries, etc. I am now seriously considering bringing my own pots and pans because it is surprising how many HOs do not have this stuff. Lids are missing. I am also thinking of bringing my own pillow 
I feel weird because we bring in so much from blenders to additional tables and we even have a juicer. It feels like we’re moving into our own apartment or something. It’s even worse when they have ring cameras.
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portapottie? I once thought of sleeping in the car, but next to a Love’s or Pilot gas station where there are 24/7 bathrooms. I had driven from LA to Austin, and it wasn’t the cost of the hotel $60, it was the thought of lugging stuff from car to hotel room and back again as I had to be at the HOs at 7 am and it was midnight. But I took the hotel. I do carry a bunch of stuff. But not bedding.
I would never agree to arrive at a sit at 7am!! What were they thinking??!! Does not sound reasonable.
I would expect to be invited to overnight there the night before for such an early departure. Or if no space and/or I was in the area I would probably try to visit the day before, do the handover & collect keys do I could arrive at a more comfortable time on the start day.
If it was your choice & preference to agree to that timing then all OK. I’m not so flexible!
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Something to note in various U.S. cities: Be careful about leaving stuff in your car. If it’s visible, a thief might smash your glass and steal your stuff. My last host noted that before my sit, knowing I’d be driving there, for example. That can happen in many neighborhoods, even nice ones.
If you’re sitting a dog in a hot climate, you would need to walk the dog at this hour so it’s paws don’t burn on the hot ground as it gets hot later in the morning/afternoon. Just a thought.
It was a crazy situation that we flew into LA from Bali on the evening of the 8th. I had committed to the sit that started on the 10th. So I put myself in the bind of traveling so far in one day and couldn’t have made it to his house before midnight. I left LA 3 am pacific time. So it was all on me.
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I did a sit in Yorba Linda last Aug and it was wicked hot. I only walked them at 6 am and 7 pm. They had a doggie door in between. But even when I was in FL in Feb. It was 80ish. Sunny and the road was black. I worried about the pups then.
@avidtraveler I agree- walking dogs early morning in hot climates makes sense. However getting up early to walk the dog is not the same as having to arrive at 7am in irder to start the sit! I would find that expectation pretty unreasonable and unhospitable (if not offered the option of overnighting the night before)
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If you were sitting for me, you’d be offered to spend the night before and have dinner with us. 
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