.jpg)
The time for summer travel may be over, but we’re still having gorgeous weather in many parts of the country. That means it’s a good time to get in those fall road trips. Think of it: windows down, hair whipping in the wind, your dog’s tongue lolling out the window.
You may want to go on a road trip, but you don’t want to leave your beloved pet behind. Never fear: there’s a website for you that’s here to help. It’s called Pet Friendly (gopetfriendly.com). This comprehensive site has everything you need to plan a trip with your pet.
If you’re going on a road trip, Pet Friendly is there for you. Head to its Road Trip Planner. Enter your starting point and destination, and what type of services you’re looking for: hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, or activities. The site will then provide listings for each pet-friendly type of service along your way. Hotels and campgrounds to which you can take your pet, pet-friendly restaurants, activities that’ll be good for your pet (mostly hiking), and more.
If you want more specific details, it’s got you covered. On the main site you can search specifically under hotel, campground, restaurant, and activity listings. You enter how many pets you have, whether they’re harder to accommodate (large dogs, cats), and what city/state you’re looking at. It’ll then list all pet-friendly destinations to your specifications in that area.
The site also has destination guides. Select the state to which you’re headed, and it’ll link to blog posts about the area. This isn’t a listing of all the pet friendly locations in the state; that’s what the trip planner is for. Instead, it links to posts users and site admins have made about trips they took with their pet in that state, and specifics about what they did with their pets. This will include a greater focus on any restaurants and activities on which you can bring along your pet, as pet-friendly hotels are more common.
It’s also got a great Pet Travel Tips section. It features blog posts on a variety of relevant topics, such as what to do if your pet gets sick on a trip, packing for a pet-friendly trip, information on breed discrimination laws, dog beach safety tips, and how to properly greet strange dogs. It also has links to pet travel resources, such as airline travel requirements, details on pet travel information for Canada and the U.K., pet-friendly car rental agencies, and the pet travel requirements for Hawaii, which has a few more restrictions than travel between the continental states.
So far I’ve never tried to take my pets on a real vacation. When we go away we leave the cats at home, and when we take the dog it’s only to the homes of friends and family. If I ever were to attempt a pet-friendly vacation, however, Pet Friendly would be one of my first stops in planning the trip.
Related Articles:
Combating Canine Motion Sickness
*(The above image by marya is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)