I just finished my 1st sit and went looking for “lessons learned” type posts. I know, backwards, right?? I should have searched this out BEFOREHAND. Oh well, my lessons learned are nuthin’ compared to some of these stories 
! Now I’ve got some additional insight for future sits we apply for.
My hubby and I are HOs that just turned DUAL. I applied for a sit in a desirable-to-us area and got a video chat and confirmed the sit at the end of the chat. Everything went smoothly, old kitty was great (just learned of a new bout of diarrhea underway when we arrived, but it resolved within a few days of the 11 day sit). My biggest takeaway was bring my own pillows. I am a VERY picky sleeper and NEED my big king size “huggy” pillow 
. I am usually very good about taking this anytime we do a car trip but this time I forgot! So i bought 4 new pillows, returned one that sucked, and didn’t get amazing sleep for 11 nights. I didn’t want to bother the host for more pillows to choose from as I know I am picky picky picky and was striving for a 5 star first sit. Also, 11 days was too long since we added 2 days (one before and one after) for a buffer to get our own Housesit covered and situated for success. Other than that, I LOVED our sit kitty, location, home and hosts. We hiked, mountain biked and checked out fun places with live music, yummy food and craft beer. Five star reviews all around for everyone!! Hubby and I fantasized about future places to explore on our drive home. Happy House sitting everyone!!