Our dogs have a vacation when we do! There’s a boarding facility about an hour from us that they love going to. If I ask Sabadog if she wants to go see “Jane” she just goes nuts. They have nature walks, play time, a “suite” where they can look out the window (just like home). Someone is onsite 24/7 and I don’t ever worry. Sabadog is 10 and Sabapuppy is 5. I absolutely plan to have more dogs in the future- they bring a lot of joy.
4 Likes
Our dog loves “camp”, too. We have to call it that because if we say the name of our dog sitter, he goes nuts looking for her. It’s just that he’s a lot of dog. He’s huge and needy so she has to make special arrangements of what other dogs she can take when he’s there.
1 Like
We had a cat that needed shots every 12 hours (diabetes) and we loved her, but it definitely limited our travel. Now we can go for overnight or 2 night trips without worrying about a cat sitter. We have several trips planned between now and next March, so we won’t get a new cat until then. We have one now but feel like kittens need more attention.
2 Likes
It’s getting harder and harder to leave our dog. We still do it (and have a pet sitter that comes to the house) but it’s a challenge. Our last trip away last month was pretty much a disaster so I’m not inclined to go away again any time soon unless a family member or close family friend is available. My H also says this will be our last dog so we can travel more freely.
1 Like
We have no furry friends, partly due to the restrictions on travel. When we grimace at the airport bill after a long trip, we sometimes say… “at least there is no pet boarding bill on top of it”. But it’s easier for us than most of our friends to go pet-less since in the working years we didn’t feel we had right home for a pet…. didn’t get accustomed to pet affection.
2 Likes
Our two girls were Cavalier King Charles, and we miss them every day, though it’s been three years since we lost the youngest. We’ve put off getting more dogs because it does limit what you can do, but we sure miss having those girls snuggle up with us on the couch. It would be very expensive now to board them and take care of their health care, as they always had some problem. Then again, we’d go to the vet for any little thing.
7 Likes
We got a standard size golden doodle at retirement. She has been great for us. We used Rover.com (has ratings) at the recommendation of D2’s dog friendly friend. We found a great ‘camp’ for her with other dogs. The sitter has been boarding dogs at her farm for years and they are almost all large dogs. Ours learned manners and how to play, something we could not teach in classes or home.
We had a unique opportunity a few years ago for 7 weeks in Europe and she stayed there. The sitter sent daily photos or videos.
I think we found a way to have our dog and to not limit our travel. The cost is reasonable and we include that in our travel plans.
2 Likes
Do any of you still travel with paper versions of travel books? I have some books but they are also available through Hoopla digitally from the library. Trying to decide if I want the hard copies. I’m trying to travel light.
I brought the pocket versions of Rick Steves book for Paris and Prague.
I thought I would use them but in the end didn’t. The pocket version isn’t very big.
I don’t like electronic books for either travel or cooking. Hard to find what you are looking for.
Can you print out the pages that you think would be helpful?
When we went to Joshua Tree a couple of years ago, I brought along a couple of small travel guides from the library. They had nice little maps and descriptions and history of various landmarks. (I had read that cell reception might be spotty.). We were driving so it was very easy to throw them in the car.
Has anyone hired a Rover (or similar) sitter to stay overnight? Our current aging pet (cat) is VERY old. Cats are usually easy for a drop-in sitter. No family in town, and we have a great sitter who can stop by briefly once a day. However, at this point in the cat’s life, he needs med’s 2x a day, and a little extra oversight - and snuggle time (he doesn’t do much else). We were hoping an overnight sitter could stay, give meds late & early, a little extra attention, and still have the day to themselves (for work or day-trips).
So far, we haven’t had much luck, and DH is also hesitant to hire a stranger. I noticed some people on Rover list overnight service, but alas most do not have a history.
Our travel “clock is ticking”, and we’d love to take longer trips while we still can! Definitely no more pets for us, as much as we like them.
I still buy (or borrow from library) paper travel books, usually Rick Steves. He recommends tearing apart travel books, taking just the chapters you need. I usually use for research at home and then make copies of the most relevant pages for the trip, especially if there is a recommended walking tour.
I have friends who were thrilled about finding this website. They pay $200 annually to register, and then the pet sitter came and stayed in their house for free (to have use of the house). They do live in an area desirable for vacationing, and their sitter was somebody that needed a dog-friendly accommodation. Win/Win.
2 Likes
I haven’t used that service, but I did find someone who came to the house 3x a day to feed and walk our 8-year-old mini labradoodle. I found the woman on my town’s Next Door website. She lived in our town (which is small–6,000 pop) and had references from folks that I knew. So it wasn’t like a stranger, but I was a little nervous.
When we went away for two weeks recently, I had someone stay overnight and housesit/dogsit, but it was someone I knew. The woman who does my hair is a huge animal lover and single. I was telling her that I was looking for someone to housit and watch the dog and she offered to do it.
I would ask friends with pets if they had any recommendations for someone to dog sit.
3 Likes
We hired a private guide to do a Jane Austen day in England. She picked us up from our hotel In Windsor and we went to Chawton to see where Austen lived when writing, the church where her father taught when she was born, lunch at a cute inn and then Winchester before dropping us off back in London.
It was amazing
1 Like
D1 and her H used Rover for the first time last Christmas when they were away to stay at the house and watch their two pups. They were able to hire the same Rover again this past weekend when they were married. They have used different Rovers a couple of times just to come walk the pups when they were away for the day. So far they have had good luck.
1 Like
I make scans of Rick Steves maps–they are clean, clear, B&W maps. I then upload them to my phone. Then, I have them with me and they take up no space. Trip over, delete them, and start over.
3 Likes
We put the Rick Steves Spain book on DH’s phone and my Kindle. I don’t know what DH did, but I bookmarked the table of contents and sometimes particular sights and could go pretty quickly to whatever I needed.
2 Likes
Some vet techs make extra cash by taking care of pets in need of med administration and extra attention. The one we know charges a per visit fee of $25-30.
4 Likes