This was our first excursion with our dogs. Off to Bournemouth with the boys to see our extended family…
We had planned on taking a trip down to London for a few days to take in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, with our two French bulldogs (Chevy & Sterling) and head over west along the coast to Bournemouth afterwards.
We had booked the Airbnb far in advance, in March, shortly we had arrived in the UK. What we had not planned at that point, was our trip to Croatia.
That trip was booked on the heels of our Netherlands and Belgium tour.
We had only two weeks between arriving home from that trip and heading back out for another of the same duration.
We really had not thought of the short, one day turn around, between our return from Croatia and our bookings in London. As our tour of Croatia wound down, we reached out to the Airbnb hosts in London to ask some questions about the accommodations.
The communication from them was spotty and not very encouraging. With our plans to bring the dogs along, there were some concerns about the place we had booked and we were just trying to be as prepared as possible.
With the lack of response from the host, we looked into the possibility of booking elsewhere in London. The prices had tripled and finding reasonably priced, dog-friendly places to stay was impossible.
There was some disappointment in missing such a monumental occasion, but we decided not to go and cancelled our booking in London.
There was still time to get a full refund on the Airbnb booking and we were able to change our tickets to London for a few days later and get the train to Bournemouth that we had booked. We were in need of some time at home before venturing out after a busy two weeks.
The visit to Bournemouth was to connect with some of my mother’s family, whom I had not met, so we were keen on moving forward with our plans.
After seeing the crowds in London on TV during the Jubilee weekend, we were relieved that we had avoided the city, particularly since we had not attempted to travel with the dogs before and didn’t know how they would react.
Now, keep in mind that we had loaded them into crates and into the belly of an aircraft to get them from Canada to our new home in the UK. This was going to be a different kind of travel for them.
There was a train ride with one connection and a strange place to sleep at the end of the day. Would asking them to deal with throngs of people put them over the top? Our boys are, however, extremely well-behaved when we take them out with us.
Here in the UK, we are able to take them to most pubs and restaurants and we have never had an issue with them in those situations. But you never know the amount of stress they can handle until that moment arrives.
There were other considerations as well.
Chevy and Sterling are on a raw food diet. The food that we feed them comes frozen, so traveling with bricks of frozen food would not be an option.
We have a bag of dehydrated raw food that we keep as a back-up. But how would they handle this for a full eight days? Most pet owners know that changing their pets’ food can have mixed results.
Going forward with a shorter, three night stay, felt like a great opportunity to see how they would react to traveling, as we would like to take them on longer trips with us to Europe in the future.
As we packed for this adventure, it became obvious that there were going to be more things for them in our bags, than for us.
We had purchased collapsable bowls, packed more than enough food, blankets and a few toys. Our accommodations had one single bed and a double bed, so we packed a sheet to put on the single, with the hope that they would share that bed and not want to sleep with us.
We felt that we were prepared.
The weather forecast for this trip was not encouraging.
As we departed from our flat, it started raining. Having learned my lesson a week earlier, I was prepared. Not only did I have my rain coat, I was wearing it. The walk to the train station is not far, but distance always seems further in inclement weather.
Chevy is not a fan of rain. He’ll walk around puddles to avoid them. He does not like getting wet at all. Sterling is, however, unbothered by almost everything.
So this walk was not a great start to a long day of travel. As we arrived at the train station, despite the rain, the boys seemed to be doing just fine. They enjoyed the attention they were getting on the platform and after making sure that they both had a bathroom break, we boarded the first train.
Sterling has not always done well when in a car, so we were expecting the worst.
The worst never happened and both dogs seemed unfazed by the movement of the train.
There was a connection in Doncaster to catch the train to London. We had 8 minutes or so to find the correct platform and get the four of us there. This was not a problem and we were ready to board when the train arrived.
Our two seats were booked at a table, the train was full and there were no empty seats to be seen. The couple seated with us was very friendly and happy to chat with us. They were also not bothered by the boys. Space was limited, so the dogs mostly just sat in the aisle or laid down at our feet under the table. It was a two hour journey into London and we arrived at King’s Cross station without incident.
The train to Bournemouth was out of Waterloo Station. We had just a little over an hour to get there and opted to walk to Euston Station to give the boys a chance to stretch their legs a bit before getting on the Tube (subway).
The underground was more of a sensory overload experience for the dogs.
It was busier than the train stations and people were moving quickly to catch their trains.
We had to carry them on the escalators to get down to the platforms. It was also louder in the station and on the carriages as well. But despite their look of panic, they maintained their excellent behaviour.
We made it to Waterloo station with plenty of time.
The platform to Bournemouth was not displayed on the departure board yet, so there was a wait. Once we were on board, we were able to get a table with all four seats to ourselves. There were not a lot of people aboard. We put blankets down on the two seats next to the windows and the boys spent the remainder of the journey chilling out and sleeping.
It was another two hour ride into Bournemouth, with stops at most of the major stations along the way, including Southhampton.
Once we disembarked, we used Google to point us in the right direction. It was a thirty minute walk that took us straight through the middle of town. The “down town” area didn’t seem to have the same appeal as Sheffield, but boasted most of the same stores.
Bournemouth had been a holiday destination for many in the UK, for decades, but now looks as though it has been less visited, as more people make their way to the warmer destinations in the South of Europe. We were also visiting during the second week of June, so it may be busier in the peak summer months.
While walking to our Airbnb, we were once again met with rain.
I was ready with my rain coat and stayed dry.
Chevy was, once again, wet and unhappy. Sterling still did not seem to care.
One thing that we have since added to our list of essential travel items is rain proof covers for our Pacsafe backpacks (we did have plastic bags over them this time). I am sure that this small Amazon purchase of £10 will come in very handy in the future.
We will also look into getting something to keep the dogs dry for future journeys. We contemplated buying rainwear for them from Amazon as well, but Frenchies are just built too differently from other dogs to consider ordering them without trying them on.
Nonetheless, we arrived at The Boho Beach House damp, but in good spirits. We were met by our host, Chanine, who is absolutely lovely. She was so eager to hear about us and meet the boys. It was a truly genuine welcome.
Once we were in our room, we had a half hour of rest before we were to be picked up by my second cousin Ali (Alison) and her partner Dean.
It had been a long day, but we were excited to meet my family and spend the next couple of days exploring the area!