What Makes Vacation Better? Pets!

When I go on vacation, I miss my dog. She’s family and when she’s not there, well, things just don’t feel totally right. (Although, I’ll admit, it’s nice to not have a 4:30 a.m. doggie alarm every day.) So when Ryan and I recently went to Paso Robles, Calif., for vacation a few months ago, and there were pets where we stayed, I was thrilled.

We rented a little one-room cottage up on a hill in wine country, and while we knew it came with a full kitchen, outdoor grill, fire pit, ridiculous views and a nice bottle of red, we didn’t realize we’d also get visits from the property owner’s dog and cat.

About 15 minutes into our stay, we had a little four-legged visitor at the door. (Don’t tell Siena, okay?)

She was super friendly and super sweet, and she made me both miss Siena more and help give my dog-missing a break.

Then, the next night, a feline we nicknamed “house cat” made an appearance. And really came to like us.

He would visit us at all times of the day. And, come to think of it, that probably had a lot to do with our food choices …

Yep, that’s freshly grilled fish right there, with some french fries and roasted Brussels sprouts. We *may* have given him a little leftover fish.

House cat — so appropriately named because he was always sneaking inside the house with us — got super friendly by the last night. Snuggling up quite nicely on both of us while we sipped wine around the fire pit.

Cat allergies can’t get in the way of a good lap cat.

Cheers to our snuggler!

Heck, they even had a cat at one of the wineries. A big one, too, that was totally awesome.

I mean, during all of these Fit Bottomed Pets encounters, it’s not like they were my pets and, of course, they weren’t as cool as my dog, but it was nice to have animals around. I love the energy, enthusiasm and quirks that pets have. Going on vacations is always awesome and relaxing, but there’s something about doing that while also having a few of the comforts of home — like animal lovin’ — that make it even better. There’s no doubt that interacting with animals and seeing their personalities and joy of the present moment and life make me happier, so it makes perfect sense to seek that out on vacation, too! (And, for the record, Siena happily stayed at home with “g-ma” and “g-pa,” who are pretty much her favorite people in the WORLD.)

When you go on vacation, do you like having animals around, too? It’s one of my favorite perks of renting houses and not just booking a hotel! —Jenn