Great advice!!!
I rent out my house through Airbnb during Summer months, so I become a nomad for those months. My lifestyle (lots of travel) doesnât permit me my own pet, so âsittingâ gives me my âpet-fixâ as well as free lodging.
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I would say, if you feel this way, itâs not for you.
I donât use THS app, I find it slow, clunky and the alerts annoying. Iâd have a routine of searching online a few times a day.
Iâve stopped constant house-sitting after doing it for over a year.
Long sits, repeat sits, Airbnb when I needed time away from it, has already been recommended, that worked for me too.
Now, Iâm in my own home & will be going off to do a monthâs house sit in July, again a repeat sit. Iâm looking forward to it because I love the animals & the house.
If this all sounds too much then it is. Maybe get a studio apartment as âhomeâ & try & get long sits intermittently?
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If youâre totally wiped out from working remotely all the time, here are a few things you can try: get into a solid routine, set some boundaries, make your workspace awesome, and tame those pesky notifications. Donât forget to take regular breaks, find time for yourself, and connect with other remote workers in online communities. And remember, it might take some trial and error to figure out what works best for you, so hang in there!
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Hi @soevelyn , Nice to have you on the forum and good to read your kind words of advice.
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@soevelyn welcome! You are absolutely correct. But for housesitters, add to that: Adapting to new pet routines and homes and environments every few weeks, while also making time to look for, apply and correspond with future sits. And packing up and moving! This is enough to stress anyone!
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@Lakeoedo can you explain what system or how you Airbnb just for a few months. Do you hire someone to converse with the visitors and clean?
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I do all the requests for booking myself (remotely) through the Airbnb app. I have a management company that is âeyes on the propertyâ. They digitally change the door code for entrance by my guests. They also secure the property immediately when my guests leave the last day. I pay them $65/month for this service. Their cleaning team cleans the house, and they are paid for that (which I pass onto my guests as a charge).
This house was built as a âvacation rentalâ so I have some personal items out, most of my personal items are stored in my locked âownerâs storageâ.
If you have more questions, you can send to my email, and Iâd be very happy to tell you more. If you want to use Airbnb for your own house, I can give you a link to help with setting everything up.
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Same as @botvot says look for longer duration sits. Iâm semi full time, and have been sitting for almost 2 years. I began locally then expanded to a wider range and longer sit. My first sit this past winter was 2 monthâs and it was awesome. It allowed me time to settle in and feel at home. My 2nd set of winter sits weâre for 2 weeks , one after the other, but only a few blocks from each other in Vermont. Then in April I had another 2 month sit which I just completed. So focusing on landing longer term sits is the most ideal to feel more settled. Also, I was very fortunate as both the two month sits were for catâs who do not requrie as much as dogs. I have my notifications turned off so that doesnât effect me. Since I do not sit in the summer Iâm not constantly looking. I use the website and the app for searches.
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I wonder if you or @Karen_E might close this post given that the questioner hasnât responded (apart from asking another question) to any of these, mostly detailed, answers given?
@Smiley I donât think that is a good reason to close a post. Many people look at the forum who have similar issues and it may be helping other people reading it. Iâve always seen contributing here as more of an effort to help a wider range of people than just the person asking it. All the contributions become an ever expanding resource full of all different questions and topics.
When I answer a question here I donât ever expect the original person to acknowledge my answer in any way as I might if they asked me directly one on one.
While I am sure some people enjoy getting some sort of response to their contribution, I donât think a lack of reply automatically implies any sort of rudeness on the part of the asker or they donât appreciate the advice given.
I donât think anyone should take a lack of response personally.
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Youâre right of course but, equally, I think weâve answered all the possible options as there is a lot of repetition
Hi @Smiley the topic is still active and as @KC1102 says
When there is a specific question asked which is solved and answered in full without any possible expansion we will look at closing the topic otherwise for general discussions we leave open for contributions and there are new members joining everyday many who remain avid readers only.
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I very much appreciate hearing everyoneâs unique ways of articulating this phenomenon and experience of burn out. Iâm not sure what question led you to feel offended about not being receiving a response ; but this thread is uplifting at the moment as Iâm finding myself feeling very very ungrounded and overwhelmed - wondering how and if I can make this lifestyle work more smoothly for me.I say , the more replies and personal experiences shared the better
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@xtinaxxo , I agree itâs helpful to discuss burnout but from my seat I think @Smiley was stating that the person who started the topic seemed to have found the solution to her problem. I think she was just trying to keep the forum on point and organized. Offense did not enter the picture at all.
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Hi @xtinaxxo - hugs to you. It can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Especially if you also have to juggle work and other commitments. We are full-time nomads and our clients (not sitting related) keep talking about us being âon holidayââŚwhen itâs really just a nomadic lifestyle, sigh. Sometimes itâs hard work to keep the status quo going while moving around! We also donât always want to tell them too much of our locations, otherwise they might feel theyâre âfundingâ us, whereas in reality we really do provide them with good work/service (bookkeeping/programming) 
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Hello @xtinaxxo - agree with all these sentiments from @botvot & @mars and more. Full time sitting plus juggling work is full on and takes a lot of effort and planning. Taking longer sits seems to help us as we can get in more of a rhythm and then also remembering to take a proper day off when you can too, so you feel reenergised. Some of my clients are like @botvotâs in that they see our lifestyle as an ongoing holiday. Grit teeth & smile on Zoom 
Donât try and do too much. Find your own rhythm. Take sits that are simpler with less animals or easy to get to. All that stuff helps. Hope it gets easier 
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Thank you. I deeply relate to being a little sore when people assume itâs âholiday or vacationâ. Itâs an innocent comment , but irritating ( to me anyhow ) none the less.
I guess Iâm juggling a lot of thoughts if anything ) arenât we all thought haha !
I think when your basic need of âhomeâ is something you donât have stability with ( im without a permanent address at the moment ) and constantly or often need to perform administrative and logistical research to organize where âhomeâ will be is a lot ! Not to mention the physical labor of settling / re packing - cleaning OR the emotional difficulty of saying goodbye to your new furry friends or comforts. I think this is a reason I donât always feel doing this for âfreeâ is an equal straw deal⌠itâs a lot of work!- especially when you devote your care and love into everything you touch.
Ok , rant over. Throughout this all I am learning maybe lessons ( some more difficult than others )
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This often happens to us. But the worst comment we got was from a hotel receptionist (one filler night between 2 sits) who turned to her colleague and said: These are the people who do âhousesittingâ. (In air quotes!!!)
Why air quotes? We do housesitting and itâs a lot of work! No need to air quote it 
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Yep, we have a family situation at the moment and my bro doesnât understand why I canât just rock up from wherever my current âholidayâ is!
There is a lot of physical and emotional labour involved, but on the whole I think an equal straw deal. Sits vary so much: how much work there is to do, but also how much do you enjoy it!
Also, whatâs available to the sitter varies: we sometimes think of it in terms of âhow much would it cost to rent this place?â and feel quite lucky, with no bills etc!
Weâve found that often where thereâs more to do, or if the accommodation is more modest, hosts leave more in the way of food etc. But tbh, if I particularly wanted to stay in a certain town to be e.g. near family, a small home and more than average to do would nevertheless be worth a lot to me.
Exchanges are complex and different every time, and so impossible to quantify. But I imagine on the whole it evens out - thatâs why TH works so well.
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