Traveling With Pets
As many times as we have relocated, it’s bound to happen, traveling with pets. We’ve had pets go by plane and by auto. Sometimes we’ve stayed in hotels, but more often then not we’ve had to board our dogs. I always hate having to take them to a kennel, I feel like I’m deserting them. So much has changed over the last few years, it’s becoming easier to travel with pets. The main reason seems to be that the travel industry is acknowledging that people love their pets and want the best for them.
Our Siberian Huskey made his first flight when he was only about 2 years old. My husband had moved ahead of me from California to Houston and so I sent our dog via airline cargo plane to Houston. He did really well, but I was a nervous wreck until I knew he had made it safely. The next time we relocated was to Connecticut and we flew our huskey as well as our newly adopted chow. This time they flew on the same plane as we did and we even saw them being loaded onto the plane. We had to stay in temporary housing for a couple of months though and so I had to board them both. I did find a wonderful place and I visited them regularly.
When we moved from Connecticut to Illinois, we drove. I had an SUV and we put each of their travel crates in the back with them in inside. They did amazingly well that trip. The hard part was when we stopped for the night and I had to leave them in their crates. I parked the vehicle directly underneath our hotel room window so I could check on them periodically. I had left the rear window completely open for air and wanted to make sure they were not only okay, but that nobody stole them. This was so exhausting, I was up and down all night checking on them. That last time I certainly wish I could have checked ahead for pet friendly hotels which are becoming more popular now.
Now that we have Plinko, who I know will be traveling with us sometime in the future, I’m glad to know that there are many more hotels to choose from that will accept pets. I just need to check in advance and make sure what extra fees the hotel might charge and what their restrictions are.
