Unlocking Pet-Friendly Nomad Life: The Costs, Hacks, and Perks with Lora Pope, Pet Travel Blogger | EP 44

Have you been told it's impossible to bring your dog along on a nomadic adventure?

When wanderlust strikes, the thought of leaving behind your furry best friend can kill those travel dreams before they even start. 
 
Ryan is joined by Lora Pope, who was living in Mexico when a tiny pug puppy literally showed up on her friend's doorstep. One look into those big eyes and she knew her travel plans were about to get a lot more interesting. 

Since then, she's taken Puglo to four continents and 14 countries while building her online business. She's been rejected at airports, had entire trips canceled over paperwork mistakes, and learned some expensive lessons the hard way.

Chapters:
07:21 – Getting denied by Air Canada 
11:46 – Reliable sources of pet travel info
12:26 – The mistake that forced her to cancel her Europe trip
18:43 – The rise of pet-friendly hotels
30:23 – How Puglo got an EU pet passport

You'll discover the real costs of traveling with pets, which countries are open to four-legged travelers, and the paperwork mistakes that could derail your entire trip.

Lora shares the apps that have saved her sanity, the transportation tricks that work in different cultures, and how having a travel buddy actually makes meeting people easier, not harder.

Listen and learn about a brilliant discovery she made in Barcelona that now saves her hundreds of dollars every time she flies to Europe, a hack that most pet owners don't even know exists.

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DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical co-working spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Chapters

• 0:00 How Puglo got an EU pet passport
• 7:21 Getting denied by Air Canada
• 11:46 Reliable sources of pet travel info
• 12:26 The mistake that forced her to cancel her Europe trip
• 18:43 The rise of pet-friendly hotels
• 30:23 How Puglo got an EU pet passport

Transcript

[00:00:00] Ryan Mellon: Have you ever wondered if your four-legged best friend could join you on a digital nomad adventure? Today's guest has proven it's possible. Laura Pope is a content creator and travel blogger who spent the past two years exploring four continents and 14 countries with her Mexican rescue pug. Puglo from navigating Thai import permits to securing an EU PET passport.

[00:00:21] Ryan Mellon: Laura has mastered the logistics of global pet travel while running her online business. discover the real cost of traveling with a dog, the most pet friendly countries for nomads, and the paperwork mistakes that can ruin your. Laura also shares her biggest lessons, money saving hacks, and the apps that keep her and PLO thriving on the road.

[00:00:41] Ryan Mellon: Stay tuned until the end because you'll hear about the one trick she found in Barcelona that now saves her hundreds of dollars every time she flies to Europe. Let's jump in 

[00:00:58] Ryan Mellon: Hey guys, welcome to Digital [00:01:00] Nomad Nation, where we inspire and empower you to achieve location independence and live life on your own terms. Today we have Laura Pope and plo. Welcome, Laura.

[00:01:11] Lora: Thank you. Happy to be here.

[00:01:13] Ryan Mellon: really been wanting to get someone on the show that's been traveling with a pet. So tell us about, uh, your travel companion.

[00:01:20] Lora: Yeah, for sure. So I have been obsessed with dogs for as long as I've been obsessed with traveling, and I never thought that I could have. The two simultaneously. And then about two years ago, I was living in Mexico for the summer. And I was telling my friend like I wanted to foster a dog. And then the next day this dog shows up on his doorstep

[00:01:39] Ryan Mellon: Oh 

[00:01:40] Lora: and he calls me and he is like, do like, I have a foster dog for you.

[00:01:43] Lora: Do you want it? It's like a pug puppy. I'm like, of course I wanna bring it to the beach immediately. And yeah, he brought him and he was like this seven pound little potato. 

[00:01:54] Lora: And it was just like love at first sight. So after about a week, like I was like, oh my God, I am, [00:02:00] I can't give this dog away. Like this is my soul dog.yeah, it's been two years since then. We've been to four continents in 14 countries, so it is possible to travel with a dog.

[00:02:10] Ryan Mellon: I love that. And I love that story. So you actually like adopted him outta the country. You, you Yeah, he's Mexican. 

[00:02:18] Ryan Mellon: Nice. Does he have a Mexican passport?

[00:02:21] Lora: he has Mexican vaccinations and he has

[00:02:23] Lora: an EU PET passport.

[00:02:25] Ryan Mellon: Oh, that's cool. So tell us, like, walk us through, was there, was it easy or, challenging to like adopt him there in Mexico? What was the 

[00:02:36] Lora: Well. 

[00:02:37] Ryan Mellon: and like, how did that play out?

[00:02:39] Lora: It was pretty easy because he was technically homeless, like he wasn't

[00:02:43] Lora: even in a shelter. This woman just had dropped him off at my friend's doorstep.

[00:02:47] Lora: So there was no like formal process to go with, with, with an adoption center. Like I said, I was looking for maybe the first week, like for a home for him, but very quickly I realized like, no, this, [00:03:00] this dog is mine.

[00:03:01] Ryan Mellon: Oh. Yeah. That's awesome. Okay,

[00:03:03] Ryan Mellon: so you, you had him in Mexico, 'cause you were traveling there. Where was your very next destination and how did that go? Like, 'cause this was your first time like figuring out how to travel with with him.

[00:03:14] Lora: Yeah, so for the first few months he couldn't actually come with me because a lot of requirements for dogs traveling has to do with the vaccinations and being a certain age and. Having like, rabies and a rabies booster. So, because it takes some time for them to get that when they're puppies. I had to wait, I think it was, I got him in June and we didn't go on our first trip till October.

[00:03:36] Lora: Like out of the country. We had traveled around Mexico a lot.but yeah, we went, just back to Canada where I'm from originally, which was actually relatively easy as far as like paperwork goes with dogs. to go from Mexico to Canada and the US is, is pretty easy.

[00:03:50] Lora: Nice. So, so you guys have been to 14 countries, so what is one of the more challenging countries that, you've traveled [00:04:00] to I think probably the most challenging we've been so far as Thailand. We went this winter to live in Chiang Mai for a few months and. all of Asia is pretty difficult when it comes to dogs, but fortunately Thailand is actually one of the few countries that does allow dogs in easily. Like there's no quarantine. Period, as long as you meet the requirements. But it's a lot of paperwork in the sense that like you have to apply for an import permit from the Thai government. Then you have to get this like export permit from where you're coming from. And when you enter, you have to pay like a fee. And it's just a lot of like coordination and timing to make sure that everything lines up and like you always.

[00:04:37] Lora: Like, I'm not an organized person or I wasn't before having a dog, I would kind of just like show up at the airport a few minutes before my flight. And now that I have a dog, I'm like, I have like my binder full of paperwork. 'cause like you really can't mess it up because the country can ultimately deny you if you don't have the right documentation for your dog.

[00:04:56] Lora: So, 

[00:04:56] Lora: or deny your dog and then send that back.

[00:04:58] Ryan Mellon: yeah, yeah. No, [00:05:00] that's, no, that's not good. You're a pet mom now, dog mom, so it's got you into extra responsibility mode. But have you ever been rejected? 

[00:05:10] Lora: I have never been rejected from like a country for not meeting the requirements. I have been rejected from airlines for like them saying my dog was too big for his carrier.

[00:05:18] Ryan Mellon: Okay. All right.

[00:05:20] Lora: happen.

[00:05:21] Ryan Mellon: Okay, so you booked your ticket. Tell us like that situation, like what happened, where were you going? Like who were you flying with, 

[00:05:28] Lora: Yeah, I was flying with, with Air Canada, who are kind of notorious for this actually. I think I was actually flying again from Mexico City to Toronto and. They, yeah, so basically like every airline has different requirements for how big the carrier is and what the weight of the dog can be. So you always have to like double check that.

[00:05:47] Lora: and we've traveled a lot like in this carrier and this one time the person 'cause it, ultimately it comes up to the agent at the desk and there's no way you can like, verify it before. So it's always a good idea to be super nice [00:06:00] to that person, but. Yeah, that day they were just being super particular and they actually made me take Pablo out of his carrier and they measured the height of the carrier and then they measured him they were like, no, he's too tall.

[00:06:12] Lora: Like, I've never seen that much before. But they did. And then they just denied me and they don't rebook you. Like it's, you're the one, it's your fault. So you have to change everything.

[00:06:23] Ryan Mellon: So you lose the whole ticket and everything. did you, do you have to pay for like an extra fee or like buy him a seat? 

[00:06:31] Lora: Yeah, so there's different ways to, to fly with a dog. You can either have them in cabin or go as cargo. Either way has an associated cost with it. But, because of pug, he's a pug. So snub phase breeds actually can't fly in cargo. They can only fly in a cabin with you.but you essentially pay, like, it's not a seat, so it's cheaper than a seat, but you're

[00:06:50] Lora: paying like a pet fee.

[00:06:52] Lora: I think internationally, like Mexico to, to Canada is about a hundred dollars.

[00:06:56] Ryan Mellon: Okay, so it's not a full seat and it, and he pretty [00:07:00] much like kind of goes under the seat in front of you pretty much unless you have happen to have an empty seat beside you.

[00:07:06] Lora: Yeah, exactly. It is kind of a travel hack. Like if you're traveling with a pet, you can ask the airline like, oh, I have this dog. Can I get moved to a a row with an empty seat? And a lot of times they'll do it and sometimes they also give you like priority boarding, which is nice.

[00:07:21] Ryan Mellon: Nice. So you get a little VIP status sometimes just with traveling with your buddy. 

[00:07:27] Lora: Yeah, sometimes.

[00:07:28] Ryan Mellon: What would you say the most important thing is? The research before like traveling to a new country and like what resources do you use?

[00:07:36] Lora: I guess the most important thing is like to figure out like what the import requirements are of that country. Like you always have to be thinking about is there a requirement to export the pet from the country I'm leaving from, and is there a requirement to like import it? Because for example, Mexico to the US and Canada, they have some sort of agreement that I don't need to like export him officially, but Mexico to any other country. 'cause we have [00:08:00] a base in Mexico, so we leave from there a lot. You have to get this like export certificate, which is from Sika, which is essentially is like the agriculture department for Mexico. So in the US that would be like, the USDA. Department of Agriculture or in Canada, CFIA. So you always wanna look at like that country's agricultural department and see what the requirements are, which the most official website, like the most official source would be website of that government office. And the US one is actually quite good. Like they have a dropdown where you can say, I'm going from this country to this country, and they'll tell you what you need to do. 

[00:08:37] Lora: other countries are, are not so good or they might be in a different language.so yeah, that's like the biggest thing is, is making sure that you're meeting those requirements for the country, which a lot of it has to do with like vaccinations.

[00:08:51] Lora: At a certain point, if you're traveling with your dog, you're probably just gonna have all the vaccinations, that you, that you could possibly need, like have those overly [00:09:00] vaccinated at this point. but it can be like kind of complicated too. To find the information and there's a lot of misinformation, I would say online.

[00:09:08] Lora: If you just

[00:09:09] Lora: Google,

[00:09:10] Lora: you know, traveling with a dog in this country, there might be a bad AI written article that is not accurate. So

[00:09:17] Lora: what I found is like Facebook groups are quite helpful. Shameless plug for my Facebook group, traveling with Dogs abroad. We have a lot of like firsthand experience in there where you can ask questions and people share what it was actually like to enter the country. and even like share contacts of emails. 'cause sometimes, like I said, you're applying for these like import permits before you go. But yeah, it is a lot of research, and a lot of prep work.

[00:09:41] Ryan Mellon: How long, like how far in advance do you start like doing your research if you're gonna jump on a plane to somewhere new tomorrow.

[00:09:48] Lora: It depends. Like with Thailand, I started planning like a few months ahead because

[00:09:52] Lora: it was just kind of complicated with the import permit with Mexico and certain countries like, because I know I've done it before, [00:10:00] I'm like, oh, I can leave this till like the last week. Like I know

[00:10:02] Lora: I'm good, but that's because I've built up like the confidence and I know that I have the right documents. If it's your first time, it really depends on the country. But I mean, I, as soon as you are thinking about going, I would start researching the requirements. 'cause Yeah, like for as an example, like last summer I tried to go to Europe, and this is like such a specific thing, but basically the EU. Your dog is being vaccinated against rabies, which mine was.

[00:10:29] Lora: But the EU only recognizes a rabies vaccination if it's given after the microchip implantation. And when I had gotten, that's like the little thing they implant to, that's like a record, it's like a number attached to the dog.so I had got done mine in the reverse order. I got rabies, then the microchip.

[00:10:46] Lora: 'cause at the time he was like a puppy and I didn't, I didn't know this would ever be a thing. And then basically tried to go to Europe, from Canada When I was trying to get the export certificate, they were like, no, you don't meet the requirements. You basically have to get your dog [00:11:00] revaccinated for rabies and wait like 21 days. So I had to actually cancel like the entire trip because of this, which is really crazy 'cause he was vaccinated. But yeah, it's just little, particularly he is like that.

[00:11:11] Ryan Mellon: It's, it seems like, you know, you gotta worry about yourself and your own visas and what, where, where you're allowed to be and the time allowed and all that. And then, you know, this definitely adds some layers on top of it, but I'm sure Pug Polo appreciates all the hard work you do to travel so he can travel around the world like a boss.

[00:11:34] Lora: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean it is a lot of work, but at the end of the day, like I love him so much and it's such a joy to have to have him traveling with me. It's worth it.

[00:11:43] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think for most people, especially clients of mine that come to me that wanna be a digital nomads, that pets are one of the biggest hangups. You know, like, so just figuring out how to navigate that. And I like that you have a Facebook group that can help people out with that. But yeah, no [00:12:00] one wants to leave their pet behind. So once you're in a country, like what does like regional transportation look like? Or just like getting from the airport to your Airbnb? Like, can you just grab an Uber? Like can you take a taxi? Like is there issues.

[00:12:17] Lora: Yeah, so again, it's like super dependent on the country and Mexico, especially where I live in Puerto Verta, like it is so dog friendly and.

[00:12:24] Lora: I would say 99% of the time when I call an Uber, I don't even message them that I have a dog and they're totally fine. Pueblo

[00:12:31] Lora: is a small dog. Obviously if you have like a big dog, it might be more of a problem for taxis or Ubers, but some countries are way more strict about this.

[00:12:41] Lora: Thailand is like a really good example. They cars do not wanna pick up, dogs like at all. So actually what we did. And Bangkok is like, mostly just took motorbike, taxis around. 'cause you could just sit on my lap and the motorbike taxis didn't mind, like,

[00:12:57] Ryan Mellon: Yeah.

[00:12:58] Lora: because, you know, it's not a seat, [00:13:00] but there is something, so there's something called Uber Pet, which exists in certain countries.

[00:13:06] Lora: Like I know it works in the us it hasn't rolled out in like Mexico yet. But, basically you, you book that and then it's guaranteed that your pet will be allowed. But it does come with like an added fee.so in Thailand they have what's called, 'cause they use GR in Thailand instead. So it's GR pet, but that actually only works in like Bangkok.

[00:13:25] Lora: So yeah, it can be a bit of a problem. And public transit is also like. It really depends. Like I was just in Berlin and it was so dog friendly. I could take my dog on buses, trams, like no issue at all. but you know, randomly in Mexico, the big eight oh buses that go between cities, they are like not pet friendly. So again, it's just like researching and figuring out. But I will say that I, since I've gotten Pueblo, like I take a lot more private transportation.

[00:13:52] Lora: Yeah, well, I can imagine, just because of how difficult it could be and the rules varying and just, it's gotta be [00:14:00] exhausting every time you wanna jump on a train or a bus or just take the metro somewhere, you know, having to research all that before you get there. So,Yeah, for sure.

[00:14:10] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. So what about pet friendly accommodations?

[00:14:14] Ryan Mellon: What's your go-to there?

[00:14:16] Lora: So I rely pretty heavily on like the pet filter, which they have on Airbnb and booking.com. I think most major booking platforms, you just turn it on and then it's only gonna show you accommodations that, that, that they allow pets.otherwise like asking in Facebook groups. 'cause you know, obviously it's cheaper to get accommodation directly than booking it on Airbnb.even sometimes, like accommodations might say they don't allow pets, but if you can message them and say like, Hey, I have a really small dog, or like a well-behaved small dog. They might say yes if there's a good accommodation that you really love. But to be honest, that's not really a huge problem for us.

[00:14:52] Lora: Like we, we've been able to find accommodations everywhere. the only place that was kind of difficult was in Chiang Mai because [00:15:00] most condos don't allow pets. It's just like

[00:15:03] Lora: the way the condo rules are written.

[00:15:05] Lora: so Chiang Mai was challenging. I did end up finding an apartment, but it like severely limited our options.

[00:15:10] Lora: And I was there during high season and I didn't. Do it in advance. Like I left it till last

[00:15:15] Lora: minute, which was a mistake. Yeah,

[00:15:17] Ryan Mellon: so maybe a little more expensive than you had anticipated.

[00:15:21] Lora: yeah, for sure. But like places like Mexico are so easy, like almost everywhere. We all allow pets.

[00:15:26] Lora: yeah. No, they're pretty laid back about most things. I love Mexico.Yeah, and there's also some really cool like pet friendly hotels, like the pet travel industry is really starting to grow. And yeah, you like, these hotels will actually, they might charge a small pet fee, but then they actually provide you with like a dog bed, a little food and water dish. They might even have like treats for your dog.

[00:15:49] Lora: Like it's really cute.

[00:15:50] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. That sounds cool. And then other dogs to play with if you wants to meet some other dogs.

[00:15:57] Lora: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[00:15:59] Ryan Mellon: [00:16:00] Awesome. So how do you handle, like veterinarian care? Do you like mainly take care of that like in Canada when you're home, if you're home, or like, do you just kind of handle it on the fly as you travel?

[00:16:12] Lora: We have been to

[00:16:13] Lora: vets all over. I mean, I try to do it in Mexico when I can because like veterinary care obviously varies dramatically in costs around the world, and that's one good thing about living in Mexico is that it's. cheaper than what I would pay in the US or Canada. So that's nice.

[00:16:29] Lora: But pretty much like I was saying, when you're going between countries every, I think almost every time, you're gonna need like a health certificate from a vet saying that your dog is, is fit to travel or fit to enter the country. we've pretty much, I've been to vets in I think every country that we've been to. and it's never been a problem to find like good veterinary care. I actually last month in Berlin, p had to have a, there was like a baby tooth that hadn't fallen out, so he had to have this whole procedure to have it [00:17:00] removed. But the vet in Berlin was honestly like incredible. I mean, I guess it's Germany.

[00:17:04] Lora: They have, they have good health, health systems. But yeah, I was super impressed with them.

[00:17:10] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. Yeah, that's good to know. It's like, I guess it's just kind of like taking care of your own healthcare. Even when in Mexico, you know, you can pop in at some hosp hospitals and doctors, you know, just do a little research before and it's like. Significantly lower than here in the States. I can tell you that for sure.

[00:17:28] Lora: Yeah, especially dental care.

[00:17:30] Ryan Mellon: yeah. Yeah. I always go to the dentist in Mexico. I've had a small surgery in Mexico. I mean, we're talking like just, I don't know, 90% off of what you, you're gonna pay here in the US at at least. So, so.

[00:17:45] Lora: for sure.

[00:17:47] Lora: What does like a typical day look like? Because you're working, right? I do, I'm a content creator, so I have a travel blog. I am now doing a lot of content about traveling with dogs. so [00:18:00] growing, growing that brand. I also do Airbnb. I have an apartment in Mexico that I Airbnb, so a little bit of that and real estate. So I do like a mix of things. but yeah, I'm a nomad.

[00:18:09] Lora: I work on the computer on my phone, so. It's actually nice having like the dog because it kind of adds a bit more structure to my day. You know, in the morning I'm like, okay, I

[00:18:19] Lora: gotta go out and like go for my walk. And then usually in the day, especially, 'cause we tend to live in like very hot countries, so it's not pleasant to be out in the day.

[00:18:29] Lora: Especially for Pueblo because pugs have breathing issues in the heat. but it's nice 'cause at the end of the day, like, you know, I'll be working on my computer for like eight hours and then he's like, okay, like let's go. It's time for the walk. So it gets me outta the house or apartment.

[00:18:43] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. so, okay. So do you mainly work from your accommodation then?

[00:18:49] Lora: It depends. So like right now in Bansko, I have been working for my accommodation because it's been, it's pretty dog friendly here, but it's been. Really difficult to find a coworking that will allow puglo. For [00:19:00] some reason, that's been like my

[00:19:01] Lora: biggest struggle here. So I've just been working from home or a couple of cafes in town,

[00:19:06] Lora: but like in Mexico and Puerto Vuerta where I live, I, there's a cowork and it's super dog friendly.

[00:19:11] Lora: There's other dogs that that hang out there, so it's nice for him. I bring him, he is got like little play dates.

[00:19:16] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. Yeah. I was gonna ask you that, like what, what percentage of coworking spaces are dog friendly would you say? Like just overall, the time you've been traveling.

[00:19:26] Lora: mean, I would say like at least like half of them are like, it's been pretty easy to find 

[00:19:31] Lora: ones that are dog friendly. Yeah.

[00:19:32] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, I've seen quite a few dogs in coworking spaces and it's always like, you know, as long as they're not like, make, making a new, being a nuisance, you know, it usually cheers the whole crew up, you know, to see a cute dog at at the office. Right.

[00:19:49] Lora: Exactly. Yeah. No. Polo is so popular in in Bansko. He's got so many more friends than me.

[00:19:55] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome and it's probably good for you to make new friends, right? Because [00:20:00] like he's just a conversation starter.

[00:20:02] Lora: Yeah, exactly. It is really good for that. I mean, it's good anyways 'cause it's like you have a constant companion with you, but then it does really just like create this very easy way to meet new people. Like every time I'm just walking with him, like on the beach in Mexico, like. People will come up and talk to me.

[00:20:19] Lora: So it is, it is a really great tool, I guess, for meeting new people.

[00:20:23] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, no, absolutely. I love that and 'cause, you know, it's challenging sometimes meeting people, traveling, so just any, any little thing like that that can help make it easier is, is always a, a plus.

[00:20:37] Lora: Yeah. Especially too, like if you wanna meet like other. Dog. People with dogs like you can go to like to a dog park. Like I said, I've always loved dogs, so I just wanted to hang on dog parks before I got plo, but it's kind of weird if you don't have one. But it's fun now, you know, I go and I tend to meet more like locals who, who have dogs in the community.

[00:20:56] Lora: So yeah, it's been really fun.

[00:20:58] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. So yeah, just [00:21:00] finding a dog park. Is there any other like apps or technology or groups that you use to. To find like pet friendly, maybe like cafes or restaurants. Like what does, you know, like, eating out, like that type deal, 

[00:21:14] Ryan Mellon: there's not like one app. Unfortunately, there might be like one specifically for like the US I'm not sure, but there's a lot of like regional tools and I rely heavily on like, like I said, like Facebook groups or like WhatsApp groups. Like usually, you know, in like the Nomad, the big nomad places, like they'll have 20 subgroups and the like

[00:21:34] Lora: digital nomad group for that place.

[00:21:36] Lora: So a lot of times there'll be one for, for people with pets, where you can like ask questions like what's the best fit, whatever you want. Yeah, Facebook groups. There's almost always one, if it's a big enough place for, you know, animal owners in that, in that city or destination. I use Google Maps a lot.

[00:21:52] Lora: I'll just type in like dog friendly to

[00:21:55] Lora: where I am, and then it'll bring up reviews where people have mentioned like, oh, it was dog [00:22:00] friendly or pet friendly. And I found that actually is like a very good way to, to find places. I also share, share stuff on PLO has his, his own Instagram account.

[00:22:11] Lora: Adventures of plo. I always share like pet friendly signs and there's lots of other pet travel influencers you can follow.

[00:22:17] Ryan Mellon: Okay, awesome. I love that. so like, if you're gonna go out for like a night out and like a, with some friends and it's just not dog friendly, do you ju do you leave them at home just for a couple hours? Like, is that.

[00:22:30] Lora: Yeah, I will leave Pueblo at home. I don't like to because we're just very attached. Like when he was a puppy, he had really, really bad. Like severe social, like separation anxiety. It's gotten a lot better now and he can tolerate being alone, but like I really try to limit that to a couple hours, like once or twice a week. generally he's with me like 90, 95% of the time I would say he's with me.it really isn't that hard to find dog friendly places to go. Like again, like we live in warm [00:23:00] climates, so basically if there's an outdoor space. The dog will be allowed, like as a general rule, it's when the thing is like inside that it might be a problem.

[00:23:09] Lora: but even so, there's lots of places that dogs are allowed inside too.but I do sometimes like travel without him. 'cause I'm a, like I said, I'm a content creator. Sometimes I'll go on press trips where the just not able to bring the dog. And in that case, like I'll have to get a sitter for him. So I use an app, it's called Rover, which is basically. it doesn't work everywhere, but it works in a lot of places in Europe and the US and I think Canada, where you can find like dog walkers or dog boarding. So they go stay at that person's house and you can read the reviews and everything,

[00:23:40] Lora: before. So that's super helpful for finding like local, local dog sitters and I've had really positive experiences with that. I also use trusted house sitters. my, when I'm, if I'm leaving him in Mexico for my apartment, I used to be a dog sitter for a year or a house sitter for years [00:24:00] before I got puglo. and actually sometimes we do it together now, which is really fun. Like, we'll watch a dog, someone tells him a dog and pug will be allowed to come. 

[00:24:08] Lora: but if you have your own apartment, yeah.

[00:24:10] Ryan Mellon: that's very cool. Like I, I known about Trusted House Siters for a while and a lot of people use it and, I think it's very cool that they would, you wouldn't think like that. It would be, you'll be able to bring Polo to a dog, sit at someone's house, so. That's amazing. I love that.

[00:24:29] Ryan Mellon: so you did mention like he, he has a pet passport. Like what's that? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

[00:24:37] Lora: Yeah, so that's a specific thing to the eu. It's actually basically just certifying that he has his rabies vaccination. it's really cute. I have it right here actually.

[00:24:47] Ryan Mellon: Okay. Oh, nice.

[00:24:48] Lora: Yeah, so it essentially gives free access for the dog to travel, like within, within the eu, between countries. but what's really cool about this, if you are [00:25:00] coming from the US and going to Europe a lot is, without this, you would have to. Go to the vet, in the US and get a, like USDA authorized health certificate, which is really expensive. Like vets charge, I think four or $500 for this. Plus it's kind of time consuming. you have to do it within 10 days of your flights. It's a lot of like logistics, but if you have the EU pep passport, you don't need that document. You can basically travel back and forth to the EU and the us. Freely, I guess, um, without having that. So yeah, we got it in Barcelona. we were there in February. 'cause I have heard from other people, like in my Facebook group, that technically only like European residents are supposed to be able to get this.

[00:25:44] Lora: I'm not, I was just in Barcelona and I had heard that this guy, I think it's Tom's vet, he's like a mobile vet and he actually just came to my hotel and gave it to me. So. It's been super cool like having that in Europe because I'm used to, you know, having to do like all these import export forms between every [00:26:00] country.

[00:26:00] Lora: And now as long as it's within the eu, like I don't have to do anything for him, which is so nice.

[00:26:05] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, that makes it way better. And like, so how much did that cost to get that?

[00:26:09] Lora: I can't remember the exact price, but it wasn't like super expensive, like, I wanna say less than $200.

[00:26:14] Ryan Mellon: Okay. Well, definitely worth it. Especially, less than the U-S-A-U-S-D-A certificate from the states that. You 

[00:26:21] Lora: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:26:22] Ryan Mellon: time and money.

[00:26:24] Lora: Yeah. Like if you're traveling like back and forth more than once, like it's worth it.

[00:26:28] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Does it have his photo in there?

[00:26:30] Lora: There is a space to put a photo. I haven't actually put one in yet. I

[00:26:33] Lora: need to to get a cute passport photo.

[00:26:35] Ryan Mellon: Absolutely. Like him on the beach with some shades and like a cool.

[00:26:40] Ryan Mellon: Sure. That would be awesome. Living his best life. Well, awesome.what is something that you wish you knew before starting this journey? Is there anything that came, comes to mind or like a, a piece of advice for like, someone who's like maybe on the fence wanting to travel with their dog, but.

[00:26:59] Ryan Mellon: They're just [00:27:00] not sure.

[00:27:00] Lora: I guess if someone is thinking about getting a dog, 'cause obviously if you have a dog, you can't determine the size, but I would say that like having a carry on sized dog is gonna make your life like a thousand times easier. It's just so much better. They can come in the plane with you, you're gonna get away with like, you know, getting like taxis, Ubers easier.

[00:27:20] Lora: even like hotels like in Asia, like they'll say, oh, they're pet friendly, but what they really mean is they allow dogs like. 15 kilograms and under.

[00:27:27] Lora: So just that like if, if you're, if that person doesn't have a dog yet, and then yeah, in terms of like getting your dog ready to travel, because obviously you don't wanna be traveling with like. An anxious dog. So if you're, if you're getting a new dog, that is how I kind of knew that Puglo was like my soul dog is. I took him around everywhere with me. Like in Mexico, you know, he would come on the bus, like he'd come to bars, he's at the beach. So he was constantly around like all this stimuli, like from a very young age, which I think made him very good traveler because he doesn't ever get anxious or [00:28:00] overwhelmed. but yeah, just like getting, raising them to like be used to that environment because, you know, traveling can be stressful. So.

[00:28:06] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. If you don't already have a dog, go small. It's gonna make things so much easier. Because you did mention like they do do the, the boarding under the plane for some dogs, but like it's specific to your breed. That doesn't work. Do you know, is there like a price difference? Is it a little bit cheaper if you put them under the plane?

[00:28:28] Ryan Mellon: If you were to do that versus like in the cabin.

[00:28:31] Lora: I think it's actually more expensive.

[00:28:33] Ryan Mellon: Really? Okay.

[00:28:34] Lora: Yeah, but don't quote me on that. 'cause I don't actually, I've never done it before, but I'm, I'm

[00:28:38] Lora: pretty sure that it's more expensive. Yeah. And it's way more stressful, you know, 

[00:28:43] Lora: for you and the pet, right? Because then you don't know if he's getting, if he's getting treated like luggage down there. Right? And

[00:28:50] Lora: Yeah. 

[00:28:50] Ryan Mellon: know, stressful for him 'cause he's in this dog prison in the belly of the 

[00:28:57] Lora: it is sad. Like I feel, I feel for people who have to put their [00:29:00] dog in cargo. there are actually, it's very like recent developments, but like I said, the pet travel movement is growing. So in the US now, there's this, in the last year, a couple new airlines that are specifically for people and their dogs. so basically how it works is because any, no commercial airline will allow a pet and cabin past a certain size, unless it's a service animal is the only exception. But there's these airlines that have come out, like Bark Airline is one, and there's another one Retrieve Air, and they're basically doing it from these smaller airports.

[00:29:33] Lora: So they're. I guess private flights, but you're sharing the, the flight with other people. but you can have a dog like no size restriction and your dog doesn't have to be in a carrier and you just have your dog like sitting next to you on the plane, which is super cool.

[00:29:46] Ryan Mellon: That sounds So I think. Yeah, so that's like really exciting to see.

[00:29:50] Lora: And it's mostly between, US states, but I think there are some that are flying to Europe. So, yeah, I would say overall, like it seems, even since I've gotten fgo in the last [00:30:00] two years, like there's been a lot of new developments in the world of pet travel and it definitely is like a growing trend. So I think it's just only gonna become like easier and easier as more services are built to accommodate people who wanna travel with their pads.

[00:30:13] Ryan Mellon: Very cool. I love that. Yeah. I've al I will, I've, I've always grown up with dogs, but then, and like, everyone's like, you should have a dog. And I'm like, I, I live on a boat when I'm home and when I'm tra and I travel a lot, I'm like, it's just, that's just already giving me anxiety on both of those things, you know, like.

[00:30:33] Ryan Mellon: But it's totally doable. You know, you just gotta figure out the logistics. You know, I have, my friends have travel with their dog, down to The Bahamas and back, on their boat. and you're traveling all over the world with Puelo, so it's totally doable I appreciate you taking the time to out lighten some of the things.

[00:30:53] Ryan Mellon: I think it's gonna be very helpful for the listeners. uh, I wanna wrap up with a couple rapid fire questions. [00:31:00] mainly travel related.

[00:31:01] Ryan Mellon: So do you have a number one go-to app for working remotely or travel?

[00:31:07] Lora: yeah, like for pet travel specifically, like I would say like Rover for finding sitters, 

[00:31:12] Ryan Mellon: Okay, Rover. That's a good one. And so do you have a favorite coworking space and where is it?

[00:31:20] Lora: Like in the entire world?

[00:31:21] Ryan Mellon: Yeah.

[00:31:22] Lora: Puerto, where I'm based, I go to Angulo. Cowork a lot.

[00:31:25] Ryan Mellon: Okay. Awesome. And tell me a place in your opinion that has the best food.

[00:31:31] Lora: The

[00:31:31] Lora: best food. I am pretty biased to Thailand. I think Chiang Mai has amazing food.

[00:31:37] Ryan Mellon: absolutely, like they have the, the night markets and you can just. It's just a giant buffet of food. Like I love it there.

[00:31:45] Lora: Yeah. And it's just like so affordable to eat out every meal, which is insane.

[00:31:49] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. It, it's too easy, right? Like you can just like never cook.

[00:31:54] Lora: Yeah. I didn't for like two months.

[00:31:56] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's like the food is awesome [00:32:00] and like why not? So Well, thanks again so much for taking the time. so where can people find you?

[00:32:07] Lora: Yeah. So I have a few resources for people who wanna travel with, with dogs. I have a. Awesome Facebook community. That's called Traveling With Dogs Abroad. If you just search it, it'll come up. I, on my website, explore with laura.com, LORA. I post a lot of articles about life, is a digital nomad with a dog, and I'm actually launching this week a service that will help people travel with their dogs.

[00:32:30] Lora: So basically, I will do all the research. So boring research for you and answer all of your questions. so yeah, I'm gonna be launching that and offering like a special discount to my group if you wanna join.and yeah, you can follow Puglo's, day-to-day lifestyle on Adventures of Puglo on Instagram.

[00:32:46] Ryan Mellon: Awesome. All right, well I appreciate you, taking the time and, I hope you have a great rest of your day.

[00:32:54] Lora: Yeah, thank you. You too.

[00:32:55] Ryan Mellon: