While Dan and I have been busy traveling so much this past year, our Chi-weenie mix Scooter has also been doing a bit of sightseeing himself, traveling around London and the UK, not to mention his first plane trip with the big move from San Diego to London last July.

And boy did he pick quite a long haul for his first time! But he handled it quite well being the good boy that he is and he was so happy to be reunited with us in our new London home (thanks mom for taking such good care of getting our boy over the pond for us!). What a lucky pooch to live in such amazing envious locales. He’ll never know what it’s like to have to venture out to the backyard to take care of business in the deep snow drifts of a New England winter. He doesn’t even let a little London drizzle bother him now from his daily squirrel watch out in the back garden.

Scooter has become quite adept at zipping around London on public transport; riding top deck on the bus, hailing black cabs, surviving the crowded Underground, and the ease of the time-saving Heathrow Express direct to Paddington. With all that distance its a good thing he shares an Oyster card with me!

Scooter’s first holiday took him up to northwest London to stay with the Lucia family in Pinner. He got to spend the whole week hanging out with three spirited kids and his best bud Landon still asks about him every time Dan stops by their house. Needless to say, he was exhausted from all that playtime and slept for a week solid when he came home!

For his first proper UK getaway Scooter traveled east to Thorpe Bay to spend a quiet Christmas with Linda, her husband, and two King Charles cavaliers enjoying the salty ocean air and new friends to play with.

Over Valentine’s day Scooter hung out with Suzie, Javier, his buddy Chef the Shepard Chow mix, and Mayo the cat in southwest London in the area of Wimbledon where he spent his days snuggling on the couch, following Chef around the park and chasing Mayo around the house. He also had time to pose for a few Valentine’s day photos for his mom and dad who were away in Paris. Such a handsome devil! Still working on his seductive face though.

Scooter is lucky enough to have extended family who lives in London and has enjoyed hanging out with his Great Aunt Jean and Uncle Mark in West Hampstead on several occasions, going up and down the stairs and hanging outside with his bone. He was a big hit with the kids next door who were always asking to play and walk him to the neighborhood park. Not sure if Scooter reciprocated the enthusiasm as much. He’s begun to enjoy a much more leisurely pace of life as he moves into his older years. I can’t blame him.

Next up was a city break in Marylebone with John, Elise, and his terrier friend Hobbes. Though he missed hanging out with Hobbes, who was in the States on vacation with his mom, he happily spent his days roaming Regents Park and looking for Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street. Maybe he’ll find him next month when he returns to Marylebone for another long weekend getaway.

For his longest jaunt, Scooter ventured a little further north to the warm countryside of Ely with a stay at Silver Birch Kennels. He quickly stole some more hearts and was a staff favorite for his longest holiday yet, two weeks of perfect sunny summer weather. They were sad and reluctant to say goodbye to him but we promised he would be back again in the future.

Scooter’s latest getaway was back to southwest London to lounge out in the sun with Chef, working on his summer tan as well as catching some of the tennis matches going on at Wimbledon. Scooter really knows how to relax while on holiday!

Thank you so much to all the wonderful friends, family, and staff who have taken care of Scooter for us so that we could take advantage of every opportunity to travel while we are based in London. Its comforting to know that our cherished boy is being so well loved while we are away!