Pets can prevent people from going on holiday. It´s a sad truth. Whilst no one wants to blame their cat for high stress levels, anxiety, tension headaches, or lethargy…it´s easy to start resenting the responsibility if it stops you from going on vacation. (Especially if the cat has been giving you shifty looks for the past couple of days… You know it´s up to something.)

So what can we do with these fluffy  (or leathery) creatures that for 50 weeks of the year fill our hearts with love and our house with hair? Well. With home exchange this is not a problem. Travelling with pets has never been easier!

The first thing to bear in mind is that with home exchange, you can often take your pets with you. Plenty of families either travel with animals, or accept animals in their homes. If it´s within the same country then you don´t even have to think! But these days you can even take animals between Europe and America. All you need to do is get your animal their very own passport. There is a period of six months in which you will need to have your pet monitored and vaccinated, but after that you will be as free as your bird. http://www.pettravel.com/immigration/England.cfm Imagine!

Alternatively, if you don´t want to take your pet with you, you would ask if your exchange partner will care for it for you. Whilst some people might be averse to the idea, for the majority it can be an extra perk of the holiday!  Plus, it´s a real treat and learning experience for the kids.

If you´re not thinking of doing a simultaneous home exchange, it´s easy enough to find someone to come round and feed or walk the animals. Neighbours or friends´ children often welcome the opportunity to spend some time with your pet. People love to be needed!

What´s in it for your animal? Well, if they´re lucky, a free holiday! ;-) But if you decide not to take them with you, there´s always the added bonus of the special treats you can bring them back from foreign pet shops! And of course, the inevitable bit of spoiling that always happens when someone comes to baby-sit… So stop using your pet as your excuse for not taking the holiday you deserve. Home exchanging with pets is more than possible!