Flying to Halifax was pretty easy to organise, even with a dog, but when the time came to go, I was stressed… and that’s putting it lightly.
Our old home was packed up and our new one was sitting at the Liverpool port waiting to cross the Atlantic. With the car rental ready, it was time to begin our journey.
We left my home city, Stirling, at around 10pm the night before our flight and proceeded to drive over 400 miles through the darkness to London Heathrow Airport fighting tiredness all the way as Evie snored, stretched out in the back seats. She had no idea what sort of day was planned for her…
October mornings in the UK are often cold and what we would call “fresh” as you rub your hands together to feel your fingers. It was one of those mornings, which always hits harder after a night of little to no sleep.
Blair dropped me and Evie off at the airport drop off area with two huge duffel bags full of clothes, a backpack, Evie’s travel crate and, of course, her stuffed toy carrot. I was alone trying to navigate a busy airport drop off with too much stuff, little sleep, and a curious dog as Blair left to drop off the rental car.
Evie’s crate was disassembled to fit in the car so I had to build it in the middle of the airport terminal with people definitely wondering what the hell was going on. Pets aren’t a common sight in UK airports compared to the US and there are strict rules (or so I thought) that they must be in their crate at all times so I scrambled to build the crate before I got told off.
It was becoming a very overwhelming situation. The airport was busy, and with Evie now in her crate on a luggage trolly, she decided to adjust herself for better spying angles on the people around and she tipped her crate off the cart. BANG! The loudest echo erupted through the terminal! Everybody was looking… Mortified doesn’t even cover my feelings. Totally overwhelmed, I was looking around desperately hoping Blair would appear. He didn’t at that moment but eventually he did.
Check-in was fast and easy, maybe because we had to be there so early for pet check-in, but once Evie had been brought back from weighing, we were told to take a seat and return in a few hours, so we picked a corner of the airport and made it our home. Our people loving dog tried to show her stuffed toy carrot off to passers by but nobody seemed interested in her… Possibly too busy with their travels. She was not impressed.
Jumping forward to our next step… Security. This is when we decided that travelling with a dog is essential for all future flights. Evie was placed onto a trolly (inside her crate) and chauffeured by an airport staff member through the busiest airport security we have ever seen. We were fast-tracked right through, likely pissing off a lot of travellers, and taken to a room where Evie’s crate (and toy carrot) had to be drugs tested. The lady conducting the test must have been terrified of dogs so she kept her distance from Evie who just wanted to give her kisses. Unfortunately for us, this is where we had to say goodbye to our beloved pet and leave her in the hands of the airport staff. She seemed so chill in her crate cuddled up in her blankets but of course as her mum I always worry about her. She had her tracker with her in the crate so my hope was that I could check where she was throughout our time in the airport but it mysteriously stopped working, so naturally I was getting stressed. Blair on the other hand… cool as a cucumber!
Upon boarding the plane, her tracker location still hadn’t moved and according to the last pin drop, she was still at the other side of the airport. I was eagerly looking through the airport, then plane, windows for her crate to be on a vehicle but I couldn’t spot her anywhere. Finally, right before take-off, my Air Canada app pinged and said that she has been loaded onto our plane. Phew!
It was a turbulent flight. I couldn’t stop thinking that she would be scared or cold. Is it dark down there? Is she okay? Meanwhile Blair was snoring…
As we touched down in Halifax, I was so glad that it was over but also fearful of Evie’s condition. Immigration and customs were quick but not quick enough. We were both so eager to see our pup, and sure enough, as soon as we entered the baggage hall, there she was. Her crate sitting on the oversized luggage belt, with a member of staff waiting by her side, who told us that all the cargo staff had fallen in love with her when unloading the plane. We were so relieved that not only was she okay, but she was actually having a blast and the reality of the situation was that I was way more stressed than she was.
Halifax Airport was the difference of chalk and cheese compared to London. Evie was allowed out of her crate immediately and the customs officer was giving her treats and love. We were out of the airport in no time and ready to start our adventure.