My plastic pet budgie Squeak.

One of the sad but true realities for those of us who travel frequently is the impracticability of having pets. As a kid, I grew up maintaining a flock of birds.  Yes, you heard me.  I had an entire flock of birds. Budgies mostly, but I had cockatiels, quails, doves and a few other species pass through the aviary over the years.  In my adult years my boyfriend and I looked after two beta fish (not the world’s greatest pets) before moving to London.

Since then, I’ve gone from occasional traveler who had a brother in town to watch her fish, to someone who is away from home 3-4 months out of the year. These days, even keeping a fish would be a struggle.  However, when I am at home, I actually work from home and would love to have a furry or feathered friend to keep me company as I sip coffee and klick-klack away on the computer.

Looking at things objectively I’ve decided that as long as I keep up my hectic schedule a pet will not be in the cards.  Dogs and parrots can develop close attachments to their owners and can suffer separation anxiety if their owners are away for long periods of time. Additionally, pet boarding is expensive and doesn’t seem fair on the animals.

So for the foreseeable future it looks like I’ll have to live a mostly pet-less life until I decide to settle down, though I sense I’m not alone on this in the travel community.   In the meantime, I’ll settle with my plastic budgie Squeak