Hi All,
We are not-yet-retired new members from Alberta, who joined TH on the recommendation of friends. As “newbies” we are trying to navigate the European sits during our planned travel time in May 2025. It appears that most members don’t post sits several months in advance. Is that right?
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Hello and welcome from BC. 
In the past I’ve seen listings (and applied to a few) about 6 months in advance of start time, so I’m guessing you should see quite a few already now.
Maybe it depends on what country/city you are looking at? Listings in super popular areas get snatched up extremely quickly, so might go undetected if you aren’t keeping an eye on that area pretty much every hour!
Also, pet sitting is not very popular in some countries, there might be just a handful of hosts overall.
One more thing: I’m under the impression the sitting you’d like to do in May will be your first ever — I’d suggest you try and land a few local sits beforehand in or near your area to cut your teeth and build reviews.
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I agree with this @Celia
Do some shorter more local sits first, get the lay of the land so to speak and have good references to help you land a sit internationally because without references its going to be harder for hosts to choose you, especially if you’re coming form a different country. It’s setting yourself up for success. Good Luck 
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We’re sitters, here’s what we’ve discovered -
England book their holidays ahead of time, we’ve got quite a full calendar for 2025, and a booking for 2026.
Spain typically book their holidays within a few months, but we’ve been lucky enough to come across some very organised owners that plan well in advance, but they are few and far between.
France - the more remote areas plan ahead, but you’re likely to need a car to get there.
Like the others have said, please don’t think you are going to be able to get a sit in Europe without having a few reviews under your belt first. The owners need to see a few THS reviews to know you’ll turn up when you say you will, and needing a flight means you stand very zero chance at all without a few reviews. It doesn’t take long, you can do a few weekend sits locally to build up your reviews.
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It helps to be older and a couple — some hosts prefer such. When you write your profile and applications, try to put yourself in the place of hosts and consider what concerns or needs they’d have and address those. Also, personalize your applications.
And try to show, not tell, how you’re responsible people. It also helps to include Airbnb and LinkedIn links, because if you’ve done well with those, they can show a record of responsibility. That’s because people who are trustworthy tend to be consistently (not randomly) so.
If you’ve had or otherwise cared for animals and owned homes, mention that. It helps to highlight that you know how to problem-solve if needed.
Personally, I put that kind of thinking into my profile and applications and never bothered with references, yet was able to start landing sits across the U.S. right off. I didn’t do local sits to establish myself. And then within a month of joining, I landed a U.K. sit right outside of Cambridge (which I did a couple of months later). Within six months of joining, I got a London sit. And I sit only part time, while telecommuting.
For me, it helps that I sit solo as a woman in her 50s — various hosts give us greater benefit of doubt vs. younger sitters.
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I completed my recent Christmas sit in Scotland which was advertised in April.
I have repeat sits elsewhere for December 2025, and May 2026. I am currently looking at a November sit that I may apply for.
There really is no typical time, some pet owners book holidays far in advance and place a post at same time, others don’t.
Some people are planners, others arent…
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Hi @Celia
Welcome. Many HO’s may wait till 2 months before or even a few weeks before needing a sitter to post.
I agree with others that to stand a chance of getting chosen for popular locations in Europe you really need a few positive reviews. Last minute and local sits are good for this. It took me 23 applications to get my first sit when I started…just about to start my 24th.
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Welcome @Celia !
In Europe schools have a lot of holidays and for hosts aiming at school holidays (if they have children or because that is when their employer schedule holidays) I think many will plan for one holiday at a time. I have a search specifically for Easter-25, and as of the last week those sits have really started emerging.
There has been a few summer sits (I confirmed one today! 
) but I would guess those sits do not «take off» until March or so, based also on home exchange-experience from other platform.
Different countries in Europe also have a different definition of «summer holiday». Schools in some countries start summer vacation end of June, others not until September.
From my experience, which seems like something fellow members also share - until I got 3-4-5 reviews I got a lot of declines. It is a real gamechanger to have those first reviews, as others have said.
One exception could be UK-sits, as there seem to be a lot of sits there and many could be happy to receive an application without/ with a few reviews.
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Many thanks for the speedy response and advice. What an inclusive community of like minds. Wonderful! Reminds me of when I backpacked across North America back in the 1980s. Will revise our profile and do some local sits. Thanks again! Bryan&Celia
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