I plan to sit in another country this summer. I am confident i will get plenty of SITs there based on my research BUT the one question that is on my mind is " if there are date gaps where do you sleep in between SITS?" I would imagine hotel rooms, but wondered if the full time, experience sitters here have tips/ideas with this.
Hi heartgirl. Iāve been pet sitting all over the world since 2016, both as a solo female and now with my boyfriend.
Iāve often used renting a private room in a home through AirBnB. Itās much less expensive than renting an entire AirBnB, plus I find the social interaction can help off-set the loneliness that sometimes goes along witih long term pet sitting in another country.
Often, the homeowner is willing to have you come before or stay after the assigned sit dates. Once I realize that I may have a gap, I reach out to the pet sits on both sides of the gap. Once, I had a woman who couldnāt accommodate me, but had a friend who happened to need a housesitterā¦in Melbourne during the Australian Open no less.
Currently, my boyfriend and I feel like weāve hacked the freedom code. We converted a van and travel around in it. If we fly to a pet sit, we leave the van with friends weāve met along the way, at long term (cheap) airport parking, or with family when possible. I hope my experience can be helpful to you.
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Youāll find this has been discussed a lot before here in the forum. Use the search box to find lots of answers to your question
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I use airbnb in the UK and in France - a room in a house (not whole house) costs less.
I have also used hotel rooms but usually only if I can book far in advance, for example Premier Inn (chain) in London if booked at least one month ahead of check-in date
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Airbnb, last minute hotels on trivago, couch surfing and friends are our normal defaults 
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thank you so very much for your generous time and responseā¦this is so helpful!
Ask home hosts if they want you to arrive a day earlier and/or leave a day later explaining that you have availability and are able to do that if they want you to. Sometimes, knowing this, even if they donāt really need it they will offer you to come early/leave late to save you booking a hotel. Also, sometimes it actually suits them but they didnāt like to ask!
If you are travelling as a couple you can overlap dates of sits and then split up for a day or two to reduce the number of gaps between sits - Obviously this is not possible for single sitters
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@two.peas.in.a.pod I would like to wish you a warm welcome to the community forum and thank you for your contribution to this thread. It is a great way to connect with like-minded members and share housesitting tips.
If you would like to add your TrustedHousesitters sitters profile to your forum profile so other members can view it please see below:
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/how-to-add-a-listing-or-profile-link-to-your-forum-profile
Best wishes Carla.
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awesome Colinā¦thanks for your time answering me!! Great advantage traveling as a couple
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How do you do this full time?? Specifically, how to you coordinate sit dates in perfect successionā¦or do you have gaps & stay in hotel rooms? Do you wait & watch for 2-3 week or month long trips only?? Looking for tips here. TY
Gaps are in airbnbs or last minute hotel rooms via Trivago or with friends of friends or hostels at a push. So far so good. Go with the flowā¦and also ask HOs if you need an extra night here or there. A lot are happy to flex
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We fill the gaps with Airbnbās and Booking.com - but do check, sometimes if you book with hotels directly, you get a small discount or breakfast included, or free parking/wifi etc. Every little helps.
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What would people think of something like a network of āgap hostsā the way thereās the āmeet upā forum.
You could post something like āin salt lake cityā¦could use a gap host for 2 days before my next sitā Hmmmmā¦
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Iām pretty sure Nomador have these. Could be really helpful although I thought they were sits in places I wanted to sit and was very happy and then they were just single night stays 
Absolutely brilliant idea! Good for you!
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Thoughtsā¦
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Hotel Tonight - Basically, it is an app hotel use when filling up otherwise unbooked rooms. I use it for very short stays in between things, or when I am on a road trip and donāt know what city Iāll be in until Iām tired of driving. You can also book in advance, but usually, he shorter the notice the better the rates. Have someone who uses it send their code for a discount.
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Airbnb (obvious one) but mentioned already regarding renting a room not an entire home for the cost benefit. I like this the most when Iām tired, donāt know the language, and love for others to help me do things like arrange an early morning taxi.
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Yes, last I looked Nomador has these
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Thanks for details of the Hotel Tonight app. Could be useful
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What about couch surfing?
Thatās so awesome that you feel youāve hacked it. I currently rent a tiny home thatās too big for me =). Iāve thought about getting a van and converting it. After all, I live in Van, TX!
Thatās incredible that you both can live in the van. It reminds me of the rock climber Alex Honnold and his girlfriend (now wife) in āFree Solo.ā
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