I am an experienced sitter who plans far in advance. Although not a full time nomad, I do travel several months at a time. Typically I line up longer term sits (3 weeks - 6 weeks at least)and then fill in pockets with shorter sits and budget hotels. I am starting my 5 month trip to Berlin and England today. I have one 3 week sit, and then I am moving every week sometimes even after 4 days. This is far from ideal and is making me rethink how much longer I can sustain this lifestyle. (I work remotely while I travel)
Has anyone noticed a drop in longer term sits? Is this another impact of the 5 sit “improvement” or how folks are living post-covid? I would love to see data if TH would be willing to share.
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@Shella_in_the_Forum I took a peak at the petsitting list and found a subtantial amount over one month in duration, but the majority appear to be in the UK and Australia. I am not sure about the Germany area but people tend to be waiting a little longer to post sits these days…shorter sits are more understandable than the longer ones, but it just seems to be the nature of the beast right now. Could be the fear of unknown with the economy as that is what we hear about every day on the news.
@Shella_in_the_Forum We also like long sits and to plan ahead .
We are new to THS this year so I can’t compare with previous years …
This has been our experience in 2023 …9 sits confirmed all in U.K.
1x 8 weeks- booked 7 months in advance
1 x 6 weeks - booked 3 months in advance
3x3 weeks - booked between 4 and 7 months in advance
3x2 weeks - when we started out and to fill in a gap
1x1 week ( to fill in a gap)
Looking at listings this week - I have seen several 1 month+ sits in very desirable places in U.K. for July & August which have only just been listed … so it may be a case of holding your nerve and waiting for the longer sits to come up …if you can take the uncertainty?
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Good advice. I think I chickened out waiting for longer sits to come up. In part because hotel prices this summer are sky high. Honestly applying for sits quickly to make the first five and watching hotel occupancy dwindle day by day, this has been a stressful planning phase. Sitting in London during the Omicron outbreak was more pleasant! I am going to try to change my mindset and hold out for longer dates in the future.
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I think because flights hotels etc have gone up so much people are cutting back until they see how the economy is going to go. There is a lot of job uncertainty in the UK and people are adjusting their plans.
I think they’re out there, usually well planned if they’re longer. We’ve done 2x3 week sits in Turkey, 3 weeks in Thailand and just started 3 months in Sri Lanka, all since March. UK usually have loads so that bit should help. If you like going off the beaten track they’ll be some great opportunities. Also, if you always book hotels with a full refund policy @Shella_in_the_Forum and then see if sits come up that has worked for us as fillers. Hope it all works out.
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My partner and I have been full-time housesitting for 3 years and yes, we have noticed a decline in long term sits! 3 weeks to 1-month sits are still plenty, but beyond that it gets tricky.
In 2020 and 2021 we had no trouble finding sits for 2 or 3 months.
I have noticed that one of the competitors (Nomador) has many more 2 months to even 1 year sits now…
Not sure why, but I have definitely noticed a change too.
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There might’ve been more long-term sits during the pandemic, because various people vacated their homes and left for elsewhere for extended periods. At least that was the case among many folks I know who either worked remotely normally or suddenly had the opportunity to work remotely when they hadn’t before.
Some people wanted to head toward more open spaces, for example. The Bay Area and other densely populated cities, for instance, had tons of tech people who moved away temporarily or even permanently.
In some cases, people were re-evaluating their lives or deciding whether they wanted to move closer to family and such. Some folks took months away and then decided to move permanently. In those cases, they wouldn’t be looking for sitters any more for long stays.
The world changes, so I wouldn’t expect everything to stay as it was.