We had agreed with sitters but they cancelled. I activated the listing again, but the moment we want to leave is getting closer, so I started to invite sitters. Because we live in Northern Thailand I looked for sitters that already are in the country. The first 6 sitters I invited all said in their profile that they are in Thailand, but they all replied with a “sorry, we’re not in Thailand anymore.” This is highly frustrating. I want to invite 1 sitter at a time and then wait a few days for a reply, because it’s not very friendly to invite a sitter and when they reply positive, tell them they are not needed anymore. I already lost more than another week and now shortened my waiting time between 2 invitations to just 1 day, but of course this can all be prevented if travelling sitters update their location. I understand it’s not the first thing you think of, but after all it’s also in your own interest, because many pet owners will look for sitters that are in their neigborhood or an a reasonable distance.
Hello
I am sorry to hear your frustration. If it is any consolation, many HO’s struggle with securing sitters by way of searching for local members. I sometimes change my location to reflect where I am currently or where I will be and hope to secure a sit, but always remember to change it once I need to.
Thailand is a really desirable location for a sit, so changing the location to there in hopes of being invited for dates the person would like to be there is probably particularly common.
In theory, being able to search sitters by location should be helpful, but for myriad reasons, from the problem you stated to very limited filters, many homeowners struggle in this regard.
The success rate of invitations is far too low for that, I think.
Even when they are in Thailand, what are the chances that those dates would fit (starting a month from now)? Or that they would want to spend a month in your region?
From experience of sitting here (and having done the amazing Thai sit with @MiqueFrançois ourselves), Asia works a bit differently than Europe @pietkuip - I don’t know why but sits are rare, competition is fierce and they usually go very quickly as in within an hour when they come up. Sitters that are in Asia tend to move around the region rather than out of country so the invite thing is more effective out here. That’s what we’ve found in the last 6 months anyway. Good luck @MiqueFrançois & only sorry we’re already booked!
But one could write in the invitation something like: “I am sending this out to five (or ten or whatever) people, so respond quickly if you are interested.”
Thanks @pietkuip. I thought about that, but to me it feels rather rude to invite people and then force them in some kind of competition. It also happens the other way. Twice I got an application, replied positive within an hour, did not get a reply and asked after 2 days if they had seen my reply, then got the message that they already had another sit. But I will consider it again and maybe get over my own objections. I don’t like to be forced to be a jerk, and acting like that will make me feel I am one.
Still the main problem is that profiles are not up to date. If the locations would have been right and the dates that a sitter is not available were clearly marked I wouldn’t have sent invitations.
Thanks @Cuttlefish too. Maybe you should come live here 
@MiqueFrançois the problem that a sitter has is that we can only put down one location and can’t add dates to indicate when we will be there.
For example - If I am in the U.K. and looking for a sit in U.K. in December 2023 but also want to look for sits in Canada in 2024 -I can put U.K. as my current location which is correct and hosts in Canada won’t see my profile so I’ll miss out on direct invitations for listings in Canada in 2024 or we can put Canada as a location and get hosts in Canada inviting us for 2023 and miss out on the U.K. ones inviting us .
So it’s not as straightforward as a sitter updating with their current location .
There you have a point, thanks @Silversitters. But on the other hand, if a sit is further in the future, the problem is not that severe, and probably it will be less likely that hosts are sending invitations. We usually just activate our listing and wait for applications. Invitations become important when the remaining time gets shorter. But of course THS cannot cover all possible situations. I still think that also for sitters who hope for new sits on a short term, mentioning their present location may be an advantage as well.
Most THS members don’t read the forum.
And so far I have never changed my location. My calendar is only up to date with the confirmed sits that the THS algorithm puts in. I am not managing my “availability” there at all.
So far the only invitation that I had was via Whatsapp, from a previous host. I would have loved to take that but I am already booked at another sit.
Thank you, @KC1102. Of course every medal always has 2 sides. Maybe THS can think about a brilliant search tool to tackle this. It would also help a lot if sitters are a bit more detailed about (un)availability and about when they are where. I never invite without reading the entire profile first, so at least I would be helped a lot.
Btw: are you available for a sit 
?
I posted before that THS needs to have a way for sitters to put locations along with available dates. Then hosts could effectively search for sitters who are looking for sits in their location on their dates. The current calendar system is not useful and most hosts don’t check it anyway. I get invites frequently for dates that I already have sits booked. I really wish THS would address this very important issue. It would help hosts and sitters if our date and location availability was readily accessible and searchable.
@systaran Thanks. Of course hosts also have to do their homework. I never invite someone without reading their profile first and checking the dates. Additional problem is that only a minority of the sitters uses the option to mark available dates. So if dates are not crossed out in an agenda, I asume the sitter may be available. Which may be annoying for a sitter who does use the date marker in the right way. (Apologies to everybody I annoyed that way :-))
Yes! This exactly. What about Google calendar? That could be linked to a sitter’s profile so if the HO was reading a profile they could click onto a calendar that the sitter maintains properly. THS could put the widget in too but look how long we wait for other important software improvements.
I just checked your listing and it’s great you have 3 applicants @MiqueFrançois so hopefully you won’t need to continue searching for sitters.
@temba Unfortunately not. Most aplications we get are like “we would love to sit but not on the dates you’re asking”. Which sometimes works too, but not in this specific case.