While I’ve wanted to get a dog for decades, last year I finally made it happen.
It wasn’t actually planned out very well on my end — I follow a bunch of dog rescues and breeders on Instagram and saw a story that an adorable mini goldendoodle puppy needed be rehomed, as his owner got a new a job that required a lot of travel. I responded to the story saying I was interested, but I didn’t expect to get a response back as, over the last few years, I applied to adopt probably half a dozen dogs from rescues without success.
When I got a response the next day, I set up a call with the current owner and after about 10 minutes she told me that, of everyone who was interested, she thought I would give him the best home. A day later, I went to meet him and about two days after that, I brought him home.
Just over six months later, Marley (my pup) is now my best friend and I’m so glad that I got him. That said, as a frequent traveler (and travel writer, no less!), getting a dog has definitely changed a lot about how I travel.
I am much more intentional about my trips
Probably the biggest change has been that I’ve become much more intentional about the trips that I take. Since I work remotely and for myself, before getting Marley I would travel whenever I wanted to whenever I wanted.
Now, I only go on trips if the trip is worth me leaving Marley (and since I love spending time with him, the destination or experience has to be really special to make it worth it).
Travel is now more expensive
Since this is the first time I’m raising a puppy on my own, I need all the help that I can get — so when I travel, I send Marley to a boarding school where he works with a dog trainer daily and has enrichment activities throughout the day. Marley even earned his GED at the boarding school when I went on a safari. While it’s worth it to me, it’s definitely not cheap.
I also found someone on Rover to watch Marley for shorter trips, but even that option still ends up adding a few hundred dollars to the price of my trip.
I’m also hesitant to have friends watch Marley, as I prefer a transactional arrangement (otherwise, I’ll end up needing to dogsit my friends’ dogs in return, which would be difficult considering Marley by himself is already a lot for me to handle).
I travel less
I call Marley “the face that cancelled a thousand trips” — since getting him just six months ago, I’ve canceled trips to London, Bora Bora, Thailand, and Taiwan. Don’t feel too bad for me, though, as in that time I also went to Amsterdam, the Serengeti, Zanzibar, and Colombia.
But even now, I’m itching to go to Hawaii and probably won’t book it since I’m going to Bora Bora and Tahiti on seven-night trip next month and don’t want to leave him twice in two months.
Also, right now I’m not that interested in taking trips with Marley. He’s still a puppy and gets very excited on walks, and I get anxiety just thinking about how overstimulated he’d be at an airport or on a flight. And I don’t drive, which makes it harder to take him on local trips.
I’m sure I’ll find some way to incorporate him into my travel, but for now Marley’s enjoying being a pampered pup in Los Angeles.
I’m less concerned about earning points and miles
Okay, this one isn’t necessarily about how Marley has changed the way I travel, but it’s definitely travel-related.
Since I’m traveling less and already have a large number of points and miles spready across multiple credit cards, hotels, and airlines, I doubt I could exhaust all of my points and miles in two or three years. And since I’m now more intentional about the trips that I’m taking, I’m less likely to book a trip just because of a good deal (for instance, before I got Marley if I found out that the Waldorf Astoria Maldives opened up award availability for five-night stays in standard rooms, I’d likely book the trip to take advantage of that — now, I doubt I would because it’s not a property that I’m dying to visit).
That’s not to say that I’m not trying to earn points where I can — I just got a new American Express Business Gold card to take advantage of a 200,000 point sign-up bonus, for example — it’s just that I’m less focused on earning points and miles than I was before I got Marley.
Bottom line
Becoming a dog owner has definitely changed the way I travel, but the trade-offs are worth it for the companionship and getting to watch Marley grow. And if you want more Marley in your life, you can follow him @marleymuppet.
Do you have advice about dog ownership and travel? Let me know in the comments!
