Honey is always ready for a road trip.
When I dine with Honey, my Golden Retriever, at an outdoor cafe or walk her through a beach town, strangers come up to us asking the same thing. “Can I pet her? I had to leave my dog at home this vacation.”
I bite my tongue. But I want to ask, “Why didn’t you bring your dog along?
Ever wondered if you could travel with your pet? I have some websites for you.
Some will inspire you with their photos and stories while others will help you plan your pet-friendly vacation.
Pet Travel Inspiration
If you were inspired by Rebecca Boren’s review of Following Atticus on this site, you’ll enjoy the blog of their continuing adventures, The Adventures of Tom and Atticus. The writer, Tom Ryan, and his small dog continue to hike New Hampshire’s White Mountains together, snow or shine. Even if your idea of a winter vacation is huddling in front of a fire with a cup of hot chocolate, you’ll enjoy the beautiful photos and videos of their trips.
Photos of sun and sea dominate Liberty Sails, the website of Rudy the Cruising Canine. The long-haired miniature dachshund has sailed to the Bahamas, Portugal, Greece, and Turkey.
Akila and Patrick travel Europe with not one, but two, medium-sized dogs, Abby and Chewy.They write about and post pictures of their adventures at The Road Unleashed.
Roxy in Little Black Mountain of Arizona. Used with permission from Mary Hone.
Mary and Al Hone are artists who travel to art shows in an RV with their dogs, Roxy and Torrey. They most recently visited the Little Black Mountain petroglyphs in Northwestern Arizona. You’ll find their images at Roxy the Traveling Dog.
After reading these inspirational pet travel blogs, it’s time to plan your getaway. I’ve gathered my favorite sites loaded with practical advice.
Plan Your Pet-Friendly Trip
When I traveled with my dogs, Agatha and Christie, twenty years ago, planning was paperbound. We chose our route using an atlas. Directory assistance helped us call hotels to confirm they were pet friendly.
Thank goodness for the internet.
My first stop when planning a trip with Honey is Go Pet Friendly. The blog describes the life of Amy and Rod Burkert who travel in an RV with their dogs, Ty and Buster. But their website has so much more. The Road Trip Planner, for example, allows you to choose your destination in a Google map and choose to show pet-friendly restaurants, hotels, services, and activities. Go Pet Friendly will help anyone planning a U.S. road trip with a pet.
Not all dogs tolerate the bustle of a busy hotel. Renting a private home can lower stress and the VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) website makes finding the right place easy. You can search by pet-friendly options and houses are located all over the world.
Why should dogs have all the fun? Cat lovers will find practical advice and first person stories about traveling with their feline friends at the About.com Travel with Cats site. Its range of links will surprise anyone who never considered traveling with a cat.
Pettravel.com provides reliable advice for international pet travelers. Moving to Bahrain? You’ll find quarantine and passport requirements for your dog in a handy drop down menu.
The Parks family sailed aboard a 40 foot sailboat with not one, but two Golden Retrievers. Their website, Sail Charbonneau, although several years old, is still one of the best resources of practical advice about sailing with large dogs.
With so many fun and helpful sites, there’s no reason to leave your pet at home for your next vacation.
Pets Make Travel Even Better
I’ve never regretted traveling with my dogs.
They have led me to try new pet-friendly activities, like camping and boating. They have taught me a new rhythm of travel. And they have never once complained about my choice of restaurant.
Use these sites to plan a trip with your pet. You may just find the best traveling companion ever.
Vote for my article on WorldTravelist.com, sharing the best travel content on the web.
About the Author:
Pamela Douglas Webster is a contributor to A Traveler's Library. She hopes to inspire people to enjoy travel with their pets in her monthly Pet Travel Thursday feature. Pamela blogs about dogs and their people at Something Wagging This Way Comes.
Pamela Douglas Webster – who has written 15 posts on A Traveler's Library.
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Tags: booking pet travel, pet travel, Pet Travel Thursday, sailing with dogs, traveling with cats, websites
Thank you for the shout-out, dear lady, and for the links to other dog travel bloggers!
Mary-Alice would like you to read..Reader’s report: Under-seat space in an American MD-80 (First Class)
You’re welcome, Mary Alice. Thank you for providing such a detailed and helpful resource.
My dog is too big to fit under an airplane seat. But If I ever have a pet small enough to fly with me, your site will be the first one I visit.
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Pamela Douglas Webster would like you to read..If Dogs Invented the Internet
I’m glad you recommended the continuing adventures of Tom & Atticus — and I’m glad you included GoPetFriendly.com in a post that mentions the word “inspire” in its title. The advice on the site is not only practical but Amy and Rod’s decision to follow their bliss — which isn’t can’t always be blissful but is usually an adventure — makes you feel that anything is possible. And if you have a small dog that you want to fly with, you can’t beat Dog Jaunt. All in all, great picks, Pamela!
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Edie would like you to read..Of Mosaic Confession: The Doktors Kornmehl & Professor Freud
Thanks, Edie. The hard part of the post was narrowing the list down to the best.
I still enjoy following Tom and Atticus. They post lots of inspirational pictures on Facebook.
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Pamela Douglas Webster would like you to read..Looking for Training Inspiration?
We’ve used VRBO twice and been lucky to find vacation places that accepts pets (dog especially). It really depends on location (what state), in our current temporary location (HI) not many dog friendly rental home available. We are traveling soon and looking forward to a hotel and condo pet friendly accommodation. Grateful to share travel experiences with Sugar.
SUGAR: Golden Woofs would like you to read..Woof! Woof! At The Beaches Of Maui
At VRBO and other sites, pet-friendly properties are always a minority. It can be tough to find the right place–especially when your dog doesn’t fit in your purse.
Glad you’ve been able to find nice homes for your trips.
We’ll be renting our home out for Cornell graduation and in gratitude for all the pet-friendly homes we’ve rented ours will be too. After all, why should another family have to miss their fuzzy face?
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Pamela Douglas Webster would like you to read..Looking for Training Inspiration?
Thank you so much for your lovely description of GoPetFriendly.com, Pamela. We love knowing that we’re making it easy for people to plan trips with their pets, and have some new features on the horizon that will provide even more options!
Also, here’s another great blog to add to your list: http://www.weaselmouth.com/ I recently found them and they live fulltime in an Airstream trailer while they travel with their dog. WE’RE NOT THE ONLY CRAZY ONES! =D
Amy would like you to read..Dog Friendly Adventures in Sandpoint, Idaho
Can’t wait to see what you roll out next, Amy.
Loved the weaselmouth blog. Y’know? The more RVers I meet, the more they remind me of sailing cruisers without all the Jimmy Buffett music. Gee, maybe I should rethink the sailboat.
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Pamela Douglas Webster would like you to read..Looking for Training Inspiration?
Thanks for all the practical tips. I’m sure I’ll be consulting these sources when next we venture out with Bogie. Although I don’t think I’m brave enough to take a dog on a sailboat!
And dog owners will also get a lot of good info from this article in Outside magazine online–Can Your Dog Save Your Life?
Those were great articles in the link. Thanks, Vera.
The one about the mountain lion was especially useful since it showed so clearly that each dog is different and you may be called on to defend your dog as much as you expect him to defend you.
As for Bogie on a sailboat–I bet he’d look adorable in a little yachtsman’s cap.
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Pamela would like you to read..Why I Travel With Dogs
Such a good resource for the dog owner who does not want to leave their pet at home.
Thanks. It’s much easier to research pet travel now that we have such great resources online.
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Pamela would like you to read..Why I Travel With Dogs
We love traveling with the dogs. Sometimes challenges come up, but taking your house everywhere you go, makes things much easier.
Mary Hone would like you to read..Two blog awards from two great friends
Which is exactly why I’ve taken up sailing. I’d never last if I had to drive my house everywhere. But sailing it? That will probably work.
We hope to someday be the Mary and Al of the sea.
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Pamela would like you to read..Why I Travel With Dogs