I’ve plugged in dates to cover our trip to Jamaica the week of Thanksgiving. We have gotten no hits. Is that common? Is it too early to post for a sitter that far out?
Our first experience was great. BTW
As a sitter, it’s not too far out. If anything it may be late given it would be a high-demand holiday period. It’s also an expensive and complicated time to travel so make sure that your dates are such that they’re not putting the sitters into a bad financial/logistical spot. Maybe consider letting them come early/stay late if you have the space, which would allow for some flexibility if they need to find flights.
You may also want to link your listing in your profile to get any feedback because it IS a high demand and therefore high competition time for a sit. You want to make sure your listing is optimized to stand out.
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As @CreatureCuddler says it is a high season, expensive to travel, more sits than hosts, and also many sitters will prefer to be with their family at that time.
I agree that optimizing your sit is important and you can get help here with feedback should you want it.
Publishing dates is the best way as invitations rarely work. However, for Thanksgiving there might be people that either want to go to your area OR locals that get guests and would like to housesit so that their guests can use their home. If you choose to send invitations, be sure to only send invites to profiles you have read and want as a sitter based on that (of course you can screen also with a videocall, but don’t invite if it is clear you don’t want them) and show in your invitation that you have read their profile. (The invitations I get are usually clearly mass-distributed and not tempting to accept.)
Best of luck - there is still time and you can get help here. Here is how you add your listing to your forum profile:
It’s never too early, if you have your dates post them. We sit full time, we’re fully booked for 2024, partially booked for 2025, and our furthest sit ahead of time is booked in for 2026.
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I agree with others…you may have posted too late. If I was planning to travel over Tday, I’d be booking my tickets months out. When did you book or know your Jamaica trip was a go? That probably would have been when you should have posted this sit, if not earlier.
I would have. A back up plan in place at this point if I were you.