It's not the quarantine I fear, but who will take care of the dogs????

Pat - I know what you mean! I’m scheduled to attend a conference in Vienna in two weeks, but I’m thinking about not going. Because what if I get caught in a quarantine....in Vienna.....with no kids.....

Hmmmm. On second thought.....

My parents are scheduled to watch my dogs on both of my trips. Assuming she knows I'm fine, I'm sure my Mom would be quite happy to have the dog for a couple more weeks. My Dad, well, maybe not as much :-)

Luckily (in a a sense) we are currently pet-free. But the USPS will only hold mail for 30 days. Our trip pushes the envelope at 31 days. If we get quarantined, we may have a problem.

Hey Pat.....
I'm a die hard Padres' Fan (misplaced in Mariners' territory). If you need a house sitter, let me know.

Thanks for the needed levity! It's helping me move past my pity party (planned to leave for Rome in 10 days:( ). When we finally DO get to go I have a feeling there will be an extra appreciation for the joy of travel!

Plan B would be to line up a kennel to take care of the dogs. Our Rottweiler actually enjoys going to the kennel.

Yes!!! We did wind up rescheduling our April trip (son has medical reasons not to travel, so it was a no-brainer for us). But with 4 horses, an elderly cat, and a neurotic golden retriever at home, we’d have had to give thought to quarantine possibilities. I don’t know what our college-age house sitter would have done if we’d gotten stuck for a few weeks, but I bet she’d not be happy! And I know we need her for future trips!!

When planning travel, preserve the house sitter relationship at all costs!!

Well, we have a cruise scheduled for June 6 and to cancel now would cost 50%. I don't know. There may be few worse experiences than being stuck in a cabin for two weeks. Hopefully the coronavirus will dissipate by then.

Jane-can you get a neighbor or friend to keep your mail?

Allison-Vienna would be a great place to get "stuck" in as long as you're not confined to a room, which would be the likely scenario.

Edit: NCL just sent an email stating we could get a full refund for a future cruise up to 48 hours from departure. Eh, I'll wait and see.

Yeah - our dog loves the boarding place - we take him there once a week for a morning and he comes home exhausted. Sadly, my mom is past the age where she wants to put up with nonsense of a young, boisterous 65 lb dog. I imagine we could just extend his stay at the kennel if we got trapped!

Yes, BigMike, if we were stuck in Europe (or anywhere else) we could get someone to cover the mail for us. It used to be easy - our good friends lived across the street; DH's sister lived three blocks away - but the friends moved out of town and SIL moved out of state. The person renting our friends' old house is a teacher who leaves town, usually leaves the country, as soon as school is out. And maybe half the houses on our block are vacant, being remodeled. We do have a couple of fallback relatives, though. It's just not as convenient for us or the mail-picker-upper as it used to be.

We'll manage. It is interesting thinking how we would handle being quarantined abroad, or self-quarantined at home. All the organizations with which we are involved, for example. They get along without us while we're gone, but they're grumpy about it. :-)

I just came inside from shoveling snow from my driveway, I enthusiastically volunteer to stay at your place and play with your dog until you feel like coming home...

@Allan. And it's still snowing.....

Allan, it's 58 degrees here and we are just SO cold!

Hmmm, when I convert our -11 Celsius to Farenheit it's 12 degrees here, but I thought it was warm enough that I was out for an hour long walk this morning...still willing to sacrifice and spend a month in San Diego though.

Hey Pat, is your April 13 trip the Villages of Italy? If so, I am also scheduled to go on that trip. Hate this wait and see. Yes I also have a dog and that is a concern for me as well. Hopefully we will get some clarity on what to do either way soon!

We love the pet sitters that we have found through online Rover. Our dog is not the easiest dog in the world, but we found a family with a fenced-in yard and four kids to throw balls for her and they just love her and she loves them. They send us photos of her and it's really like a month-long summer camp for her, especially since she has now talked her way into them breaking most of their previous household rules for dogs. She sleeps on the kids' beds, etc.

jschindele, no, we aren't on a tour. We were planning on visiting with our granddaughter & family, on the AF Base north of Venice, and also going to Lake Como and Sorrento. But, along with all the OP's here, so many unknowns and waiting. I'm not even sure what I'm hoping for now...
Safe- and healthy- travels to you.

They have The Villages in Italy, too? I though it was just in Florida.

Big Mike, thanks for the added levity.

And Allan and BB, now the temp here is plummeting to the low 50's [ Fahrenheit ].

Blue 439, the Padres broke our hearts after our only World Series venture- I was there!

Pat, this too shall pass.

hey hey all
i'm having a few laughs about the dogs. i'm the dog & house sitter/mail picker upper/plant waterer for quite a bit a my friends. pack a suitcase and move in to spoil them rotten. been doing that for a few years, before i retired and since i've retired. a friend went to puerto vallarta for 6 weeks and i moved in. everyone was happy campers. laughing at CWsocial, hi farrah, flying to have mom and dad take care of her. i'm always here when you need help.
hard to find people to trust in your house and with your dogs "babies" and not wanting to put in a kennel. with the situation how it is, friends don't worry since they live within 50 miles of my house so i can stay "forever" and still come to check on my place. i live below my landlord which is great in case something comes up
good luck for all you travelers, stay safe and enjoy.
aloha

Hey there princess pupule, I just might have to take you up on the house sitting one of these trips. Not sure how I would explain to Mom that "her" dog, as she likes to refer to mine, isn't flying to Denver for a visit though!

Princess Purple. When we get back to Monterey, take it easy and decide where to go next, we might contact you about taking care of our Barley. If we fly anyplace, Barley will have to stay home.

My secret worry?

Mobs of marauding thugs will break into my house in Seattle in search of toilet paper while I’m away.

I have a neighbor who promised to keep an eye on the house, but he’s probably running low, too, so I’m not sure how much I should count on him.

That's for the levity, David.
We ourselves are waiting for British Airlines to extend the change/ refund dates to our April 13 Italy trip. I guess we must wait for the airlines to cancel if we want a full refund.
We, like you all, are counting our blessings, hugging the dogs, and trying to find peace amid this chaos.