Going abroad with pets

Specularity

A while back I had been thinking about either studying abroad while I'm still in school (3-5 more semesters left in college) or participating in something like the JET program after I got out of school, where I would get to teach English abroad. However, since then I've gotten a pair of sugar gliders, and I'm wondering what, generally, the laws/rules are as far as travelling (and staying for at least a few months) with pets, and specifically with sugar gliders. I need to find out, first, if gliders are legal in other countries (I'm thinking France at this time, though Japan is always in the back of my mind), and second, what the rules are as far as quarantine. I've heard that cats and dogs need to be quarantined for up to a couple months after arriving in a new country, but I don't know how accurate that is; additionally, gliders don't do well with change, so if I were to travel with them at all, I would need the process to be as painless as possible.

I know it might be hard to find the exact laws as far as this goes, but perhaps some suggestions of resources for me to look into? I'm at a loss right now; Googling "sugar glider france" or anything similar yields about as many useful results as you might imagine.


Also, on a related note, were I to go abroad, what do people usually do with their stuff? I'm living alone in an apartment with no family nearer than Indiana (I'm in Nebraska). I assume I wouldn't ship all of my stuff over there unless I'd be staying for a goodly amount of time. Are storage units practical?

Thanks everyone!

Sam

Storage units cost maybe like 75 bucks a month.
I'm not sure how a small wild animal would react to flying. Cats and dogs freak the hell out, can't imagine what one of those would do.

If you're studying abroad through your university, you will be put in student housing (which is where you'd want to live when studying abroad for obvious reasons)

I've never heard of student housing that allows pets on the premises, have you?
Chances are they won't let you, wherever you go. Dorms need rules like that.
You're a lot better off going without them anyway- you'll have a better time, less worries, better frame of mind to experience a new country and culture.

Not sure what to tell you about your stuff, but I THINK housing should be free or cheap if you get to do an exchange, so what a lot of people do is just pay their rent while they're gone.

Specularity

Hm, well I've travelled in Europe before, and have no real interest in living in student housing (I avoided the dorms here for that same reason), but that does make sense; that gives me a better reason to just wait until i get out of school and go there on different terms. The gliders really haven't hindered my youth thus far (they're nocturnal, so they don't miss me while I'm at class, and they aren't really awake until I get home from parties, etc., anyway).

My apartment right now is a two-bedroom, so I'm not sure I could justify paying rent for two people while none live there! Though if I were to move somewhere with an unfurnished apartment, though it would be expensive, I could take most of my stuff with me.

That's a very good point about flying with them! I've asked a glider forum what their thoughts were on flying with them (some breeders do ship gliders between states, so I know they CAN survive...), so we'll see how that goes.

Thank you!

Sam

You'll want to live in student housing when you do exchange because it's cheaper (sometimes provided free) and more importantly because that's the best way to meet people and have fun- visiting a place is one thing but to me the point of doing an exchange is to live among locals of your age.

Plus most colleges make exchange semesters easy, even if the classes are hard in most cases you're only graded on credits.

bennie_unl

If you do end up in Japan, on JET, most of the literature recommends not bringing pets. It can be difficult to find housing that allows animals, and it really ties you down if you want to travel for an extended period. I looked into taking my cat when I went, and potential quarantine for him could have been as long as 6 months - during which you have to pay for the pet's lodging and care unless you can get to your pet to do it yourself (not likely, as it's quite possible you'll be placed somewhere rural, far from the quarantine facilities). Could you leave them with family?

I would definitely recommend bringing pictures of your gliders, though, because in my experience that is going to give you a major "in" with the students.

As far as what to do with your belongings, storage units probably aren't a bad option. I sold what I wasn't attached to and stored the rest at my parent's, so not much experience on that one.