I recently renewed my membership and it seems a great deal of the house sits are quite short 4-5 days. Traveling a long distance for a short stay isn’t at all appealing. Anyone else noticing this?
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Yes. We’re like you, anything less than a week and it’s not for us on the whole. Maybe occasionally as a gap filler but we find short sits a faff. You just get settled and you have to pack up again. (might be different if it was a dodgy one though! 
) Also the costs incurred for short sits don’t make sense for us.
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The worst are one night stays, not that I’d ever do one. There seem to be quite a few of those. If I was a homeowner I’d make other arrangements
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We do mainly 3 - 4 week sits, of which we find there are always a decent number of opportunities, and the short sits are ideal for filling in between stays so it’s a win-win!
…and not forgetting that short sits are ideal for new sitters looking to get a few good reviews under their belt.
The best thing about trustedhousesitters is that there is likely to be a sit to suit every sitter, and a sitter to suit every sit!
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I’m doing a one night stay 20 mins from home then a longer stay for the HO a few months later-I arrive 9am on the Saturday and leave 8pm on the Sunday- it’ll be fun and is a great introduction to the longer stay. I’m taking my pillow and sleeping bag so no bedding to deal with and plan to get a takeaway delivered so no washing up etc. A ‘tread lightly’ kind of stay with two cute terriers and a beach, what’s not to like. 
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Recently did 2 nights, opted for the couch. It was best for both of us as there was no dryer and easier to maintain bedroom ready.
They work for gaps, reviews, meet new pets and neighborhoods.
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I’ve definitely noticed far more one night sits too @Smiley and they don’t appeal. Only ever done one and that was for owners I’ve sat for before and there was no cleaning to be done and it suited me to be in that location.
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I’m going a three night this coming weekend in Plymouth. I needed to fill a few night’s before i fly back to the States next Monday. That’s only time i can justify shorter sits. Otherwise the shortest I’ll do is a week.
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We holidayed in Dorset, living near Durham, for a 4 day Easter break. Round trip of around 700 miles just there and back.
What kind of distances are you meaning?
I agree that there are sits to suit everyone, I’ve just noticed a great deal more 4 night sits available than years past. When I first joined TH, sits longer than 2 weeks were in abundance.
I love to visit new places & meet new furry friends.
Perhaps I am one of the minority, who prefers shorter sits of 2-14 nights.
I would rather not be away from my own home for too long. As, I live in an older property with a small garden, so need to maintain it.
Hopefully with THS there is enough variety to suit everyones needs so that the much lovef pets are well cared for.
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We are tied to school holidays for housesits. This year we have started doing a few local weekend sits. We live close to the centre of a town and it’s nice to get a change of scenery for a weekend, even if it is less than an hour from home. We prefer rural sits, perfect for older son to bring his telescope as he’s studying astronomy at school. It is a bit of a faff with there being three beds in use, but most homeowners are happy for us to just strip the beds. We are good at cleaning up after ourselves as we go.
I don’t think we’d do a one night sit unless there was a really compelling reason for us to be in that location.
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As you’re new to housesitting through THS that’s a good idea Bonny
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My sweet spot are one- or two-week sits. Three at the most.
I wouldn’t bother with shorter sits unless there were a location or experience I couldn’t get by paying for a stay. Even when I started sitting, I was getting unsolicited offers for sits of up to six weeks.
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Our sits are typically 2 weeks.
But this July, we have posted a sit for 6 or 7 days (we can flex on the final day of the sit if a sitter needs to leave on day 6) because we only have a quick errand to run in another state!
We are hoping that sitters who are already in the region will find that our sit fits nicely in between longer sits they already have scheduled or are looking for.
So shorter sits probably aren’t necessarily a trend – I think perhaps it’s just due to some temporary and/or unusual circumstances for a homeowner.
There still are many popping up in the new sits. Are you adjusting the Sort order?
THS has changed default sorting, and now the “Low application” listings are shown first. The ones that most sitters are not interested in.
I prefer 1 to 2 week sits if travelling hours or changing countries. It’s the cost of flights or trains that often don’t make short stays work for me.
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As we have busy lives at home, the majority of our sits are less than 10 days. We love short sits of 4 or 5 nights if the journey is less than 3 hours
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I’m a fairly new sitter, so I consider shorter sits that are local to home in order to build up my reviews. I have a 2 week sit coming up, ny longest so far, and it’s a good 5 hours drive away but in a gorgeous part of the country. I wouldn’t do that one for a shorter period, and I’m hoping to do longer ones going forward.
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My sweet spot is 8-10 days, but I’m happy to string a couple of shorter sits if the distance travelled is not too long.
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