Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

We’ve written extensively about caring for our pets when we’re on vacation. From boarding the dogs, to sending the dogs on a vacation without you, to trusting the pup with a good friend while we’re away, you name it, we’ve thought about it. Over and over again, it comes down to some balance between cost, QT with our pets, and time spent calling in reasonable favors.

But what about bringing them with you? According to a TripAdvisor survey, pets are in tow roughly half the time on our quests for R&R. Of that half:

56 percent will stay in hotels with them – up from 51 percent who have done so in the last year, while 35 percent plan to stay in a vacation rental, up from 24 percent.

The survey focused on pet-friendly travel within the United States. A flight — from an hour to 10 hours — obviously proves trickier and far more expensive. We flew with Ms. Gida Boston once from CA to TX, and I can’t see us doing it again anytime soon, especially as airlines crack down on brachycephalic dogs flying the friendly skies.

When it comes to road-trip weekenders away, I’m far more willing than I was even a couple years ago to pay a pet deposit. I definitely lean toward pet-friendly vacation rentals and cheapie hotels, too. But where do you stand? What are the variables at play for you?

Photo: kiyoshi.be on Flickr.

My husband and I just returned from a super relaxing week-long honeymoon and I’m pretty sure the only thing that had us looking forward to coming back was getting to see our dogs. This was the longest period of time our dog Happy has ever gone without the both of us and the first time ever our other dog Joey has been away from me at all. Like any pet parent, I was a little nervous about how they’d do without us. We were fortunate to have my brother stay at our house with the dogs, pretty much the ideal pet-sitting solution in my opinion. And thanks to a terrible storm the night before our wedding, our house was the only home in the family with power so my parents, my sister, her husband and their two kids all stayed at our place with the dogs for part of the week too. That’s my niece in the above photo reading her book in a dog bed. The end result: Happy and Joey got more attention during our honeymoon than I think they ever have.

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In our continuing quest to honor the scaly cuteness among us, I present Mister (or Ms.) Scaly. This lizard — it’s a lizard, yes? — lives at the Mayan Ruins of Tulum, which I affectionately remember as the hottest place in the history of heat.

You guessed it: they’re wild — and plentiful — and you’re not supposed to touch them.

My alternate title for this was “a dog walks into an avocado farm…” but you can’t really pass up “pet stop” when it presents itself.

I love when businesses, whether they sell cars, clothes, or avocados, make pets feel welcome. That’s extra true when that business is at the end of a windy, 17-mile drive and my dog could stand to empty. I appreciate a water bowl or treats behind the counter, but this goes above and beyond: fire hydrant, wood chips, dirt, rock, and a cute label. Here’s Gida enjoying the offerings.

Good job, Morro Creek Ranch in Morro Bay, CA. Beautiful ‘cados, by the way.