It was an un-fur-gettable journey.
Three dogs from Texas got to fly in style as their humans embarked on a $100,000 trip around the world in a private jet.
Melanie Demi, 26, and husband Albert, 27, had always dreamed of traveling with their three dogs — a two-year-old Great Dane, a 15-year-old Golden Retriever and a six-year-old Dachshund mix.
Speaking to South West News Service, Melanie said the idea of taking the dogs across the pond came to them in May of 2020, at which point they began saving, aggressively.
The couple said that before the trip they had saved up $45,000 over nearly two years by selling all their possessions — including the couple’s car.
“Getting the dogs from the US to Europe took so much planning, but we couldn’t leave them at home — we want to see the world with them,” said Melanie. “We saved around $45,000 over two years and sold everything we had to be able to afford it.
The couple would come to learn — the hard way — the unique nuances of traveling with pets.
After driving from Texas to New York, the Demis were told that their Great Dane was far too big to travel in the cargo hold of a boat and that the only pet-friendly cruise line did not accept the breed on board.
Forced to look at alternative means of travel, the duo attempted to book a private flight to Portugal or England but were unable to fly on the provided dates.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to ruff it alone. Melanie explained that they were eventually about to find 10 other people on social media — all traveling with their pets — to split the cost of a private flight.
“We planned our own charter trip and managed to find 10 other people heading to Europe with their dogs,” explained Melanie. “It took three months of planning and cost $11,000 per person and over $100,000 for the whole flight.”
Melanie equated the stress of the trip to that of a full-time job. “I knew how much work was going to go into finding people who wanted to do the same thing and I’m a very busy person with essentially two full-time jobs,” she said. “In order to book the flight, we had to ask people to send the money over and that’s a lot of money to ask someone to send when you’ve only spoken over Facebook.”
The group managed to land in France with their pups in tow. “Sitting at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and seeing them roll on the grass, or at the Christmas markets where they got a lot of pets, or running on the beach in Edinburgh, it’s all just incredible,” Melanie recalled.
The Demis have said that they wouldn’t be able to do this if they weren’t able to work remotely.
“Being able to travel in general is something I’m very grateful for but doing it with the dogs makes me feel very lucky,” said Melanie.
The couple said that they usually work from late afternoons until late in the evenings, so they are able to spend the mornings exploring with their dogs.
According to Melanie, several people have asked her why she and her husband don’t just leave their dogs at home.
“You don’t have to leave them at home, but you also don’t need to take them with you all the time,” she said. ” I think it’s important for them to see more than their backyard or couch.”
“I think it’s amazing for people to see the world with their dogs by their side. Taking my traveling zoo on a world tour has been fun,” Melanie continued. “We’re making it work with a Great Dane – it doesn’t have to just be little dogs.”
Demi said that traveling with three dogs and luggage has been very difficult so she came up with a way to donate those clothes that the couple doesn’t need.
“Moving from place to place with the dogs has made me realize we have too much stuff to get on a train for example,” explained Demi. “We’ve been trying to donate clothes as we go — I gave a full suitcase to a friend.”
As of now, the family has been to six countries so far including France, Germany, Austria, Czechia and England. The couple is currently exploring Scotland, before with plans to go to the French Riviera and then the Italian Wine country.
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The couple will also visit relatives in Albania, then head to Germany for Oktoberfest — their last stop before returning to the States.
“There’s just so much to see,” said Demi.
“There’s something just so amazing about getting a rental car and driving from country to country.”