Just reading through the “where have all the sitters gone” thread and all the frustrations that pet owners are facing just now.
A thought occurred. I know this happens for a lot of sitters who do repeat sits but people like me who like to keep moving do not really do repeats. Why not have a thread listing when and where sitters are available then pet owners can ask someone to sit first then plan (if possible) their breaks/holidays knowing that they have a guaranteed sitter? It might cut down peoples frustrations.
Will you allow something like this THS?
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That’s a great idea 
!
I am already worrying, because we might be away for 3 months next year. Horrible thought if I wouldn’t be able to find a sitter.
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There are no definite plans yet, but as we also would have to think about the 90 days, I would say that the sit would likely not be longer.
Sorry not 100% sure what you mean…
If it’s what I think you mean, would an illustration on every sitter’s profile showing a coloured area with dates be the same thing?
I’m a visual learner. I need diagrams!
Example: A pic of the UK with Surrey in orange plus May dates, then London in Green plus May/June dates, then Kent in blue plus June dates?!
Or have I totally misunderstood? 
Bit complicated.
A list of dates and where a sitter is likely to be so a pet owner can contact and book them then arrange their holiday knowing they have a confirmed sitter.
It wouldn’t work for everyone but it might take some of the frustration out of what is happening just now.
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@ElsieDownie Still not getting it, sorry to be so dense. 
What is happening now?
Pet owners are putting listing up and getting no response. The balance has gone sceewif and there are far more pet owners than sitters so there is a lot of frustration.
If sitters could list (somewhere) dates and places they are available then owners could book a sitter first then arrange their holiday. Of course this would only work in certain circumstances but I think it would be worth looking at.
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Too many posted sits…not enough sitters applying
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Theoretically, isn’t that what the availability calendar is for? A sitter’s location is whatever they choose to put on their profile at a given time.
Having said that, I know the availability calendar just doesn’t work for most people - non intuitive and often inaccurate. Maybe it needs to be scrapped in favour of something like your suggestion.
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The ‘availability calendar’ doesn’t work. It’s impossible to understand. Most HOs and sitters don’t use it.
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but where i am now it’s going to be where i can sit next month. and certainly won’t be where i can sit next year.
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Exactly. My home is in Bournemouth UK which is on my profile. We travel so todays location isn’t even the same as next week. The idea is to slowly work our way through US, Canada and Mexico. We know roughly when we will be in certain places so it would be convenient for us and probably a lot more sitters to list these dates and locations somewhere so pet owners can have a look when they are planning their holidays.
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Hopefully when they change the calendar system they’ll integrate a location so people can put when they’ll be where. without that it’ll remain pretty useless. currently i just make my location the largest city in the region where I’ll be looking for sits in the next couple months.
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Think we are going to have to try that. There’s not many sits in Newfoundland and Labrador but we are not giving up hope yet. We were accepted for a peach of a sit in Cape Breton after almost giving up.
Good luck with your endeavours.
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Thanks! Good luck to you too!
agreed, it needs to be improved and ideally allow for location for given dates
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Cape Breton is a wonderful place - enjoy!
Sounds like a great idea as I know that the calendar is counterintuitive. I updated mine yet still received invites. I agree a different format for showing desired locations and availability. I’m wondering too if a lot of folks who work remotely have gone back to workplaces and not traveling as much. I know for me I still need to work and make money seasonally as my retirement benefit is just not enough so thinking there could be multiple reasons this is happening.
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Where have all the sitters gone to?
We hope to be away all of the summer of 2023 - any chance, Dusenzofe, that we could work out our travel plans to coordinate?