Posts tagged "travel"

A pair of would-be honeymooners are back at home after Mexican officials refused to accept the groom's dog-chewed passport. Two days before Boston area newlyweds Eric Mann and Brooke Blew were set to enjoy a relaxing stay at a Cancun resort, the couple's 2-year-old basset hound, Moses, decided to use his dad's US passport as a chew toy.

How bad was the damage? We'll just say it was worse than just a few dog-eared pages. According to WCVBTV, Moses chewed up the front cover and teeth marks were clearly visible on a few of the pages. Mann reportedly visited the nearest passport office to inquire about getting an emergency passport.

According to MyFoxBoston, the intact barcode and photo on Mann's severely-chewed passport were enough to get the groom through security at Boston's Logan Airport. However, once the couple touched down in Cancun, it was a whole different story -- a much sadder one.

Mexican immigration officials stopped the honeymooners in their tracks, putting them back on the very same plane they flew in on. "I handed over my passport and that was it," Mann tells WCVBTV. "We weren't in the office a minute and they said, 'You have to leave the country.'"

When it comes to hiring a professional pet sitter are you a helicopter parent that leaves detailed pooping and walking spreadsheets? Or are you more of the hands-off type who feels perfectly comfortable letting your sitter do his or her own thing?

A well-prepared sitter can keep your pet happy and anxiety-free while you're away, greatly reducing the number of chewing, scratching, and/or bathroom accidents occurring in your home. The question is: How do you ensure that you've given your pet sitter all the necessary tools to keep your animals relaxed and healthy?

To get a little expert guidance on the subject , we've enlisted the help of Paul Mann, founder of Fetch! Pet Care. Beyond the basics like emergency contact info, your vet's phone number and a medicine and food schedule (all of which are obviously quite important), Mann encourages owners to focus a little bit on your pet's psychology when preparing for a sitter.

Spell Out The Animal's Daily Schedule: "Pets are truly creatures of habit," Mann tells Paw Nation, "They get into liking their routine, so the idea is to figure out how to maintain that routine." For example, if you take your pup for a walk every morning, ask your pet sitter to do the same. If your cat likes to chase the yarn around in the evening, tell your sitter.

The epitome of ridiculousness? Absolutely. But for those of you who think a vacation just isn't a vacation unless you get to act like a rodent, there is at long last a place for you: the hamster hotel in Nantes, France.

This unique establishment provides guests with the chance to play out their fantasies of living like a hamster, according to The (UK) Telegraph. The Hamster Villa, located in an 18th-century building, was designed by a pair of French architects to resemble a giant hamster cage. We don't get it either.

Visitors to the hotel sleep on hay bales and stretch their legs by running on -- what else? -- a giant hamster wheel. And forget snacking on baguettes and cheese during your stay in France. Guests at the Hamster Villa are given a treat of hamster grain, according to the Telegraph. Imagine, all this for just 99 Euros (about $147) per night.

The experience gives guests a chance "to become a hamster, eat seeds, change our way of life...come out of our daily routine," the villa's first guests told Reuters TV.

If this sounds like your idea of a stellar getaway, well, enjoy it. But please be a considerate hotel guest, and don't keep your neighbors awake by gnawing on your cage all night.

Going on vacation doesn't have to mean dumping your best friend at the kennel. These days, there are tons of pet-friendly trips to bring your pooch along for, and they don't involve ruffing it at a campsite.

Some B&Bs, for example, welcome dogs. The Paw House Inn, in the mountains of Vermont, is a hotel for the dogs. The bed & breakfast caters to both two- and four-legged guests, offering such perks as a dog-park, an indoor playhouse, agility classes and even pet-friendly weddings. The pawesome hotel came to be after owners, Mitch and Jen Frankenberg, got frustrated that there was no where for their entire family (fur and all) to go together.

For posh pets there's the architectural masterpiece Hotel Monaco Portland. The luxe hotel offers a VIP package for visiting pets (no extra charges!) complete with a pet bed, food and water dishes, a toy and a treat. For a little extra kibble you can buy your pet some time with the hotel's pet masseuse or pet psychic, while you walk around downtown Portland.

The romantic Casa Laguna Inn & Spa, in Laguna Beach, CA, not only welcomes pets for $25 a night, but also features canine massage, for the pet who's stressed out from working like, well, a dog. The friendly hotel staff also have a list of pet-friendly restaurants you can bring your pup to with you. Best of all, your roughly nine minutes to Laguna Beach Dog Park.

Flying with your dog or cat just got more expensive. Spirit Airlines recently raised its fee for traveling with a pet by $14 each way, making the total from point A to point B an even $100 (double that if you're planning on coming back!).

American Airlines and Delta Airlines raised their pet travel fees last year too. In fact, the cost of a round-trip ticket for your pet -- on any airline -- is sometimes as much as a passenger ticket.

Why the heftier price tag? Some airlines say they need to charge pet travel fees to help keep passenger fees low, and that pets require extra care and handling that comes at a premium. JetBlue, which raised its pet travel fee to $100 each way last summer (a $50 boost round-trip) recently launched JetPaws. The program, which helps educate fliers on pet travel etiquette, issues frequent flier miles for its four-legged guests.

Want to get a leg up? Check out each individual carrier's website. You can also learn more about airlines rules and regulations at PetTravel.com.

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