Planning a year abroad is no small task – especially when it involves 26 countries and 125 lbs. of Great Dane. Here is a little breakdown of what it took to prepare.
Bringing Your Dog
We first started by creating a spreadsheet with every country we intended on visiting and all of the requirements they listed. For the most part, a three year rabies vaccination, ISO microchip, and a valid Pet Passport is all we needed. Before leaving, Niya will have a check up with a certified USDA vet within 10 days of leaving the US and those records will be overnighted to the USDA to be stamped and sent back to us. Once we arrive in the EU she’ll have to be seen by a local vet who will inspect her and her paperwork and then she’ll be given her very own Pet Passport. Niya is a trained and certified ESA so she will be flying in the cabin with us in our own row due to her size. Thankfully, the EU is incredibly pet friendly so we’ve been able to find tons of hotels and Airbnb’s that welcome her.
Visas
American’s are lucky in the way that for the most part, we can travel to and through Europe pretty freely. However, there is one exception that proved to be immensely difficult to work out…the Schengen Area. The Schengen Area encompasses most EU States and the non-EU States of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The rule is that you can only stay 90 out of 180 days in the Schengen Area. So where do you go when you get kicked out? You can go to countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania or you can apply for long-term visas in various countries. (Insert hours of paperwork here!!). Were applying for long-term stay visas in France, Greece, Italy, and Spain. We’ve had to get FBI background checks, those background checks translated into the countries language by a certified translator, notaries on notaries on notaries, statements of purpose, letters of health, and financial records for days! After getting all of our paperwork we’ll have to visit each embassy in person to apply and (fingers crossed) receive our visas.
Getting Around
We thought about traveling on trains as they can be the cheapest and easiest way to get around Europe. But all I could picture was trying to wrangle three giant suitcases and a giant dog in the rain, through stations and terminals, and cabs that wouldn’t pick us up just to miss our train and be stranded in some random city. So after lots of discussion we decided a car made the most sense in practicality, but we would also see more and have more flexibility in our travels. We looked into rentals which were outrageously expensive, and also buying a car to then sell at the end of our year but there were hiccups in that too. Ultimately we choose to lease a car through Peugeot. They have locations in over 160 countries so we have the ability to pickup and drop off anywhere at anytime.
COVID-19
You know what they say, life happens when you’re making plans! And the coronavirus pandemic has definitely thrown a wrench in them. So how do you plan for the unknown? Let us know when you figure it out! For now, we’re doing our best just to roll with the punches. We may have to leave in the fall instead of the summer, we may have to change out country of entry to the EU, and our list of 26 may dwindle. But we’re committed to taking it in stride and try to enjoy the journey, not the destinations.
From Abroad With Love – AG
