Flow disruption is a good one. Cognitive derailment. Zone erosion. Mindspill. We’ll need to make new expressions! 
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Exactly 
I am also a digital nomad, laptop work from home type. And that is exactly why sits work for me, too–I am not on vacation during them, and I am on a much slower, drawn out schedule where I’m not trying to maximize all my opportunities in a location. I’m actually enjoying the peace and solitude of the home and the pet-cuddles. If I do want to see sights it is at a much more relaxed pace peppered throughout the sit. Not a disruption. Mostly I tend to explore the area immediately surrounding the home
I applaud you on being clear–I’m also pretty clear on what I won’t do for a sit. But exit strategies and backup options are sometimes a challenge. I was lucky in this case that it’s off-season in Dubai, that helped. And that my credit card had enough balance, lol.
I guess part of having more security here is just…having stronger financial backing, especially in a location where you don’t have a huge network of friends or family.
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You can get relatively short-ish, cheap-ish flights from Dubai to plenty of cheaper places/ countries in the region, some where you can go to the beach instead of just being hot! India, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.
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I’m not a nomad — I can always go home. I love nesting too much to ever go nomadic. But if I pursued that lifestyle, I wouldn’t take sits where or when I couldn’t afford a fallback. To me, that would be part of my agency and self-care.
I have hired and managed full-time nomads before. We discuss safety nets / backup plans, because not only do we not want their work to be disrupted, we don’t want them to be stranded or otherwise jammed.
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3 posts were split to a new topic: Help needed!
Oh believe me I know! I’ve done it many times 
Been visiting Dubai on and off for ten years, in fact just did a small tour of many countries in your list which I also frequent and love. Dahab, Egypt is probably my fav place to recover spiritually and financially on a Dubai exit.
But I actually LOVE the summer in Dubai and don’t mind going to the beaches here either. They’re getting better!
And right now I cannot fly out of UAE as I am in process for some things in the city (jobs, a long visa, etc.) and I have another sit here coming up.
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I hear you. I mean I had the backup finances ready just in case and I do know the city. It just stresses me out to do the room search and shift so suddenly and quickly. (In 24 hours versus over the course of some days.) And last-minute, rushed bookings are always more expensive and riskier.
I thought we were in the final stretches of the sit and that the HO seemed calmer. So I had also recently booked some expensive accommodation for my upcoming “week off”. Literally purchased all that the day before things blew up. It’s a lesson to never be sure you’re in the clear with a problematic sit until it’s over or you’ve actually left.
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How I wish I could love nesting. I love a comfy place, but after 4-8 weeks, I get itchy again and want to move on 
curse of the nomad. Tried it with my own homes and it’s the same.
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We’re fortunate, because we can choose what fits us best. Plus, we can always change our minds. 
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I’m both a HO and a sitter on this site. I have never done a sit that only took 1-2 hours per day to honor my agreement. I see it as my responsibility to give the pets the attention they want and need and to take that into consideration when I apply for a sit.
I would not be happy if someone watching my very happy and active little dog only spent 1-2 hours per day of attention to her needs. Not only that, the way to get uninterrupted work time is to see that her needs are met. She will gladly spend the rest of her time calmly sitting in the living room window watching the world go by if she’s had proper exercise—otherwise she would be giving the sitter nose nudges to show she needs indoor play or a walk which can be annoying and easily avoided with proper attention.
I don’t accept digital nomads without clear expectations of my dog’s need for play time and walks during the coolest parts of the day. It’s fine for people to choose that lifestyle but it shouldn’t have any impact on care for my home and my dog. Just my 2 cents. Best wishes.
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I think you didn’t read the rest of the convo, but it’s fine.
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I read the whole conversation and thread and I empathized with “likes” by lots of what you said. That said, as a pet parent, what stood out to me was the small time commitment/day you expressed. It may have not have been what you meant, but what I heard, is that you prefer sits where the pets don’t get in the way of what you consider to be your private and work time. Though I appreciate that you do your best at selecting LOW MAINTENANCE pets, that’s just never a guarantee. I think we just have a different way of thinking about petsitting through TH. I see my role as doing what I want to do, AROUND the pet(s) schedule/needs, not the other way around. That’s exactly how I phrase it in my listing.
Perhaps the protective pet owner in me, reacted a little strongly. I am sorry that it wasn’t the sit you were expecting and that you had to make emergency arrangements when you left the sit. That would be very stressful.
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It was 1-2 hours of troubleshooting in addition to feeding, cuddling and playing. There was more to the convo. Trust me no pet gets a lack of attention on my sits, I am obsessed with them. But I also do have my own boundaries.
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Additionally I don’t think high maintenance and super needy pets should be on TH in the first place, or if so, this should be made very clear in the listing and early discussions in full detail, and perhaps targeted at retired people or those with less to do each day.
Instead, many pet parents minimize issues and requests to attract applicants, then force them through situations.
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This is not normal and an unacceptable way to treat a guest. So sorry HO is being verbally abusive/controlling; sounds like HO lacks social skills and has a personality disorder and/or mental health issues. Keep communications short, professional/factual, and minimal. Google grey rock responses. Answer back with “noted”, “done”, and document everything. These types will blame/shame you for things you didn’t do.
I’m glad to hear that you actually spend more time with the pets than 1-2 hours per day. It was likely my Pet Owner protective response. I agree with you wholeheartedly that people need to be upfront about high maintenance pets. There are definitely people who need to pay for pet care, not going through TH. The key is the pet owner’s objectivity about their pet’s behavior/needs and the sitters ability to suss that out prior to accepting the assignment.
You’re making an assumption that retired people could do it because they have less to do each day. I’m retired AND I’m a busy person. I travel to explore the area around the pet(s) needs. I specifically ignore sits that say their pets can’t be left alone for at least 4 hours on some days. We each have to find what works for us as long as the pets get great loving care. Best wishes.
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That’s not ok. Sounds like HO is an abuser. Keep all communications short and professional.
(Post edited by the Forum Team to comply with the Community Rules).
I just went through the exact same thing you’re going through on a sit in Hawaii (of all places?!). I had to vacate immediately and book myself a hostel to stay for the remaining 8 days. Fortunately the hostel was not too expensive and I have savings for emergencies like these. It ended up being $450 out of my pocket since THS insurance didn’t cover my situation 
but I ended up having an amazing time and meeting great friends at the hostel so I would not have traded that in for the world. Sometimes the universe puts you into a situation so you can get to where you need to be. Yeah it sucks having to stress about finding alternate accommodation, but luckily there are means of surviving even for us digital nomads. In the end, I’m sorry about your poor experience. There are some really nasty awful HO’s out there, and some are using this application. This is a good learning experience for you to realize what warning signs you missed/ignored and how you can screen better moving forward. Ask questions!!! On your next petsit interview. Do not be afraid to ask questions that will give you the peace of mind you need to be successful on a sit. Not every HO is insane and rude and treats us like unpaid slaves.
Anyway I hope you figured it all out by now. And again sorry you had to go through this. But know you aren’t alone because I just went through literally the same exact thing a month ago and it turned out fine. We didn’t write eachother reviews but I highly encourage you to write an honest review that isn’t slandering/dragging them too much. Just be objective and calm and try to warn other sitters, if you want.
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Well I finally typed it all up and sent it to TH in a PDF. Got a bit exhausted going through our whole chat history but did include a few screencaps. I’m very ready to just file this experience away and not deal with it again.
In writing it all down I realized there were more issues than I was making myself aware of…I tend to just roll with things and maybe had been rolling too far?
Part of it is that this was a long sit, 5 weeks, so I was just trying to keep going.
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Well done - that sounds very thorough . An important detail did you title the e-mail Member Dispute ?
Unless you use these words THS don’t start an investigation .
Please let us know the outcome of the Member Dispute
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