In a bus, caravan, boat or submarine – your choice.

Since setting off into the wild bright sunset, we (Chiara and I) have learned a lot. We have learned some great things (where to find the best donuts in Queensland, see this article), some not-great things, (just how much it costs to register a large bus in Queensland, coming soon) and some downright interesting things (did you know that cold showers are really quite refreshing?). 

The one thing we had to learn quickly was: how to travel and live with (full time in a bus) our delightfully weird dog, Wild. (Seriously, I don’t know if it was the best idea to name her “Wild” – a bit of a premonition I feel.)

See, it’s one thing to travel alone (it’s amazing if you’re wondering, Chiara and I both agree on this). 

It’s another thing to travel with your partner. It’s a weird combination of love, patience, humour and understanding mixed with frustration, annoyance and arguments on who’s turn it is to wash-up the dishes. 

And it’s a third thing to add a pet (or child, but we aren’t there yet) to the mix. 

Here’s a list of things we learned about travelling with Wild, and how we’ve adapted to survive it:

1.You Are with Your Pet, All the Time

I remember when I was working full-time and didn’t get to see Wild throughout the day. Because of that, one of the best parts of the day was coming home and watching her run out to meet me. Just imagine a jazzed-up border collier full of energy and excitement running at you full-tilt with a crazed look in her eyes and her tongue streaming out behind her. Yeah, that’s what we came home to everyday. 

And she didn’t just stop in front of us and wait patiently for pats and attention. She would run and jump and yelp with excitement and sprint off in random directions just to come back to us again. 

It was (and still is) a magic experience.

Now, we are around most of the time. We are rarely gone for more than a few hours at a time, and as a result, poor Wild doesn’t get to miss us all that much. 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just means we miss out on that experience (sad face). 

2. Your Pet is Always There, All the Time

I don’t know if you’ve had this experience, but when I was a little fella growing up, I used to love when my Mum (and sometimes older sister(s)) baked cakes or muffins. Because after they had finished mixing the cake batter, me and my siblings got to “lick the bowl” (basically scrape the raw batter off the bowl with our fingers to enjoy prematurely). So, I used to hang watching them cook with the intensity of a hawk, just waiting for them to finish. 

The point of this story is this:

Your pet will now do this to you. Whenever you try to cook anything, your favourite pal will be right there just watching. Waiting. Silently camped out (usually right in the way or under your feet), just waiting for you to accidently drop something. 

And then…. They pounce!

And it’s not just when you’re cooking. 

No. 

They’re always around, all the time. 

Try and brush your teeth? They will watch. 

Want to relax on the couch and read a book? They’re right there beside you, watching you read. 

Want to enjoy some *ahem* private time together …. Well, you know where this is headed (they’re always watching, talk about awkward). 

3. They Have Magic Fur

That sounds like a great thing, right?

WRONG!!!

We messed up, we goofed. We got a dog with medium-long hair. (It could’ve been worse, one of us wanted a longer hair version *cough Chiara *cough. 

The thing about dogs with longer-than-short hair – it gets everywhere! 

Seriously, we find Wild hair everywhere. It’s in the food we’re cooking, on furniture, on our clothes, inside our mouths, somehow in sealed containers of food we purchased that day from the supermarket. 

Now, I know what you’re going to say … “try brushing her, grooming blah blah blah.”

We do, we try. 

But like the title says, Wild has Magic Fur. 

We are used to it now but in the beginning, it was a shock just how much hair Wild will leave lying around the bus (sometimes floating around in mid-air for hours, because it’s Magic Fur).  

Just short of shaving her completely bald (but how funny would that look!), we’ve learned to live with the copious amounts of fur that Wild pumps out every day. We just smile, grit our teeth, imagine shaving her and get on with our day. 

It’s just one of the things you will learn to live with while travelling with a pet in a bus (or van).

*Note: this rule applies to cats, birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, chimpanzees, walruses, etc. NO matter what pet you have, it will leave its fur/feathers/blubber lying around for you to clean.

4. You Will Become Closer to Your Pet.

This is a great benefit of travelling with your best mate/pet. Because you’re in proximity for most of the time, you can’t help but get closer to them. You will start to know their moods, their habits, their wants and needs, their routine. 

For example, when we get out of bed in the morning Wild will always come to say good morning and get her good-morning pats. Then she will wait anxiously at the door to be let out to do her business. 

We always know when she’s tired, when she’s bored, when she needs to run and when she needs a bath (she doesn’t tell us this, she just starts to get a bit “on the nose”). 

The point is, we know this dog and she knows us. 

5. Your Pet Doesn’t Care How Clean You Want to Be.

Now for the downside to travelling with your pet. 

It may come to a shock to some people, but your little friend does not care about how clean they are, how clean you are, and how clean your bus/van is. Don’t take this personally, as everyone that has ever owned a pet can testify that it’s just part of having a pet. You have a pet, you must clean up after them, no exceptions. 

But still, do they have to enjoy being dirty so much?!?

We like to be clean; we like to keep our bus/home clean. So, it’s a constant fight against the fur, the mud, the dirt, and the sand that we and our dog track through the bus every day. 

And it’s not only that. 

Wild needs regular bathing, or she starts to smell. Like well, a dog. She has quite a strong dog smell. Unfortunately for us, sometimes it’s hard to find a suitable place to bath her. Also, unfortunately for us, Wild hates having bath. So, it’s a battle every time we want to give her one. 

Lastly, it’s important that you pick up after your friend after they poop. It’s really aggravating when we go to a campsite and find dog-poop around because an irresponsible owner didn’t want to pick up poop. 

Seriously, it’s not that hard. 

6. There Are Places Your Friend Can’t Go.

Another downside to having your dog/cat/walrus with you is that some places aren’t welcoming to domestic animals. There are national parks and protected areas where you aren’t permitted to bring your pet. 

I’m personally in two minds about this. 

Firstly, I applaud the effort to protect areas and native species from the threat of domestic animals. There has already been untold damage done to native areas/species by introduced animals (fox, rabbit, cane toad etc.) so the protection of some areas is important. 

But on the flip side …

If we really want to protect these areas, we should stop the trespass of them by humans as well. Let them be all natural, let them survive and thrive by themselves, without humans trekking ways through them, leaving rubbish and destruction behind them. 

And if humans are allowed in, maybe their pets should be allowed too (obviously on lead, with stiff fines handed out for irresponsible behaviors). 

Bottom line be prepared to either skip some amazing natural places or leave your friend behind to guard your bus/van. 

If I Had a Time Machine…

The point of this article is to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned in travelling with our dog in a bus. It’s a different experience than anything we’ve had before, but I guess that’s the point, isn’t it?

And if ever asked the question: “would you do it again differently, without the dog?” we know we will always answer a resounding ‘no’. 

Because despite all her annoyances, her traits and her just plain weirdness, we love this dog.

And we love travelling in the bus with her. 

Until next time,

Stay Wild and Free!

Aaron & Chiara