Our Guide to a Great Dog-Friendly Travel Option: Volunteering

Volunteering has made our dog-friendly travels affordable, adventurous and rewarding.

Pet lovers know that their animals are part of their families. Sharing adventures, experiencing the world together and facing new challenges creates an unbreakable bond that can enrich your life. However, most pet owners also face a heart-breaking dilemma when they begin to get restless and yearn for travel: what should I do with my dog/cat/budgie?

Having a pet shouldn’t mean that travel is off the cards. While some holidays and adventures may be short enough that a pet sitter or dog walker can look after your precious pet, long-term travel can seem impossible.

Impossible, unless you are creative in thinking about your travel options. For my husband, Jon, and I we knew our dog, Belka, would be the perfect adventure buddy. We just had to find the right experience for us.

Workaway has opened the door to a hugely rewarding new way of seeing the world with our dog, Belka, by our side. Luckily, Workaway allows potential travellers to filter hosts by those who accept pets.

The key to a successful dog-friendly Workaway experience for us has been honesty and realistic expectations. Many hosts are happy to accept those travelling with pets but may have certain conditions. The most common one being that your pet should be well behaved around other pets, livestock and other people. It is vital to be honest about this to avoid a stressful experience for everyone involved. Our dog is well trained, but he is a herding breed mix so we wouldn’t put him or any potential hosts through the stress of volunteering on a busy farm for example.

However, there are plenty of opportunities at guesthouses, activity centres, private homes and more where our dog’s strengths will be an asset. We have just spent 6 months in 2023 on a Workaway placement at a dog-friendly hotel in the Isle of Skye. This was the perfect place for us and for our dog as he loves other dogs and people and is a calm, alert presence. He even used to accompany me on my reception duties, peeking over the desk to welcome new visitors.

Our outdoor shifts were a real highlight here as Belka was able to enjoy the 20 acres of land, following us as we chopped wood and he’d be free to welcome new guests as they arrived up the driveway.

Having your dog with you is also a fantastic way of keeping active during your down time. On our recent Workaway experience, we’d regularly finish a long shift and be tempted to go for a nap (in fact, I did enjoy regular naps…usually with Belka). But often, Belka would be full of energy and ready for a hike. With his enthusiasm urging us on, we saw so much more of the landscape, wildlife and community we were living in than some of our co-workers who were pet free.

Although not everyone is a pet fan, we’ve been fortunate that most of our Workaway co-workers have been. Having Belka with us was a great icebreaker and a ready-made reason to hangout. On our time off, our Workaway buddies would all eagerly tag along on our adventures. Having a dog alongside them perhaps reminding them of their beloved pets they’d left at home.

Making our travels dog-friendly has also encouraged us to slow down and spend more time in one place. As every dog trainer will tell you, dogs thrive on routine; this is difficult if you’re flitting from place to place. But with an extended Workaway placement, you can establish a good routine that will make your dog feel at ease.

So, what’s in it for the Workaway hosts who accept pets? We’ve been blessed to have been welcomed by so many kind, generous and open minded Workaway hosts. The best ones will want their Workaway volunteers to be happy and comfortable in their new environment, by extending their invite to your pets, the hosts are ensuring that you can stay together as a family (or a pack) and therefore feel truly valued.

Whilst this might not be every traveller’s idea of a perfect Workaway experience, for those who hold back on their plans because of concern for their pets, Workaway can be life changing. It has broadened our horizons and shown us that adventure travel and volunteering can be compatible with pet ownership. Workaway has opened the world to us once more.