Do you take your dog with you when you travel, or leave them behind?
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Vick Fichtner
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Featured on Dec 9, 2025 (3 days ago).
For the pet parents out there: Do you take your dog with you when you travel, or leave them behind? is not rated yet.
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For many travelers, decisions about where to go and what to visit quietly revolve around one question: “What about my pet?”
Some people stop traveling as much. Others limit themselves to pet-friendly plans only. And a lot of us know that heavy feeling of leaving our dog behind - the guilt, the video calls to the sitter, the “is he okay?” messages… while we’re supposed to be relaxing. Talk about traveling with a heart divided!
I felt this deeply traveling around Europe with my Yorkie, Chilli. We’d arrive in a new city, excited to explore its museums and landmarks, only to discover that dogs weren’t allowed - and there was no safe, flexible option to leave him nearby. It was stressful for both of us, and made me give up on many travel plans...
That experience inspired me to create Wander Woofs, which is the first tourist dog-sitting service in Spain, meeting travelers at the doors of major attractions so their dogs can stay safe and happy nearby while humans go inside. This year, the project was shortlisted among the top 25 travel entrepreneur ventures in the 2025 Social Entrepreneurs in Tourism competition, supported by Travel Massive and partners – which showed me that this “pet problem” is more universal than I thought. It was also a great honor for me and a validation that this is the right path. After all, for many, me included, our pet are part of our family.
I’d love to open this up as a conversation with the community:
- Do you take your dog with you when you travel? Why or why not?
- What’s been your biggest challenge or worry when traveling with a pet?
- If you don’t travel with your dog, what would need to change for you to feel comfortable bringing them along?
- Have you seen any clever pet-inclusive solutions in your region or business?
- What`s the most pet-friendly place you visited, with or without your pup?
I’m especially curious how different destinations and travel companies are (or aren’t yet) integrating pets into their tourism offer, and what “good practice” might look like.
Hi everyone 👋 I’m Vick, a Brazilian travel entrepreneur based in Barcelona. I’m the founder of Experience Wanderlust (boutique Mediterranean travel design) and Wander Woofs, our tourist dog-sitting service in Spain inspired by my own travels with my Yorkie, Chilli.
I’d really love to hear your perspectives – as travelers, DMOs, tour operators, hoteliers, or tech founders. Pet-inclusive travel still feels like a “blind spot” in many destinations, and I’m curious what you’re seeing on the ground where you work.
Wander Woofs sounds like a great idea, but as a less than perfect solution. Who wouldn't want to take their pet with them? At least, as far as border restrictions allow. FWIW, in the UK pet-inclusive travel doesn't feel like a “blind spot” anymore. Dog-friendly, and by extension pet-friendly (to a certain extent), holidays and accommodation have become a really significant travel market niche in recent years. Travel writers like Lottie Gross (www.lottiegross.com) have been bringing attention to this previously ignored travel sector for almost a decade now and it's astonishing to see how travel providers have embraced it. A week ago I was staying in a country pub that was awash with dog owners, and proud to be!
Hi, Alastair, thank you so much for joining the discussions, and I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, and for the UK perspective, since it`s not a market I`m an expert at.
I completely agree with you: in many places, especially in the UK and Italy, pet-inclusive stays and holidays have grown a lot, and that’s wonderful to see. I love hearing about pubs and hotels that are proudly full of dogs - that’s the dream scenario for many of us. Spain has been showing a very promising growth as well, especially when considering accommodation, restaurants/bars/cafes, and public transportation. But there`s still a lot to do…
Wander Woofs actually comes in at a slightly different point of the journey. Even when travelers find a dog-friendly hotel or rental, they still hit a wall when it comes to non-pet-friendly attractions - cathedrals, museums, iconic landmarks, certain shows, fine dining, etc. That’s where a “tourist dog-sitting” option can remove a lot of stress and last-minute compromise.
I agree it’s not a perfect solution in the bigger picture - in an ideal world, tourism infrastructure, urban design, and regulations would be much more pet-inclusive from the start. But for now, I see Wander Woofs as a bridge that:
- Helps travelers feel safe bringing their dogs along, instead of leaving them behind, and
- Shows destinations where there’s real demand for better pet-inclusive planning around their “hero” attractions.
I`m curious to hear about your experience in the UK:
- Have you seen any destination or attraction-level solutions for this “what about the dog while I’m inside the museum/castle?” problem?
- And are there any examples you’d point to as “this country/region is doing pet-inclusive travel really well”?
Also, thank you for mentioning Lottie Gross, her work has definitely helped push this topic into the mainstream. I’d love to see more crossover between that kind of pet-focused storytelling and how destinations design their tourism offer on the ground.