I’ve seen a worrying trend of HOs with constant travel dates. For example, one listing with a week or two weeks gone at a time, practically back to back for months. I’m all for travel, but being gone that often can’t be healthy for the pets? I’ve also seen some country homes with pets where the owner is gone for months and months at a time. While I know this may be a dream for a sitter, I also know from sitting that many pets get genuinely sad when their owners are away! No matter how much entertainment and love you provide. I’m a bit confused why people who have pets are traveling all the time? A few times a year okay, but every month? Or most of the year gone?
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Hiya @Hiya
People’s circumstances change -“life happens “ maybe there was a couple with one working away now they are widowed / divorced and so there’s no one at home to take care of the pets .
Their job changed and now they have to travel away more often .
Or they are travelling for some medical treatment or to take care of aged parents .
So many valid reasons why a pet owner’s circumstances have changed and they have to be away from home and their pet.
The change in circumstances may not be permanent - ( they maybe looking to relocate closer to their job etc ) so it’s great if they find a sitter who can step in whilst it’s necessary for them to travel. Win Win.
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We sit for long distance sailors. I’m sure their dogs are far happier in their own homes than in the middle of the Pacific on a 40 foot yacht.
Circumstances change, jobs change, people are temporary moved to different offices or areas. Life is forever moving.
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@Hiya A couple of years ago we sat for man who’d sadly lost his wife the previous year. He needed to work away from home on average twice a month. We were his 15th sitters and it was a unique and memorable sit. I checked the listing recently and he’s had over 100 sitters by now! He has a huge number of great reviews. THS has been an absolute Godsend for him to be able continue his work and keep all his animals happy and safe.
All members will use their membership in different ways that suit their lifestyle, which can be ever changing.
Like a full time sitter he, as a host, is also making maximum use of his membership albeit I’m sure he wishes his circumstances were different 
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@Lokstar I was just going to write about my similar experience. And realized that we were likely at the same Tudor house. 21 pages of great reviews (I’m on page 17).
And he introduced me to what3words to find the named house!
I am so glad that he is continuing with TH. Dogs and cats are great and the house and area are interesting to visit. My first experience with an Aga.
I don’t think this picture is too revealing.
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Are we here to pet sit or to judge pet owners?
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There are already loads of judgy threads about sitters that “just want to do tourism”. So it is a change of perspective. I agree that it is uncalled for.
If nobody travelled, THS could not exist.
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It’s simply opening a discussion around HO behavior, same as other posts. The responses above bring up good points about life circumstances.
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Some people are on FIFO contracts, others have 2 homes, others are visiting family abroad, others are on a rota of care for an elderly parent…. others are retired and doing lots of trips….others are house hunting in other areas.
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I know which sit it is @toml and @Lokstar and I‘ve never been available for his numerous short sits yet! I have to admit his house is what attracts me but his pets look lovely too.
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I have a cat (rescued about 10 years ago) I rarely traveled as I took care aunt at her home . worked 8-10 hours 5/6 days a week for about 5 years.
Since my aunts passing I been back to traveling I have started to travel a few times a year but this year I am about to embark 3rd sit & my 7th vacation of the year (range of time gone 5-8 days).
my ornery independent cat doesn’t have a sitter in fact she could care less I’m gone long as someone comes over to open her can of cat food and clean her litter box. I got stuck in Cali in Feb due to snow longest I had ever been away. I came home she was sleeping in bed, I sat in bed I got a dirty look and she demanded food. Like any other typical day when I’m home. Most times I don’t even know I have a cat ugh
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Yes, I’ve seen this occasionally and it makes me wonder why some people have pets if they’re away so often…but as pointed out there are sometimes good reasons
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@toml Yes its the same sit! Anyone who has done it would probably recognise it from my post & yours! I remember that kitchen well- so cosy! & those sweet doggies! I found your review on page 17 and checked the dates- amazingly we did the weekend directly before you!! 
What a small world! I remember the weather that weekend was appalling!! Very cold & continuous rain- we got so wet and muddy walking the dogs & doing all the chickens (looks like he no longer has the chickens?) that it was not the most comfortable experience! We didn’t actually leave a review- back in those days we didn’t always give feedback (as it was then) if we weren’t super happy. (Now we always do) But we liked ‘W’ and always wish him well and we loved his sweet dogs & cats. We will certainly never forget that sit!!
I think we’d have a very different experience in good weather!
I just went on the app to check the numbers again (I was writing from memory in my last post) We were actually sitters no.35 & you were 36! And there have been 138 sitters to date- 104 of whom gave reviews!! That must be a record!
@temba I’m sure there’ll be plenty more opportunities for you to do that sit if you want to! 
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@Lokstar what a coincidence. The drive from London that Sunday was terrible. But the weather cleared and my days were good for getting out and about. It was a great sit for me because I needed to fill a few days between a sit in Hayes, south of London and a sit near Stoke-on-Trent. I thought I’d need 3 or 4 hotel nights but this sit and the next folks inviting me to come a day early solved that. I did 5 sits over 6 weeks with only 1 night, the last before flying home, in a hotel.
My second night I thought the house was haunted - One of the cats had hidden away upstairs during the day and jumped on the bed while I was sleeping.
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@temba - Great house - shows its age and comfortable. Nice towns to visit nearby.
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@toml same here- It was a gap fill sit for us too! Before it we’d been sitting in Spain but had to shorten a (horror!)sit over there from 10 weeks to 6. We then had an unexpected month to fill before the next sit started in Germany. So we flew to the UK for the month (housesit paradise!) and did 4 back to back sits including the one in question! We literally flew in and drove straight to the first sit and directly back to the airport from the last sit- no gaps at all! 
I love how easy it is to do endless back to back sits in the UK! We take it as a personal (fun!) challenge to avoid all hotel costs when over there!
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@temba @toml @Lokstar I know which sit that is too. It often appears in one of my saved searches, but the days don’t work for us!
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@Hiya
Obviously real pet lovers 
Yes, pets need care and love…from Owners or Sitters. It can be upsetting to see a pet getting anxious, and then depressed when Owners leave.
Like @ElsieDownie I sit for boating Owners. I enjoy months long “summer” sits, so Owners can enjoy their passion on the water, free of pet care for a time.
This isnt a “Worrying Trend”. Life can go through dramatic changes at a moments notice.
While a two-month annual boating trip was normal, suddenly their Retirement from business has launched even longer plans.
They now want me back here June 2025 for a one year sit to June 2026 - my longest so far in 5 years of Sitting.
Owners are in the typical “Go-Go” phase of Retirement to “Do it now while healthy”. Later the “Go Slow” and lastly “No Go” phases will eventually end their travels. This is a Normal pattern.
Like you, I am a little confused with this new situation. As a Sitter, I care for their doggie as much as I can while I am here, then it ends. Sitters seek out as few, or as many new places to visit as they desire. I compared the shock to The Matrix movie, not sure if I am living in the “Real World” or in the “Dream World”
As a human being, I am a little concerned MY own Retirement “Go-Go” plans may be affected by the Owners 1 year trip. Am I putting my own Life on hold just to House Sit?
So I decided I must build in a big house sit break, 8 months starting in September. I have my own trip plans to look forward to.
An Owner who travels frequently shouldnt be worrying. This is House Sitting.
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I know exactly how you are feeling.
We lived /sailed our own yacht for five years round the Atlantic with some pet sitting here and there. Then we did a two year road trip in North America with lots of pet sitting. Now we are settled in south of England in the spring/summer and somewhere warmer in the colder months mostly pet sitting.
Is that our adventures finished? I don’t think so! The Far East, Australia and Eastern Europe are beckoning. I’ll give up just before my last breathe.
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