Talking travel with the expert on traveling with pets

by Jerry Guo on

I’m here with Doug Poindexter, president of the World Wide Pet Industry Association, the oldest nonprofit within the field dedicated to pet care. He’s here to talk about the tricks of the trade when it comes to traveling with pets, or what to do if you have to leave them behind.

What types of trips are feasible to do with pets, and which ones are not?

More pet owners are traveling with their pets, which means that an abundance of hotels and businesses are looking to host you and your four-legged companion. However, you must do your research before your trip begins. Below are some tips for booking the perfect hotel for you and your pet.

  • Don’t book online – You should call the hotel and ask for a rundown of the rules associated with booking a pet-friendly room. Explain the size and weight of your pet to ensure he/she falls within the requirements.
  • Ask for a list of restrictions – Pet friendly hotels often have rules surrounding the types of pets they allow in the room. Confirm the size and weight restrictions, breed policies, and supervision stipulations prior to reserving a room (ie. You can not leave your pet unattended in the room).
  • Don’t assume all rules are universal – Hotel chains can vary in policy surrounding pet friendly programs due to differences in state and local laws. It’s important to always request a list of rules surrounding pet lodging at every new hotel location.
  • Inquire about pet programs – Many pet friendly hotels offer perks such as dog beds, treats, water bowls, etc. for no additional charge. An increasing number also partner with local dog walkers and groomers to offer discounts to residents traveling with their pet. Be sure to request a list of programs for you and your pet to check out while you are in town.

How about traveling overseas? Is that doable?

It can be done, but again, pet owners must do their research. Both airlines and countries have different rules regarding animals. For example, you will need to purchase an airline create to check your pet for travel. Be sure to confirm the size requirements with your airline.

The U.S. Department of State has a whole section on their website dedicated to pet travel. This site includes a useful list of International Animal Export Regulations compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

What are the top mistakes travelers make when going on vacation with pets?

They don’t do their research to prepare for the trip. Pets need the same basic items as their human counterparts – food, shelter, and exercise. Pet owners often think of their pet as an afterthought in the preparation stage for a trip. Pets should have their own overnight bags, blankets, and bedding. They should have proper travel gear, such as crates, bowls, and chew toys.

How does the process of “checking in” pets at the airport work?

Cargo space fills quickly for animals. Be sure to book your pet’s flight at the same time you book yours. Rates vary among airlines from $50 to $300, depending on the size of the animal. Many airlines request follow-up calls three days before the flight and the day of the flight to confirm that your pet is coming. Arrive at the airport an hour and a half before your flight.

  • Be sure to familiarize your pet with his travel crate. Prior to your trip, set up the crate in your home and keep the door open on the crate. Be sure to put blankets, toys and treats inside. This will allow your pet to freely explore the space and familiarize himself with the crate without feeling trapped. Reward with treats when they voluntarily go in the crate in order to reinforce a positive association. Crates must be airline-approved and should have stickers stating name, address and phone information.
  • Airlines require a bill of health issued by a veterinarian within 10 days of the flight, which will state that your animal is healthy and able to fly.
  • If your pet weighs over 22 pounds or cannot stand and turn around in a crate that can be stored under the seat, they cannot fly with you in the cabin.
  • Use an absorbent material such as shredded newspaper to line your pet’s crate. Hang a list of feeding times on the front of your pet’s crate to ensure he is fed at the proper times. To help ensure your pet stays hydrated without spilling water all over the crate, freeze water in a bowl and put it in the crate.

What are some must-have pet accessories for safe travel?

Crates – this ensures safe travel outside of the home. You should also have a bag prepared with feeding bowls, treats, blankets, toys, and extra leashes.

Top three pet-friendly vacation destinations? Least friendly?

Every year, Dog Fancy magazine releases their top 10 list of the most pet friendly cities in America based upon judging criteria such as dog-centered activities, how many hotels are dog-friendly and how many restaurants allow dogs to eat on their patios. Last year’s winner was San Diego, followed by Long Beach, Calif., and Carmel, Calif.

What about leaving pets behind? What are some options?

Kennels are also experiencing an extreme makeover. Pet owners can now board their pets in state of the art kennels that include bottled water, LCD flat panel TV screens, and luxury bedding. Many of these luxury boarding programs offer add-on incentives, such as dog massages or water therapy.

What do you make of the new “rent-a-pet” trend?

We are planning to survey our members regarding their thoughts on this trend, so we will have more data for you soon regarding this topic!

Finally, as a New Yorker (for the summer), I just came across a “dog bar”. Have you heard of any similar zany outlets for pets in your travels (dog amusement parks for instance)?

The pet industry is one of the most entrepreneurial industries within the business world. Pet retail shops now offer “Yappy Hours” for pets and their owners, when all can socialize over cocktails and canine wine for the pooches. Day care and boarding programs offer extensive grooming and wellness programs for pets, including massage, reiki, water therapy, weight management, health management, and organic salon treatments. Basically anything that you can imagine a human enjoying, someone within the pet industry is modifying the business plan for pet owners. And consumers are buying into – there’s a reason why there’s no stopping this $42 billion a year industry.

Talking travel with the celebrated dancing Matt

by Jerry Guo on

I’m here with Matthew Harding, who will be forever known as “that guy who makes those silly dancing videos.” That’s not a bad rep to have, given that everyone from The New York Times to The Today Show wants a piece of him. And did I mention his around-the-world trip was paid for by a gum company? How’s that for entrepreneurship–and avoiding a 9-5 office job.

He’s here to give us the scoop on his travels and what went into making his viral videos. For more (fourth video perhaps?), check out his website here.

Most of the soundtracks to your videos come from obscure artists. How do you pick out the background music?

For the first video, I just slapped on Sweet Lullaby by Deep Forest. I tried a bunch of songs, but it was the only one that fit.

For the second video, I still wanted to use the same vocal track, which was actually sung by a woman named Afunakwa in the Solomon Islands around 1971, but I wanted to create new music. I contacted my friend, Garry Schyman, who is a composer working mainly in videogames, and he wrote something entirely new to go with those same vocals.

For the third video, Garry and I both wanted to try something new. Garry found a poem by an Indian writer named Rabindranath Tagore and I tracked down a girl named Palbasha Siddique who was able to sing the poem in its original Bengali. Garry and Palbasha worked together to make the lyrics fit the composition he’d written for the video.
With your third video, which was sponsored by Stride, the gum company, how much of your travels was about filming and how much was about seeing the world?

The third time out, I allowed myself to really focus on the project and try to make the best video I could. I’d already had my chance to see the world and I wanted to make something a little less selfish. The first two videos were really about me having the time of my life. The third video was about everyone.

How do you decide where to go?

For the most recent video, it was a mixture of indulging my own curiosities and visiting the places where I’d gotten the most email. We contacted all the people who’d written to me about the video and invited them to come out and dance in the new one.

How much planning do you do ahead of time? And what resources do you use? Friends, Lonely Planet, the Internet, etc?

I use all of those equally, but when it comes down to it, there isn’t a lot of planning in advance. In a lot of the world, if you try to schedule things to tightly, you just end up making it more difficult. It’s better to go with
the flow.

You’ve said that your favorite moment from “season 2” was dancing in Rwanda. How about on this third video?

That would have to be the Bollywood dance troupe in India. There was just something magical and serendipitous about that experience.

Though you’re known for dancing with people from all over the world, does it ever get lonely on your trips? (You’re traveling by yourself?)

I think I may be missing the loneliness gene. It’s not that I don’t enjoy being around people, but I also tend to do well on my own for long stretches of time that other people would find unbearable.

How do you explain your project to the locals? Is it pretty easy to convince them to take part?

I explain as best I can, but when I’m dancing with a bunch of school kids in, say, Madagascar, the language barrier can be very limiting, and also, they don’t really care. In those moments, it’s just about being silly and
having a good time, and the kids like to see themselves on the camera afterward. A lot of them have hardly ever used computers, so explaining what a YouTube video is would be difficult.

For a while I worried that I was exploiting the kids by using their images in the video, but at the same time, these are parts of the world that often go forgotten. And other places, like Rwanda, have become synonymous with suffering and horror. I decided it’s worthwhile to show those moments of joy and humanity, and it’s ultimately a good thing to remind people of the larger world we’re a part of.

Talking travel with bicycling pro Lauren Hefferon

by Jerry Guo on

True, the Tour de France ended last month, but this is the perfect time to plan for next year’s event. Here to tell us how to bike in the legendary race yourself–or at least have a good time in the stands–is Lauren Hefferon, a former professional cyclist who has logged 35,000 miles cycling across Europe in her early years after college. She now runs a bicycle touring company, Ciclismo Classico, which runs biking trips throughout Italy, France, Spain, Vietnam, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand.

I’ve been following a wonderful NYTimes blog about an amateur who raced in a leg of this year’s Tour de France. How hard is this to do?

Considering the race is two weeks long and covers over 130 miles a day over the some of the toughest passes in the world, it is considered one of the toughest races in the world. The racers must train all year long and begin at a very young age training their muscles and their mind. The sport is very strategic, rider must not only be fit but they have to understand how to best work together as a team to gain the most advantage over each day’s ride. The team will always assist the favorite rider by blocking, drafting and out sprinting their adversaries,

And what’s the process for those who want to train and get involved in racing–and not just touring?

Potential racers should first be passionate about the sport, have solid endurance and be committed to training regularly and vigorously. The best thing is to join a team so you can have some of your expenses sponsored. Being on a team you will get coaching, support from team members and some of your equipment covered. Cycling can be a very expensive sport and the winnings are not that much. You must commit 3-4 hours a day to training, additional rest and a healthy lifestyle.
Are you following the Tour de France?

I have watched a couple stages. It is exciting but the whole drugging undercurrent is very disturbing. It takes away from my enjoyment of the sport.

Is that worth seeing as a spectator?

It’s fun but chaotic to be on the sidelines. The fans are so passionate and entire villages come out to cheer on their favorite, it is like the villages wake up and grab their favorite spot. Unlike other sports where the admission can be steep, cycling is by the people and for the people. It is free to watch and entire villages come out to be a part of the action. It absolutely raises community spirit.

How would you suggest setting up a trip revolving around the tour?

Well we have several trips that follow bike races. We have a tour that follows the GIRO D’ITALIA, another tour that follows the Tour De France and another one that follows the Maratona degli Dolomiti, a race throughout the Dolomites.

You have to know the course very well. It is too difficult to follow the whole race so we pick 3-4 classic stages that zig zag in the same area. We then plan rides that pedal over some of the course and maybe take a detour later in the day. We ride the course before the racers come and stake out a place to watch the race. When it is over we ride back to our hotel and watch the rest of the race at a bar or at our hotel. Our guests LOVE these follow-the-race tours. There is a wonderful energy that keeps everyone high

Have you competed in any races? I imagine that’s a good–albeit intense–way of seeing different countries.

Yes I raced for my first three years in Italy. It was an excellent way for me to connect with the local people, learn all the wonderful roads and be a part of very energetic, fun loving community. Cyclists in training have a very competitive but playful way to be engaged with their sport. I have done many sports in my life and I always like the training more than the competition. Cycling was no different. I just love to ride and be with people, so while I would ride hard and liked doing well, the people and places were always far more important. This is why I turned to touring. You can stay in excellent shape AND see the countryside and enjoy other’s company. When you are racing, your head is down, you are watching the wheel ahead of you and you do not remember much of the world or people around you.

Now shifting gears a bit (hehe couldn’t help myself). What’s the biking environment like in Europe?

Europeans have tremendous respect for cyclists. They see them as just another vehicle, which they are, just slower. Thanks to racing and the proliferation of basic bike commuting, Europeans easily co-exist with cycling. There are many more small side roads and alternatives to major highways. Gas is $16 a gallon so they woke up long ago to the costs of driving a car.

Unfortunately the car is still winning everywhere in the world and we cyclists have to make our world friendlier, easier and more fun. Cyclists have to continue to fight for their rights. In Italy, cycle commuting is most practical in the cities where you will see elderly women biking side by side with their bag or groceries on their handlebars. Outside the cities it is harder because roads are more difficult. Cycling is hugely popular in the area around Ferrara where it is flat and their is a real passion for cycling

You have to see this site and tell your readers: www.carfree.com

In the states, I think biking cross-country would be a nightmare unless you’ve mapped out all the local routes–freeways are suicidal.

What are your top three biking destinations outside of Europe? I noticed that you’ll be hosting trips to Vietnam and New Zealand, among others.

Well Europe is # ONE for me and allow me to plug my favorite place in the world to bike: Sardinia! My other three favorite places are:

  • The Finger Lakes region
  • Chile and Argentina
  • New Zealand

If anyone is looking for info on our trips, they can of course log onto our site.

I’m off to New Zealand myself in a couple weeks. Any tips for a DIY biking trip there? Is it possible to just rent a bike for a week and bike from lodge to lodge?

There are plenty of local operators to choose from. Here’s one we use.

Speaking of DIY, is it possible to stage a weeklong+ biking trip in a more-or-less undeveloped place–where lodging isn’t guaranteed every night. Are support vehicles a necessity in these cases?

There are an abundance of web sites where you can read and copy other people’s adventures. Here is one of my favorites www.crazyguyonabike.com

Your life list for biking adventures?

1. Bike trip across the USA. Not better way to connect with our own roots
2. Bike and Boat. Island hopping around the Med with bikes on board
3. Rome to Athens, the ancient world by bike
4. Ireland and Scotland
5. Norway
6. South America, the Andes by Mt Bike
7. Australia & New Zealand
8. Anywhere the roads are smooth & untrafficked, the scenery is gorgeous and the people are welcoming

Favorite trip? SARDINIA. Mountains, sea and drop dead gorgeous scenery

See here.

Talking Travel with global development researcher Chris Blattman

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Besides being a professor at Yale and an expert on poverty and global development, Chris Blattman is widely-traveled and maintains an insightful and entertaining blog. Recently I asked Chris a couple questions related to the ethics of traveling in the developing world, and what the average person can do to reduce poverty.

1. These days, more and more people are combining vacations with volunteering. They might pay a fee to live with a host family, work in an orphanage or on a farm, and return home feeling quite good about where they’ve been and what they’ve done. But do these “volunteering vacations” really do anything to improve the lives of people in the host countries?

I call it “development tourism” and I’ve had an ongoing debate on its merits with blog readers. Most of all I think we should recognize that the short volunteering vacation probably does more for us than the recipient. Development tourism has value, most of all because it expands a visitor’s appreciation for life in a poor country. But we should not fool ourselves into believing that we can have much “impact” in just a few days or weeks. Neither should we convince ourselves this is the best use of charitable funds; the cost of the travel alone could find better uses. Plus, it’s not as though there is a shortage of semi-skilled labor in poor countries ready to dig wells and build homes (more cheaply too).

I say, let’s call these what they are: experiential vacations– better than splurges in tropical resorts, but not quite impactful. The distance from development tourist to the true do-gooder is not that far, however. To make the leap, I usually recommend four options: go for weeks (or months) rather than days; go with the intent to learn, not to “save” anyone; don’t displace the local private sector with your work; and identify a local community organization and continue to raise money for them when home. Sending children to school is a fine idea. But helping families or community organizations to set up income-generating activities (a small poultry or piggery operation, a grinding mill, a brick-baking outfit) is inexpensive yet can generate a stream of income for years of school fees.

2. What’s your take on the ethics of visiting so-called “rogue” states– places like North Korea, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, and the like? Are travelers helping the local populations or are they inadvertently supporting oppressive regimes?

It’s difficult for me to see how one supports an oppressive regime through holiday travel. Tacit approval? Not likely. Generating income for a corrupt government? The amount is probably miniscule, and if anything supports the local private sector and a civil society far more. Should either die, the fates of these countries’ citizens can only get worse. Besides, any miniscule harm seems likely to be countered by the exposure you give citizens to a freedom fry-eating foreigner, and the changed impressions you bring back with you to your own country. What are we to do? Leave these countries to meet only the oil and mining executives, foreign mercenaries, and Coke bottlers?

3. Billions of dollars pour into Sub-Saharan Africa every year, but the problems there seem as intractable as ever. Is this the fault of corrupt governments, profligate NGOs, or is this simply not enough money?

In twenty years, I may write a book on the subject, and it will still be inadequate, despite three decades of soul-searching and study.

I usually like to make three points, however. First, at the height of the industrial revolution in the US and Europe, per capita economic growth was never more than one or two percent per year. For most countries in most of history, development was and is slow business. And Africa has been decolonized for a mere half century. The high-octane growth in China and South Korea are the exceptions, not the rule. If we maintain four or five percent growth in Africa, as many nations have accomplished in the last decade, then incomes will double every 15 or 20 years. That’s not a bad goal.

Two, the difference between a poor country (say, $2000 per head) and a middle income one (say, $12000 per head) is simple: one has a manufacturing sector and one does not. Something like forty percent of Kenya’s GDP comes from the 5 percent of the workforce: those in light and medium industry. That sector is crucial. Most African nations won’t have a self-sustaining education and health system until they build some sort of industrial tax base. What’s needed to get there? Reliable roads and electricity are a start. Reducing the red tape faced by business can help too. But realistically, I believe real wages in Asia will probably have to rise before it becomes profitable to produce in Africa. The faster China and India get rich, the sooner we’ll see a transformation in Africa. In the meantime, preferential trade and tax treatment by the US and Europe for African goods could help foster industry and technology transfer. So could aid directed to developing commodity processing facilities and other programs that take raw material extraction upstream.

Last, stability matters. Roller coaster aid flows, commodity prices, trade privileges, capital investment, and political instability derail growth episodes before gains can be solidified. Thinking less about levels of assistance and more about volatility is not a bad start. Especially when capricious donor countries add to the ups and downs.

In the end, the debate about too much or too little foreign aid is, in my view, still too detached from reality. Most of the people writing about it have never lived in a developing country for more than a few weeks at a time, rarely leave the capital when they do, and almost never talk to businessmen. I am guilty of this myself sometimes.

4. Finally, I always advise travelers that the best way to improve the lives of the world’s poor is to visit them and spend money. Is it as simple as that? Is there anything else for the traveler who’s concerned about poverty to do?

On a two-week trip to a foreign country, it’s best to keep your goals modest. Actually, make that microscopic. Realistically, any good you achieve beyond supporting the tourist industry will be purely accidental. I suppose you could seek resorts and hotels that support rather than emasculate the local workers, but that’s not an easy thing to find out. Try the development tourism tips above. But I always like to encourage people to consider a sea change: dedicate yourself to a year, a decade, or even a lifetime of learning and effort to end poverty. There are few more rewarding ways to live your life.

Be sure to check out Chris’ blog here.

Talking travel with founder of globorati.com

by Jerry Guo on

I’m here with Mark Jolly, founder and editor of globorati, the top luxury travel site for the stylish jet set. Mark is also a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveler, having reported from over 60 countries and lived on four continents. He’s here to talk about everything from which diamond-infused lotion is appropriate for your next getaway to Miami to the next big luxury destination (in South America, but not Brazil or Argentina).

globorati has covered some pretty over-the-top vacation packages. Are such experiences becoming more prevalent. What are some particularly extravagant ones coming up?

Most of what globorati covers is focused on useful, up-to-the-moment stories that capture the thrill and beauty of travel. But every now and again we’ll run something on a big-ticket, through-the-roof, ultra-luxe experience. The sort of stuff I call “sick travel” – stuff like a $700 breakfast at the new Ritz-Carlton Moscow, or a $30,000 private-jet expedition to Antarctica, or a $50,000 one-night package at the Four Seasons Miami (the massage uses lotion infused with ground diamonds). The other day, we ran a story on a $1 million vacation to Dubai. You can file that one under “vacations for the cash-rich, sense-poor traveler.”

What’s been the cushiest trip you’ve ever splurged on?

Sounds like an odd thing to say, but I’m a professional traveler: I normally get paid to travel and experience different cultures. The most singular journey I’ve ever taken has to be the Concorde. The experience was a thing of beauty: the captain invited me to sit in the cockpit, and from my seat, at 60,000 feet, I saw a panoramic sky that was an incomparably richer, darker blue than anything I’d seen at subsonic altitude. And at 23 miles-per-minute, I could make out the curvature of the earth. For the foreseeable future there’s absolutely nothing in commercial aviation that will come close to the Concorde.
There’s been a rise in luxury accommodations in some very unexpected places: Easter Island, Antarctica, Bhutan. Are there any particular cases that come up in your mind?

Welcome to “extreme luxury.” We’re seeing the term used more and more now, and by some measure it relates to those once-in-a-lifetime adrenaline adventures that come with the pampering and the personalized attention usually reserved for five-star experience. Some of the set-ups that have caught globorati’s attention are the no- to low-footprint projects sprinkled throughout the world’s remote destinations. Malikha Lodge, for example, is Myanmar’s only upscale retreat in the foothills of the Himalayas and backs on to Asia’s largest tiger reserve. Perfect Earth Tours has a hideaway in the Yukon, which touts “the world’s first organic canvas teepees,” with queen-size beds and private bathrooms. Abercrombie & Kent – which has a whole new program dedicated to extreme adventures starting this fall – has even created the world’s first wilderness camp in Antarctica.

Glamping, jetrosexuals, flashpackers, and of course, Globoratis. Can you help us sort out these demographics?

It’s funny how fixated the media is on the new buzzwords of luxury travel.

Our first big media splash was a New York Post piece that interviewed us about glamping, and since then, that’s normally been the first thing people ask us! globorati.com is though, I concede, part of the circus too: I concocted the name as a way to allude to a new breed of luxury traveler who values the experience, not the price tag, of the world’s best travel possibilities. You’ve got the glitterati, the literati and now the globorati – whom I like to think of as stylish, intellectually curious world travelers rather than big-ticket consumers.

Tell us a bit about how you came to start globorati.com. You already landed your cushy gig at CNT right?

I still wear my contributing-editor cap for Conde Nast Traveler and, even after 10 years, it’s a privilege to be given the resources and trust to explore a destination so thoroughly. But there’s no escaping the fact it’s a monthly magazine. The world of luxury travel moves much faster than that and so I wanted to find a voice that spoke to those travelers searching for a daily scoop on the world’s hottest new hotels and travel experiences. Before globorati there was absolutely nowhere for people to go for this.

Speaking of cushy gigs, how did you get your start in travel writing? I heard that you’ve never accepted a guide book commission. Is that an overrated path to cracking into travel journalism?

I wrote my first paid travel story in college, when I was the editor of Oxford’s magazine, Isis – I got a university travel grant to hitch-hike from New Hampshire to New Mexico and write about the experience. But there’s this misguided notion that the path to travel writing is routed through travel. I believe the key is the lonely, exacting, painstaking discipline of writing. And rewriting. And rewriting.

If we’re talking about getting into and learning the craft of travel journalism, I’d say guidebook writing isn’t so much overrated as it is pointless. (The fact it’s poorly paid is a separate issue altogether.) The craft of quality travel journalism is based on the same writing and reporting rudiments common to all feature journalism, and there’s little way to learn that from filing a book full of listings (of course some guidebooks offer more than this but the foundation of all guidebooks is really the listings element).

What’s the next big luxury destination/region?

Peru has lain for a long time in the shadows of its two sexier neighbors, Brazil and Argentina. But now the smart-set is waking up to Peru’s riches beyond Machu Picchu.

What about three trends you see in this upscale market?

The growth of green travel and the rising cost of air travel will be even bigger stories in 2009. But what’s interesting is how these two factors have sparked the romance of train travel again. The Eurostar has dramatically reversed the air-domination of journeying from London to Paris. And just look at Spain: the new high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona has already stolen one-fifth of Iberia’s business. In the luxe market, we’re seeing more and more one-of-a-kind train journeys – often billed as overland “cruises” – which pile on the pampering and customized services but without the guilt of longhaul air travel. This includes the new Danube Express, the Great Brazil Express (Brazil’s first ever luxury train), and Australia’s coast-to-coast Platinum service on Great Southern Rail.

And lastly, what are some tips you have for pulling off a luxury trip without breaking the bank?

Isolate which is the one experience you value most when you travel: where you eat or where you lay your head or how you get there or whatever… and then splurge on that one thing as you tighten the budget everywhere else. For my firs
t time in Venice I decided I had to book a romantic room right on the Grand Canal, despite the cost. But we ate cheap, walked everywhere and ditched the gondola option. It was heaven.