Nomading with Your Loyal Furry Companion

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Meet Linda McCall, Co-Founder & CMO Chief Marketing Officer of Nomad Stays. Her travelling journey started when she was camping for a weekend and said to her partner Mark - "wouldn't it be great if we could travel full time and work while on the road."  Within a year, she and her partner Mark had embraced the nomadic lifestyle, selling their belongings and hitting the road with their motorbike, 4x4, and faithful furry companion, Dakar.

Can you believe Dakar has already set paws in 22 countries? 

He even has his own puppy passport, documenting his border crossings and vaccinations. At 13 years old, he's still strong and is quite the social butterfly!

You can find him on Instagram as @dakardingo.

🫶How do you take care of yourself when nomading?

Most people believe travelling with a dog adds another element of difficulty, and they would never do it, but for me, he’s the most important. Dakar is an amazing little creature, and he always makes me laugh. Also, Dakar is our chief Happiness Officer for Nomad Stays, and he does a great job walking us and keeping us in check. He's a rescue dog from the RSPCA in Noosa, Australia, and travelling in a car is his happy place!

Some tips for travelling with your dog include:  

• Training your dog to love the crate he travels in so getting him into it is easy. 
• Reading travel restrictions and pet conditions with time.
• Learning to communicate well with your dogs so they respond immediately to your commands.
• Always carry a comfy mat and a water bowl.

I'm incredibly grateful to my partner Mark for taking the time to train our furry companion while I jetted around the globe as a flight attendant. It's all about building trust and fostering clear communication.

Moreover, I was not over 50 when I started my nomadic lifestyle, but now that I am over 50, I am really happy to live this lifestyle because everyday is a new adventure with my furry family. Additionally, practicing Shiatsu, Yoga, and Reiki enhance my life as I travel with Dakar.

>>> Get inspired about travelling at any age with Kristie Sullivan’s journey!

✴️ How do you find community as a nomad? 

Generally, we are on the road for 1-3 months in every location. Our job consists of constantly moving to find suitable accommodations for digital nomads for Nomad Stays, so we are always connecting with different groups and communities. Sometimes we are apart for months working in different locations, but most of this revolves around someone being with Dakar. So, he is a great social component because we meet many people through walking our dog!

>>> Stella describes in her digital nomad story how her dog has also been a great asset for meeting new people!

Additionally, my life experience includes living and working on aboriginal missions, which enabled me to talk with people on all levels, even if I don't speak the language. I am not afraid to go somewhere where I don't speak the language. I know it is a barrier, so I try to say at least hello, please, thank you, and "my friend will pay" (joking) in the country's language.

I believe travelling with the intention of how I can help will always create good karma through giving back. So, I like to meet local communities by:

• Taking classes on-site.
• Participating in running clubs
• Managing coworking events with our Nomad Stays staff.
• Leading business programs in regional Australia to help the Startup ecosystems.

I also enjoy mentoring at Startup weekends at universities and online with our Business In Bare Feet mentoring programs. 

Moreover, Nomad Stays has a global, fully remote team, and each year helps skill them into the workforce, teaching them practical job skills about working in a startup environment. We also recently released a Nomad Marketplace where you can advertise digital nomad products and services or purchase them. 

🌱 How do you consider the planet and minimise your impact?

When we first started nomading full time nine years ago, we made the mistake of travelling and moving too fast. We couldn't find suitable accommodation to stay for a month or more that was affordable and pet-friendly. Also, we were invited to speak or manage a coworking space while the owners were away, so we had to go where the opportunity presented and where I could best serve the community.

Now, I always recommend taking your time. We also prefer to slow travel with Dakar. Below are a few things I notice I do as I travel:

• Search long-term accommodations with pet-friendly surrounding areas.
• Try never to waste food (Dakar helps with that!)
• Travel Carbon Neutral and manage our businesses with natural carbon offset with investments in plantations in Australia.

We also partner with carbon-neutral companies like Reforest Pay. We actively support entrepreneurs and give back to Kiva.org, a microfinancing platform that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 80 countries.

Listen to Linda’s conversation with Chase Warrington ’s popular About Abroad  podcast - “Cross-continent road trips & 70+ countries, with the co-founder of Nomad Stays”.

🔗Connect with Linda via LinkedIn, and Dakar’s Instagram.🔗

. . .  Meet Lauren, who sails with her nomad family while homeschooling her children.

Or why not meet Han, Juliana, Mita, Kristina, Kaisu, and Sam, all digital nomads with fantastic stories to share!

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