For US sits - 2 questions: 1) Are other US holidays similar to Christmas/New Years where there are more sits than sitters? 2) Are most of the other sits for US summer holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day) that are posted usually long weekend only?
For example, I currently have a gap in my sits between May 18th & June 2nd. I’ve seen a few Memorial weekend only sits (May 24th-27th) pop up that I’d be interested in if they were longer. I’m not sure I want to take one of those now, though, and miss out on a longer sit later.
On the other hand, with holiday weekends being so expensive for lodging, I’m wondering if it might make sense to get a sit lined up for those dates.
Typically, lodging for the other holidays tends to go up based on location, more than the holiday alone. That means it depends on where you want to stay.
For instance, July Fourth celebrations are a bigger thing in some cities vs. others. Like in Washington, D.C., there are celebrations significant enough that tourists will intentionally time a visit. Or say you want to stay in some resort or beach area, there will be more demand, because people will go there to relax and party for a holiday weekend. But say you want to go to some places where that’s not the case, then hotel rates don’t typically go up automatically. Of course, it also depends on whether there are other things going on there. Like some hotels sell out say if there’s a conference, a sports event or whatever else.
Also, many hotels take reservations far ahead and allow a window for you to cancel without cost.
In your case, if you already know specific places where you want to consider going during specific holidays, you might share them here and we could offer more specific POV.
There also are some travel sites that offer historical averages for flight costs, which you also might find helpful to gauge how popular a place is for certain dates. If airfares historically go up to such places, it’s likely so will hotel demand and costs. And that means demand for sits will likely as well.
Personally, I don’t think there’s need for concern on your part unless you’re wedded to going to a certain place on a certain date, because there are always alternative sits available elsewhere.
From my experience of sitting here over Thanksgiving, a lot of sits were shorter, just covering a few days on either end as would be expected over a holiday. But there were also plenty of sits that were for longer periods just as there is every other time of the year. Once you are into summer you will find more people traveling for their vacations and lots of options. The US has has way more listings than people to fill them. I don’t think there is a need to line something up now especially if it isn’t as long as you would like , unless you want to be in specific areas. The more criteria we have for a sit–very specific dates,locations, etc–the less options available. So in those cases we may want to act more quickly when something shows up that fits.
Hi @Sitter756 , Beach season starts on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. Prices at locations by the beach are higher during peak season and on those three holidays. Places with historical signifcance where celebrations may be more elaborate for the Fourth of July, e.g. NYC, downtown Boston, Washington, DC, downtown Philadelphia will also have higher prices on Independence Day weekend. Memorial Day is more sedate, as is Labor Day. The only places with higher prices then would be shore areas.
Thank you! Your insights are so helpful. All 3 of those holidays were super expensive for lodging where I used to live, so I wrongly assumed it would be that way all over the US for all 3 holidays.
I have a car and don’t need to stay in high sitter demand cities, so I I’ll hold on applying for any Memorial weekend only sits in the hope that longer sits will pop up between now and then.
It also still seems very early to me. At least in Europe, I would say that the majority of sits get posted from say 2 months to 2 weeks before the sit rather than 6 months in advance. It does happen, but I only see it occasionally
@Sitter756 Children are usually still in school during the last weekend of May, so families with children are more likely to take a long weekend vacation. There are plenty of retired people who choose to take a longer vacation in May (shoulder season so Europe, for example, is less crowded).
For your open dates in May, I would hold out for a longer sit to cover those. During June/July/August, lots of families travel. Many people like to take a week off around the 4th of July.
In September (Labor Day), kids are either just about to go back to school, or they already started back to school at the end of August. You will see some 3 day sits for the long weekend, but again, you will see retired people traveling in September to avoid the summer crowds. I would hold out for a long sit during September.
@Sitter756 I don’t know how far north you plan to go but you might want to consider combining Canada’s July 1 holiday with the US July 4 one. That might give you a longer sit where you enjoy two celebrations in one. Before 9/11, border cities used to have wonderful week-long celebrations. In the Niagara Region people went back and forth daily for Friendship Festival activities for the week. Unfortunately that no longer happens.
Before 9/11, border cities used to have wonderful week-long celebrations. In the Niagara Region people went back and forth daily for Friendship Festival activities for the week. Unfortunately that no longer happens.