THE SOLO TRAVELLER
Independence, passion, and lifelong memories.
Inspirations
Kobe on his travels in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
Kobe and I
A Q&A with Muriel Wang
Briefly …
What changes when you take to the road with a companion who sees the world differently? Travelling with a dog reshapes the pace, the decisions, and the experience of going, well, not really ‘solo’.
Muriel Wang and Kobe, her adorable Pyrenean Mountain Dog, travelled together regularly for enjoyment and for work producing their dog-friendly travel guide books. Based in the Blue Mountains, Muriel and Kobe travelled extensively throughout New South Wales, as well as the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia.
They always travelled by car, and over the years, their road trips have been the basis for what Muriel describes as her fondest memories. “Travelling with a giant dog had its challenges,” Muriel tells The Solo Traveller, “especially re finding suitable accommodation, but it was the most fun I ever had!”. Sadly, Kobe passed from cancer late last year, but here, Muriel shares her adventures with the adorable Kobe to help other pet owners experience the same joy of travelling solo with their pets.
Kobe and Muriel at the Landslide Lookout, Katoomba, New South Wales.
What first inspired you to start travelling with Kobe, and how did those early trips shape the way you travelled together?
Our first road trips were actually work trips! Apart from making dog-friendly travel guidebooks, we also have a dog clothing business. Many of our business suppliers and associates were located in regional New South Wales and Victoria, so we often took road trips during the production process and for trade shows. Kobe loved car rides and exploring new places, so as part of each trip we’d try to find someplace interesting to walk – anything from a forest to the main street of a small village. Those early trips planted the seed that exploring together was something we should always do.
Pulpit Rock, Mount Victoria, New South Wales.
Kobe at our local waterfall walk, Lawson, New South Wales.
How did travelling with a dog, particularly one as large as Kobe, change your experience of solo travel?
You never quite feel solo with a Pyrenean Mountain Dog by your side! One of the benefits to travelling with a canine companion, especially one larger than you, is the safety it confers. It’s unfortunate we need to think this way but especially for female solo travellers, safety is an important consideration, and having a dog by your side can give you the confidence to explore places you might otherwise be reluctant to go to on your own.
Is there one journey or moment that has stayed with you more than any other?
After visiting so many magical places, it’s too difficult to pick a favourite, but one memory of particular sentimental value is visiting Kobe’s childhood home in Adelaide. His breeder lived in Adelaide, and he was born there in 2015, and he flew to Sydney at 9 weeks of age to start his new life. I never imagined we’d ever have reason to be back in Adelaide one day, but when we were making our dog-friendly winery guidebook, many of the wine regions (Adelaide Hills, the Barossa) were near where he was born. We ended up staying in an Airbnb that was only 20 minutes away from his old house so one day we walked past it. There’s a new family living there now and we didn’t knock, but it was incredibly special to be able to see the house he was born in.
The Barossa Sculpture Park, South Australia.
Kobe on the beach at Port Willunga, South Australia.
What were the biggest challenges you faced when travelling with Kobe, particularly when it came to accommodation and logistics?
Many accommodation providers that say they’re dog-friendly have size restrictions, such as only allowing small dogs or dogs under a certain weight, so finding somewhere to stay was sometimes challenging. It’s worth asking places with size restrictions if they can make an exception, especially if your dog is an experienced and well-behaved traveller. We have gotten into a few places this way!
Food is another key consideration, especially for longer trips. If a dog eats dried food, it’s easy enough to bring along, but for dogs who eat a raw or fresh food diet, it’s more difficult to bring along what needs to be refrigerated. You need to stay in accommodation that has a fridge and ideally a kitchen sink for washing their bowls, so serviced apartments or Airbnbs may be better than hotels. It’s a good idea to plan ahead of time if there are pet shops near your destination or on the way in case you need more supplies.
Kobe at his dog-friendly accommodation at Mountainside Wines, Victoria.
How did you go about finding genuinely dog-friendly places, and did you notice people’s attitudes changing over time?
Most businesses that genuinely welcome dogs (not just tolerate them) will actively promote it online, and those are the sorts of places we gravitated to. We also spent a lot of our travel time hiking outdoors, so websites like local council or tourism websites will have information about trails where dogs are allowed.
Attitudes have changed significantly over the past decade for dog owners and pet businesses. People are more reluctant to leave their dogs behind when travelling and many businesses have become more welcoming of dogs as they recognise dog-parents as a key customer group. From cafés putting out water bowls with their outdoor seating and offering pet treats on their menus to hotels offering pet-friendly rooms, it is much easier to travel with dogs now than it was 10 years ago.
Your work producing dog-friendly travel guidebooks is fascinating. How did travelling with Kobe influence the way you approached that work?
We actually fell into this line of work entirely by chance! The Blue Mountains has long had a reputation of not being dog-friendly because people think it’s all national park, where dogs are not allowed. When we moved here in 2019, we went on a mad mission to find every trail where dogs were allowed – and there turned out to be heaps, all located on local council land and outside of national park boundaries. There was no existing comprehensive source of this information, so we decided to make our own book and that’s how Kobe’s first book – ‘Hiking Mount Kobe: A Dog’s Guide to the Blue Mountains’ – came about. The popularity of that book was what led us to turn dog-friendly travel books into part of our business. People really love finding new places to bring their dogs and are hungry for this information.
Did travelling with Kobe change the way you connected with other people on the road?
I’m quite a solitary person by nature and would probably keep to myself on the road if I were on my own. With Kobe, I had to adapt to having lots of conversation because everyone wanted to meet him!
What did travel with Kobe teach you about yourself?
It gave me a greater desire to push outside the proverbial comfort zone. It is inexplicably satisfying to get to the other side of challenges, whether or not travel is involved!
What did travel with Kobe teach you about the others you shared time and space with?
Kobe was a great unifier. People from all walks of life wanted to meet him, and dogs like him give you the opportunity to meet people you otherwise might never come in contact with. It makes you recognise that even when you meet people who are different in every other aspect – culturally, religiously, politically – you can still bond over a universal appreciation of a giant dog and travelling with dogs. I think it’s especially important nowadays, when the world feels so fractured, that we can appreciate a common bond with people with whom we differ in other ways.
Kobe at La La Falls, Victoria.
For solo travellers considering bringing their pets, what are the practical realities they should be prepared for before setting off?
The most important thing to remember is that when you’re on the road, it’s just you and the dog, so you need to have thought through, quite literally, what the dog will do and need for every minute of the trip. For example if you’re taking a long road trip, when you’re stopping at rest areas for toilet breaks or food, will your dog be okay waiting alone in the car? I tend to avoid travelling during the hottest months for this reason. Are there cafés/restaurants with outdoor seating where dogs are allowed? Otherwise you should bring sufficient food, so you don’t have to eat out.
Most (if not all) pet-friendly accommodation do not allow you to leave pets unattended in the room/house, so you’ll need to ensure that either every place you want to go allows pets or can make alternate arrangements for a short period. Sometimes there may be one small part of your trip where dogs are not allowed, for example a museum you want to visit for a couple hours, but that shouldn’t derail the whole trip. You can look at whether there’s a local dog daycare or overnight boarding where their dog can stay for a day or night. When Kobe and I travelled to the Great Ocean Road one year, I had tickets to the Australian Open, so he went to a pet resort in Melbourne for 2 days while I went to the tennis, and then we continued on our trip.
For travellers looking to take their first trip with their dog, I'd recommend starting small – daytrips or overnight trips first, ensuring their dogs enjoy it before they embark on a longer adventure. Not every dog enjoys being away from the comforts of home and it’s best not to find that out on day 1 of a 2-week trip interstate.
How would you describe the role Kobe played in your experience of travel, not just as a companion, but as part of the journey itself?
His excitement for exploring new places rubbed off on me and motivated me to continue seeking new adventures for us. Continuing to share our travels and experiences is a way to keep Kobe’s memory alive. Kobe loved sharing all aspects of his life, from his hiking adventures to what food he ate, in the hopes that other dogs may also experience the same joys that he had. I think he would be quite chuffed if he inspires future generations of dogs to continue exploring the paths he once trod.
You can purchase copies of Hiking Mount Kobi on the Kotes by Kobe website here https://kotesbykobe.com.au/product/hiking-mount-kobe/, and copies of Mount Kobi Magic via this link https://kotesbykobe.com.au/product/book-mount-kobe-magic/
You can also learn more about Muriel and Kobe on their website here https://kotesbykobe.com.au/, and on Kobe’s Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/kobethepyr/