Magical Sailor Fuku

by **Funny Hat + Funny Accent** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:08 am

Alright, I need some help here since I know so little about these subjects. My driving instructor has assigned us a project where we make a theoretical journey from our school to hand-picked destination. We must select a vehicle to use, find lodging for the trip there and back, stay for two major events and days at out destination, and find a place for a pet to stay (cannot use relatives). One of my real problems are that I know nothing about pets and most cars, SUVs, etc. Can anyone help me out here and give me some sites or places to find information for myself? The other problem is that I could some help in knowing how to plan a trip effectively. Any help would be more than welcome!

by **Aaron** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 11:10 am

Well, once you find out where you're wanting to go, Hotels.com will allow you to search for a place, then narrow the search for only those that allow pets.

As for traveling vehicles, it depends a lot on what you need, how many people, how far, what mileage you want, and what you need to carry. I've done longer distance travel in everything from SUV's to PT Cruisers to a privately owned bus, so it really depends on what you need.

by **muffinstud** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:29 pm

Since a pet must be considered, you need space for the pet, food for it and you will need to take pit stops into account (the pet's gotta go sometime!). For this reason, unless you are going alone, I would suggest something slightly larger than a compact.
Other than that, it all depends on where you go and what you do.

by **Funny Hat + Funny Accent** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:58 pm

Thanks for all the feedback. About the pet though, I have to find a kennel for a cat or dog, and, well, I have no real experience regarding those animals (or any other, blame my dad's allergies).

by **Mitera Nikkou** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:18 pm

Aren't there places that you can leave your pet at to be taken care of, other than with other people? I'm pretty sure there is. If it's just a trip and not moving to a new place to live, it's not necessary to bring the pet along with you. But if you must bring the pet along (for some reason), choose your kennel/cage wisely. Most dogs won't have much of a problem in them, but cats can really be a pain to manage when they're inside one. Sure, while dogs can try and force their way out bodily, cats can come out clawing, and with a frenzy. If it's not that, they're more likely to whine... It all just depends on the pet, really. But if you had to bring a pet, a bird would be ideal as far as convenience is concerned. Unless they're the noisy variety and you can't tolerate their squacking. XD But if it's between dogs and cats, take the dog. You can walk them on a leash to do their business somewhere, and they tend to be find no matter how you travel. Of course, just in case, cover what they're in when you're traveling so there's less of a chance of them getting motion sickness. Other than that, if you're traveling by car, never have food and water inside the kennel during travel in a vehicle; make a pit stop and put some water and food in there and then take it out and continue the trip after they're done. And like was mentioned before, if the trip requires a pet, find a place to stay that at least allows pets or where they have a special section where all pets are placed and taken care of. And if you can't find a decent place to stay when it comes to your final destination and a need for a place for your pet, search locally for one of those places that I mentioned before. It really depends on the area you'll be in if you have any options for a pet being with you at all...

by **Trojin** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:36 pm

Speaking from experience, I know that you can very easily leave a pet with a local veteranarian, or even with most vet's offices at the destination, if the pet absolutely must be brought along. Some smaller offices may not have enough space so if you have to find a specific office at your destination, you might want to keep this in mind. Otherwise, there are sometimes hotels that will have areas to keep pets. There are also seperate kennel buisinesses that could be used, but they tend to be harder to find then the previous two options.

In any case, once you've decided on the exact destinations, if you need to figure exact distance and time for your assignment, I strongly suggest using mapquest.com to plan the specifics.

Any other advice I could give you has already been said, since I know next to nothing about vehicles. Hope this has helped.

by **Moonlit Naiad** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:29 pm

Hey, if its a hypothetical trip, why not 'travel' in style. Rent a Pink Cadillac or something?

Mapquest would be good for direction, but don't take them as the gospel truth, I've had bad experience with their directions being completely inaccurate.

map.google.com can also work, and from there you can also search for businesses (like kennels or animal shelters). If the pet is staying behind, and you can't use relatives, perhaps friends, classmates, or coworkers could work.

If the trip is not necessarily something that would be happening in the 'near future' do a plan to attend an anime or gaming con, or go to broadway. That can easily cover your two days, two event requirement.

It sounds like it supposed to be a 'long' trip, that is, more than one day driving to get there and more than one day driving to get back. If that's the case, figure that you're probably not going more than 600-840 miles in a day (10-14 hours driving at an average of 60mph), so look for town along the route to stay in, say about 750 miles max (about 12 hours driving), and then use google or hotels.com to find a place to stay there.

by **Trojin** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:47 pm

I suggested Mapquest more for figuring distance and length of trip, not neccessarily directions, since I have had a similar experience. If you do need directions for some reason, though, keep in mind that the trip is only hypothetical, thus whether the directions are confusing, misprinted, or whatever is really moot point.

by **Aaron** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:52 pm

In my experience, the shorter the distance, the worse Mapquest is. It's better for when going a longer distance and, like Moonlit and Trojin said, getting you in the general area.

As for finding a kennel, http://www.abka.com/abka/default.aspx. Just go to the Pet Service Locater and look for a city.

by **Funny Hat + Funny Accent** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:43 am

Many thasnks for everyone's advice! The thing about my trip is I'm going from Florida all the way to Auburn, New York, well over 1000 miles. :shock:

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