@Kimbullad
I’m sorry that you had to deal with this. While it does happen, it is the exception. We’ve sat full time for over 2 years and haven’t cancelled despite having issues come up that would have been acceptable to cancel(MIL passed away but we didn’t cancel).
We have had the opposite twice where the home owner had to cancel for legitimate reasons-both times medical. One we were able to rebook an almost identical sit in the same area within 8 hours. The other one we couldn’t find any and extended our time where we were prior to the sit. It did cost us about $1000 total with added accommodations, a non1refundable hotel, and to pay to change our flights. That sucked but has only happened once.
There are a few questions that others have posed but I would suggest that you relist and depending on the dates, list as last minute sit. If you link your profile to your name here, it can help expand the number of people looking. One of the best indicators is the experience level of the sitters and what other home owners have said. If they did a great job on the last 35 sits, there’s a good chance you will be happy, too. I disagree with the person who suggested that you not list as early. As full time sitters, I’m often looking for sits 6 months out. After deciding what part of the world I’ll be in during a time-especially holidays(US) or bank holidays(UK). Then I look for longer sits in that area so I’m usually locked in well in advance. From a sitters perspective, I don’t have to worry about finding a sit at Christmas if the HO cancelled but if I was a HO, I have lots of competition for that holiday in particular.
Apologies, misinterpreted your “good luck” as being a snarky “good luck”, a lot gets lost in translation when one is reading words, I wasn’t being unkind, just human. I still don’t believe you need to start looking for a sitter months in advance of your trip, sits in the UK are posted and within a few hours there are at least 3 applicants. The longer in advance you book a sitter the more vulnerable position you are putting yourself in. So much can happen in that time, you’ve probably been on the planet long enough to know that life happens in every moment. Someone will die, someone falls ill, maybe someone just doesn’t want to do that sit any longer because it was 6 months ago when they booked it and now it doesn’t seem as desirable or interesting. You’re giving people far more credit than you should, the way I see it. Good luck out there!
@marshmish I typically book months out. I’m booking sits for summer now and I’ve never cancelled a sit.
I disagree with your advice about not booking early. While you are correct that things can happen, it’s equally as possible that you won’t be able to find someone by waiting. Those of us who sit full time make plans much further out than just a few weeks in advance.
While you might feel that all UK sits get applicants quickly, we’ll soon be hearing the desperate requests from people that can’t find anyone for their Christmas sits. We’ll be sitting for 3 months starting in January for people that we booked with over 6 months ago. They haven’t had to spend a minute worrying about their upcoming holiday.
I’d NEVER book that far out in advance. EVER. As in EVER. Eeeek, that sounds horrible.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and no one is shy here in expressing theirs and considering theirs to be the final word on things. I personally don’t book out more than two months in advance and even that is too far out for me. Perhaps I’m more spontaneous about it because I’m out here doing it for fun and travel and not for a place to live. Don’t know what people are using this site for primarily, to be honest, I simply like to travel and be in new places, I’m not using it as surrogate housing for living. Ya know? Anyway, you do you, my friend.
I’m using it for the same reason as you, just more often. To see the world. I incorporate pet sitting, Airbnbs, hotels, and cruises to travel. If there are sits where I want to go, I apply. If I don’t get sits, I use other accommodations.
Just more often? How do you know how often I’m using it? I’ve been exchange house and pet sitting for 25 years, most consistently this year beginning July and will be through to next July probably. I still don’t book more than two months out, no matter what. I don’t even book air tickets more than 10 days out. It’s okay to live different lifestyles and have different ways of doing things, it’s what makes us human, and individuals. Happy trails.
@TrustedHousesitters I’ve muted notifications for this topic and am still getting notifications, this forum seems to be really quite glitchy.
It’s a good idea but I always forget to check. I was caught in Sydney in a massive cancellation and couldn’t fly until two days later. When I went to pay for a snack at the airport I discovered the price list had an added supplement because of the holiday. First time I’ve seen that.
@Kimbullad there are sitters to suit everyone, @marshmish organises her sits closer to the date, whereas we’re the total opposite, our diary for 2025 is already pretty full, and we’ve got a sit for 2026 booked in already too… @Elsa1 we’re from Durham in the NE.
Yes, we’re just a few miles north of Hull and of course, not everyone would visit outside the city which is why we post in plenty of time. Also, it allows sitters to sort out their itinerary if they’re from overseas. Different people choose different things. Not been to Durham…maybe I’ll take a visit.
I’m sorry to hear this. Ordinarily, I would be very interested in your sit as I used to live in Hull (and then Beverley), and would love to return, but am booked for a sit in Lincolnshire at this time.
I am very much aligned with what you say: I book well in advance (currently booked until October next year with two sits in 2026). I prefer to know what my plans are. Unfortunately, I’ve just had plans for Christmas fall through and am now scrambling to find something else. This was confirmed only a fortnight ago so it is possible to plans to go awry even if you don’t confirm months in advance! I hope you manage you find a great sitter for your trip 
Durham’s gorgeous, you’d love it
In many other countries, the word “holiday” is not necessarily associated with an actual holiday. In other words, “holiday” is a more generic term implying a vacation or time away regardless of when this occurs.
Beverley….
@HappyDeb
And I love the accent
@Kimbullad Many replies here I assume, from the way it’s written, that you waited several months to book your own flights, although maybe that’s not what you meant to say.
Perhaps you meant to say that you did book your flights several months ago, and only now found out that the sitter did not.
In case you booked your flights several months ago such that the sitter could book hers, check back with the sitter quite swiftly after confirming the sit that they have indeed done so. E.g. ask them to provide proof of a flight within 2 weeks of having confirmed the sit.
We don’t always book our flights soon after confirming a sit especially if it’s still months out. For example, we may still be lining up other travel as well. Nonetheless, considering the sitter insisted that you’d book your flights soon so she could book hers, it would be perfectly Ok to request confirmation from her side as well.
That way you would have known a few months ago already that the sitter hadn’t gone ahead actually with booking a flight; and you could have subsequently unconfirmed them in order to find someone else.
I’m starting a 1 month sit in just over 2 weeks from now. I made sure the HO had booked their flights, then kept them abreast about my flight plans, and within 2 weeks confirmed that I had booked and which day I’d be arriving in country (I’m actually arriving a few days early as a buffer - long distance flight)