Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you will be having a great adventure in 2023. Folks have given you some great tips already. Since you have several months between now and your trip abroad, I would suggest that you try to book a few sits not too far away from your home to get started and get reviews. Once you have a few successful sits and good reviews, it will help you book your desired sits abroad. Your profile looks really good. Happy sitting!
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Hi @2kwaldo - We are lucky in that we are a couple and we generally do not have family or work commitments so have more flexibility than many sitters. This often means that we can split up to help out the home host whose arrangements have changed.
However, Your question makes me think that you think a delayed home host automatically becomes a problem for the sitter to solve. That is not the case, It is a problem for the home host to resolve. Sitters are only responsible for the times agreed upon when booked. Of course, most sitters will do their very best to help out if possible but also many sitters will have arrangements after each sit finishes. That might be for a variety of reasons. Maybe another sit to attend, a train to catch home or another non-petsitting appointment to attend.
A home host asking their sitter if it is possible for them to stay longer if their expected time home is delayed will always be a first attempt to resolve the issue but please do not take it for granted that it will always be possible.
I would always advise home hosts to have a Plan B in place on the off chance that it is not possible for their sitter to stay longer in emergency situations
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Hi @Ysa thank you for your comments about your recent experience. As they relate to Pausing Applications we have moved/merged them into an existing topic: Conclusion Of Pausing Application Test - Updated Post. Weāre moving your comment only because this is moving the conversation off topic, and we donāt want to discourage other members from helping Trusted2 with their original questions. Thank you,
Thanks for your reply. I would never take a sitter/situation for granted. And this helps me to know how to frame my future requests for a sit. Many that replied to my sit request specifically mentioned leaving open days on each end of the sit to prevent any conflicts from arising. So now I know the type of sitter philosophy that works best for my situation. Very helpful.
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@2kwaldo just last weekend I was sitting for someone who should have been back on Sunday evening. But their flight was delayed several times, and in the end cancelled. Then the flight was re-booked for Monday morning - again delayed several times. In the end they arrived back home on Monday evening, 24 hours later than planned. Their backup plan wasnāt very solid and luckily I could stay and help out. The previous housesitās departure flight was delayed by 4 hours, not a huge impact to us, but it just shows that you need to build in some flexibility if you can.
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@2kwaldo - To be honest, I find the " I will save an extra day each end of the sit on the off chance you need me" policy that some sitters seem to use very odd. Where is the sitter expected to sleep on these days on the off chance ( and most likely event ) that the home hosts arrangements go to plan and hence expects the sitter to leave as originally arranged?
As I said previously - on the occasions we get asked at the last minute to extend our stay we do our very best to oblige, but if we canāt then we canāt. If a homehost wanted us to hold a couple of days ājust in caseā then I think it totally fair that the homehost should pay for the sitters accommodation costs for these days if they were not needed after all.
A night accommodation before and after a sit would potentially cost us Ā£200. We are excellent sitters - reliable, responsible and expect nothing in return for our services as per the commitment we signed up for when joining THS . However, if anyone thinks we are going to potentially pay an extra Ā£200 on top of our other travel costs for the privilege of caring for their pets they are very much mistaken.
As you say, they would definitely need to book someone with a different sitter philosophy than ours.
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Many of the sitters I have messaged with, that do this full time and have given up homeownership for however long, budget for just such occasions where they may need to find a place to stay between sits. Or potentially if a sit gets cancelled and they donāt find something to fill the spot. Full time pet sitting doesnāt mean free housing 365 days a year. At least not to those I have messaged with. Luckily there are enough different HOs and sitters to find the right match for both!
I agree Colin. I think some home owners forget that sitters have to make travel arrangements too. I wouldnāt take a sit with the expecation that I leave nights open before and after with the likelihood that I would have to pay a few hundred dollars in hotel costs (and pass up other potentially wonderful sits). I also have to be able to plan ahead for my work and block out the days that Iām actually traveling to avoid having meetings scheduled when I am driving for several hours or flying. Iām happy to stay extra days if plans change and Iām available, but I donāt think I should be expected to be available beyond the dates that were agreed upon.
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Hi 2kwaldo,
I just want to point out that sitters are not getting āfree housingā. You could also then say that HOs are getting free labor. Sitters are providing a valuable service. Caring for someoneās pets and home is a big responsibility and one that most sitters take very seriously.
To address your main point, I donāt think most nomadic people on here expect that they will be sitting 365 days a year. The sitters can schedule their sits in a way that works for them and certainly may have open nights. Personally, Iām getting ready to go to Scotland for a month and wonāt be sitting at all. I didnāt look for sits because that is not part of the trip Iāve planned. Aside from nomadic sitters, unless they are local to the sit, all sitters are making travel arrangements. Keeping days open pre/post sit are costs specifically associated with doing that particular sit. Most sitters donāt want a sit to cost us more than the necessary travel costs.
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Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply. I do not believe many sitters, even FT sitters, sit 365 days a year. The original post seemed to suggest that to me, but that was just my take on it. Luckily I found a very flexible sitter for my first sit, though all travel went according to plan. But it was comforting to know she would work with me if there was a travel delay.
Hi. I am new here. We found a sit we wanted to apply for so we created an account. The sit has now been in Reviewing Status for 4 days. I think that means the owners are reviewing 5 applicants. Is there a limit to how long a sit can stay in the reviewing status? We have seen a few other sits we like but are hesitant to apply until we know that the other sit has picked a sitter.
Thanks
Hi @StephanieEstep - The sit will stay in the reviewing process until if/when the home host declines one or more of the applications.
I have no idea of the actual statistics but my guess is that most home hosts now choose their sitter from the first five that apply so, personally unless you are really desperate for the original one I would apply to the others before they get up to their five application limit and you are stopped from applying to those also
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There is no limit on how long a listing can show āreviewing applicationsā. I have seen sits showing this the day before they are due to travel.
I suggest you apply for anything that you feel is a good fit.
Lots of information on this link.
Hi @StephanieEstep a d @Colin
Declining one application (or declining all applications received) does not automatically make the listing go live again.
The HO has āunpauseā the lisiting in order for
It to go live again.
As soon as a lisiting has 5 applications the HO receives a notice that the listing is in review and is paused. They are asked to review the applications on hand. If none of the applications are suitable instructions are provided on declining applications and unpausing the lisiting to make it live again.
I donāt know if there are any other follow up notices sent to the HO that are time sensitive as to how long the lisiting has been under review.
I donāt think 4 days is overly excessive in a HO reveiwing the applications., but agree with @Colin to apply for other listings in the meantime.
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Thanks Colin.
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@StephanieEstep
We too are in the situation of having applied for a Sit (we were the 5th & last applicant) so it went immediately to āreviewing applicationsā Ours was showing as āreadā 4 days ago but we have received no acknowledgement or response. In our experience if the host is interested they will usually acknowledge or reply within a day or two -max- so we are already assuming we will not be chosen for this sit. But she is a first timer so you never know! We have not applied for anything else at the mo as there is nothing else in that area right now. I just today sent a friendly follow up requesting a response one way or the other because we need to plan! This may go in our favour or not. But we are not attached. In your case Iād suggest that if there are alternatives you could apply for then go for it. And you could also send a follow up on your current application- you have nothing to lose! Chances are that after 4 days with no acknowledgement you are not the chosen one. But if thatās the case donāt lose heart! Something better awaits you! 
Welcome @StephanieEstep! I agree with the others: If you see multiple sits you like, apply for all of them. There are several good reasons for this.
One, it can take many applications to land your first successful sit. As itās Christmas, it may seem like HOs are desperate for sitters, but I feel like thatās only now; once Christmas is over, the power balance will shift dramatically. And besides, if a sit is reaching 5 applicants, it could already be very competitive. Every other sitter will have at least as many reviews as you do at this point. And some peopleās profiles are downright intimidating! (in a good way because theyāre so experienced!)
Also, the process to confirm a sit is a bit longer than for, say, Airbnb. For TH, you apply, then maybe you do a video chat, etc. The HO can invite one applicant to confirm the sit. Then the sitter has to still confirm.
So, you can apply to multiple overlapping sits, then in the video chat (or even application), just let the HO know that youāve applied to other sits as well. If you actually get lucky and are chosen, then you have to be careful before hitting that āconfirmā button. The TH system will let you confirm overlapping sits, but you shouldnāt do that unless you really know what youāre doing, otherwise you may break TH guidelines/rules.
But as a recap, if you see a sit you like, just apply. If you actually get to the stage where you can click the confirm button, then you can be more hesitant.
Search the TH site, the TH blog, and these forums for more help. E.g.:
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I think there will be more offers after Christmas and nearer the dates you wish to go. as people decide when they want or need to go away. when I offer a housesit, it might only be a month or two in advance or even just a week beforeheand. I think it would be difficult to go to Europe expecting to stay in house sits all the time. From people who have stayed in my flat and have travelled around Europe, I know that they also stay in Airbnb, hotels and hostels on their trip. You just have to keep a lookout for sits and be patient.
Thanks for the tips Geoff.
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Thanks. Unfortunately, I was setting up my TH account when the 5th app was submitted. That said, there was no guarantee I would have gotten it anyway. I keep looking. So far nothing is checking all my boxes.
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