I don’t know if there has been any actual survey on the subject, but I’d bet that one of the big reasons people don’t travel is because they don’t want to leave their pets behind.
I used to take my cat with me whenever I moved. Then I decided that, at 8 years of age, she was too old to fly, so I left her with my Mom. Five months later, I got a phone call telling me that she was having trouble breathing and she died soon after.
I was heartbroken. Maybe only pet owners would understand how I felt, but my cat was my family. She had been a constant companion through most of my adult life. I felt like I should’ve been there for her, and it didn’t help that the last photo I ever took of her was this:
Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to travel with your pets?
Yes, yes it would.
That’s why I’m interviewing Lauren of The Constant Rambler. She and her husband, Kenin, have been road-tripping with their dogs for years. She has a lot of practical tips to share, so read on if you want to take your animal pals on your travels.
Hi Lauren, how long have you been traveling with your pets?
Kenin and I have traveled with our pets for the last 13 years. We had two dogs for most of our relationship but our Sheltie, Punkin, passed away last year. We now travel full-time and Zoe, our weimaraner, goes almost everywhere with us.
Obviously it’s fun to have your pets around, but what are some other benefits?
We meet lots of pet-friendly people that just want to come up and snuggle Zoe, so she is a great conversation starter. We also get to meet lots of other pets on our travels and I am a sucker for anything cute and fluffy and will always find an excuse to go up and snuggle someone else’s pets.
Are dogs the only pets you can (relatively) conveniently travel with? Have you or other people you know traveled with other kinds of pets?
I know many people that travel with cats and I even have a friend that traveled with his pet lizard. We have only ever traveled with dogs, but if you have a well-trained pet that will respect other people’s property, I think it would be cool to travel with them as well.
There are often restrictions against bringing animals onto public transport. You travel with your own car. What are some other possible transport options for people who want to travel with pets?
I think cars are the best way to go.
Animals are very nervous when they are not in familiar territory and I would hate to stress out Zoe by putting her in an airplane (since she is big, she would have to go in cargo hold) or on a train. You hear so many horror stories about animals that die or get lost.
If I can’t travel with Zoe by my side, I won’t take her with me. I don’t want to stress her or my fellow travelers. I want things to run smoothly for everyone and I always try to be respectful of others. Just because I love my dog doesn’t mean that everyone else loves her (even though they should J ).
What about crossing borders? I’ve done two international moves with a cat before and I had to do a stack of paperwork. Do you limit your travels to domestic destinations? What do you do when you travel abroad?
We keep our travel North America based when traveling with Zoe. I don’t ever want to have to quarantine her and as I stated before, I won’t put her in a cargo hold. Most countries that are North America based that you can drive to require that she has her shots within the last six months. No quarantine required.
When we go far overseas, we leave her with friends.
How does traveling with pets affect your accommodation options?
Pet-friendly accommodations are becoming more and more prevalent. There are many more hotel chains that allow pets and do not charge any extra fees for them. Some hotels even welcome your pets with treats and beds free of charge, making it easy for us to travel with Zoe.
How do you deal with Zoe’s food and toilet habits?
We feed Zoe twice a day and, when we travel, this doesn’t change. She gets her usual morning and evening walks and we let her out before bed as well. She was pretty used to our schedules in retail, so she was used to being let out at these times. Now that we travel full-time, we actually walk her more often because we are with her all the time.
How do you manage to visit places where animals are not allowed?
We leave Zoe in hotels very often. She is a seasoned traveler and has very good hotel manners. She doesn’t bark or tear things up and (fingers crossed) I don’t think, at 12 years old, that she would pick up these bad habits. We often try to find places with patios that allow dogs, so she has also had a very posh lifestyle when it comes to dining out. Many cities also have “doggie day care” centers where you can drop your pet off for the day.
Has ever Zoe needed medical attention when you travel?
We have been lucky enough to never have had a medical emergency while away. If this were to occur however, there are vets everywhere and, with the wonders of the Internet, we could find somewhere with a good reputation to take her.
Based on your answers so far, it seems like having a road trip with dogs costs just about as much as a regular road trips. Are there any additional expenses of traveling with pets?
We only incur usual expenses when we travel with Zoe, things like food and treats we would be purchasing for her anyway. Almost every hotel we stay in with her has no fee and she has never left any damages that we would have to pay extra for. She is an A+ traveler. :)
(End of interview)
If you want to know more details about traveling with pets, head on over to The Constant Rambler and reach out to Lauren and Kenin. They’re also on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Google+.
About Lauren and Kenin (in their own words):
“We walked away from our careers, a steady paycheck, and the rat race. We took two adults, two dogs, two duffel bags and one Volkswagen GTI and hit the road for the classic American road trip. Along our trip we visited friends and family, saw amazing sites, and had a ton of awesome adventures. We slept in the car, at pet-friendly hotels and at the occasional relative’s home. We had a loose schedule and even looser plans, we set out to enjoy the journey despite the destination.”
Thanks for the great posting, pets need more care and you did a great job!
Thanks for the excellent tips… A couple of additional thoughts:
My wife and I carry summaries of medical history & conditions for both of us and our pup just in case. Not only are these useful, but I am convinced that, as a result, we receive more attentive care…
Prep-plan with research on and contact with local daycare providers…
Thanks again!
Thanks for the tips, Arne! It’s easy to forget about the medical stuff when you’re on a vacation, but those papers must really help in emergencies.
Awww I’m sorry about your cat! And I know how you feel, I had to leave my dog at home when I moved. I wish with all my heart I could have taken her but I just couldn’t imagine putting her through a 12 hour flight being such a big dog and hearing horror stories about airlines and pets. I’m so impressed they traveled with Zoey, she is quite a big dog but adorable!! There are lots more pet friendly places popping up so it’s great to hear that you don’t always have to leave your furry friend behind while road tripping. Great interview!
It’s tough, leaving pets behind. Sometimes there’s no other way, but I love that Lauren and some other travel bloggers are showing what’s possible and how to do it. Glad you enjoyed the read, Samantha!
Awesome post! My wife desperately wants a dog so I’m sure we will have one sooner or later. It would be fun to go on a road trip with a dog and this made me feel even better about the idea.
It does sound like a lot of fun. When the time comes, if you have any questions about the details, I’m sure Lauren can help. :)
Lovely post! I’ve been thinking of writing something similar, as I would like to encourage people to take their pets with them when holidaying/traveling in Europe.
I frequently travel between Greece and Cyprus, with my 30kg rescue dog, and now spend our time exploring dog-friendly hotels, apartments, tavernas. bars, hikes, beaches etc, in some of the least dog-friendly countries in Europe (these places do exist, just need a bit of searching).
I had to leave her behind when traveling to England for Xmas, as it was a short visit and I thought the emotional and financial expense outweighed the benefits – and I hated it. A holiday is just not a holiday when she’s not there to enjoy it with me!
That’s great that you’re enjoying travel with your dog. I’m loving the fact that you’re helping other pet owners find those difficult-to-find places in Europe. :)
So good to read this. I began traveling with my dog 4mths ago. So far it’s all been good. Just tje same as in the post. Since I’m doing slow travel I haven’t yet had a hotel problem & I think traveling with her has helped me to fit in with the local community better. She’s 13 so very quiet these days which helps.
Thanks for stopping by! I hopped over to your blog and saw that you’re traveling in Spain, so I’m guessing a pet passport, as Ryan mentioned, would come in handy for you too. Trixy is cute as a button, by the way! :)
Interesting interview. I rarely hear of people travelling with cats, mainly because they need about 2 weeks to adjust to a new location.
Good to hear that the hotels are so understanding.
I know my cat wasn’t suited for travel and that’s common with cats. Maybe there are a few cats that are better at adjusting to new places? I once saw a guy walking a kitten on a leash at a park and it was very well behaved, so I guess there’s always an exception to the rule.
Great interview! We travel full-time with ours as well (internationally), and the biggest hurdles are countries where dogs aren’t allowed on ground transit, and finding airlines that do allow pets. There’s always a few of the latter, but it seriously limits our options.
Louis is about the size of Zoe’s head, so we have a much easier time getting him from place to place. I really don’t think I could handle living on the road internationally with a big dog. And I’m not sure the dog would appreciate it either.
After traveling across the world with ours for the past few years, road-tripping in the US last summer felt like a breeze. While places like Motel 6 and Red Roof Inn are pet-friendly (and we had good times at both), I’d have to say that we had the best experience – by far – with Red Lion on the West Coast. Although, I believe they do charge at some locations. Best Western was a nightmare since they often advertise as pet-friendly but I’d say about 10% of the co-op owners actually allow pets at their hotels.
I’ll refrain from bitching about how poorly-behaved pet owners tend to ruin it for all of us good ones out there. :)
Safe travels to another couple of pet owners!
I’m surprised by how easy it is to road-trip with dogs domestically, but international travel must be a challenge! It took me about one or two months to do the paperwork each time I moved — blood testing, waiting for the test results, vaccinations, getting various stamps and signatures from the vet and government officials — so that would really place some restrictions on travel. Thanks for the extra details on accommodation options!
It’s pretty streamlined these days. When we lived in Germany, we actually got a “pet passport” for Louis. It has sections for all his vaccinations, certificates, signatures from vets, etc. This is the norm in Europe and it’d be nice if the rest of the world did it as well. We’ve continued using it on other continents and everyone seems to appreciate it. It actually looks like a passport, or a toy one anyway heh.
We just make sure we follow airline/country guidelines when we’re going to a new place, and make appointments at the vets to get everything in order and get a new letter/certificate before we leave. I always call the airline just to be sure.
We also travel/live slowly, so we’re only moving every three months at the very minimum. This makes things a bit easier. I’d never want to travel every few days or weeks…even without a pet!
The US is a pain with their whole USDA thing, but they don’t require it for travel to Mexico so we had other paperwork when we left the US again last autumn.
The biggest issue is streamlining. The UK doesn’t require quarantine anymore, in order to get in line with what the rest of the EU does. However, some officials and some airlines don’t even bother changing their policies, so we do our best to avoid going through the UK in case we get stuck with people who don’t know what the new rules are.
It certainly isn’t the easiest thing out there, but you do get used to it and know what questions to ask, where to go, etc., before you move on to your next destination. The best thing is that vets are about a thousand times more reasonably priced in every country that’s not the US. :)
So it seems the main thing is to be strategic with your travel planning and choose destinations where there’s a large region you can explore freely, eg. within U.S. or Europe. I’ve heard of the pet passport and it sounds like a great idea. It would be awesome if the rest of the world does that too because completing the paperwork, in my experience, was often the most expensive part of it all. Airfares for animals are surprisingly cheap.
Again, thanks for the wealth of information!
I guess I don’t really understand why the paperwork was such a hassle for you. It was just another “thing” we had to do before we moved to Germany, along with Ang heading to the USDA to get that piece of paper.
Once we were in Europe and got the pet passport, it was pretty much smooth sailing. Every time we move, we just go get all of the appropriate checkups, health certificates from the vets, and stamps/signatures in the passport whenever we’re preparing to leave for the next place. We just did it in Cancun and it was simply 30 minutes to an hour at the vet to get everything, maybe cost us $30 or so (including the new anti-flea/tick meds).
When we got to Cancun, the only paperwork was them doing it at customs for us. We gave them our documents and they did the rest. Took 20-30 minutes, but we would have been standing in line at immigration anyway. :)
Overall, I’d say the most annoying thing was leaving from the US the first time we did it with him. It still wasn’t that grating or anything though.
Just gotta roll with the punches!
I think it really depends on the countries involved. Each time I moved, it took about 1-2 months to complete the paperwork and it cost about $1,500 (including airfare) each time. In Australia, the process was so complex that private individuals weren’t allowed to do it alone and had to use special pet import agents. In Canada, I had to do a blood test and the only lab that could do it in the entire North America was in Kansas, so the testing and sending the sample back and forth alone cost hundreds of dollars and took about six weeks, not to mention all the other requirements.