Thank you! <3
@sofus, we defer to wise and thoughtful words from @BonnyinBrighton.
Beyond that, we offer that our housesitting experience has been a fluid evolution rather than a fixed state. This has been driven by a great deal of learning - about ourselves and our preferences; about other people and sometimes their perspectives; about pets and behaviours; about geographies and culture; and from a limited number of unexpectedly bad experiences. All sorts.
As we completed housesits then we reflected and adjusted saved search criteria; listing application standards; video call approach/questions; and decision requirements to confirm a sit.
We learn. We let go. And we move forwards to a better tomorrow. Keep smiling 
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hey,
sorry you are feeling like this.
I found myself on a difficult sit (one of the pets was slowly dying and the owners didn’t tell until i was there…on a different country!)
what it made stay and survived it was exactly what you just did
writing a comment in this forumThe replies from other sitters and their support helped me a LOT. It was a sad experience and i hope i never have to go through it again,but i also learned from it.
Try to put it behind, it’s done. Learn from it if you can.
Big hug
Hi! I’m also sorry for your difficult experience. Thanks for sharing. I hear you.
For me, there haven’t really been any “lessons to learn” from this experience. I already knew that extreme heat without any way to cool down would be difficult, and I communicated my concerns beforehand. I also knew that clear communication and consideration matter when you are staying in someone else’s home and taking responsibility for their pet.
What happened didn’t teach me something I needed to learn. It was simply an experience I wish I hadn’t had, and one that took quite a lot out of me. I think there should also be room to say that, without feeling that every difficult experience has to be turned into personal growth.
Every experience does lead to ‘personal growth’ a horrible amateur psycho babble term. Humans learn from experience especially when it feels dangerous/unpleasant. The learning can trigger future emotions. For example future minor heat experiences could trigger excessive out of proportion feelings as the ‘reptilian’ brain (older part ) will remember what was imported invisibly out of consciousness from this experience. It’s called Emotional Transference (therapy term!). Don’t be surprised if this happens, it’s a common thing.
I think you’ve learnt something about yourself, it might not be easy to put into words, but I know many Forum members will learn something from reading this thread. Best wishes to you. Maybe a snowy sit in Canada next? 
I would have been miserable also. And what makes it worse, is the fact that you were misled about it. When you specifically ask about something, you should get a direct, honest response.
Something I have found helpful in a number of situations where I’m dwelling or reproaching myself for something that I want to put behind me is to come up with a positive message I can believe, like “I learned a lot and wont make that mistake again”. When those repetitive thoughts come up I tell myself that message and try to redirect my thoughts. Its been very helpful to me.
Best wishes, Eva
For future reference, you can look up average temps per location here (you have to scroll down for the right chart):
However, as we all know, things are getting warmer and there’s been unusual weather lately. Average temp where I am in Sept is about 78 highs… it was 105 during the sit and I have no (and seldom need) air conditioning here on the coast.
My sitter was provided with a fan (and in our case, a pool)… in a pinch, a shower offers temporary relief. I did feel bad for her. It was unusual for it to be that hot that week.
I realize how hard it must have been to stick it out, but on behalf of the home/pet owner I thank you for doing so. I don’t think owners have much control over the weather and I’d have been flabbergated if my sitter bailed on me because of it.
Perhaps you should limit your sits to homes with total climate control.
just my 2 cents.
I think your struggle now though is that there IS a “lesson to learn” but you haven’t identified it or answered your question about it. You asked in your OP “And how do you make peace with the fact that you stayed when, looking back, you feel you should have left?”. Making peace with this situation, I think, will involve being more clear with yourself how you will handle this type of situation in the future. We house sitters are a responsible bunch to start with (typically) and we take our responsibilities seriously. You didn’t want to leave the pet and home you had agreed to care for because you were “uncomfortable”. In retrospect you clearly see the level of your uncomfortableness. Now you question how much torture you are willing to endure. Where is your line? Will you recognize it next time or suffer through again?
I had a mentor that referred to this as “Pathological Responsibility Syndrome”. She was not a therapist but the words resonate. We will do unreasonable things to complete the responsibilities we have taken on. It really is a struggle. I hope you find how to draw your lines better. I’m still working on it.
I recall seeing your post here sometime recently, with regard to the heat of the area and the lack of sufficient cooling in the home, and conversations had with the HO prior to your committing, with regard to the heat. From my own experience with lack of tolerance for heat, meaning anything over 23c and humidity levels above 60% so always make sure I am thoroughly researching weather in the areas I’m looking at, I even do a weather history for the same time the year prior. I did a sit this summer where it’s very hot and humid and while the HO’s have great a/c in their home, I still needed a fan, which they didn’t have, so I went out and bought one for 12 quid and was perfectly content, it followed me around the house wherever I went. No need to hang onto negative experiences had, whether in the house/pet sitting realm or general living realm, it doesn’t do anything to change those experiences! Set yourself free, and make sure you’re making informed choices for yourself in the future, that’s the best you can do.