Holiday With Your Dog?

September 7, 2026

Here's What I've Learnt After 15 Years of Travelling With Dogs

Going on holiday with your dog sounds wonderfully simple, doesn't it?

The chance to get away with your best friend, have some new adventures and create some new memories. It's easy, isn't it? Pack a bag and hit the road!

Except somehow, by the time you're actually ready to leave, you've got half the house in the car and you're still wondering whether you've remembered everything! We've all been there.

And as I'm getting ready to head away for this year's adventure to Wales, I thought I'd share some of the tips and tricks I've learnt along the way after spending the last 15 years travelling with my dogs.

Finding Somewhere to Stay

Let's start with the essentials. Finding a dog-friendly place to stay can be a little harder than you think.

So many places say they're dog friendly, but in reality, they're dog tolerant at best!

So before booking, make sure to reach out to where you're wanting to stay and check their rules. I've been caught out too many times, arriving to find a massive list of do's and don'ts, including areas of the house the dogs can't go, not being allowed on furniture and surprise extra cleaning charges.

Tips for booking

What rules are in place in the property for the dogs?
Are there any extra charges?
Is the garden properly secure? (This is always a big one for me! A lot of dog-friendly properties have very poor fencing.)
What facilities are there? For example, a full-size freezer for my fellow raw feeders, washing machine, etc.
Do we need to bring our own bedding? Something I'm always happy to do knowing my dogs will be sleeping on the bed!
How dog friendly is the local area?

Before We Leave

Once we're all booked, I need to make sure I have everything in place well ahead of time to reduce any unwanted stress when we're away.

Accommodation confirmed as dog-friendly
Local emergency vet
ICE contact
Important phone numbers
Travel documents
Checking tags and microchip details
Route and planned stops

It's so much easier to sort these things before you go than to be frantically Googling for an emergency vet when you're somewhere unfamiliar.

Getting Packed Up

It's not just the obvious stuff here, it's all those little extras too.

I start drafting lists a week or so out, so I have plenty of time to edit before leaving day.

Spare lead, collar and harness
Towels
Familiar bedding
Tick remover
First aid kit
Medication
Cooling gear if needed
Emergency food
Torch
Long line
Poo bags

To name but a few!

Making the Journey Easier

Try to plan ahead as best as possible.

If your dog isn't used to long car rides, start taking them out regularly and slowly increase the amount of time they're spending in the car.

Make sure your crates or harnesses are in good condition and safe, and plan a route with enough stops to stretch legs and break up any long journeys.

A few things I always make sure I do:

Plan water, toilet and stretch stops
Keep essentials accessible, I have one bag for anything we might need while travelling, and that goes on top of everything else!
Know where you're going before you arrive

That last one sounds obvious, but arriving somewhere unfamiliar after a long journey isn't the time to be trying to work out where the accommodation is or where you can stop for supplies.

Enjoying the Holiday

And this is the most important bit.

By having everything organised and ready, you really can enjoy your holiday and make some wonderful memories with your dogs.

I created the Travel Companion just for this.

I wanted somewhere to put all of this together, but I also wanted something that would still be useful once we arrived.

Somewhere to jot down the walks we discovered, the cafés that welcomed us, the ridiculous things the dogs did that made us laugh, and the little moments that we'd otherwise forget.

And that's how the Basenji Diaries Travel Companion came about.