Travelling with your four-legged friends can be one of the most heartwarming experiences. The Ministry of Railways recently announced that they are planning to pitch an online booking facility for dogs and cats, which will help pet parents plan trips with their pets easily. With such initiatives, pet parents are more inclined to swap their flight ticket for a bunk bed to indulge in the bliss of sustainable, slow journeys.

“I’ve been travelling with Toby, my one-year-old Golden Retriever, for the past six months and have undertaken most journeys by train,” says Kavi Raghav, a Delhi-based chemical engineer. “One of our first trips was the Golden Triangle (Delhi–Agra–Jaipur), on which we stayed in rentals that provide facilities for pet owners,” she adds.

For a shorter distance, pet parents prefer road trips to discover new destinations close to home. “Being in Mumbai, we got a lot of opportunities to explore places near and far with our three-year-old dog Leela. From treks and waterfalls around Mumbai to places such as Mulshi, Kamshet, Pune and Khopoli. We often take her on hikes,” says Dhvani Solani, media professional who loves day trips.

“Leela and I have visited Goa about six times in three years, exploring North Goa (Morjim and around), Central Goa (Salvador do Mundo/Divar/Chorao and around), and South Goa (Galgibaga, Talpona and around),” she adds.

For longer journeys pet parents recommend planning well in advance and choosing places where pets don’t feel captive in the cityscapes. “Our adopted Beagle, Bruce, has been travelling with us since he was one and a half years old. We have travelled to more than 16 states across the country with him. One of our longest journeys was during the pandemic when we drove from Delhi to Mumbai and then to Kerala,” says Lakshmi Balachandran, a digital marketer who, along with her husband Gautam Govind, a solution architect, runs the Instagram account The Knot Story.