Hi from Taiwan

[cmpaters]

Hi my name is Christine and I have just joined as a sitter. My husband and I are from the UK but live in Taiwan. Just to make things interesting, we are looking for a sit in California this August when we have promised to take our eldest two granddaughters away for a break before their school starts - a little later than most. They are both very fond of p, as are we, so we feel this could be a perfect solution. However, I am finding the process of getting approved and checked out a little hard to navigate. I am also not clear how to actually apply to owners to see if they are interested in having us stay. Any tips??

[KarenS]

Hello @cmpaters,
Welcome to TrustedHousesitters and the Forum! It sounds like you are an adventurous couple and no doubt will find many fellow travel enthusiasts here, too.

I am presuming a few letters fell off of your mention that your granddaughters are very fond of pets? Unless ‘p’ is a hip term I’m not familiar with And therefore, yes! Travel and pets = a match made in Heaven.

Regarding the approval process being somewhat challenging - could you elaborate? We are here to help and want to make it as seamless as possible.

One suggestion might be to use the ‘magnifying glass’ in the top right corner for any and all subjects relating to the application process you noted also. Here are a couple links from discussions which may provide assistance:
Top tips for writing your sitter profile

Accepting a sitter & confirming

I feel absolutely awful. I made a decision on a sitter and confirmed with her. I had intended to write to a couple of others I was considering to let them know, but before I could do that, I received a sort of ‘not so nice’ response from someone. It was then that I realized once you confirm a sitter, apparently any others you are considering are automatically declined. Lesson learned. I want to write to the others and apologize, and explain that I didn’t know how the system worked and how a…

Confused about protocols for applying for sits

I just joined and applied for my first sit. The sit I applied for shows “0-3 applicants”. It’s been over 24 hours, and I haven’t heard back. My understanding is that once I apply for a sit, I am committing to being available for those dates, so I can’t also apply for another sit with overlapping dates. Is that correct? If the above is correct, then I am essentially in limbo until I hear back from the owner about my application, because I have now committed to those dates and can’t make altern…

Where in California are you most interested in staying? You can ‘save’ favorite destinations whereby you will receive alerts anytime a new listing pops up in that location. Here’s a blog post that goes over How do I create/delete saved search alerts on the app?

It can be a bit intimidating the first time you apply for anything new, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how welcoming this community is with a bundle of resources to help you navigate the process.

Please circle back with any further questions. I hope you find these articles useful and that your first sitting experience is a winner. We’ll be watching:)

Karen S and the Forum Team

[cmpaters]

Thanks Karen - I appreciate the speedy response! I think the problem was that I first of all registered on the site through FaceBook and then tried again with email. Looks like the FB registration is the one that ‘stuck’, so have continued with that. I am now in touch with the owner I contacted in San Diego and hopefully it’s all going through, so I am super happy! It’s a brilliant concept and I look forward to being a full participant in the community

• thanks to all concerned!

[Kelly]

@cmpaters I’m a homeowner is San Diego so if you happen want to visit please reach out we tend to be out of town once a month and need a sitter for our loving Springer.

[cmpaters]

Hi Kelly, I have just confirmed with Helen to sit at their place in August, but good to know that is where you live too - maybe there’ll be an opportunity another time! Thanks for reaching out. Christine