I am not flying to sits any more, travel costs from the UK to Australia for instance have trebled. Car hire has rocketed. In the UK there have been lots of train strikes making travel arrangements difficult. I have a car so arrange sits I can get to easily but again fuel costs are high so I tend to go for longer sits. Things are not the same since Covid which is still around. Cancellation of sits sems to be higher too. All this has impacted on sitters wherever they live sadly. At the moment there seems to be a lot more sits than sitters. Some of us are booked up a year ahead.
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For the sake of accuracy (I’m a healthcare provider), Covid hospitalization rates are about twice that of seasonal influenza and death rates for Covid patients in the ICU are about 70% higher than for influenza patients in the ICU.
There are plenty of people who are still modifying their lives because of Covid due to their personal circumstances.
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I think you’re posting looks great, your cat is absolutely adorable and that is a beautiful picture, your house looks clean and comfortable and pretty. We would totally come sit for you if we weren’t getting married on the 16th here in Los Angeles but regardless while I am not an expert I would say take your post down and republish as someone else suggested.
Best of luck to you 
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@CandC , Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Wishing you a perfect day and many years of wedded bliss. 
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Hi All,
Thanks again for sharing your experiences with me. Tomorrow, with about week to go, I am calling it quits with THS for this trip. So disappointing. I got 1 more reply last Friday, I replied immediately, as they asked, then they waited to reply,…a day and a half. And they backed out. Oof! going to pay a teen neighbor to come in twice a day. Lesson learned: always have a backup plan. And, don’t expect Clarity from questions to THS. Okay, Merry Christmas to you and yours!
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Some of it is where you are located. There are a lot of sits posted for the PNW in the winter.
As a sitter who works full-time, I booked my Christmas sit early October. I note a lot of last min Christmas sits, but most sitters book early. 
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That’s a great plan! Teens thrive when given responsibilities. Wish it worked better for dogs. I’ve tried it and it just doesn’t. Enjoy your holiday!
You’re lucky. Pre-trusted housesitters the best dropin cat sitter I had was a teen – a neighbor’s daughter I’d known her whole life. Then when she outgrew the job, it went to her sister. One time one of the sisters was sick, and her parents took over. So dependable! And I didn’t have to clean the house! Don’t get me wrong! I much prefer the fantastic sitters I’ve been able to get. I think my cats are happier with humans spending the night and feel more secure with a friendly human presence. I like the idea of paying with hospitality and turning my apartment into some semblance of an Airbnb. But the cats can survive a week or two with dropins! I feel your pain. I was just looking for a sitter in mid -January, and while I had plenty of applicants, 4 people I had chatted with and offered the sit to either couldn’t do it or took different sits! Plus one I was going to chat with and had told – “It’s probably yours!” backed off the chat. In the end I did get a sitter I really clicked with, but it’s never been this tough.
Your sit looks wonderful! I sit in the Seattle area but look early if possible. I also have a small dog I like to take with me because he is a brittle diabetic and I don’t entrust his care to anyone anymore as he almost died during my last vacation. That being said, I just skip over cat only sits, assuming they don’t want a dog there.
I also still work, so don’t reply to sits that require several walks per day for dogs or that sitters never leave for longer than a couple of hours (which seems not to allow a sitter to go sightseeing or enjoy a great meal outside the home).
Some are worth taking vacation time for and some need a retired person who doesn’t have anything else to do for a few weeks. Seattle is a very busy sitting area since it is so large. I’ve seen HO posts for next summer and fall already.
So I’m sure it isn’t personal, just numbers and what specifically the sitter is looking for also.