I love dogs. I love them about as much as I love to travel. They can add a richness to your travel experience. My home page picture is the best example of how traveling with a dog can be so much fun. The picture on my home page is of Rayna posing at the Grand Canyon. In May of 2017, I traveled from Pennsylvania to California, alone, with my dog, Rayna. As a female traveling on a road trip solo in the United States, this can be a daunting adventure when looking at it from the perspective of risk of personal safety. Rayna not only helped me maintain a sense of security, she was also there to help break the ice with strangers. It wasn’t even a thought to take the picture, as I was just in awe of the wide natural beauty the canyon displayed before me. Others, however, were in awe of Rayna’s beauty too. She loved the attention and people asked if they could get their picture either with her or just of her. So there she was sitting pretty as a princess on the red carpet having her photo taken. I just took one too.
What really made that experience, and others in my travels memorable was the connections I had with others. Sharing a love of animals with complete strangers reminds me of the capacity of love us humans of the world own. I get stories of other people’s beloved pets and crazy antics. People share pictures with me, much like they would their own children (maybe because dogs are just furry kinds of kids). The joy in their faces and the connections made are priceless in my eyes. I connected with so many people on my journeys, mainly because of my dogs.
That is not to say traveling with dogs is easy as pie. Challenges abound. Weather is definitely a factor, especially warm weather, but either extreme can be difficult. Take these types of issues proactively. I traveled in May to avoid the extreme temps and still be able to eat outside at restaurants with my dog in tow. During the winter, we are lucky to have dogs who grew up in Alaska, living in cold temperatures outside. Insulated beds and a cozy place to curl up, help when we need to go get a bite to eat but can’t take the dogs with us. However, if we had a small dog, like a Boston Terrier, we’d likely leave the dog at home in the winter. Planning is a must to travel with your pet, but so rewarding once you are on your way; just plan accordingly.
Dogs help motivate us to get into nature more frequently and their excitement is contagious. My husband and I are lucky because we live in a snowy destination with dogs who love snow. Yesterday we took Shadow and Rayna up our neighborhood snow-covered streets to the ridge above and snowboarded down. I am still suffering from the remnants of what was a month long flu in November. My strength was just gone, but I did some skijoring with our retired, Iditarod sled dog, Shadow, to help me work through the uphill trek to the ridge. Skijoring essentially has your dog tied on a long bungee lead to a waist belt you wear. He loved it and our reward was a spectacular view of the sierras with a fast, fun, snowboard down. The whole little trip cost us nothing but the sweat of our own labor for some glorious outdoor fun.
Dogs are able to get us out and connected in a much more meaningful way than our smartphones ever could. As the world also becomes more dog friendly, I am looking forward to more travel experiences with my dogs.
