Mods, please delete if outside guidelines.
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I like the way the international sitter emphasises, its not just free accommodation, there are responsibilities and if you arenât up for those, then house and petsitting isnât the right choice.
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The problem is that the emphasis is âtravel the world for freeâ. Itâs not free. Itâs a barter.
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I think that the term âtravel the world for freeâ is always going to be a contentious issue but I agree, I wish it werenât worded that way.
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@Val The international sitter makes the responsibility side very clear nearer the end of the article.
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âTHS is also notable because, unlike on other sites, on THS homeowners canât charge security deposits or other fees.â
UmmmâŚI think utility costs would kinda be another fee.
Not bad overall but missing the emphasis of pets and responsibilities, which is the back bone of THS and no overlap sits.
Congrats Carla (@ carla not showing in drop downâŚ)
Years ago I started a keto diet.
It was like loving on another planet even with my closest friends who thought I would die any day from excessive olive oil consumption.
A couple years into it, a friend brought me a magazine from a supermarket with a cover story something like âketo: the new weight loss rage.â
It was then I felt like my planet had been invaded by the superficial sound bite sells magazine missing the point Martians.
Just sayinâ
@HelloOutThere i thought this was pretty clear there are responsibilities. âStill, she warns that home and pet-sitting isnât just a free vacation â it comes with real responsibilities that vary from sit to sit. That can mean walking dogs, feeding chickens, or even caring for horses or reptiles. Tasks such as administering pet medications are part of many stays, too. If travellers arenât prepared for those responsibilities, she recommends they donât travel this way. And there are other potential drawbacks to the pet-sit requirement in general: Travellers who prefer long nights out on the town or day trips away from a home base may feel that being tied to pet duties isnât worth it.â
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@Brightlight yup. Saw that. Thanks.
Lately it feels like Housesitting is a full time job. Not just the actual sits, but the amount of effort to get a sit, communicate with potential sits, future sits, and ongoing sits.
I wish I did a log last week of my communications!
One sit had a future roommate who wanted to start his lease early-while I was there- and didnât understand why I wouldnât allow it.
One potential sit kept delaying an interview, we eventually did a one hour phone call, only to find they chose someone else- 2 weeks later.
Then thereâs the waking up in the middle of the night checking for sits because Iâm in a different time zone than where I plan to be in a month.
I am fully nomadic, so I donât have a home to go back to, and yes the crazy rates for Air BnB short stay type places is getting ridiculous! Housesitting is not for everyone!
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I have started to understand how difficult that is. I am trying to fill the gap between two very nice confirmed sits in England. So now dates have become quite a restriction.
Shall I compromise on the homes or on the pets? Would it be more efficient to postpone applying until HOs are forced to make faster decisions?
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@ziggy we read that article a couple of days ago and D said âthereâs not much emphasis on pet sittingâ. We were talking about pet/house sitting with strangers in a pub yesterday who wanted to know why we are in the UK. We happen to mention that we are going to France and Italy next week for a month holiday and he said âbut isnât pet sitting being on holiday?â Yeah/no! I then told him about the responsibilities and pressures of house/pet sitting! J xo
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Hi @Crookie howâs the UK treating you and D? Hope you are having a great time.
I think the way the article is written could have been done a little differently. What @Brightlight said in her post above, should probably have been highlighted at the beginning of the article and not at the end. The article would then have begun the story with the actual responsibilities involved rather than beginning with the impression of sitting being âhaving a holidayâ. Probably the journalistâs error in this regard as I do believe that Sharyn, as mentioned in the article, gave a pretty good understanding of what itâs about (given there was obvious restrictions as to how much space could be given to the full article). They realistically got the article upside down lol So I think we could put a bit of the onus on the Journalist for creating a ânewsworthyâ article that she probably thought made good and exciting reading. Media, thatâs what they do hey 
I did only post the topic just for interests sake for a bit of a change of scenery on the Forum 
Enjoy France and Italy, Iâll be there next month x
Whatâs the proportion of nomad travelers/retired folks who are sitters? I have an acquaintance who travelled Europe using THS for a year but via a Motorhome to fill in any gaps.
Interesting question @BonnyinBrighton 
I think there is quite a lot, I have personally been a nomad sitter for five years now and I know many are much longer than that. Unfortunately canât travel Europe for longer than 90 days due to the Schengen visa rule.
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Greetings all, from beautiful Switzerland! Iâm going to be naughty and copy a response I had from a Host re House Sitters⌠fortunately I say, we were offered and accepted another appointment very quickly in this interim. The first Host promised a decision âover the weekendâ so 3 days later, assuming weâd missed, I wrote him a polite note withdrawing our application. Quickly told to hang on, he hadnât decided. I explained that as International Sitters, we applied as great Sits become available especially with summer posts in popular areas getting quick applications( France). He said we were his second choice(?.. please, no-one likes being âsecondâ)but his first choice hadnât responded so do we want the Sit? All I said back was we were booked now and I was disappointed a fellow Sitter (first choice!)had not communicated. Iâll copy his reply ⌠standby.
In the meantime, Happies to all for Easter! F.
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Hello again⌠So here is what one Host believes (Edited name to maintain privacy of Host)âŚ
âYes, some of the âvolunteersâ want 5* treatment for their âfree holidayâ like transport to and from the airport, use of my car etc. Iâm a bit of a harrumph and feel that the balance is getting loss (sic)and swinging from the person entrusting their home to somebody FoC to the person receiving that privilegeâ.
Hmmmm, weâre so disappointed that a Host feels like that.
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Oh @Tasmazias that is truly horrible. What a terrible thing to say! And volunteers??? Wow, thatâs one to tell the grandkids one day!! 
Happy Easter to you also from Brissie. 
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I think they mustâve had Irish passports thenâŚ. or maybe before Brexit was finalised. They now live in the Channel Islands.
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