I’ve been a sitter on THS for nearly 12 months (I’m in the UK) and with the summer holidays creeping up, I’d quite like to secure a sit on the continent so I can provide my two kids with some kind of summer holiday (albeit THS style!). We only do family friendly sits as they sit with me. So far, we have had wonderful experiences sitting in the UK.
I have noticed that sits located on the continent tend to crop up with only a couple of months or less notice. Hosts are difficult to communicate with when applying because many of them either don’t respond or take weeks!
In my experience however, hosts located in the UK post sits much further in advance and are generally quicker to respond to applications. The same goes for sits located in the US.
We’re in the UK, yes, they definitely don’t book their breaks ahead of time like the UK does, it’s typically a couple of months ahead of time. Owners in Spain respond just as quickly as UK hosts, but I wouldn’t know about other places.
I don’t think it’s necessarily cultural as much as it is supply and demand. Continental European sits are less common than British ones so they can easily get sitters whereas someone in the UK might find it much harder to find someone with only a few weeks to go.
The good continental sits that are several months ahead also tend to disappear within seconds.
I’m a HO in rural France. We did list our upcoming sit months ahead and confirmed someone right away. But six weeks before our trip, the sitters had to cancel. We immediately reposted dates and had new sitters within a few days. So it doesn’t seem worth posting dates months ahead.
I think it is what @Katemarie says. Competition to get a sitter is much harder in UK and can lead to hosts posting earlier to be able to attract a sitter, while popular sits in south of Europe get 5 applicants within minutes, sometimes. So they don’t have to, they get sitters regardless.
That being said, I’ve had applications for UK-sits that go unanswered for weeks and months. I have two applications as we speak that are 4+ months in the UK, and just - crickets. At this point I won’t take the sits even if offered. Just let them hang out of curiosity whether they will answer in any way.
I think since THS is a UK based company with a huge number of hosts in the UK, there is a greater competition to land a good sitter compared to other countries where HO’s are fewer and in higher demand.
Many sitters are after the nicer weather, which makes UK a less desirable pursuit and perhaps not as easy to get to between the geographical challenge and Brexit.
So I do think it’s just a matter of supply and demand!
Never seen a difference in either place.
We have sat round the world and have found no “cultural “ differences in any continent. It’s all about the individual, when they post a listing and reply, how courteous they are, how well behaved their pets are etc etc……I could goon forever the differences we have found with individual hosts. Like sitters there is no fits all package.