I’m a cat person, and always have been.
When Chris and I set out for our first seven month trial run of traveling together in 2007, we decided that my cat Alma was not meant to be a traveling cat. Alma never enjoyed car trips (or Hurricane evacuations!), and it just didn’t seem right to try and force an outdoor free-roaming cat to try and adjust to living in a confined space.
So we left Alma behind with my former housemate who loves her dearly.
The trial runs for both of us went well, and both Alma and I thrived in our new homes. But there was a furry void in my life, and Chris and I agreed that we would stay open for a travel compatible cat to join us on our journey. We knew when the time was right, the right cat (or kitten) would purr into our lives.
And indeed she did!
While visiting some friends on a ranch in Oregon last December, a seven-week-old bundle of cuteness named Kiki stole our hearts. A quick test trip proved that she was travel and allergy compatible, and she had been traveling with us ever since. Having literally grown up on the road, she has grown to be a natural traveler. We could hardly imagine a day without her now!
Pets are part of the family to many, and it’s quite understandable why many folks make lifestyle compromises to keep them part of their lives. When I was first contemplating joining Chris to live on the road full time, the idea of giving up my cat Alma was actually harder to imagine than giving up my house!
As we have discovered – if wanderlust is your calling, you don’t necessarily have to give up having pets in your life. Here are some ways that we have seen people making it work…
Take Your House With You
The easiest way to integrate a mobile lifestyle with pets is by selecting a style of travel that keeps your house with you so your pet is always at home. This might include an RV, like we’ve chosen, or a boat.
It’s not uncommon at all for folks traveling about in mobile homes to have pets onboard. Here are some examples:
In RVs:
- Mara & Stewart – This duo is traveling the US full time in a T@b teardrop trailer (similar to what Chris and I traveled in before we got our Oliver). And they do so with 2 dogs!
- Cat & Bryan – This young duo is traveling the US full time in a fifth wheel with a cat, two cockatiels, a bearded dragon and hermit crabs. Wild!
- Rene & Jim – This duo took off in a fifth wheel after their dog Jerry was diagnosed with cancer. They enjoyed two years on the road with him before he passed on (warning, if you read the full story, bring a box of kleenex).
- Emmy & Lex – Two self describes weirdos in an RV also travel with their cat Mushroom in their motorhome.
In boats:
- Steve & Sky – The original technomad Steve Roberts and his partner Sky are finishing up preparations on their geeked out sailing vessel, Nomadness. Onboard will be Steve’s cat Java and Sky’s dog.
- Jessica – Jessica has been sailing with her pooch, Kip McSnip – and together they wrote the book, Doggy on Deck, on sailing with dogs.
As with having pets in any sort of home, there are things to keep in mind when traveling with animals.
- Always be aware of temperature and make sure that your home is comfortable for your pet, particularly when you are away from it.
- Make sure your pets get enough exercise – most mobile home have far less room to play and run around in. We trained Kiki to walk on
Taking Kiki for a walk.. on a leash a leash and harness from the time she came to us at age 7 weeks – she doesn’t think anything strange of this, although we often get chuckles from nearby campmates.
- Lining up vets, grooming and pet sitters across the country can be a challenge. We tap into friends, fellow travelers, and Yelp for recommendations.
- Realize that everywhere you take your home may not be a welcome environment for your pets. Many festivals we attend have strict ‘No Pets’ rules. Kiki protests this.
- Pick brands of food & litter that are available nationwide, and keep close tabs on supplies. If you run out, you may not be nearby a pet store to run in and get more.
Other Forms of Travel
Living in a RV or a boat however is not the only form of full time travel that folks explore with their pets. It is more difficult but still possible to travel with animals via planes, trains, buses, backpacking, bicycling, and more.
Our friends Curtis & DeeAnn actually took a six month road trip with their two cats, Jasper and Bayla – in a Prius! To balance the needs of their cats with their desire to see as much of the country as they could, they had to carefully worked out the logistics of their trip so that they would always be staying at pet friendly hotels. The four of them (yes, the cats blogged too!) chronicled their adventure here.
International travel is also possible with your pets, but quarantine laws are often prohibitive. The added levels of cost and complexity make finding an extended pet sitter a very reasonable alternative. Almost Fearless addresses a lot of tips and issues for traveling abroad with your pets.
Other Options For Pet Love
If you are craving the love of a furry companion, there are alternatives even if it isn’t practical for you to bring your own pet on the road.
During our first 7 months of travel without a pet, we sought out opportunities to pet sit for folks as we traveled. This gave us both a home base to explore cool cities from and quality time with great animals. It worked really well!
Whatever path you choose, you should be able to find some way to integrate pet love into your travel. It may be difficult, but the snuggles and purrs are so worth it!
Many thanks to Matt Bell for traveling along with us a couple of days and taking the above pictures of the three of us!
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Thanks for this post, it’s really helpful. I was wondering, where is Kiki’s litter-box setup? Any space-saving or smell-busting tips?
Kiki’s litter box sits in our bathroom, and we leave the door propped open so she can open it herself when she needs it. We use litter made for small spaces with instant odor reducers.. and seems to work great. And of course, changing it often. 🙂
Ahhh, yeah, that would be a problem, haha! I feel ya on that one. Check out some canned foods that don’t have any of the additives. ‘Before Grain’ or B.G is pretty good, Almo Nature, there are a bunch of ’em now. It’s cooked meat so while it may not be as beneficial as raw, it’s still a pretty darn good (and easy) alternative!
Actually, Cherie, I thought I should mention you can get the prepackaged ‘raw food’ on Amazon. Some of them even shipped with Prime and I know you are a member.
Basically you thaw it a bit, cut it into little patties (some of them already come like this) and then refreeze. All you have to do is take one out put it in a plate to thaw and voila, no fiddling with meat.
I can understand how it would be difficult with you being a vegetarian and all. Cats can’t actually process veggies, or grains….that is ONE of the many problems with kibble. Dogs are omnivores, so it’s easier, but what you have there is a pure carnivore, so it’s a little harder for you to deal with….
I thought I should mention though, what’s in kibble can actually be worse from that viewpoint. (Euthanized pets, meat from animals in less than desirable conditions, etc). And even with the ‘premium food’, well….like I said there are maaaaany problems with dry food so, yeah….
Anyway, it’s not so hard feeding raw in an RV. I’m not sure about it cost wise….and I don’t mind the extra steps because my kitty benefits from it, and it’s saved his life!
Yes.. we are Prime members. However, we have a little itty bitty freezer that is not even big enough for us to keep our frozen fruit for our morning green smoothies. One of the downsides of super tiny house living (our RV is about 80 sq ft total).
Great article!
I’d dispute the raw/BARF being cheaper on the road, though. Most of the savings in feeding raw are acquired through direct sourcing and buying in bulk and freezing items, neither of which are terribly easy to accomplish on the road. Homecooked (particularly if you can incorporate a lot of tablescraps) is more doable, but still probably not much more cost effective than a high quality kibble.
I’m planning to hit the road with my dogs in 2012. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
As I’ve not tried a raw diet for our cat.. I can’t attest to it expenses. But seems like way more effort than I put into feeding the humans onboard. And, as we’re a vegetarian household, I wouldn’t be comfortable handling meats for my cat.
Yeah, and it’s definitely not possible to do a safe veggie diet long term for a cat (and even dogs are pretty questionable.) I’ve fed raw on and off for 8 years and it’s not a horrible amount of work IF you can do it in large batches and freeze it and that just doesn’t translate well to an RV life, IMO- unless you’re talking about a bus conversion with a house chest freezer!
How do you handle keeping the trailer cool enough for cats in the summer when you are away from it for a few hours? It seems risky to leave a generator running outside the trailer unattended for any amount of time.
Thanks for any advice. We have several cats that I couldn’t bear to part with, so I need ideas on how to keep them safe once we become mobile!
-Yvonne
Thanks for asking.
If we’re in a climate that requires running the A.C., and we know we won’t be in the trailer ourselves all day (ie. ok to run the generator) – then we plug in. Either by staying with folks generous enough to let us use their power or paying for a campground with hook-ups.
We’re in such a situation now, as we are in Florida for my dad’s surgery. It would be highly uncomfortable and dangerous to try to live off grid here during the summer.
Great article Cherie! I’m just getting started traveling full time. I’m taking my cat to live with a friend in Austin, TX next week. One of the most difficult/sad decisions of my life. She’s going to hate the 1,200 mile drive to Austin, but she’ll be much better off than on the road.
.-= Karol Gajda´s last blog ..How I Cured My Seasonal Allergies Forever =-.
Don’t forget your finny friends, too. In addition to our dog and 2 cats, we travel with a small, acrylic fish tank in our RV. Photo here:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2006/09/fishes.html
That’s actually my older, smaller tank. I upgraded to a 5 gallon hexagonal one this year and have even more room for swim buddies!
.-= Louise´s last blog ..Independence (from crowds) Day =-.
Thanks for chiming in with another great example of pet travel.. fish are great!
– Cherie
Thanks for the link as well! Great article!
I second what Rene, Jim, and Jerry <3 said above! I have been working on switching my cats (we now have a kitten too, but will likely stay with my parents in their RV!) to a more ‘natural diet’. Besides the obvious health benefits of the raw/B.A.R.F diet (http://www.catinfo.org/), it’s a lot easier on the road when your animal is used to this kind of food!
Right now, during the switching phase, I also have them on a diet of ‘Wysong’ and ‘By Nature’ cat food, which I will likely have to stock up on and then order in advance to the next campground. It’s not too much of a hassle if you plan it right I suppose but it’s always good to have another option just in case!
On another note, I’d like to mention that in the beginning, Theodore Mittens was a stuck up condo cat….he would be terrified of even going near the front door. We took him out to the truck a couple of times before the trip, and my gosh, it was INSANE! He was terrified and screaming….
It did not take him long at all to settle into the traveling lifestyle, however. He soon LOVED the car, and traveling down the road! He curls up on the dash or on my lap and loves to look out the window. Nothing phases him and all that knew him said he was a changed cat after the first year. A totally different personality….calmer, more easygoing, and extremely adaptable to anything.
Anyone who thinks their animal can’t handle it, don’t be too discouraged….your furry/feathered friend might just surprise you!
Awww, shucks, thanks for the link guys, great post!
One thing we highly recommend in order to make long term traveling with dogs easier, is to start them on a home cooked or raw diet long before hitting the road. Home cooking for dogs is kinder on the wallet, and saves storage space when you’re traveling (provided you have some kind of refrigeration for your food, and your pet’s).
When you’re out in the sticks, you can bet you won’t have much luck finding that premium high grade kibble you bought back in the city, but even in cow country locations you’ll find lots of meats and even basic veggies that can feed a dog (and you) quite well.
.-= Rene, Jim & Spirit Dog Jerry´s last blog ..Learning the Hard Truth About Cheap Biodiesel =-.