Is it me or are there far fewer Christmas sits this year than the last couple of years? There were masses of them in previous years, so I didn’t hurry to book, but now I’m looking and there are very few and only fairly short ones. Have owners simply left THS or are people staying home this year?
Seems that way to me too, but they are starting to trickle in. Maybe a bit too early for many to be making plans?
I’m wondering the same! I also see way less 4 week+ cat sits than I did last year, which is unfortunate for me because those are my favorite.
I just put in a search from 19 Dec - 9 Jan and there are 1282 sits advertised worldwide which I don’t think is too bad. We know there will be thousands yet to come though, with many HOs not securing a sitter. I guess it just depends on where sitters want to go as to what sits are listed at present.
Seems like out of the 1282, about 1281 of them are in the UK! 
OK, slight exaggeration but as sitters who certainly do not want to be in the UK in winter, that’s how it seems!!
We’ve been looking for holiday sits as well, but only in warmer climates, and they are starting to show up but not tons just yet that fit our preferences…
@carpediem16 The US is winning the stakes by a fair bit, followed by the UK and Canada!! Have you considered Australia for a summer sit as there are a number advertised?
@azfinch mine too, and I definitely don’t want to travel on Xmas Eve or between Christmas and New Year, so want something that spans the entire festive period.
@temba I have considered it as I have an Aussie passport but would prefer Europe or the UK.
@Wildcolonialgirl You’ll have plenty of choice in the UK but could be very competitive for Europe. Hope you have success.
I guess this would be destination dependent but our “go to” areas for Xmas seem to have the same number of sits popping up.
Another couple of possibilities are that the sits are being booked off-site or were booked through THS months ago.
I booked my holiday sit back in January as the HO and I wanted to avoid booking fees.
Yup. I don’t sit during year-end holiday season, but started getting invites off-platform months ago.
Yes, that is on our bucket list once my mother-in-law is no longer with us (my husband does not want to be that far away in case…)
But we’ve already said one year that is exactly what we’ll do. It’s the duration of the flight that discourages us. We get antsy after 7 hours on a plane so….that one would be tough. But we’d like to!
@carpediem16 check out Aussie Housesitters too. Very popular in Oz as its free for owners and cheap membership for sitters.
Aussie Housesitters charge owners $49 for a once-only lifetime membership whereas currently it is $89 for a 12 month membership for sitters.
The Xmas listings for Perth Australia are only visible for like 20 minutes before they’re onto reviewing and seemingly moments later go into no sitter currently required. They’re being snapped up in the middle of the UK night (time zone thing).
Actually there’s a really nice Xmas sit in Jersey…oops that’s gone too within a day!
@temba, shout out for Canada 
. There are some really fabulous listings and pet parents in Canada. Temperatures in some areas are not very cold and, where present, the snow can be a super fun experience. Question of mindset. We’re very excited this year to return for a repeat housesit in Western Canada for Christmas period. Heck, I took our alpine skis to local store today to get them edged and waxed 
. As per the ski race coach saying “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing” 
.
@temba good suggestion, for obvious reasons I’m avoiding the US but I love Canada.
I’m in the UK and look for a Christmas sit within an hour of home, preferably less, so that my mother can join us on Christmas Day. I’m seeing many more short sits of 3-5 days which aren’t worth the effort at that time of year. Also seeing a surprising number of sits that start on Christmas Day or end on New Years Day. I think I’ve only seen 3 sits that might be contenders so far but I wasn’t really excited enough about them to reply.
I saw a sit in the UK that required the sitter to arrive at 9am on Xmas Day. It wasn’t even a 3 hr time slot, just 9am. Good luck with that!