Hey guys!
I feel like it’s been a while since I last typed a blog post! Sometimes yo homegirl needs to take a break and refresh for new ideas! We recently took a trip to New Mexico…a spontaneous one at that. We were supposed to go to Colorado, but with the blizzard that hit the area, our flight was canceled. Luckily we were able to hop in our car and spend some time in NM! It was nice that we got to take our dog Ginger, which meant my friend Janet who helped care for Hailey (cat) and Chase (rabbit) had it a bit “easier” with one less pet to look after! Thanks Janet!
We have traveled with Ginger before. She’s been with us to Arkansas, Louisiana, of course home and South Padre Island. She’s pretty well behaved, so taking her this time wasn’t an issue. However we realized there are pros and cons to consider when taking her next time.
Pros and Cons on Traveling with a Pet
PROS
They go on an adventure with you. When ginger got to come with us, it’s if she was just as excited as we were! I’ve had Ginger for 13 years and she is very attached to me. I sometimes think she has attachment issues but nonetheless I gotta leave sometimes! Because of this though it was nice to bring her along so she can experience the trip with us.
New Memories. Ginger is part of our family so whenever I think of New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana… i will think of Ginger because she has gone with us to these places. It’s nice that she can be involved with these trips and also keep her active.
Exposure to new people and places. When I first got Ginger, I was living with my mom. One of the things that she used to do was growl, bark, and sometimes go after people when they would visit my moms. She has never tragically hurt anyone but sometimes we would need to put her in my moms room while people visited. I truly believe that after a while of doing this, she would associate the people that would come over as “bad”. When I moved to my first apartment, I stopped putting her away and let my guests share the same space with her. She is SO much better now, and one of the reasons why I like bringing her with us to travel because she gets to be around more people and continues to trust others. Don’t get me wrong, she is not fond of other strangers petting her, but she’s SO much better now than many years ago.
Great companions! Ya’ll already know how dogs are such great companions! i wont’ even go into detail here but you will never feel alone when you have a dog living with you even more, when they travel with you!
They don’t feel lonely or abandoned. In return of taking them with you on trips, they themselves won’t feel left alone. I think my dog gets a bit anxious when I’m not there. I’m not too sure, i’m just assuming but ever since I started working from home more… she seems more attached to me. Now that she’s older I don’t want to make her feel like I’ve been gone too long. Ivan and I literally won’t be gone more than 2-3 days tops lol.
CONS
Not every state is pet friendly. New Mexico is so nice and the weather wasn’t THAT bad. Cold but with sun so literally when you stood in the sun it was perfect! We spent a lot of time outdoors since there is a lot to do outdoors. We weren’t able to find places that allowed pets unless it was an outdoor patio, or outdoor market. So next time, we definitely need to do our research before decided if we want to take Ginger.
Outdoor only. The second day is when we had Ginger with us all day because the night before she acted up. We went to have a nice dinner to officially celebrate our 2 year anniversary when the airbnb host called me saying that my dog was whining and she was concerned. We immediately ate super quick and went back within 20 minutes! I know we can’t compare our dog to a child 100% of the time, but in that moment we felt like we had a 3 or 5 year old acting up and we had to “rush home!” lol! So the second day we spent all day outdoors, at the Santa Fe Market, Sam’s Bakery Cafe, and a pet friendly trail.
Scared of the unfamiliar. Referring back to my story. I believe it’s hard to travel with pets because they are not familiar with the place with you are staying at. They don’t know the scents, or their way around the room so that can be scary. I believe this is one of the reasons why Ginger acted up that night.
Pet Friendly places to stay. I feel that we lucked out with finding an Airbnb that even had a backyard, pet friendly and that was NICE! Regardless though when I searched for hotels, sometimes the pet friendly hotels are not the nicest or they charge “x” extra per night which can get costly. So finding a place that has it all is something to plan for.
With these pros and cons, I would take Ginger again (now that we know what she is capable of and what to expect), I would just like to plan our trip around what we can’t do while with her and what we can do with her :) That way we get a bit of both worlds! After all, she is our little furbaby <3
What other advice or suggestions do you have when traveling with a pet? How has your experience been? What are some pet friendly states? Leave your comment below!
