A lot of pet parents struggle with their emotions when planning holidays because it involves leaving behind their fur babies. Our blogger-in-chief often experiences it with her two-year-old baby lab, Poppy. “I cry every time I have to leave her and go,” she’d told me once.
So this morning when one of my colleagues called us to check out her friend’s Facebook post ‘Trip to Dharamshala with Buddy & Domchu’, the entire team gathered around, and we couldn’t stop aww-ing!
We all talk about taking road trips with our friends, but just imagine how amazing it would be to have in the backseat, your cutesy fur friends! So with that thought, and lots of curious queries, I called Sneh and Rahul, the travel-loving couple who planned a weeklong trip with their lab and beagle, Buddy and Domchu.
By the way, paww-struck by their names, are you? So while Buddy has been Rahul’s buddy since quite a long time now, the story behind little miss beagle’s name has to do with another trip of theirs. “Domchu is a Bhutanese name, which we picked on our trip to Bhutan – we saw a lot of people call their doggos ‘Domchu’ there,” shared Sneh.
But how exactly did they come up with the idea of travelling with their pet babies, what planning went into it, and what all exciting activities did they do together – below are some excerpts from my conversation with Sneh that flowed along these questions, and take my word, you don’t want to miss reading about this one-of-its-kind adventurous trip!
It often happens that people talk about wanting to travel with their pets but the plans don’t materialize owing to “practical” reasons – How did you two go about making it happen?
Domchu was not keeping well from some time and we just thought that we could take her along because otherwise it would be too much load for Rahul’s family. And then it struck us that perhaps we could take both of them. In the West, it is very common to travel with your pets. So that was it, a very last minute and whimsical decision.
Ah! But then how did you manage at the preparation front on that short notice?
So we did a quick Google search of what all we could do to ensure a safe and comfortable travel for the two of them. It wasn’t like any long checklist; we got their food sorted, then vaccinations we got done in advance, and using our camping gear converted the car backseat into a big large bed for them. And while on the trip, ensured that the ac was always on full blast, their heads inside the car, and that we were stopping every 2-3 hours for pee-break. Ha-ha.
And what about hotel booking? Was it easy finding a pet-friendly place?
We pre-booked this pet-friendly hotel at Dharamshala, Camp Lungta, and it was one amazing experience. It is run by a couple, they have their own little dog named April. And the warmth and love they extended, we couldn’t have asked for more.
Nice! Tell me a little about the trip, in what ways was it different from all the past trips that you both have taken?
Having taken them along, we had to be more responsible. There were times when they’d go mad barking, and a few aunties and kids got scared of them. Oh and both of them saw horses and mules for the first time I think, so that was another experience! And it was amazing to see how Buddy would act protective at times, self-donning the hat of a big and responsible boy. (Awww!)
Anything that made you feel “if only we had planned it better”?
Yeah so when we took to another small place, Dharamkot, during the trip, it turned out that we weren’t as well prepared. In the sense that we couldn’t find an appropriate place to stay with them, and one time, we got surrounded by a lot of stray dogs, which got them and the two of ours, pretty aggressive.
What kind of adventure activities did they dip their paws into?
We took them trekking, swimming in the river – they were a part of everything we did. And not just Buddy and Domchu, even April – she went with us everywhere. They enjoyed it all. Even the road journey was a unique experience. Rahul and I love doing road trips, and taking this one with them turned out to be a great decision. And we’re definitely doing it again, once every year at least.
Speaking of it, what do you have to say about the travel infrastructure of our country, how would you rate it on the ‘pet-friendly’ meter?
It is fuckall, she laughed. No but seriously, there exist no provisions or infrastructure. Except for the small places, no hotels or dhabas were warm enough to allow pets, and because of it half the times we had to get our food packed and eat sitting in the car.
I really hope for the culture of travelling with pets to pick up. They’re like little children, and far from creating disturbance for others, the experience of having them along is beautiful and a lot of fun.
Indeed. And they must have grabbed a lot of attention!
Ha-ha, yeah! Except for one aunty and those few kids I mentioned, everyone else whom we met, grew extremely loving towards them. And thinking about it, I must say that people in the hilly areas are a lot friendlier towards animals than most city dwellers.
I know what you mean. So what new or different did you notice about them while on the trip?
Times when we were mildly inebriated, both of them would get super protective and try and take care of us. And April too would accompany them; was amazing to see them bonding. She had become like family, and we even though of bringing her back with us, but she seemed happy in the mountains and has a loving family, so we couldn’t have distanced them.
Lastly, any advice that you think Buddy and Domchu would like to leave for the parents of their fellow furry friends?
The one thing that we noticed was how happy they were in greenery and in big open spaces. So Buddy and Domchu will definitely love to see their fur friends going on vacations with their parents. Particularly Domchu, she is one notorious monster when at home, but we were amazed to see how angelic and super-cooperative travel turned her, laughed.