Can you really travel full-time with cats?

Yes! We travel with 7 cats in our converted bus. It takes planning and patience, but cats can adapt to life on the road. Each cat handles bus life differently—some love it, some tolerate it, and all of them have claimed their favorite spots.

Where can I find dog parks while traveling?

We keep a running list of dog parks and self-service wash stations we've actually visited across the country. It includes parking notes, facility details, and which ones are worth the stop for travelers with larger vehicles.

What businesses are actually pet-friendly?

Many restaurants, cafés, and shops welcome dogs—including chains that offer treats, pup cups, and even full dog menus. We maintain a growing list of pet-friendly businesses with specific policies and what they offer for pets.

How do you handle vet care while traveling?

We use Vetster for virtual vet visits when on the road, and always research emergency vet clinics along our route. Pet Help Finder is also great for finding affordable vet services across the country.

What's the hardest part about traveling with multiple pets?

Finding places where everyone can be comfortable at once. Our two dogs need regular exercise and socialization, while our seven cats need routine and quiet. It's a constant balancing act, but we've figured out what works for our crew.

Traveling with Pets Full-Time: Our Real-Life Road Trip Guide

Jemma the dog and Pikle the cat touching noses affectionately on a bed.

Traveling with pets sounds fun… until you realize we’re doing it with 3 dogs and 6 cats in a converted school bus.

Yes. Six cats. Not a typo. Not a “we foster sometimes” situation. Just… six cats, three dogs, and a whole lot of fur in about 200 square feet.

Some days it’s smooth. Some days it’s chaos. Most days it’s both. But somehow, it works — and we’ve figured out how to make life on the road with a full crew not just possible, but actually pretty great.

This page is about the places we’ve found, the systems that actually work, and the resources that make road life with animals doable.

Meet Our Traveling Crew

🐾 The Full Crew: 3 Dogs & 6 Cats

Jemma, Louie, and Dude (full name: Et tu, Dudé), plus six cats with very strong opinions about window access, sleeping arrangements, and who gets to be dramatic before breakfast. If you want the personalities behind the chaos, this is where to meet everybody.

Traveling with Pets: What Actually Works on the Road

Living full-time in a converted school bus means our “backyard” changes every few days. With nine animals sharing about 200 square feet with us, we’ve had to figure out systems that actually work in a small space.

The dogs need places to run, everybody needs their own version of routine, and we’ve learned pretty quickly which pet supplies deserve space on the bus and which ones don’t.

Some of the things we use aren’t particularly exciting. Some solve problems we didn’t know we’d have until we started traveling with this many animals. And some have earned a permanent spot on the bus because we use them over and over again.

Breakaway Collars for the Cats

Our cats are adventurous. They climb trees, wander around our campsites, and occasionally come home without a collar.

That’s exactly why we use breakaway cat collars and buy them in multipacks. Losing collars is annoying, but it also means they’re doing what they’re supposed to do if one of the cats gets caught on something.

Ranch Remedy

Ranch Remedy is one of those things we always have on the bus.

Our cats are tree climbers and they occasionally come back with scratches or small wounds. We originally had Ranch Remedy in a regular bottle, which meant putting it on a cotton ball and then convincing an already unhappy cat to cooperate.

We switched to the spray version, which makes it much easier to get it where we need it without nearly as much wrestling. We’ve used this stuff for years and have had very good results keeping minor wounds clean while they heal.

Our Outdoor Dog Shower

We don’t normally need to hunt down self-service dog washes anymore because the dogs have their own outdoor shower.

We have an exterior faucet on the bus with hot water available, and use this long-hose dog shower attachment. The long hose gives us enough reach to wash the dogs outside without trying to maneuver them through our small indoor shower.

And yes, their showerhead is stainless steel and nicer than the portable showerhead I use to water my plants.

If you don’t have an outdoor shower setup, self-service dog washes can still be useful on the road. Tractor Supply and many pet stores have them at select locations, but services vary, so check the individual location before making the trip.

Dog Parks We’ve Actually Used

These are the spots we’ve personally checked out.

🐶 Benjamin Biscuit Acres (Tulsa, OK) — This is a standout. It’s huge, well-maintained, and a perfect stop if you’re coming through Oklahoma.
Bay County Dog Park (Bay City, MI) — A reliable, fenced-in spot that’s easy to get to and great for a quick energy burn.
Joe Station Dog Park (Tulsa, OK) — Another solid Tulsa option when you need a fenced area with a local feel.

Dog Parks On Our Radar

We haven’t made it to these yet, but they’re pinned on our map.

Newtown Dream Dog Park (John’s Creek, GA) — Fenced one-acre area with artificial turf, sprinklers, obstacles, water fountains, and separate areas for large and small dogs.
Pilgrim Bark Park (Provincetown, MA) — A gated, off-leash space that’s also home to creations by local artists.

Found a dog park we should know about? Drop the location in the comments, especially if you know what the parking and fencing situation is like.

Pet-Friendly Stops That Actually Help

If you’re traveling with dogs, you learn pretty quickly which places actually welcome them and which ones just tolerate them. We don’t try to maintain a master list of every pet-friendly restaurant or business in the country. There are much bigger resources for that, and policies can change from one location to another.

What matters more to us on the road are places where bringing a dog inside can make a stop easier, especially when it’s too hot or cold to leave them in the bus.

📣 Always call ahead. Policies change, locations vary, and what worked once might not work everywhere.

🐾 Quick Note: This list leans heavily dog-friendly. The cats have not signed off on retail testing yet.

Dog-Friendly Stores We Use on the Road

Bass Pro Shops — Actively encourages bringing dogs for socialization. Wide aisles and lots of new smells.
Home Depot — Some locations allow dogs and some hand out treats at the register.
Lowe’s — Usually an easy indoor option for a quick stop.
Petco — Easy, obvious, and useful.
PetSmart — Same deal — practical and easy.
Tractor Supply Co. — Very dog-friendly with wide aisles.

Parking the bus can be tricky even at stores with large parking lots, especially when part of the lot is taken up by merchandise displays or pallets. We usually check Google Maps satellite view before pulling into an unfamiliar location so we can scope out parking and turnaround room.

Emergency & Travel Resources

🐾 Pet Help Finder

Need affordable vet care, vaccinations, boarding, or pet food assistance? This is a good one to keep bookmarked.

🐾 Vetster

Virtual vet visits for when you’re on the road and your pet decides 2 AM is the perfect time for a health crisis. We use this regularly and it’s been a lifesaver more than once.

More resources, tips, and pet-friendly finds coming soon. Because when you’re traveling with 3 dogs and 6 cats, you learn what actually works pretty fast.