I posted for a 9 day sit in September this past Wednesday. As of yesterday (Friday) I did have 3 applicants, surprisingly. The way things have been going I expected no one and had already figured we’d get a paid sitter.
Of the 3 applicants, one ghosted us when we asked a question, the other had some reviews that were red flags to us. The final applicant though was great. We just video chatted and all was good so we both confirmed. He is US-based and will be driving across country to spend the summer in Cali and will be heading back at the end of our sit. He sounds just perfect, and we look forward to making this a great experience for him too.
Such a relief getting a great sitter booked, especially nowadays!
I am glad to know.
Maybe you have been lucky but it does make a difference when HOs are aware of the mutual exchange nature of this partnership. A nice attitude and tone go a long way.
Our membership renews in January. If we got no or poor response to the listing we were definitely going to not renew. Now we’ll have to think it over a bit.
September is the last time we’ll need a THS sitter for 2026. We just purchased an RV and a lot of our future travel plans are US/Canada trips in the RV, and we plan to bring the pets with us. We were thinking of maybe keeping a basic membership in case our plans change and we need to fly somewhere, but leaning more towards pausing membership and just using a paid sitter if that situation comes up. We still have time so we’ll decide later in the year.
Congrats on your RV! We love ours and road trips.
Thank you! Part of the appeal for us was to be able to bring our pets. Our dog has been tent camping mostly, and once in a rented RV. Our two kitty cats came with us on a week long trip to the Grand Canyon and Zion in a rented RV once. They were grumpy the first day for sure but adapted quickly.
We are very much looking forward to it.
Yup, we always bring our dog on road trips, whether we take our RV or not. It’s cozy with him and he loves new adventures.
Cats, not so sure. Probably depends on the cats.
When I was on Nomador, I got unsolicited invitations to sit cats in France, while their humans went on monthslong RV trips.
We did the week long trip with them as a test…after day 1 (which we took very easy and only drove 90 minutes before stopping for an overnight LOL) they were zooming around that RV like they’ve done it their whole lives 
That’s what we did with our dog, too. Short trip. Then a three-hour one. Wanted to see whether he’d go nuts or throw up. He took to it like a pro.
He loves adventures and the three of us being together. I joke that that’s because of his working dog DNA — he likes to herd us and keep tabs on us.
Yes maybe the initial shock of the news is gone? That being said, I do think the good ol’ days where I would hit 5 applicants on the first day are over for now. But I thought what I got was pretty respectable! Although, 2 of the three weren’t that great!
Good luck 
I was thinking the same thing about the 5 applicants the first day.
We are taking our RV out also. We have a 5th wheel and our dog loves to go camping. He’s a great travel dog.
At the end of the day, I just need the one right match. So not hitting 5 is actually better in a way, that was a more work to manage communications LOL.
We are so looking forward to an RV of our own vs rentals. We still have some paperwork to clear (inspection next week) but don’t anticipate any big issues. We should take delivery the week of the 18th. Already planning our first short trips 
Our dog is so great we have no concerns with her hopping on board day 1. We’ll take it slow for our kitty cats again, but we believe they’ll adapt too!
Is this your first brand new RV? If so, all brand new rv’s have issues. We had some, but not major ones where we couldn’t use the RV. Just have some tools with you. Depending on the RV manufacturer, your tires may come from China. If so, you’ll want to replace the at some point. On the RV forums, that is one of the biggest issues. We’ve had a few blowouts. RV’s nowadays are so nice. Ours is 5 years old and it has all the latest features. It doesn’t feel like camping.
Nope. New-to-us Entegra Odyssey 30Z. And dealer already agreed to replace tires during negotiations, as they misrepresented mileage (stupid!) on their ad (oh, accidentally, right…). Big discount on price and lots of fixes thrown in. 3rd party independent inspection next week. Yes it’s our first RV, but I do my research (and we have have friends with lots of RV experience!). And actually most told us to avoid a brand new RV - too many warranty issues. We were advised to find a used one (newer model year but well kept).
Thanks though, and yes DH is already looking forward to purchasing tools and repairing stuff. It’s his thing 
Also on my younger years I did so much backpacking with the tiniest little tent. So yeah, this doesn’t feel quite like ‘camping’ to me either
That’s awesome! Totally agree about new vs used. There are some great deals out there. I feel our trailer is too large and I would like to downsize a bit, but my husband absolutely loves the trailer. He doesn’t mind driving and pulling the “beast”.
Well boys and toys . My DH too, is like we can get a bigger one you know…I’m like yeah no …
It does seem tougher to get responses for some reason. I’m planning a hiking trip in August. I first reached out to the couple that has come out to Ventura from Tucson, 2 summers in a row for me, when I go traveling. Unfortunately this year they are already booked. I’ve had 2 responses to my post. One person hasn’t had any experience on the site and neglected to add external references. I will be speaking with the other person in a half hour and have a good feeling about her.
Since the responses didn’t pour in, I reached out to 4 people that in the past, have saved my listing—no one has responded. When people invite me, I always make sure I respond immediately, even if I can’t commit to the sit. Here’s hoping my decent sounding applicant fits the bill!!
If you’re in Ventura we are neighbors, sorta 
Would totally volunteer to watch your pets except we will likely be gone, but our August schedule is still up in the air. If you are in a pinch, please DM me in, say, July, and we may know better by then…
@Felinelover, sounds marvellous. Plenty of really great housesits in Canada 
. Photo from our BC hike today - happy days 
