The Year of Travelling Comfortably

Now don't get me wrong. I love travelling, and my two long train trips through continental Europe (to Switzerland and Germany) rate as among the highlights of my adventurous life so far. 

But still, the sad truth is that too often when Gail goes on holiday, I am consigned to what she euphemistically calls 'camp' and this is a whole lot less satisfactory. 

Well, for reasons familiar to all my readers, all thoughts of holidaying abroad had to be abandoned in 2020, and in place of her planned April trip to Berlin, Prague and Vienna, Gail opted to explore these places, and then many more besides, mostly via their literature, and in some case through history and travel books too. This was all accomplished from the comfort of the sofa, where I was more than happy to join her. 

Over the course of the last year, we've 'visited' the following countries:  

Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Albania, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, India, Soviet Union/Russia, Iran, Nigeria, Korea, Japan, Peru, and the USA.

It's all been very enjoyable and interesting, although I do have a minor quibble that, aside from Švejk's rather disreputable background dealing in stolen dogs, us pups did not figure large in the reading list. 

I wonder what your humans do when they can't travel? (Or maybe they never ever like to leave you, which is most commendable.) 

Superglued to the sofa...

So Gail and I arrived home in Aberdeen on Saturday evening, after ending our big trip abroad with a pleasant couple of days staying with friends in Yorkshire.

Over the past two weeks I have travelled on or in the following:

• 24 trains* in 3 countries 
• 2 ferries (Stena Line, from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and back) 
• 2 cars (in Bavaria and Yorkshire)
• 2 urban metros (Hoek van Holland to Schiedam and back) 
• 1 cable car (Breitenberg Bahn) 
• 1 bus (no. 46 York to Pocklington)

At all times I was a good boy and was never sick.

I think I now deserve some sofa time...

*The trains were: (1) Aberdeen to Newcastle, (2) Newcastle to Newark North Gate, (3) Newark Castle to Nottingham, (4) Nottingham to London St Pancras, (5) London Liverpool Street to Harwich, (6) Schiedam to Rotterdam, (7) Rotterdam to Utrecht, (8) Utrecht to Köln, (9) Köln to Mainz, (10) Mainz to Darmstadt, (11) Darmstadt to Augsburg, (12) Augsburg to Buchloe, (13) and (14), Buchloe to Biessenhofen and back, (15) Landsberg am Lech to Kaufering, (16) Kaufering to Buchloe, (17) Buchloe to Augsburg, (18) Augsburg to Düsseldorf, (19) Düsseldorf to Utrecht, (20) Utrecht to Rotterdam, (21) Rotterdam to Schiedam, (22) Harwich to London Liverpool Street, (23) London Kings Cross to York, (24) York to Aberdeen.

All packed and ready for off

I've noticed how humans always seem to be super busy in the run up to going on holiday, so I decided to help out by writing my own packing list.

This is what I came up with:

BERTIE'S LIST
pet passport
train and ferry tickets 
insurance documents
food and water bowls
kibble
treats for the train
treats for the ferry
treats for the hotel
treats for when staying with friends
extra treats just in case
Euros and Swiss Francs to resupply with treats
water bottle
short lead for town walks
stretchy lead for country/mountain walks
'Newcastle Station' harness...
snazzy tartan scarf
Fair Isle sweater for smart wear
waterproof jacket
blanket
towel
muzzle
hairbrush and comb
toothbrush
toothpaste (liver flavoured)
present for my Doggy Godmother

I think that will leave plenty of room in Gail's backpack for travel documents, a change of clothes and her own toothbrush (there are some things one doesn't like to share).

So now that's all sorted I'm ready to go.

For some reason Gail has asked me to ask readers to wish her luck with this trip to Switzerland...

We may try to post a photo or two when travelling, but normal blog service is now suspended for the next three weeks.

Safe and sound. And a reminder...

So Gail flew to Amsterdam for work last week. She was gone A WHOLE DAY AND A NIGHT!

I stayed again with neighbours Yvonne and Neil. These days, what with all the terrorism stuff on the news, I do tend to fret about Gail’s safety when she travels outside of Scotland. But I think I managed to hide my worries. I even sent her a reassuring text message and picture. It read:

“Well Gail, I decided since I’m guest of honour here I would sneak into Yvonne’s lounge & sleep on my favourite chair! Bertie, 3 am this morning …..”

Oh but I was blithe as a midge on a damp still day in the Highlands when Gail returned home all safe and sound. I even forgave her buying a big chunk of Gouda cheese for Yvonne and failing, once again, to bring home a gift for me.

PS There is still time to enter my Blogville Pawlympics event. I've already received loads of splendid entries, but for sure there are yet more of you who would secretly love to climb a Scottish mountain, and this is your golden opportunity! For full details, click here. The deadline is 31st July.

Have passport, will travel?

Look what I got this week.

The question is, where to go?

I've done some research, and here's my shortlist of places I would like to visit:

Paw-kistan
Terrier del Fuego
BOL-livia
Bertie County (North Carolina)
Barkina Faso (capital Wagga-dougou)
The Isle of Dogs
Pee-King
Purr-th(?)

Maybe my friends can suggest other destinations?

Exciting travel plans?

Yesterday, I eavesdropped on an interesting phone call to the vet:

“Oh good morning, this is Gail ****** here,  I want to arrange for a passport for Bertie, my wire-haired fox terrier. Can I make an appointment?

“Well, Friday is good as it’s my day off.

“Yes, two-thirty is fine. Do I need to bring anything?

“Just the dog? Yes of course. Ha ha. So he’ll be needing a rabies vaccination, right?

“When do I intend to travel? No concrete plans just yet. This summer maybe, to the Continent.  If the oil price keeps on dropping I may soon have much more free time so I’m thinking ahead...

“See you next week then. Thank you. Goodbye.”