In general, I don’t do local sits through THS. I sit through THS to travel and this is the reason I tell the HO. Staying in a local home and taking care of their pets is not a vacation for me, it’s free labor without the comforts of my own home. There are exceptions, for example, if the home is, say, 50 miles away and will allow me to see family or friends near there or if it’s in a lovely setting, say, by the water.
But there are also reasons many people like local sits.
See this topic:
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/sitters-do-you-sit-locally-why