I heard about some big news affecting pets in New Mexico, so today I’m turning my blog over to Travelin’ Jack, the state’s Dog Governor, New Mexico’s pre-eminent Pet Travel Guru, dog about town, and…well, I’ll let him tell you. Heeere’s Jack! *** As New Mexico’s roving bulldog reporter, I’m always sniffing out news in…
Pet Travel Insurance: A Policy for the Future?
Pet travel insurance doesn’t currently exist in the U.S. — at least not the kind that’s comparable to human travel insurance, where you lay down a one-time fee to bet on the contingencies of a single trip. But consider that, not long ago, pet health insurance wasn’t very common, and pet travel was not nearly…
Go Pet Friendly: Vacation as Vocation
You’ve heard the cliches: Living the dream. Tough work if you can get it. Live the life you’ve imagined. They’re all true in the case of Rod and Amy Burkert, who are traveling around the country with their two dogs, Ty and Buster, finding pet friendly places to recommend for their website, GoPetFriendly.com. The Trip…
Striding Determinedly
People who have known me for a long time know that I have the worst sense of direction in the world. It’s almost pathologically bad, a kind of directional dyslexia. But that never interfered with my New York-bred fast and confident stride. Out-of-town friends who would visit me in Manhattan were often appalled to discover…
Pet Travel Trends
Good news for someone who is writing a pet travel guide. Or trying to. My thanks to Deborah Flick, who forwarded me the press release and graphic from Sweden, where she is watching chickens. And thanks of course to PetRelocation.com, who put together the survey. I was very pleased to see that 71% of people…
Cat Travel: A Paw Too Far?
Do our cats really want to travel with us — or is taking them along on vacation pure selfishness, based on a desire not to be parted from them? Earlier this week, I posed that question to five cat-savvy pet bloggers in the BlogPaws Community forum. Here’s what they said: From Tammy Durham, editor and…
Do Our Pets Really Want to Travel With Us?
Christopher Elliott is well known in the travel industry as a consumer advocate and as the ombudsman at National Geographic Traveler. So when I came across his article, “Traveling With Pets Can Be Pricey,” I was interested to find out what he had to say. And then baffled. The piece starts off proclaiming, on the…
So You Think You Want to Run a Pet-Friendly Inn…
Many people have a fantasy of opening a bed-and breakfast. Mind you, I’m not one of them. Aside from the obvious chores that even devoted innkeepers are bound to dislike, such as the constant cleaning, there’s also the having to talk to people first thing in the morning part of the job description that would…
Frankie’s Whirlwind Scottsdale Tour
I wrote last week about my behind-the-scenes stress about Frankie’s insulin when I went up to Scottsdale for a book signing, but didn’t provide any details about the whirlwind visit itself. Some highlights (or, if you ask Frankie, lowlights)… Thursday 1:45 pm. Frankie and I arrive at the stylish and pet-friendly Hotel Indigo Scottsdale, in…
The Big & The Brave: Southern Arizona’s Lazy Dog Ranch
Thor says, Welcome to my world! I don’t usually take Frankie along with me on day trips — car rides are not his favorite activity, to put it mildly — but this past January, I decided to bring him with me to The Lazy Dog Ranch, a bed and breakfast about two hours from Tucson.…