Tag Archives: regulations

Depart, Dog, Packing, Road Trip, Travel tips

Border Patrol – Puppy Edition

April 15, 2017 C Burke 1 Comment

Yes, I have issues with animals. Yes, I now have a dog. Yes, I’m a sucker for a cute face. I mean come on…

Our little guy is small on purpose, we knew we wanted a dog that was small enough to travel because we have no intention of slowing down! He’s even small enough to fly in the cabin of the plane if needed, though we’ve not done so yet.

Now, we’ve traveled with our child every year of her life, and some years it was every month. We are, therefore, aware that babies travel with a ridiculous amount of gear and it appears puppies aren’t much different. On our 16 day trip to the northeast each human had a carry-on size bag of clothes (laundry is our friend), a pillow, a book or 2, and an electronic device of some kind. We shared a toiletry bag. However, the dog had a crate, a backpack in which he could ride both in the car and out in the world, a sleeping pad, 2 towels, 2 blankets, a lifejacket (you can rent lifejackets for humans but not for puppies), a bag of food and treats, and a bag of toys. He is so lucky he’s cute. His stuff outweighed his cute, 12 pound self at least 2 times over!

The most important thing we had for the dog was paperwork. Humans need passports to cross the Canadian border and dogs need rabies vaccination records.* They are not kidding and there is no substitute. Even if you have the tag on the dog’s collar, you need the paperwork or your entire family can be turned around at the border. I was taking no chances. I Googled, I quizzed my friends, and I quizzed the vet who then consulted some magic vet portal to be sure we had what we needed. NOTE paperwork for driving to Canada is different than flying to Canada, ask your vet.

Border stop one, from Vermont into Quebec. An un-amused guard did not appreciate us butchering her native French (high school Spanish for me and Russian for hubby, but at least we tried) and checked all the paperwork and faces extremely carefully, including the dog’s. It was a good thing I got that updated rabies vaccination record, the original one said he was dark brown, which he was at the time of the shot, but his is now mostly cream colored. I’m positive we would not have passed had the paperwork not been updated. She did NOT like us but I’m pretty sure she didn’t like anyone. We forgave her though, that must not be an easy job.

Border stop two, out of Ontario and into Michigan. The guard briefly checked passports, waved off the the paperwork for the dog that we had out and ready for him and asked us why we were in Canada so long, “You couldn’t get out any faster?!” Funny guy, the first we’ve encountered actually.

The moral of the story, have ALL the paperwork for anything that breathes when crossing borders. Have it out and ready and be serious when approaching the border guards. Some will make you feel almost like a criminal and some will welcome you in with a smile and a joke.

The last bit of advice, pack very well. Keep like items together and be extremely organized. If ever your car is searched, it will be so much easier and quicker if you look like you have your sh.., err stuff together. Even if your trunk is usually a wreck, make sure it is pristine before you hit a border, this goes for all bags and compartments inside the car too. It will be easy to search and easy to put back together so you can get on your way. Yup, we’ve had the car searched too. Trust me, this is the way to go.

*Also note that PIT BULLS, dogs with pit bull lineage, and any dog that may be mistaken for one, are NOT allowed into Ontario and many other places in Canada. They will turn you around at the border no matter your paperwork. Please read up on this before you go! I’m refraining from adding links to this post as this is an ongoing discussion and I want you to research it for yourself instead of relying on what might be an outdated link that I have posted here.

Depart, Dream, Flying, Travel tips

Quick Tip: Use Washi Tape to Quickly Identify Passports

February 6, 2015 C Burke 2 Comments

When we travel my husband usually carries all of our passports. However, when we go through checkpoints everyone needs to have his or her own passport and ticket. Since all of our passports look exactly the same from the outside I used washi tape to differentiate them to make passing them out a little easier. I left my husband’s blank, I taped mine near the top and my daughter’s near the bottom. We happened to have different patterns of tape but if you don’t just vary the position and it will work just as well. I wish you happy travels and fast-moving customs lines!

Depart, Flying, Kids, Packing, Philosophy, Travel tips

Flying With Littles – How a Well Planned Travel Outfit Will Save Your Sanity and Other Tips from the Trenches

January 20, 2015 C Burke 1 Comment

The time has come. Your little is now 2 years old and you are rocking the SAHM gig. You decide you to fly to see your folks instead of braving the 10 hour drive by yourself with a very self-assured child with the patience of … a 2 year old. You can haul off and hope for the best OR you can learn from my mistakes and experience. My “little” is now a very accomplished 9 year old traveler with 100s of hours of travel under her belt but this is how we got there in the early years.

The travel outfit for your child (as well as an identical back up outfit or 2) is far more important than you would think. Remember that children age 2 and older MUST have their own seat on a plane, no more lap babies. This means they have their own seatbelt. They’ve never sat in a seat with a belt like that, they’ve always had a 5 point harness. So when that grown-up seat belt and crazy metal buckle get lodged up under their cute t-shirt and press against their tender tummies, they lose their cool, fast. Ask me how I know.

This is my recommended outfit for Littles:

Onesie – kind of roomy, if it is too tight, it will cause its own problems
Elastic waist pants, be sure they are a good fit and not too tight
Zip up hoodie
Socks
Shoes (seriously shoes, have you seen airport and airplane floors?) You should NOT have to remove your little’s shoes at security. At the time of this post, children 12 and under departing from US airports are not required to remove shoes.

Here is why I recommend this specific outfit. Even if that mean old belt or buckle gets under the hoodie, it won’t get to skin which has caused more than one child to just lose their mind. You can take the pants or hoodie off if your little gets too hot. Generally planes are chilly though and this outfit will keep them warm enough. It is an easy outfit to change diapers in. If you are unfortunate enough to to have to change a diaper on a plane, either do so in your seat or leave the pants and hoodie on your seat and just take your pouch with diapers, wipes, onesie and diaper disposal bag to bathroom. Most airlines request you don’t leave soiled diapers in airplane bathrooms, some forbid it. Don’t ask the flight attendants to handle soiled diapers either, the FDA forbids it as they handle food.

These are the other vitally important things you should take in a small, well organized backpack that will fit under the seat in front of you. I usually use zipper pouches to contain like items.:

Snacks- twice as many as you think you will need for the flight and terminal time. Hungry child stuck in an airport=bad day for all
Sippy cup (you are usually allowed to take one cup of baby formula or milk through security if you are traveling with a very small child). Some airports are more strict and allow this only if you have an actual baby, not a toddler, with you. Be flexible here.
Entertainment- 3-4 favorite books, 3-4 quiet toys, iPod/iPad or similar stocked with games and/or movies, chargers and an EXTRA POWER supply
One comfort item for child (a blanket is best because it helps keep them warm if the plane is especially chilly)
Diapers/wipes/onesie/diaper disposal bag/waterproof changing pad in a quick change zipper pouch- twice as many as you think you will need for the flight and time in terminal(s)
Extra outfit for child, 2 if you will be traveling for more than 6 hours total
Extra shirt and maybe pants for you – kids spill things, on you, at the worse possible time. Yup, I’ve been there too.
Pacifiers if you use them – pressure changes can cause major ear pain for little ones and sucking on a pacifier, thumb, bottle or sippy cup helps. The pressure will be worse if the child has an ear infection. Three, count ’em, THREE times this happened to us before our little was 5 years old. She has only had 4 in her life. She didn’t get them on the plane. Each time we left home with the infection and the medicine to fight it. It was uncanny!
Your purse/wallet
Your phone
Your itinerary
Your tickets
Any medication you or your child need. (You’ve got to declare liquid medication at security. Take it out of the bag and put it in the bin with your shoes and 3-1-1 bag.)

One carry on, that’s all, everything else gets checked. Make sure you adhere to the weight limits for bags set by your airline. Check your airline website under checked baggage. You will likely have to pay per checked item so pack those carefully too, roll up space bags are your friend.

Be sure to bring an umbrella stroller and get a gate check tag from the gate agent before your section is called to board. Your fellow travelers will thank you or at least not scowl at you as you rush to get the tag on the stroller while getting your child out and trying to fold it up. You’ll leave the stroller plane side at the end of the jetway and get it back plane side at the next city.

That’s it – a backpack, a stroller and a child. This will be plenty to juggle.

Check the car seat, there are great car seat bags that will protect the seat in transit. (If you just feel you have to bring the car seat on the plane with you, it MUST go in the window seat unless there are 2 car seats next to each other, it is never allowed in the aisle seat. The flight crew will make no exceptions to this, ever.) Remember if you bring it, you get to install it in your parents’ car … after a flight with a 2 year old. Sooo, you might ask your parents if they know of someone they can borrow a car seat from and then you can leave yours in your car. Before you leave you will also need to measure your child from the seat to the top of their shoulders so that your parents can set up the shoulder straps properly when they install the seat before you arrive. Otherwise you get to reposition them in the airport parking lot and reinstall the seat, and you know where this is going.

If you forget something you absolutely need, buy it at the airport or find another family to take pity on you. Do not pack too much for “just in case”, you only have 2 hands and one small backpack.

This is the one instance where I will suggest you check anything; when you are traveling alone with children too young to carry their own things.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” -Confucius

Aiplane at Sunset Photo Credit: By Cubbie_n_Vegas from Las Vegas, USA [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

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