Hi, I’m new to the platform and am looking to use it while travelling in Australia. I was wondering if anyone could share their experience on how much in advance HO’s usually publish their listing. I’m currently looking for sits in May; though there are some, the majority is for Mar/Apr. Can I expect more coming up closer to May or is it not really predictable?
Thanks!
Hi Margo. I am Australian and have been sitting full-time for over five years now. I just had a quick look at Australian sits for May/June and stopped scrolling after the first twenty as there are so many so I’m not sure what you are seeing.
We Australians tend to travel a lot longer than most other countries I think, we have four weeks annual leave plus lots of other long holidays so people travel often for long terms. Also, it’s a big thing here to do what we call “the loop” which is driving/caravanning right around Australia. That’s a loooong way and people take up to six months or more to do it so there is pretty much always sits going all year and they are increasing from what I see.
Nobody can say how far in advance a HO will start looking for sitters, it’s pot luck so you just have to keep checking the site. But as I mentioned, I see a LOT of sits for May onwards here now.
Remember, Australia is a very big country and distances between cities are long so have a map with you when looking at locations. For example, Australia has the longest distance between two capital cities in the entire world - Perth to Adelaide, a direct driving distance of 2,695 klms! I worked on a cattle station once and it was an hour’s drive to the mailbox 
Good luck with your plans.
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That may be the majority that shows up now. The desirable longer sits have probably already been taken.
To see those, you can make a Saved search and get notified of new ones.
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Hi @margo
I would recommend you also join aussiehousesitters
They are Australia-specific and always have a decent amount opportunities listed
Their membership is not expensive and a shout-out on this group will probably get you someone with a discount referral code
Edited to remove link as per posting terms
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@Colin I was going to mention that site but wasn’t sure I could on here. 
Also MindaHome is nearly as popular. I sit full-time in Oz from both these sites, huge amount of sits. Obviously I use THS as well 
Can give the OP a discount code if they would like one sent privately.
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Hi Colin, thanks for this! I’ll have a look, it sounds like a great addition to THS 
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Hi, thanks for your elaborate reply! I was more curious about how the platform works, rather than nervous about there not being enough sits available. But I guess it’s just going with it
So how’s your experience been (if you are willing to share)? Any tips for someone who’s about to start?