It wasn’t a decision that I made overnight. Ok. It was a decision I made in a week. Because truth be told, if I would have thought about it too long, I never…ever…would have have quit my life to travel with my dogs fulltime!

Quit my life? Overdramatic? Maybe. But I don’t remember my life now before.

Maybe you are at a crossroads of sorts in your life. Maybe you need a change. Maybe you are sick and tired of leaving your dog every day to get in a car, drive hours each week to a job you hate and then do it over and over again. Maybe you’re tired of a mortgage and all that comes with it. Maybe it seems crazy to buy an RV and travel wherever you want to, when you want to. Maybe it seems crazier not to.

So many people have asked how we made this decision and if we would do it all over again.

If I knew then what I know now, I may not have. I wasn’t prepared for many aspects of camping, and I don’t know if I would have thought that I could do it. But I did. I am.

I am stronger than what I thought.

What are some considerations you should think about if you are contemplating full time travel with your dog?

1. Does my job allow me to work remotely and if not, can I find one that does? The fact is we all need to make a living. This should be the first consideration.

2. Are conveniences that I will be giving up worth the experiences? For example, sometimes you will break down. In the middle of nowhere. In 17 degrees for hours in a Walmart parking lot. Ok. Maybe that was just us. Maybe you will have to park somewhere with no water and no electricity for a bit. Maybe you will have to wash your clothes in a creek. Life on the road is challenging. We will be covering that on our next article.

3. Is your dog physically up to travel? Are you willing to make sacrifices on the road? For example, are you willing to stop every few hours for stretching and potty breaks? Are you prepared to make adjustments for your dog if needed like adding a ramp?

4. Are you willing to give up seeing friends and family for long stretches of time? Life on the road is all consuming. You spend a lot of time preparing in the way of routes, supplies and repairs. Time goes by fast and add to that, there are still many places that do not have cell service. Your relationships will be second.

5. Are you good with being different, from taking a route in life that most would never consider? Some will criticize. Some will not understand.

For us, it came down to realizing that we needed a change. I felt that a simpler way of life afforded us the opportunity to spend as much time as we could with our dogs. The past dogs in our life did not have that luxury. We thought about how much time we missed with them by trying to make more money, fit into molds and live up to our own expectations.  And that’s when we made the leap to full time travel.

If there is one thing I would recommend to anyone and everyone, it’s that’s you deserve to do this for at least a year. Step out of the world’s expectations of how life should be filled with mortgages, things and a secure job. One of the only constants we have is knowing our dogs love us. The best thing we can give them is our time. Full time travel allows us to stop taking care of stuff and truly spend time with ourselves. And our dogs.

So should you give up your life to travel full time with your dog? If you can…do it. Normal life will always be there to go back to. But you may find that you can never go back.

Stay tuned for upcoming articles this month on traveling with your dog!

-Rachael Johnson, Co-Founder of 2 Traveling Dogs And Your Dog’s Diner