I recently submitted my master’s thesis and now I’m in the weird limbo of having all the time in the world to do anything I want to do but no money to do it since the writing period drained all my savings (my working student contract finished a while ago). Anyway, I still want to travel and sit.
Yesterday I found a perfect sit: matching my experience, with lots of cats for my crazy cat lady heart and in exactly the timeframe I was looking for, in Egypt, a place I always wanted to see, but hesitated to apply because I didn’t know if I would be able to afford the flights. I went back and forth and finally decided that I could indeed afford it, but by that time the 5 application spots had filled and now I’m in utter regret for not applying earlier.
What I want to ask with this post: Have you ever experienced application regret? I mean that you found a sit you wanted to do but hesitated and then it was gone? How do you deal with that feeling? What do you do in such a situation, where you still have to check something first but are afraid it will fill up to fast? For me I have decided to only apply to sits I am absolutely sure I will be able to do to not waste the HO’s time but that of course means that I will sometimes miss out on something I really wanted. And now I will spend the rest of the day thinking about how cool it would have been.
Please, I would like to hear stories of sits that you regretted not applying to and what you did instead.
You know that idiom: ‘He who hesitates is lost’? Well, after losing out on the potential to apply for sits we particularly fancied doing, we now apply first and worry about the logistics later. It’s the only way, given the 5 applicant rule.
On one occasion, I noticed a particularly nice looking sit which had already had 4 applications. Just as I was about to apply, the 5th spot was filled and the listing went to ‘reviewing’. I kicked myself, but favourited the listing. The following day, I received a message from that pet parent, asking if we were interested in doing the sit!
At other times when we’ve missed out on especially nice-looking sits, something even nicer has come along.
The moral of this story is: apply quickly when you’re attracted to a sit, then work things out later. And, if you don’t get a sit you’ve set your heart on - whether you’ve managed to submit an application or not - don’t despair, since another lovely sit which coincides with those dates will come along!
Always apply if you’re interested. You can pull out later if you determine you really can’t make it work, but better to apply and have to withdraw than have lingering regret, IMO. Keep an eye on it. They may decline some people, which would open up some slots. Next time, jump at it!
About 4 weeks ago, a similar situation arose for me @RosaRosmarin. It would have taken me out of my comfort zone a little because of its location but I was so very tempted I thought I’d give it a shot. Too late, it had gone into “reviewing applications”!
But it wasn’t meant to be because it is still “reviewing applications” after all this time! As the dates were for mid next year, I guess the owner isn’t in a hurry but I would have withdrawn my application after the first few days if there’d been no response.
Mark the Egypt sit as a Favourite as they could well decline a couple of applications and open it up again.
One thing is that it might open up another application spot during their reviewing. Has happende several times to attractive sits I’ve favorited.
Another thing is that it made you think through your situation and what you want, what you can afford etc. - so it is in no way wasted. Your process has possibly made you ready for as a good sit (or better) any time soon. Best of luck!
Tweak your thinking, it just simply wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t the right fit for you at that moment in time… but your perfect sit is bound to show up soon.
You are right, that is a really good outcome indeed! I now really know what I want, how much money I can spend on flights and started actively looking for it, including a saved search.
Usually I know the general location I am going and approximately how much the fair should be. In your circumstance, if there is a sit I really wanted, I would apply for the sit if I think it’s a more desirable one. Then the same day, I would price out flights and make sure I can afford it. If I can’t afford the flight, I would withdraw my application. If the 5 slots are not filled already, no problem. If the 5 slots are filled, and you withdraw your application, I THINK it might be that spot becomes active again.
That all being said, if I really REALLY wanted to do the sit, I would find a way to make it happen. I have waited too long to apply in the past and been disappointed. Or applied and been the 5th person but they already have someone chosen and just not closed the process yet leaving me to be disappointed.
Don’t wait. Do it now.
Good luck.
Always open an application window. After that, there is plenty of time to think and to write. Your application may come in as number seven or eight, that does not matter.
I don’t regret not applying, because I opened the application window and had enough time to read all about the sit, check airfares, etc. But one I’m sorry didn’t work out sticks out: There was a sit in an apartment overlooking a wildlife preserve in Africa (don’t remember which country). Unfortunately, the sit was so close timing wise that airfare was unreasonable.
As I recall, THS staff at one point commented that opening the application window held the spot, so as @pietkuip says, you’d have time to check airfares, write a strong application and such. … The staff comment is the only reason I learned to do that. And it hasn’t failed me yet once a listing has four applicants.
Note: Some folks worry that losing their internet signal while doing the above could cost them the chance to apply. Personally, I’m not worried about that. If that happened, shrug, I’d move on. I’d figure the sit wasn’t meant to be mine.
That’s really interesting news. So basically the moment you open a potential sit, open an application window, then you can read/peruse pics/research at your leisure. Good tip.
It takes me less than a minute to google airfares. (I just need ballpark prices to start with, so I feel comfortable applying.) And I have a draft application ready to customize within a couple of minutes or so. (I have it on a shortcut key on all of my devices.) And I happen to speed read, so I can apply quickly.
I don’t know that I’d apply at my leisure in such circumstances, even with the application window open. Like I wouldn’t go make myself a sandwich and then get back to applying if the listing already had four applicants. (Mentioning that in case extended delay could cost someone their shot.)
About googling airfares: I just enter (origin city X to destination city X) and google spits out a bunch of prices within a couple of seconds. For me, those prices quickly tell me what I need, because I’m not economizing tightly. That might not be enough for some folks.
Yeah, I mean more for the “send a placeholder message so I get a slot and then send a follow-up message” crowd. Seems there’s really no reason to do that. You can just open up the application and take your time to read everything in detail and apply fully from the start.
Are you sure that it goes through? It seems to me that I have attempted to apply to a popular sit and by the time I had written my application, it said the posting was closed.
Mine have all gone through — you can easily tell in your dashboard, because it reflects what you’ve applied for. But of course, that functionality probably has a time limit as well, so if you take a while, you might get shut out. And separately, maybe listings you applied for actually ended up as closed, because the host chose a sitter or canceled their sit while you were applying. In such cases, there’d be no point in holding the application window open, because the sit is no longer in play at all.
I applied for a competitive sit, but I had mixed feelings about it. Sort of sabotaged the chat, it didn’t feel right, I got declined. But not sad.
If money is short, I am not sure Egypt is where you want to go. One, to see a lot, you need to travel to various places, and everyone wants tips. It is not a cheap place to see things. I mean, you could hang in Cairo, don’t know where the sit was, but if you are going to Egypt, I would think you would want to see most of the sites. Not just sphinx and pyramids in Cairo. Or just the ruins in Luxor, wherever this sit was.
but I would have withdrawn my application after the first few days if there’d been no response.