I think I’ve done everything the way it’s supposed to be done, but I’m not finding any sits that work with my travel itinerary. I search every day. I have a few saved searches. I have clicked “favorite” on a bunch of potential homeowner profiles. The “Sits we think you would like” look good but they never match up with my schedule. Nothing’s working, maybe for the following reasons?
I’m traveling to places that are not well represented by THS home owners (Like Galapagos, Mexico City, etc.)?
I’m jumping around too much, so it’s hard to find sits that match my arrival and departure schedule?
It’s the wrong time of year for the places I’m visiting (January in Japan?)
I’m missing some key action to help me find viable sits?
I have only been able to apply for one sit, had a very nice interview, but was not chosen. Is it me? Maybe. But maybe my year-long trip is not ideal for the THS model?
It doesn’t work like a holiday company. It usually takes are little while to get your first sit. You need some reviews really to get chosen. Do some local sits to get established. Some of the really popular places are gone in minutes and are very competitive. Mostly people find a sit first and then arrange their travel. You might be lucky but the majority of sits are in the UK and USA. Maybe try work away as another option
You need a very good resume to get sits in places like Mexico City, Japan etc. You have no chance of getting a sit in Galapagos, there are places that pet sitting does not compute. However, The Galapagos are so cheap for accommodation.
Work on getting reviews. Do some sits locally. Work on your profile. Make it chatty with lots of information about you and what you want to achieve. Try and get some references from people who know you well. Personality is a lot. Make your applications full of information about you and your experience.
Get as many good reviews as you can get and you may have a chance for those hot spots. It takes work and commitment. Work hard and your dreams will come true.
We are just home from 15 months solid travelling. Europe, UK, and Morocco. Out of that 15 months most accommodation was paid for. Our sitting was all in the UK, and while that saved us some money it is not the same as travelling responsibility free. “Travel the world for free while looking after pets” is not as simple as it seems.
There are very, very few sits for these locations on THS. And competition is fierce.
If you are looking for specific dates, it will be even more difficult.
For Mexico, maybe check HouseSitMexico.
As others say, you need to build up a strong profile with several reviews first.
Good luck!
A sitter who plans to house sit for a whole year using just THS needs to be flexible on both dates and locations .
Sitters who have successfully combined full-time house and pet sitting with international travel for a year ( or more ) plan their travel around the sits and locations that come up , rather than trying to find sits to match an itinerary that they have already made .
@GrantFromACK, of your four bullet points then we consider that (1) is by the far the greatest impediment to your efforts.
THS marketing has focussed on US, UK and to lesser extent Canada. There are listings in rest of world but relatively limited. Weblink below is a bit stale but shows %breakout of THS listings earlier this year. Negligible sits in geographies listed in (1).
While all things are possible then we’d not rely on THS increasing its marketing efforts in Galapagos. Mexico City sits so appear but probably go quickly - tough if you’re in a distant time zone or tardy in application.
Pragmatically, if you are really enthusiastic on housesitting in a geography in which THS has few, if any, listings then you may have no choice but to identify alternative platforms or tactics.
For context, we’ve completed housesits in 15 countries over last 2-3 years. But we’ve had to be adaptable, opportunistic and frankly creative at times.
Lots of great advice already in this thread, so I’ll keep this straight.
You’ve got this whole house sitting malarkey a bit back-to-front. THS doesn’t work well when someone maps out a fixed, multi-country itinerary and then tries to force sits to match it. The pool becomes tiny, the dates never line up, and it starts to feel like nothing is “working”.
We’ve been travelling the world full-time house sitting for 14 years, with 155+ sits behind us. And like everyone else, we still had to start at sit #1 — building a profile, earning reviews, staying flexible, and letting sits shape the journey. That’s the model. Not the other way around.
So no, it’s not “you”. It’s the approach. If you want sits to materialise, loosen the itinerary, apply broadly, and let the opportunities drive the travel plan, not vice-versa.
Hope that helps you reset expectations and recalibrate your strategy.
@GrantFromACK As others have said flexibility on location & timing is key. Especially for beginners.
From my own experience- our very first sit (7 years ago) was arranged the following way. We were in Bali at the time and decided we wanted to do a Christmas sit somewhere in that region. We didn’t really care where we went- we just wanted to get started! So we sent out several applications that were all within short and/or cheap flying distance from Bali. I.e Singapore, KL, Thailand & Perth, Australia. We were open to any of them. We landed a one month Christmas sit in Perth with fellow first timers. 2 cats, comfy home & a short drive to the beach. It was a great experience and we’ve never looked back!
Since then we have very often let interesting sits that Pop up guide our travels and we’ve had lots of interesting adventures as a result!
In your case, as a newby and with THS (& housesitting in general) being so much more competitive, I would recommended trying to get a few short local sits under your belt. Every 5* review you receive will make your position stronger.
This sums it up right here. A new sitter cannot expect to jump right into THS and start piling up sits especially in desirable areas where hosts have lots of applicants.
As I’m learning, I probably should not have signed up for THS. I’m not setting foot in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and most of the Schengen countries for the next 12 months. But I will keep on trying.
I appreciate the insight. My itinerary has been in the planing stages for 18 months – it is what it is – and I can’t really alter it. I have based my itinerary on when and where there is the best weather (except Japan) and the fewest tourists.
Silver: I don’t need to house sit for the entire time. I just need three or four sits to allow me to save enough to take a side trip to Bhutan or a coffee tour in Sumatra. My trip will go on whether I score a sit or not, having a couple of sits here and there would simply afford me other opportunities.
It sounds like you’ve set some tough parameters in place, without considering what and when is viable with THS. So it’s a good you posted.
Galapagos, Mexico City - You’re looking for a needle in a haystack with THS for those. Plus, read number 4.
Dates - This one is highly do-able for 3/4rs of the year, but , but yes Nov-Feb are trickier, it’s true. We book our sits within 1-2 days of each one ending… but not in Nov-Feb, it’s totally different. During our first year, it was more like 3-4 days in between some of our sits, but we tweaked the places where we sat, and reduced it hugely.
Jan in Japan - it’s less likely, totally true.
Key actions which you don’t seem to have done are below.
List item
A. Review your travel plans if you want THS to work for you. You’ve set almost impossible goals. You’ve got a bucket list, and no viable idea to action it. Revise your plan around the countries where people do travel in winter, or places that typically go home to visit family in the winter months.
b. Consider why someone would accept you in a totally different country, when you don’t have THS reviews as yet. It will help if you gain some reviews in the region/area you are currently in, then you’ve a higher chance of being accepted, and the quicker you can get started on your dream destinations. Because you’re not going overseas to couchsurf, you’re going to take responsibility for their loved pets and their home, but you haven’t proven that you are reliable, dependable, or trustworthy as yet. So increase your chances of being accepted, take short 2-3 day sits so you can get a few reviews over a really short space of time, so you get the results you want fast, to then visit the places you really want to utilise THS for. While less people travel at this time of year, there are still quite a number that take 2-3 day festive breaks or to pop in on family to exchange gifts.
You’ll find you love THS, but get some THS reviews to increase your chances of success.
After you’ve got some reviews, aim for longer sits in your go-to places (rather than 2wks or less), it’s a totally different type of experience then, and possibly more in line with what you’re after by the places you mention.
The THS model may not be the best option for you in the circumstances.
You don’t mention if you have any experience caring for a home and pets and you need to bear in mind that when you arrive at your destination you will be responsible for the above and it will be unlikely you are able to go out exploring all day and every day. There are serious responsibilities involved in the exchange.
If you wish to pick up reviews to build your profile this is a great time of year to start. Hosts are crying out for sitters and may be more willing to give a newbie a try.
All the best and I hope you find those sits that you are looking for -you may get some last minute sits when you arrive at the destinations.
If want feedback from forum members ( experienced THS sitters ) on how to make your sitter profile the best it can be , you can link it to your forum profile or ask @Jenny to do so .
You can try changing your location to the destination where you are looking for sits - with an opening sentence that explains this.
This may get you noticed by local hosts as if they use the “search for a sitter “ function local sitter’s profiles come up first .
Reviews are key to getting sits in highly sought locations .
Hi @GrantFromACK Sorry to hear things aren’t going quite to plan for you. However, living on an island 30 miles at sea sounds quite exciting - have you considered offering your home as part of a home exchange, where you swap with home owners in a different location, as per Christmas movie ‘The Holiday’? This could be a way of opening up your options. Google ‘guardian home exchange’ if the idea is of interest.
Twitcher, yes I have a ton of experience maintaining a home (I’m a 30-year homeowner) and pets (I’ve cared for dogs all my life and I have cared for friends pets.)
