Jet lag:
So, I am not good with jet lag. Sadly, I don’t think I’m actually cut out to be a frequent world traveler, lol.
I guess in fairness, it hasn’t been that bad. But I remember after London, and now again with this trip, I just definitely felt it, and seemingly worse than anyone else in my family.
We got home at 12:30 a.m. late Thursday night and by 4 am Friday morning I was awake. Argh. Of course, by Friday evening I was toast and totally falling asleep. This “be exhausted in the evening and doze off early, then wake up super early (in the ~3:30-4:00 am range) the next morning” pattern has continued every day.
On Saturday I also maybe over did it a bit. We unpacked, cleaned the house, did laundry, etc…. I was on my feet and active all day. Then I also decided to get back to the gym for a strength workout, which was okay during it, but then after… my ENTIRE body literally ached and hurt and I just felt completely exhausted! I actually thought maybe I was getting sick. I was falling asleep by 6 pm. (Nope, I was fine after a long night of sleep.)
Now on Tuesday, almost 5 days later, I finally feel like I’m starting to shake it off.
As usual, I woke up naturally before 4:30 a.m. yesterday (Monday) and then actually managed to stay up until almost 10 pm last night (I still felt lazy and mostly just laid on the couch after dinner…I kind of wanted to go to bed at like, 8, but figured then I’d be up even earlier!!).
This morning I had an alarm set for 4:30 because Asher had to be to the high school by 5:00 a.m. to depart for his weeklong Virginia Beach club swim team training trip! (But at least I slept until my alarm went off, so maybe that’s a good sign.)
Asher is currently en route to Chicago O’Hare and will spend the week swimming, training, and doing a bunch of fun things. There’s a group of almost 30 swimmers going and I’m sure it will be great. 🙂 (He also spent the entire weekend outside lifeguarding all day in 90+ degree heat, went fishing with a friend, and went to 6 am swim practice yesterday morning before working an 8 hour shift at the community pool and then coming home to pack…. apparently he’s not too bothered by any jet lag! ha. Kids.)
Actually no one else in my family seems to be too bothered by the jet lag. When I wake up early, everyone else is still sleeping. Even Iván seemed to go right back to his normal sleep schedule! Of course.🤷♀️
Fortunately I seem to do fine on the way to Europe, it’s just the coming home part that seems hard. Oh well. I still can’t figure out how people jet all over the world across time zones all the time like it’s no big deal!! Do you… get used to it? Maybe I just need more practice. 😉
Charlie/ Dog Boarding:
Charlie also did not have the easiest re-entry! When I picked him up Friday morning, as I expected, he seemed exhausted. The boarding place we took him is kennel-free, which means it’s essentially doggie daycare all day and then sleeping in a big room with staff, beds, couches, etc at night.
I suspect he did not nap nearly as much as he’s used to, though the owner lady said he slept up on the bed by her at night and slept fine.
He acted super weird all weekend. Not himself at all- very quiet and lethargic. He also acted aloof toward me for days, like he was miffed that I had left him.
Over the weekend I also noticed that he had a little bit of yellow goopy discharge from one of his eyes. He kept pawing at it and trying to rub it on the carpet. 😦 I got him into the vet right away Monday morning and they said it wasn’t too bad, but likely an eye infection. So we came home with steroid/antibiotic drops and it should clear up soon. Apparently eye infections can be a common occurrence from boarding. Sad. 😦
I’m still trying to decide what I thought of the boarding experience on the whole.
First, I didn’t feel like the communication was the best. Now, in fairness, having never boarded before, it’s possible my expectations were too high. But I had been told I could get photo and text updates (and I saw this in some reviews, too). However, I usually had to send multiple messages to even get a response, and then I got like, one photo and just a brief “he’s doing good!” message. I guess I wanted… more. I’m thinking back to when I worked inpatient as a nurse. When families called for updates, I would never just say, “Your dad’s doing good!” I would give a detailed and thorough update with how he’s feeling, how he ate, how were his spirits, any new changes…I’d answer questions and really try to put the family member at ease. I’d give them the updates that I would want, if it were my dad there.
Considering that they knew this was Charlie’s first ever boarding experience, I feel like I was warranted in wanting to check in! Even when I went to pick him up, all I got was a little sheet that showed how much he ate each day. I was hoping for more of a report card, to hear like, How did he do with the other dogs? Did he nap? Did he sleep okay at night? Did he seem sad? Did he play?
Also, this is probably just me being persnickety, but when we left, the owner lady didn’t even say bye to him. 😆 I feel like… if you really love dogs and loved my dog like your own, wouldn’t you want to say bye?? (Contrasting this with the vet I took him to yesterday where both the vet tech and the veterinarian himself were literally fawning all over him and scratching him and oohing and ahhing and calling him “baby” and “sweet pea” and I think they might have taken him right home if I had let them. There I could tell- those people LOVE dogs!!)
I don’t know, I’m sure I’m overthinking it and I understand that she sees dogs all day and this is just a job and she can’t get attached to all of them. But I guess I just want my dog to be somewhere where the people really love my sweet boy while I’m away!
I realize I am probably asking for too much, though. Ha.
Anyway, this place overall seemed to work out fine and I guess besides the eye infection he came out pretty unscathed. It also gets excellent reviews online and from other people, so, maybe I am being too picky. I don’t know! 🤷♀️
(I did a little looking at some other boarding facilities, and many places charge “extras” for every little thing. Like, “15 minutes of personal attention from staff” is $20 or something. Seriously?! I have to pay for someone to pay attention to my dog for 15 minutes when I’m already paying like $50/day to board him there? Isn’t that kind of like putting a baby in daycare and then saying, but if you want me to actually hold the baby that’ll be another $20?)
Anyway, by last night he was acting pretty back to normal, so hopefully he’s over his “boarding jet lag” now, too. 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for these cute pants I bought in Denmark! The fabric/ linen blend pant look seems to be ALL THE RAGE there this summer. I saw very few jeans and VERY MANY loose, flowy, trouser type pants + sneakers on local women and girls. Which- I love! Comfy and so cute, I think. Also, maybe I need to move to Denmark. lol. I bought these off the rack from a shop on the street (“one size only”, the man told me), and check it out- even with sneakers on, they’re almost too long on my nearly 5’9″ frame! That’s pretty unheard of for me at home. People are taller in Denmark. ;))
GRATEFUL KAE 
I hate jet lag, hate hate hate!!! Hahaha. The older the worse, so I’m so glad I’m in the same time zone as US and don’t have to deal with jet lag for few years. Lack of proper sleep put me in bad mood and the rest is downhill.
I am also worried about putting cookie to pet hotel while we travel, so she mostly stayed at home by herself, and we have someone to go to check her every 2-3 days. Cats are different than dogs so it’s easier. I would be worried about Charlie as you do for sure.
Swimming trip sounds lovely. I’m sure Asher will have a blast.
LikeLike
You are not wrong about the boarding place. Not all dogs do well with a room full of dogs. I think you should follow your instincts on this and look at alternatives for taking care of Charlie, like someone who can stay at your home or where they are in kennels.
LikeLike
Thanks! Yes, I think we’re going to explore some other options. I don’t think the place was bad or anything, but I’m just not sure it was quite the right fit… I feel like maybe I’ll know it when I see, when I find the right option??
LikeLike
Such a relatable read — jet lag can really throw you for a loop, and it’s no fun feeling out of sync! Poor Charlie too, it sounds like a lot for him as well. Glad you’re both starting to bounce back and feeling more like yourselves again.
LikeLike
Those pants are so cute! And you look very cosmopolitan in them.
So- they always say it takes the same number of days to recover from jet lag as the hours in the time difference. So, six hour time difference=six days to recover. It sounds like you’re doing about right. Although I can see how it’s frustrating the Ivan and the boys seemed to bounce right back.
I agree with the above commenter that you should follow your instincts on the boarding situation. I’ve never boarded a pet so I really wouldn’t know what to expect- but I would want more communication. Also the fact that Charlie seemed so wiped out by the experience could be a clue. All’s well that ends well though. I’m sure he’s glad to be home!
LikeLike
I think Ivan is unique in not struggling with jet lag and your experience is more typical. I am glad my travel is only domestic. I would have a hard time with huge time differences. I even struggle when I go to California and that’s only 2 hours!
Hopefully you can find a better boarding place next time you have to travel. I have zero experience with that sort of thing! Our ‘boarder’ when we had a cat was my MIL! Which was a nice set up. Our cat was not the kind of cat that could be left alone and just checked in on every few days or something like that, unless it was for 2 nights or something like that. She needed human attention.
LikeLike
Re dog boarding on a vacation, I know you said your SIL still house sat for you while you were gone – maybe a good alternative is to have someone do drop ins at your house while she’s busy working to let Charlie out, but then she’s home with him overnight and to feed him, etc. I’ve never taken my dog to a boarding facility, I just don’t trust that environment even with good reviews. I’ve had good luck using Rover to find a sitter to board at their house and that’s worked great when a family member isn’t available to keep my dog.
LikeLike
Yes, that’s not a bad idea… it’s just a little tricky because Charlie isn’t even really used to being home like all day unattended- in the past he has chewed on our toss pillows on the couch etc after long stints alone. However, he is getting older now and maybe some of this is going away. We could also try and reintroduce keeping him in the gated hallway when gone, but, we haven’t really done that and he seems to really prefer being in the living room where he can lay and look out the window. I have been contacting a few Rover options, though one benefit I see to a bigger boarding facility is that at least I feel like there’s no chance he’d get out or have something weird happen as much.. I do worry in some stranger’s home like, what if he chewed on something there, or he somehow got out, or what if he got into something, etc…. We are going to meet a woman next week who runs a smaller boarding place out of her home. I feel like she may have a good, safe setup, but a bit smaller and more personal attention! Wil report back! 😉
LikeLike
Totally get it, I also work from home so by far my dog is used to me being home more often than not. I’m lucky that she is totally fine left alone for 6-7 hours so while it wouldn’t be ideal for someone to be here just at night with a drop in during the day, she’d survive that for the length of a vacation. You are a good mom/dog mom so I’m sure you’re going to find the right fit for Charlie.
LikeLike
I really feel like the dogs are my family’s #1 source of travel anxiety. Our little Shih Tzu RAN AWAY several years ago while staying with my mom when we were on a trip. We found her after 8 days but obviously after that drama we became helicopter dog parents and refuse to leave her at someone’s house. But we also don’t want to kennel her because she is scared of other dogs. We finally worked out a system where friends come over a couple times a day and let her out in our (locked!) backyard and feed her. Fast forward to a few months ago when my FIL passed away and we inherited his big dog, for whom that system won’t work because she needs walks and exercise. We were afraid to kennel her because she’s an 8 year old dog who has never before been kenneled and everything we read said that’s a bad idea at that age! So we ended up finding a dog sitter on Rover for our Costa Rica trip and it did NOT go well (we are pretty sure she blew off a lot of the visits, she wasn’t able to get our dog to go on walks, and we found poop all over our kids’ bedrooms when we returned–and this is from a dog who had had zero accidents since we inherited her five months ago). So back to the drawing board. For our next trip (TBD when that will be) we are going to try to reach out really far in advance to dog sitters that we get personal recommendations for. Not really sure what else to do because I’m also not willing to give up travel! But figuring out dog care is NOT easy.
LikeLike
Oh my gosh Emily!!! That sounds terrible!! With Charlie, there’s no way he could just stay home and have people only stop in. Since I WFH, he’s just used to having people around almost constantly, and he also can still be a bit of a chewer (on my living room toss pillows, mostly…) if he’s left alone for a long time and gets bored. We have rarely even left him for like a full work day (since I so rarely work on site), so I don’t even like the idea of him say, being home from 7-5 while a dog sitter worked and have someone let him out. I also am very scared of him getting out from someone’s house. Ivan’s cousin offered to keep him- they have 2 other dogs and a fenced in yard- but they tend to have a lot of friends/ family in and out a lot and I really worry Charlie would sneak out their front door! Their dogs are the types where if they get out, they just come right back in, but with so many visitors and stuff, I worry that Charlie could slip out easily there. Also, their dogs roam the back yard freely, but Charlie EATS things. So even though our yard is fenced, we still don’t let him unsupervised in the back yard and usually have him on a tie out leash. (At his cousin’s they just open the back door and let the dogs out…. I worry Charlie would eat who knows what or a stick or a mushroom and they also tend to have a lot of “stuff” in their backyard, like pieces of equipment and misc.)
The perk to the kennel for me is that at least I know he is confined in a dog safe space. And, he can’t chew on anything or ruin anything, because it’s a dog kennel! My SIL who watched him last time said he slept really poorly at her house- up and down all night, etc (at home he sleeps in our bed and sleeps perfectly all night). So I also worry about a dog sitter getting really annoyed if Charlie wouldn’t settle at night for some reason. Argh. It’s really tough!!
LikeLike
Yes, it was truly crazy! I think you are right to worry that Charlie might not be a great fit to stay at your SIL’s house because he could get away or would eat stuff. The kennel might be the way to go in your case. Maybe you just need to try a different one, or maybe it’ll be the kind of thing where he gets more comfortable each time, hard to say. Every dog has their individual needs/issues, and now that we have two it’s that much harder because they kind of require different things. When it looked for awhile like we weren’t going to be able to find a dog sitter for Costa Rica, my husband had this crazy plan that he was going to drive our dog to his sister’s house (a 12 hour drive) and back! He didn’t, because we found a sitter, but then she sucked. It is crazy the lengths we will go to for our doggies, though 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Kae, welcome back from CPH!!
I am yet to look through the photos but I’m sure you had a great time.
Pet boarding… never done it with our two kitties. Just asked the neighbor to check on them every two days. But dogs are different… Cats are more independent and can spend more time alone. Dogs I feel need their people.
Jet lag is a thing. I have been awful with my transition to Chelyabinsk time zone (GMT+5), 9 hour difference with NJ. I’ve been relying on melatonin and trying to give myself opportunities to nap. Today is day 4 and I marginally feeling better- no nap. But I know I’ll be going to bed early today. maybe even around 8pm. if I can make it that long.
LikeLike
I’ve been following your trip and wow, I can’t even imagine the jet lag! Sounds like you’re doing well overall… hope you have a good rest of your trip!!
LikeLike
Those pants are really cute! I love them with the sneakers.
Jet lag is the worst. I empathize so much because I feel like I also get really severe jet lag on the way home. It lasts forever! Thank goodness you are finally starting to get back to normal.
Poor Charlie! I bet he had so much fun while being boarded, but it was probably also a little confusing to be without his human family.
LikeLike
re dog boarding, what’s worked for us is boarding our medium to large mixed breed with a smaller boarding place, like 5-6 dogs was ok for her and last time we were on vacation we found a new place which albeit farther away had only 2 dog boarders in addition to the owner’s 2 dogs ( she’s doing like a “lets meet and see if it works out” for first time boarders!) and it was awesome. Also because of only having two boarders we got all the pics and updates we wanted and then some 🤩
LikeLike
Yes, we’re going to meet a place like this next week! A woman who runs a smaller doggie boarding in her home. Sounds like she is also a certified trainer and works with rescues and just has tons of experience with dogs. We met another guy last night but we didn’t like his vibe… so he was a no go unfortunately. I also may go tour another boarding facility that has kennels/suites- I was originally opposed to that, thinking Charlie would prefer to just be loose and free, but maybe it was just too overwhelming for him! I wonder if he would actually do better with a place to retreat for some down time.
LikeLike
good to hear, I hope you’ll find a better option for your next boarding.
didn’t like the vibe is an absolute thing when it comes to pets ( and kids) IMO. We skipped on touring a very close by boarding option because she really sounded cagey and like all the excuses all the time as to why it’s not possible to tour the place unless there are no boarding dogs, or was it ‘not allowed to tour inside due to insurance issues”? Some weird thing which made us go, hmmm no. If she doesn’t wants us to see the place we’re going to be leaving our dog at for 10 days, its not an option
LikeLike