We are a new to THS, not new to pet sitting and just had our first house/cat sit confirmed which we are really excited about. We are UK based. I’ve only applied for 2 UK sits so far. I’m interested but nervous about applying for an international sit, specifically US. Realistically what are the chances of getting chosen as a UK based resident - do homeowners prefer sitters to be based in their own country or does it vary on a case by case basis.
Case by case.
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A friend of mine from home ( California) recently confirmed an international sitter so it’s definitely case by case. I think you should just go for it and see what happens. I’m a U.S. based sitter and have been sitting in the UK since late February so it does work. Securing my first international sit this winter was smooth and fast. I say go for it.
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Thank you for the advice.
Thank you.
Hi there
I am US based sitter who has been sitting internationally through THS for 10 years. In almost all cases, I am not currently in the country, or have firm plans to already be there ,at the time I apply.
The good thing about the US is overall, they have way more sits available than sitters to fill them. So you have plenty of opportunities to which you can apply, though more ‘competitive’ areas such as NYC might prove a bit more difficult to land, but not impossible by any means.
And if you were looking to stay there for an extended period and do multiple sits, once you landed one, you would probably increase your chances of getting more if the HO knew you already have definite plans to be there.
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Hi @ChristineB we are New Hampshire/ New England home hosts and would welcome international sitters.
For us, I would ask the sitters to plan to arrive an extra day early just to make sure there are no travel glitches.
We would offer the guest bedroom or we would offer to pay for a local hotel for the extra night and then have the thsitters arrive at our home the night before to review details and then stay in the guest bedroom (or if they wanted to pay their 2nd night in a hotel, that would be fine too.)
We would ask for a copy of the travel plans/flights.
Also keep in mind that the US in general is not known for public transit when looking at listings in the US.
Our listing for example, sitters need a car.
Not sure if we would provide our car to UK driver due do the driving difference.
Good luck
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We plan to be in Perth Australia all of January 2025 so coming from England it’d be an International ‘sit’ however as we’d be visiting with our son and his wife for Xmas it’s kind of local too…
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@ChristineB this may be of interest…
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We’re UK based and have done several sits in the US. We do arrive in the area at least a day early and often combine a general holiday trip with a housesit. We’re off in a week to do 2 US sits with some days to ourselves before, during and after the sits.
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Thanks for replying. Your experience is very helpful.
Thank you. Some great advice.
I did wonder about that. I’ll do a bit more research.
Thank you. Very helpful.
We are located in eastern Canada and almost all of our longish winter house sitters have come from overseas, so far the UK, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain. Note, as in above posting, that Canada and the USA regard house sitters as “workers”, so, therefore, you are tourists who are visiting friends and sightseeing. So, definitely go for it! Best of luck.
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Thank you for the info