Those are frustrating. Oh, I get to spend $700 on a New Year’s Eve hotel room? Thanks…
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London shuts down between Xmas and early January though. Tough even to get a train, and it’s light out for 5 minutes.
Do shops, museums, theatre and restaurants actually close for that entire week? In the US big cities all of those things are open, except for Christmas Day.
“It’s light outside for, like, 5 minutes”
@Elvador . In my opinion as a sitter is great time. For me is a good experience to have christmas or new year in a new location, with new culture and traditions.
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Thank you so much @SitterSandy !
This makes me feel so good! We are so hopeful to find someone who will take good care of our girls while we are gone! I’m excited to be part of this community. We have several trips coming up this next year so it feels good to be part of a loving and collaborative community!
I also appreciate your suggestions for the best experiences. That helps me think about those things that we’ll want to make sure we mention to any potential sitters.
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Cleeflang, we have a sit in London at Christmas and the museums, art galleries that I have looked at are just closed Dec 24-26.
Hoping for at least 30 mins of daylight in a day
You might get 30 minutes but it will be raining 
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Who cares if there’s daylight if all your activities are indoors?? 
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The sun just pokes its head in to say hi and then leaves.
As owners we find it a terrible time to find sitters. We have been on the site for around 6/7 years and usually only get one or two responses for Christmas. Last year we had zero applicants and ended up closing our account which we have now reinstated for a new season of travelling.
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We have recently just signed up and we’re expecting a lot of people to get in touch. However we have realised that is not the case. Perhaps because our dates are in between Christmas and new year. Have other people experienced a similar situation over the festive period?
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Hi @andreanjohn & welcome. Christmas and New Year is a boom time for sits so it needs to have lots of appeal and not start and finish on key dates if possible. You can add your listing to your profile on here and then forum members can give you feedback to help you attract great sitters 
You have plenty of time and some people won’t be thinking that far in advance yet.
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Hi @andreanjohn. Welcome and thanks for posting!
@Cuttlefish really said it all, and I’ll just agree.
Christmas and New Year is a total sitter’s market. The best thing you can do now is link to your listing (the way Cuttlefish said) and ask for feedback to make it as good as you can.
Off the top of my head, some other things you may want to think about:
- If your only sit is then, then you’ll have no reviews before that. Sitters may be wary, especially when they have choice.
- Location is key. If you’re like in NYC, then you won’t have an issue and your listing could honestly be meh. If you have a great sit but it’s in East Texas (where I am), then other factors come into play and you’d want photos like if you were selling your home (just an idea, not a must).
- Last Christmas, I distinctly remember a sitter who was sad she’d booked an early Christmas sit, because later a ton more came out and they were even better. So you really want a good fit here: You want sitters whose first choice would be your sit, or who at least are content with your sit and won’t flake later. You’ll probably just have to use your intuition after a video call or two.
- Always have a backup plan. Pretend your committed sitters get the flu.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes!
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@andreanjohn Its still 6 months till your sit so I would not worry at this stage about lack of interest. Many sitters, ourselves included, are not looking for Christmas sits yet, especially one with short dates.
I agree with all the advice of @Cuttlefish & @geoff.hom
I would add that I think your sit is more likely to attract local sitters who don’t have to consider expensive travel costs at thst time of the year.
Personally I would not be interested in a sit at that time that does not include Christmas and New Year as we like to feel a bit settled somewhere over the holidays. We have done Christmas sits each of the last 5 years- all 3/4 weeks long and all international involving flights Longer dates help avoid the peak flight/accom prices.
Make your sit as appealing as possible and I’m sure you’ll find someone but perhaps not yet- so early in the year! Good luck!
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Please can anyone give me advice how to attach my listing here so people can give me tips? Thanks
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@andreanjohn I added a link to your listing to your forum profile so others can view your listing and provide feedback.
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@andreanjohn I really like your listing and have favourited it. I especially like the way you have made it sound so welcoming to families (I have 14 and 12 year old boys). Louie and Charlie look adorable, and I love the picture of Charlie drooling! What treat were you holding when that was taken?! Labradors really do love their food!
I think UK based sitters with their own transport would be the best fit. As others have said, sitters may not be looking for Christmas sits just yet. We normally sit locally to us in Gloucestershire over Christmas, so that we can ask permission for my elderly mother to join us for Christmas dinner, but I haven’t started looking yet.
I note you have said that you probably wouldn’t ask sitters to walk the dogs as Louie is scared of other dogs. Some might see this as a distinct advantage in December / January! However some sitters love walking dogs and you have great walking countryside nearby, so they might find this disappointing. Many experienced sitters might be confident and happy to walk them if they understand how Louie’s fear affects him when he encounters other dogs on walks, and if you are able to recommend quieter places to walk. We are usually happy to drive to somewhere to walk and have walked anxious / reactive / leash reactive dogs on other sits. Many other sitters will be the same. So this might be something to discuss with prospective sitters.
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I like the Christmas sits that also include New Year’s Day!
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