how do I keep my cultures alive over 12 day trip

[JMJ]

I'm leaving town for 12 days, and I have a sourdough starter and a villi yogurt culture that I'd love to still have when I get back in town. I'm pretty sure the sourdough starter will be fine as long as I feed it well before I go and when I get back. I'm pretty sure the villi won't make it. Is there anything else I can do to keep it alive while I'm gone? If I put some in milk and leave it in the fridge while I'm gone, will it be able to eat the milk without running out of food, kinda like kefir?

Bringing it with me may also be an option, but it would be difficult. I'm not sure how easily I'd be able to get appropriate milk (or even any milk), and I'm likely to be without refrigeration for at least 2 days.

[Arduinna]

Are you getting a house sitter or having someone come over while you are gone? If so I'd show them how to feed it.

[JMJ]

Hmm... That might work, actually. We've got a friend coming to water plants, and maybe I can see if she'd come a couple times 12-18 hours apart to feed our cultures. Thanks for the idea!

[dogmom327]

Having a friend do it would be ideal but as a back up, I'd freeze a small amount of the Viili. It's not a perfect solution and it's not a guaranteed success but for 12 days, it will normally work okay.

The sourdough will be fine as long as it's a regular sourdough culture (cultures made with brown rice flour don't do so well for that long between feedings but those fed with a gluten-based flour will be fine).