Thanks for the input. I appreciate the effort you put into this response.
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Here here. I think this entire response should be a template as it addresses so many excellent points as well as answers some of the questions people have when they encounter something that is not part of their known and current concepts of living, being and thinking.
You are truly excellent at what you do here @Angela_L
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Iām with angela on this one.
We often do local-ish sits, esp short weekend ones as thatās when weāre available or thatās all that is/was avail. In NZ or parts of Oz, 2hrs drive could get you to a cool little town to meet good people (homeowners) and a furry friend to be with 
.
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Our furthest sit from home was maybe 2.5 hours drive. Our closest 45 minutes and literally down the road from a small town where I used to work. AT every one, weāve enjoyed exploring the area and finding new and interesting places
We agree with almost everything @Angela_L says. We love pets and want to spend time with them, thatās our main motivation. We now realise that we can have a holiday and a total change of scenery without travelling far from home. We can visit and really get to know places we have only previously seen signposted from a main road. Simple things like opening the curtains each morning to a completely different view than the one we have at home can make such a refreshing change.
We are a family of 4 with 2 children in school and I work in a school. The children and I have more holiday than my husband. If we sit close to home my husband can still join us even if he has to continue to commute to work,
Weāve stayed on modern housing estates, villages, in cottages in the woods, in the city, and in a historic former pub. Weāve discovered beautiful riverside scenery, fabulous woodland walks, amazing green areas and ponds in the city, castles, churches, fords, country pubs, nature reserves, commons, beautiful country parks. There is something wonderful to be found everywhere if you explore with an open mind!
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Hello Petermac, Iām curious, how did the pet owners know you were in Singapore? Can we change our location on THS??
By the way, I love SE Asia! I completed several sits in Vietnam and Laos.
I will contact membership services too. I love your experiences!
Thank you!
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Iām imagining the Airbnb reviews: āI didnāt meet the hosts. They had an unpaid housesitter doing all the work, and still took my money.ā
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I think HOs shouldnāt rely on ālocalā sitters, unless itās clear that the sitter is full-time. Iām getting a fair few invitations this week from local HOsālike, walking distance or bus trip local. I have a home and a schedule. Itās not worth it to me. Maybe someone who has roommates (or are transitioning from a relationship) would be interested.
That said, something out of the cityā1 hour+ drive, in a nice spot, Iād consider.
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Before THS we had ONLY local sitters. Most of them living in the same small town as we do:
A twenty year old, who was thrilled to have a place of her own, a young couple, who both lived in their parentās house (they probably didnāt leave our house at all), my former regular cleaning lady, all of them actually living around the corner.
I understand that being a sitter on THS, even as a not full time traveler, itās different, but sometimes, especially for short sits of +/-5 days, arrangements with a local are much easier. They usually brought their own bedding, so washing all the sheets wasnāt necessary for both sides and they could jump back home for anything they had forgotten to bring along.
There were many reasons to do the sitting for our cats and all of us were happy with it.
For short absences I would always prefer a local.
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Being a nomad with no roof to call home, I often apply to sits in my āresidentā city. This past summer, a first-timer requested the sitter to also do the laundry from their Airbnb unit in their backyard. I thought thy should have paid me. I was an Airbnb superhost and paid cleaners when I couldnāt do the turn over. A cleaner came for less than an hour (who got $65 - a check I was to leave with clean laundry), but it took me a couple of hours to do the laundry. I also had to do quite a bit of cleaning in the house to be comfortable so needless to say, never again.
I feel some owners who only seek locals are trying to save money and are abusing TH system. Local services or apps like Rover would cost them minimum $20 just to stop by and feed the pet. People charge or $100 to stay over night.
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it seems like they have confuse trusted housesitters with WorkAway
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I was shocked to receive a local request yesterday, right after accepting one in Chicago. The bonus for us, Roger will be working his normal job, and Iāll be sitting with the pets all day. Yay for local sits!!! Looks like my December is almost completely full. Just so excited to begin this new journey with THS.
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Thatās wonderful news Joanne and great to hear about all your bookings!! We are just as excited to watch your journey with us at TrustedHousesitters!! Happy weekend!!
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Thank you @Vanessa-Admin-Iām a firm believer that if something is meant to happen, it will.
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Totally agree with you.
Itās an old concept, a community of people that help each other.
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Do many of you get invited to sit by homeowners nearby? I have had this a few times now. I live in Prestatyn in North Wales and I have been invited by a few HO in nearby towns like Colwyn Bay, Mold, Holywell. I reply by thanking them for their invite but I then go on to explain that my reason for Housesitting is to be able to travel, to visit family & friends, to go on holiday and that there is no advantage to me if I housesit locally. I wondered what others thought?
Hi @Sianee - I am from South Wales, but have lived in Canada for most of my adult years. I have not taken any of the local sits Iāve been invited to, for various reasons, but have restricted myself to sits within a 2-hour drive of my home. I have had two wonderful sits, with pets to enjoy (I donāt have my own), and have had time to discover those areas far better than I would have otherwise. One was an area I had never visited before. Add to that two pet owners that were so grateful for my help, and who now keep in touch. So many benefits to taking advantage of local sits, but so different to my usual sits. Normally I would be seeking the sun to escape Canadian winters, but thatās not on my radar for now. Iād say take a second look at any enquiries that come your way, and look at them in a different light. After all, we are in different times.
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Hi Snowbird,
Lots of lovely tips. Thank you.
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We have done 2 sits this year that were close to home. One was a little over an hours drive away in a village we had never visited. Another was a Christmas sit in a small town around 45 minutes from home, somewhere I had previously visited but did not know well.
Living like a local meant that we really thoroughly explored both places. In the case of the town we had visited before, we saw parts of it we would certainly never have found on a day visit. The Christmas sit also meant that we were able to bring my elderly mother over for Christmas Day (with the permission of the homeowner of course).
The main attraction of course was spending time with the pets.
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Hi @Sianee welcome back to the forum, itās been a while we hope you have been keeping well.
@Snowbird does present a different perspective and some very good advice.
It also depends on sitters preferences & motivation. I work from home and caring for one of our canine members helps me maintain a much better work life balance, they need my attention before any device, starting the day with a walk sets me up for the morning, until the lunch time hard stop and another āwalkiesā
Also I live in a very rural location, nothing happens without getting in the car. We have lovely walks and beautiful scenery but no stopping for a drink of anything. The last three sits we have done have been in the great city of Edinburgh, very close to home but so different from home. I can actually get a take away delivered or be in a cafe after a 10 min walk, a change is as good as a rest as they say.
My very first sit was literally 10 minutes away from my home, pet company is the same 5 or 500 miles away and I can usually find something new even in my own back yard.
Everyone is different, for me itās about pet company, knowing Iām helping their humans take time away with absolute peace of mind and a change of scenery.
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