Questions for long term sitters

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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Questions for longterm sitters

My husband and I have been sitters since 2022. The longest sit we have done is four weeks, in one place, all with pets. Now, we are considering s long term sit, without pets. We need some input from our long term sitters.

  1. Do you get bored being in one place so long?
  2. Are you able to leave on overnight trips to do a bit of sight seeing?
  3. What is it really like, living in someone else’s home for so long? Do you share the utilities? Life inevitably rears its head with house problems, etc. How do you build this into your owner/sitter discussions and expectations.
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Hi there.

My husband and I have been sitting full time for 12 years now. We’ve done a number of sits that were at least a few months, and while we never really got bored per se, we were definitely ready to move on to a new spot since we’re always moving around. All of these sits were in really interesting areas that we really enjoyed, or if the area wasn’t particularly touristic, the house was really nice and a perfect type of place to spend the longer term.

It’s been a couple of years probably since we’ve done a sit that was at least a couple of months or more. We were in Costa Rica back in 2024 for almost 3 months at one sit. I don’t think we’ve done another one that long since.

The longer the sit, the more carefully I have to consider different aspects of it to make sure it’s a good fit for the longer term. Certain things are easier to deal with for a week than a month, and certain things might be okay to deal with for a month, but not three.

So the best advice I can give you is carefully consider your preferences, deal breakers, etc..

The longer the sit, the more important it is to consider how your day today experience would be given the location, the house, the responsibilities and other facets of the sit. Don’t compromise too heavily, thinking the desirability of the location will compensate. It probably won’t.

My longest sit was one of my first.. 6 months in Bali and while it was an amazing location and house there were certain things that were challenging about it.

Hosts asking sitters to pay utilities or to contribute towards them is pretty rare. On THS hosts are required to disclose this in their listing so sitters are aware of this and then I suppose they work it out between themselves.

But for a longer-term sit, even if it’s not mentioned, whether the listing is here or elsewhere, it would be a good idea to discuss that explicitly.

I’m not outright opposed contributing to those costs, but unless the opportunity was very special in some way, I’d likely pass since most sits are not going to require that of you

My husband and I aren’t really big touristy type people so being able to leave the sit to travel somewhere really wouldn’t be important to us I remember a sit we did in Cyprus 10 years ago where the host explicitly mentioned it was okay to go away for a couple of days… It was just cats. So we did go somewhere nearby for the weekend that was supposed to be a very well-known part of the country, and it was easy to access by public transportation.

But for a longer-term sit, especially if there are not any pets. It’s understandable you might want to explore a bit and it’s just something again, to explicitly discuss with the hosts ahead of time to see how they feel about it.

When you talk about wanting to do a longer-term sit without pets, I’m not sure if you’re referring to an opportunity you’ve already come across and are considering, or if you just mean this in general.

If the latter, you should know that sits without any pets are not very common at all, even on a site like THS that has thousands of listings. And most sits are not that long-term either, so finding one that’s a combination of that will be even rarer probably.

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@Dunne, kudos on significant experience as housesitters. Last year we completed a three-month sit in Western Canada without pets. We loved it - indeed we’re heading back to same property for a month shortly. Yay.

#1 Bored - We did not get bored. But we had strong expectation of experience prior to housesit. We had spent significant time in community, were aware of local activities and toured property.

#2 Trips - We completed one overnight trip. Pet Parents openly suggested this possibility - simply asked that we advise them in advance. But more broadly, without pets, we were able to complete extended day trips.

#3 Experience - Multi-month without pets becomes just living life. We were fortunate to be in a lovely property with plenty of enjoyable activities. Definitely good to have robust and transparent exchange in regards expectations if problems arise (they do). We suspect that utilities, expectations, etc may be impacted by situation. We were approached by personal-connection homeowner rather than applied to a THS listing. They sold us on the idea. Canada gets cold in winter and properties can suffer water/other damage. What they wanted was a stress-free ‘snowbird’ trip to a distant location. Win-win.

We enjoy spending time with [most] pets. But, as full-time sitters, a no-pet break was a liberating reset. During our housesit, as part of everyday life then we met several other local residents that subsequently contacted us for housesits. Because we met both pet parents and pets then we were able to assess fit.

Our top tip would be elevated due diligence to avoid surprises.

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Thank you very much for your wise and detailed response. It is very good things to consider. I will be discussing them with my husband before doing a long term sit. :heart:

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Thank you very much for taking the time to respond in such detail. It is very helpful. My husband snd I will be discussing it all. :heart:

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We have been full-time nomadic sitters for 6 years. Earlier this year, we did a 10-week no-pet sit. We loved it but were ready to leave when the time came. Not because we were bored, but because spending so much time in one place seems so alien to us now - there are too many places we still have to visit, and not enough weeks in a year!

We didn’t do any overnight trips and would have mentioned it to the host before doing so.

Living for longer periods is no different than shorter periods; 10 weeks is not long enough for us to think it warrants us paying for utilities. The host asked us to stay for the peace of mind that their home was being looked after in their absence, and I presume they think the cost of utilities is worthwhile.

During our stay, the toilet stopped flushing, I messaged the host; she asked us to sort it for her which we did. We arranged a plumber and paid him; the host reimbursed us when they returned home.

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Our longest sits have been 6-7 weeks, we love the longer ones, but we’ve always had pets.

There’s only been one occasion where i’ve seen a sit without pets in the areas where we sit, and they wanted a monthly figure for the bill, which in our opinion was way too high for their tiny house (because we know the cost of bills in the area).

  1. We never get bored.
  2. N/A we’ve always had pets.
  3. What’s it like staying for longer - it’s lovely, relaxing, fantastic.
    Do you share the utilities? - no we’ve always had pets.
    House problems - our owners for all of our sits over 3 weeks have all been very friendly, and helpful, as are we, you just have to proactively deal with unexpected home problems as and when they occur. The owners usually have a trademan’s mobile number if the worst happens, but the owners have always been contactable anyway.

Go for it

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Thank you your response. Communication is a consistant theme!

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Thank you!

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Hi @Dunne :slightly_smiling_face:

We’ve spent nearly 15 years travelling full-time as house sitters, so for us, a longer sit is really just settling into everyday life somewhere different.

1. Boredom? We don’t find ourselves needing to be out exploring all the time. Sometimes we love getting out and seeing somewhere new, and other times we’re very happy enjoying the home and the pets. For a longer sit, though, we’d want to be somewhere we could see ourselves being comfortable day to day.

2. Overnight trips? Without pets, there’s potentially more flexibility, but we’d always discuss this with the host beforehand rather than assume it’s fine.

3. Living in someone else’s home? Communication is key. We’d want to be clear about expectations before agreeing to a long sit, including utilities, household responsibilities and what to do if something goes wrong. Things do happen, and having a host who’s contactable and willing to work through problems together makes a big difference.

Our biggest advice would be to think beyond how appealing the location sounds. You’re going to be living there, not just visiting, so think about all the little things that make everyday life comfortable for you. Are there parks or beaches nearby? What about shops, supermarkets, cinemas, cafés, doctors, dentists, banks and hospitals? How easy is it to get around, and are the things you normally rely on accessible? We all have our own routines and priorities, and what makes somewhere feel like home will be different for everyone. For a longer sit, it’s worth thinking about the minutiae of daily life, not just the attraction of the destination.

:paw_prints::heart:

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1. Do you get bored being in one place for so long?

The longest sit we’ve done was for three months, caring for two lovely cats. We deliberately chose it because it was in an area where we wanted to spend time, so boredom was never an issue. Indeed, we found it more relaxing than much shorter sits because we’d adopted a different mindset from the outset.

2. Are you able to leave on overnight trips to do a bit of sightseeing?

This is something to discuss with the hosts. I’d imagine that, as this sit doesn’t involve any pets, it might be a viable option. Have a chat with them and work out an arrangement that suits everyone. Communication is key with all sits. How long is the sit?

3. What is it really like living in someone else’s home for so long? Do you share the utilities? Life inevitably throws up problems with the house, etc. How do you build this into your discussions and expectations with the owners?

It felt like a home from home, as we were able to put down some roots for a while, become familiar with some of the neighbours and get to know the surrounding area very well.

No, we absolutely didn’t share the utility costs, nor would we consider a sit where this was a requirement or expectation. The terms and conditions require any such arrangements to be stated in the listing, rather than sprung on an unsuspecting sitter once a sit has been confirmed.

We continue to pay the utilities at our own home even when we’re away, so we’re certainly not going to take on those costs in a host’s property as well. Besides, we feel that any host who expects sitters to contribute towards the upkeep of their home, in addition to providing pet and home-care services, probably isn’t a good or equitable match for us.

Yes, issues did arise. The longer the stay, the greater the likelihood that something will go wrong, and we experienced a leaking roof during a particularly bad snowstorm.

We had to deal with the immediate problem, which involved moving furniture, washing and drying sodden bedding, placing large containers to catch the water and notifying the hosts. We then helped establish the cause of the problem and, fortunately, my other half is a retired builder, so he was able to explain the situation clearly when liaising with the hosts and subsequently with the roofers. We also facilitated access to the property for the tradespeople and remained available to keep the hosts updated throughout.

Surely, this is a perfect example of how having sitters in the home can save the day in more ways than one!

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Excellent perspective. Thank you!

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Hm. Interesting question.

We have done sits that are 6 weeks to 2 months long and only one pet-less sit which was 2 weeks long.

How this would go depends GREATLY on so many things.

Bored? Well, that totally depends where you are and what you have at your disposal. Car? No car? Public transportation? What will the weather be in your location…nice enough for outdoor hiking and activities or winter indoor only?

What are the expectations from the Home Owner (not Pet Parent esp if there are no pets)?

We used to do 2 month sits for a couple who really expected us to be more of property managers. We were asked to check the mail and watch for certain things, to pay the gardener with a check they left us, to mail things on a certain date, to deposit a check, to contact the maintenance person to fix the windows, etc. They were VERY frugal and this showed in several ways such as the instructions we were left to please to not raise the heat to above a certain temperature bc electricity is expensive there and please collect the rain water to use for watering the potted plants. We were also required to remove and replace the pool cover before and after the pool guy came to clean. (Though it was too cold to actually use the pool)
In another month long sit the golf cart that they left us to use (to walk the dogs who pulled like sled dogs) had a flat tire so we had to take care of that.

We have also had a water heater break during a sit, water leak into a living room, and other normal things that just happen.

So far, none of these have been horrific experiences but you can get unlucky on a long or short term sit.

We would never do a long sit somewhere we think we’d get bored. Either you must have transportation to visit the region or you’re content to stay put.

Learning to live in someone else’s space takes time but it’s not much unlike an Airbnb if there are no pets, IMO.

I actually like to think that it’s good for my mind to have to learn to use someone else’s oven, stove, kitchen gear, thermostat, vacuum, TV remote, etc. It’s good for my decaying brain to have to learn to do something new and different. I see it as a challenge! Good for my brain…like going to the gym! :slight_smile:

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Interesting thoughts. I appreciate them. It just goes to show how important it is to really interview the owners and clarify expectations. Thank you so much!