Hello, I have just joined Housesitters, I am retired and live in Malvern which is a great walking area. My husband died four years ago and our adorable rescue dog, Minnie, a year later. I love languages having worked in Austria and Switzerland so would love to do a sit in Austria.
I like the outdoors and being as active. I am well used to dogs having had two plus a cat. All my family bring their dogs when they visit me.
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Hi @Arlyn A very big welcome to the forum.
You’ll find that this forum is an excellent place to make new like-minded friends. We love to share tips, travel stories and pet pictures, help the newer members get established, and even hold in-person meetups from time to time.
If you ever find yourself searching for answers to a particular question, you can use the magnifying glass in the top right of this window to search the forum. There’s a good chance if you have the question, someone else had the same question and posted about it.
I would also like to suggest that you add your profile link to your forum profile here, so other members will be able to “meet” you properly and will see what owners see when you apply for sits
If you go to your Dashboard on the TrustedHousesitters site, scroll to your green profile box, preview and with that link, copy and paste to your forum profile here.
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/how-to-add-a-listing-or-profile-link-to-your-forum-profile
Switzerland and Austria are such great walking areas, so I am sure you going to thrive and give lots of dogs plenty of exercise! When are you thinking of embarking on your first adventure?
Best wishes
Therese and the Forum team.
Hello Therese,
Thank you for your welcome. I want to get my profile on asap but need some time with downloading the photos, not something I have done before. Will have time this evening to do this.
I saw a sit in Salzburg in January which I would love too apply for but proably too late and it being my first one doubtful I would be considered.
Thanks for your help linking my profilelink to my forum profile, will do this tonight.
Best wishes,
Arlyn
Hi @Arlyn and welcome to the forum. I am a sitter based not too far away from you in Cheltenham. I usually sit with my 2 sons (13 and 11) and sometimes my husband too (he doesn’t get as much holiday as the rest of us).
I also have a love of languages, having spent a year at university in France and I lived in Germany as a child. I’m looking forward to doing some housesits in Europe and beyond in time. So far, we have only done housesits in the UK.
A good way to dip your toe in the water and start building up a few reviews is to do a few local housesits to start with. There are usually plenty of housesits in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Once you have a few reviews it is easier to be chosen for sits in more popular locations, or places where there are fewer available sits.
Good luck and you can always ask on this forum if you have any questions. There are lots of helpful folk on here!
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Hi Arlyn,
I agree with the others; you definitely want to link your TH profile to your Forum profile. It does make sense to wait until your TH profile is as good as you think it can be (or say 80% good, because the last 20% can be a time sink). And while this is a great time to be a sitter, with lots of open Christmas sits, I’m a big fan of not rushing. Play the long game.
One tip I’ve seen others recommend is to continually change your location, to be where you want to sit. It’s not a lie if you clar-i-fy. (That rhymes!) The point is if you set your TH profile to say you live in Austria, then Austrian HOs looking for sitters may find you that way and invite you to sit. All you have to do besides changing your location is clarifying in your profile description where you really live and why you changed it to, say, Austria.
Good luck!
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Hello Geoff,
Thank you so much for your advice. I am taking my time to complete my TH profile as I still have to find appropriate photos and learnhow to download them. Is it possible to access others sitters profile so that I have an idea what to say? I am inclined to write too much! Sorry am a bit late in replying to you.
Arlyn
@Arlyn many of us on the forum have linked our TrustedHousesitters profiles to our forum profile. If you click on my name in this post you’ll find a link to my sitter profile. You can also see Therese and Geoff’s profiles by clicking on their names in the thread.
Yes, @Arlyn , that’s a good way to do it. Search “Find a Sitter” and read other sitters’ profiles, especially those who are very experienced and who have many good reviews. Then make sure you add as many character references as you can to your profile, especially from those who have known you a long time. Good luck!
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Thank you Therese, just the sort of information I need.