I haven’t had my coffee yet, where are you taking me?
Hi, I’m Nicole! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my distinguished Burmese, Mr. Baby Cat.
The beauty of remote work means that we can pack up and leave almost whenever and work from wherever we’re going, but having two dogs and a cat and a toddler make it a little more difficult than back when it was just my husband and I and two very heavy backpacks.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we have taken Baby Cat on many adventures when he was young, but have kept it to a minimum since we moved into his retirement home in 2020.
We had a very successful family holiday a few weeks ago, so we decided to go and visit my in-laws for another little mid-winter break (remember, we’re down in New Zealand, so our seasons are opposite to the Northern Hemisphere), sans the dogs this time. Baby Cat lived at my in-laws’ place for about six months while we traveled, and he absolutely loves his time with his Nana, so we thought, let’s see how far we can push it. Just joking – if Baby had not been in good spirits on the last holiday, or at home, we would not have chanced the journey.
Packing and Hitting the Road
We ended up taking the dogs to their kennel the day we began packing because our suitcases either get them amped up or stressed out, and we packed the car the night before so we could hit the road before sunrise. Baby Cat was wide-eyed when he got into his carrier but promptly fell back asleep and pretty much slept the entire eight-hour journey. The perks of traveling with a geriatric cat.
Our toddler, on the other hand, and my husband, needed many stops so what should have only taken six hours, took us eight. But we still arrived by midday and were able to get into relaxation mode with many sunlight hours to spare.
Arriving at Baby Cat’s Holiday Home
Welcome to your holiday home.
When we arrived, we opened the kitty crate and our daughter was Baby Cat’s first welcoming crew. She gave him a little pep talk to help ease him out of it (I filmed it so I could get the proper transcript):
“Not worry, it’s your home. It’s your holiday home. Not worry, it won’t hurt. In our car, we’ve already been. Come play!”
A little bit like Yoda, my wise padawan.
Sure enough, he came out and took a look around and instantly went to the spot we always put his food and water, and then to the spot we put his litter box as if signaling that we should have beat him to it. (He’s right, we should have!).
Vacation-Mode Activated
He’s a heat-hound, so of course, the first thing he did after using the loo and having a drink and nibble was find the sunniest spot in the home and relax. He does not mind being in the middle of foot traffic if it’s for the sake of a sun ray.
We’re down here for about ten days, so we will see how the trip goes, but so far, so good. He seems relaxed and can walk up and down the stairs himself, which is good for him to get some exercise, which he gets very little of at home.
I’ll keep you posted, thanks for reading along!
This article is a part of Nicole and Baby Cat’s series.
