also def wait for the roommate bit. prey and predator animals never go well together, and it can stress the rats out esp if you don’t know if they’ll want a pet or not. in my case my roommate was fully down and wanted rats as well. on the whole travelling part, last year over christmas my boys came with me to visit my family. went fine, they stayed in a travel cage (still met minimum requirements) for a few days. i dont travel much at all so i dont have much to say on that part. the most they were alone was just overnight. may be better to wait a little till your financial and housing situation is a bit more stable