WanderMutts is a blog about dog-friendly road trips and travel. Follow along for dog-centric travel stories, photos, suggestions, reviews, itineraries, and more.

Who Are We?

WanderMutts features our family: two senior rescue mutts and two Millennial humans.

Maya

  • German Shepherd/Chow Chow/Cattle Dog mix from Dekalb Animal Services
  • Loves dogs, being outside, herding, and her self-appointed job as Head-of-House Security

Piper

  • German Shepherd/Hound/Bully mix from the Atlanta Humane Society
  • Loves people, eating, toys, and sleeping in soft places

Adam

  • Husband/Dog Dad/Driver/Technical and Emotional Support
  • Loves skiing, mountains, driving, and going on adventures

Allison (the one writing this blog)

  • Wife/Dog Mom/Planner/Blog Writer/Photographer
  • Loves unique destinations, saving locations on Google Maps, writing, and taking pictures of animals

All of us are from Georgia (in fact, everyone except Piper is from Atlanta). Atlanta is where Adam and I grew up, and where we started our life together: college, grad school, first "grown-up" jobs, first apartment, first dog, wedding, first house, second dog.

After decades in the city we grew up in, we wanted a change. Adam wanted to ski more, I wanted snow, and Maya and Piper were happy to come along for the ride. Luckily, we ended up in Morrison, Colorado, which we love.  

From Georgia, we saw a lot of the South, the East Coast, and the Midwest. From Colorado, we've explored the West, the Pacific Northwest, and some of the West Coast. The four of us have been to over half the states in the US and almost a dozen national parks.

Why a Travel Blog?

I started the WanderMutts blog (with Adam's help and encouragement) to record and share our dog-friendly adventures. Planning a trip with dog takes a lot of time and energy, and it's not just searching for dog-friendly places.

Even when I find dog-friendly restaurants, lodging, activities, or other destinations, it's not easy to get detailed information. A restaurant might be labeled “dog-friendly," but what does that mean? Are dogs allowed on the patio, or only on the sidewalk? Do you have to leave your dog outside to order food? Is the patio big enough for larger dogs? Is there shade in the summer? Are there heaters in the winter?

And those are just the questions for one lunch! When you plan a week-long trip, trying to answer all these questions for every stop can become overwhelming.

I want to share our tips, insights, and first-hand experiences. I want to go beyond the simplistic label of "dog-friendly." I want to give people more information and empower them to plan their own adventures.

How Do We Do It?

People often ask, in disbelief, how we can take our dogs on cross-country road trips.

Some crucial elements make our dog-centric road trips possible:

  • The dogs are good at (and enjoy) road trips
  • The humans are good at (and enjoy) road trips
  • The humans are willing, able, and enthusiastic about centering the dogs in the road trip plans.

We love traveling with our dogs, but if they couldn't do it or didn't like it, we absolutely would not do it. Maya and Piper being good travelers is the core of what makes our trips possible: they sleep in the car, they don't get carsick, they are good with people, and they like going to new places.

Adam and I are also pretty experienced when it comes to road trips. Before we had the dogs, we had many adventures on the road (once, we even drove from Atlanta to Toronto and back).

Even with four eager participants, road-tripping with dogs can be a lot of work. It takes time, patience, and compromise. Having the dogs with us means we have to skip some destinations, get takeout instead of going to a restaurant, or do separate activities.

For us, it's worth it. We get to have our dogs with us, and we get to enjoy new places as a family.