International Sits

I am new to the service and super excited to get started! Before I signed up to sit I had literally mapped out multiple great and interesting opportunities (and started researching travel) but by the time I completed the process, every single one had disappeared (I mean about 15 of them). I am wondering if the HO, when they register, can indicate they will not allow foreign applicants? Or, is there any way to contact them to further discuss? For those of us who are well-seasoned travelers, I have always found it customary to “pad” travel both for ourselves but, in these instances, the HO should anything arise. I also looked at many in areas I lived or studied abroad and am very familiar with, including the travel. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Look forward to working with house and fur-baby owners.

Hi @CDskisCO . I’m not sure what you mean by ‘disappeared’. Were these live sits, ie, ones with dates? It could just be that the home-owner found a sitter or decided not to proceed. Sits in popular areas can be very quickly snapped up by eager sitters. One thing to be aware of is that there is a five applicant limit at which point further applications are ‘paused’ for the home-owner to review; if they accept one, then obviously the sit is closed; if they declined one or more then more applications are allowed until the five limit is reached. If you are in a different time zone, a sit could be posted and filled whilst you were asleep!

There is no filter for a home-owner to do this. They may indicate a preference in their listing. You could always explain that you’ll be in XYZ country (eg, one sitter from Alaska applied to me in the UK, and mentioned they would be coming from Italy on their travels, not all the way from Alaska).

You can only contact a home-owner who has a live listing. Even if you cant make those dates, if it’s one you are particularly keen on you could ‘apply’ to explain that (and withdraw your application so as not to mess up the five applications limit) as you’ll then be able to contact each other in future so long as your messages are in your inbox.

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HI @CDskisCO and welcome to THS and the forum! The forum contains a wealth of information to help you get started.

@Ketch gave you some good information. Since the pause after five feature was started it has become important to be quick as some sits can be grabbed up quickly.

Have you done saved searches? And have you “favorited” any listings (done by clicking on the little heart) ? In your settings, make sure you have approved emails and notifications from THS and you will then receive notifications as soon as your saved and favorited listings post new dates.

A few suggestions. You can add your profile to your forum profile by following these instructions: How to Add Your Profile to Your Forum Profile

And you can use the little magnifying glass in the upper right to search topics. Many things you may want to know about have been discussed and you will find advice, suggestions, thoughts and comments there.

Aside from your experience as travelers, know that home/pet owners are most interested in care of their pets. They want to see references and reviews in addition to your experience with animals, so include that information in your profile and applications.

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I don’t think they can block international sitters but they can say they would prefer not to have international sitters apply.
It is wholly possible that 15 sits have been filled or are awaiting decisions by the HO. Under this new regime, each sit only gets five applications then it gets paused. If you are looking at popular ones then they will have gone.

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Thank you, great intel. I was very sad my “plans” wouldn’t pan out but this makes sense. Onward and upward! Happy travels :slight_smile:

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Chin up. There’s always another better one round the corner. We are doing a US/Canada road trip and we have fantastic sits lined up and still adding to them. It’s an amazing way to travel. We are from the UK and having no problems getting sits abroad.

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Conclusion Of Pausing Application Test - Updated Post