lying from the US to Croatia was arguably one of the most exciting and nerve wracking experiences we’ve had traveling in our 10 years together. From Covid-19 to wrangling a Great Dane here is a play by play on how it all went down.
Safely Traveling during Covid-19
I can’t speak to other carries, but flying with Delta was fantastic! Boarding was done from the back of the plane to the front, they were enforcing social distancing while waiting in line, and as we walked on the plane all of the attendants were in masks and gloves. Not only was the plane basically empty, but all seating was spaced out and there were several rows between us and other passengers. We had an entire row to ourselves that was marked as being sanitized and we were shown a video of everything Delta is doing to keep us safe from mask mandates, to air filtration, sanitization and safe practices.
All of the airports we traveled through (JFK – CDG – ZAG) were quiet, clean, and filled with signage for masks, social distancing, and other Covid-19 precautions.
Snakes on a plane? No. A Great Dane on a plane!
Arriving at the airport and checking in were a breeze. Niya laid down at the ticket counter and was a well mannered little lady while we got our boarding passes and checked our luggage. Insert the many jokes we heard about her “being over the weight limit for checked items”.
Security was…well, something for the history books. Niya traveled with her prong collar, E-Collar, and her harness pack. I fully expected one of them to set off the metal detector, just not all three. After making three attempts the TSA agent asked me on the fourth to remove everything. Come again? You want me to walk my 120lb Great Dane through security complete unleashed? Um, ok! To say the least, I was nervous. But as she continues to amaze me, she walked right through with no issues and laid down at the end of belt until her items were inspected and cleared. Dave and I looked at each other smirking like, “Did that just happen?” Yup!
Boarding the plane was probably the most exciting thing we were looking forward to after many requests to get a video of her walking down the jet bridge (check out my Instagram page @ashleygleeson for the video). She walked on like she had done it a million times. It didn’t hurt that all of the passengers and crew “ohh’d” and “ahh’d” at her wanting to pet and take pictures. She got her 15 minutes of fame to say the least and loved every second of it.
Once we were on the plane she was spoiled by the flight attendants offering to move our seats to have more leg room and giving us a blanket and pillow which she happily accepted and used to sleep the entire flight like a little angel.
Dave and I were laughing our heads off because Niya couldn’t stop looking out the window as we were landing. She was completely mesmerized with the moving landscape below and refused give her mom any legroom!
Landing was a breeze and thankfully so was customs. It didn’t hurt that our customs agent loved dogs and had a pitbull at home, she even came out from her station to pet Niya. We both breathed a huge sign of relief as we heard the slam of her stamp on our passports.
After a day and half of travel, three airports, two planes and a six hour time change this pack is getting some rest so we can take Zagreb by storm for the next week. Don’t forget to sign up below for email updates on new posts.
From Abroad With Love – AG
