Adventure Backstory

It was the best of times...

Our story starts when we rescued Oso, a 65 lb chow-mix, from a kill shelter in Los Angeles. We wanted to keep the sweet boy, but our apartment complex only allowed dogs under 25 lbs. Given that restriction, we decided we'd temporarily foster Oso. Fortunately, The Dodo, an animal appreciation blog, picked up Oso's unique story and that exposure helped him find a forever home on an Oregon farm. We were thrilled to have helped, but we were left with an empty feeling after he departed.

A few days later, we received a call from Kristy, a woman with whom we'd communicated in the process of helping Oso. Patrolling Compton for stray dogs, she'd found a tiny Beagle. He was filthy and flea-infected, and his nails curled into the bottom of his paws after months of neglect. Kristy scooped him up, took him home, and reached out to us to see if we'd be interested in adopting the emaciated dog. “Since you were so good with Oso, I wanted to see if you had any interest in adopting this little guy? He's only 14 pounds!” she said. Kristy sent a video and a few photos, and we decided we'd like to meet him.

Kristy brought him over to our apartment a few days later. His big brown eyes were perfectly framed by the characteristic Beagle eyeliner. He had stubby legs, which were hilariously disproportionate to his very large head, and he looked like a linebacker when he walked. One look and our heart were stolen. We were astounded that the diminutive dog had survived on the streets. Figuring that he possessed a unique combination of strength, smarts, and will, we named him 'Roody' after Daniel Eugene Rutiguer, the pint-sized Notre Dame linebacker featured in the classic movie, 'Rudy'. And so it was that Roody the Beagle joined our household. He's pictured watching his namesake movie!

The following five years with Roody were some of the most joyful, fun, and rewarding of our lives (note: we moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco in that interval). He went everywhere with us -- camping, hiking, kayaking, and biking -- and he endeared himself to Sonia's Airbnb colleagues whenever she brought him into the San Francisco office. He attended meetings on her lap, and he became so popular that he represented the company at events as the un-official Airbnb mascot -- the AirbnBeagle! He put up with all of the costumes and silly outfits as long as we fed him at 6:30am and 6:30pm on the dot. If we were even a minute late, then we were met with incriminating stares, reminding whimpers, and aggressive pawing!

While the pandemic disrupted every other aspect of life, it brought us closer together since Sonia was working from home and Dorian wasn't traveling to lead tours. With everything closed, we spent even more time in the outdoors, a circumstance Roody loved since it afforded increased opportunity to sniff-out rabbits. We adored our furry son, and our family pod offered the love and snuggles we needed to sustain ourselves against the constant threat of COVID.

...it was the worst of times...

In early-July of 2021, Dorian noticed that Roody stopped chewing on his favorite bones. A trip to the vet confirmed that suspicion, and Roody was scheduled to have a damaged tooth extracted at the first opportunity, on July 27th. Since Sonia was in Tokyo for the Olympics on that date (see the 'About Us' tab under the banner heading), Dorian escorted Roody to his morning appointment. Before dropping the patient off, Dorian Facetimed Sonia so that she could wish Roody well before his surgery. Love and kisses were exchanged, and Roody was handed-off to the vet. She'd extracted several teeth over the previous three years, so we weren't stressing about the procedure.

The vet called Dorian at 2pm, about two hours before Roody was scheduled for pick-up. Assuming the procedure went quicker than expected, Dorian answered the phone nonchalantly.

“Is this Roody’s dad?” asked a quivering female voice on the other end. 

“Yes, this is Dorian. Is Roody out of surgery?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this," said the vet, "but there were complications during the procedure.”

A sense of doom gripped Dorian. He responded with urgency, “What happened? Is he okay?”

The vet spoke through muffled sobs, “Roody experienced uncontrolled bleeding during the extraction."

Dorian’s heart stopped. He didn’t want to hear what she was going to say next.

“We tried to stop it but couldn't. I am so sorry, but Roody didn't survive."

In a moment, his world crumbled. He immediately excused himself from the call, dialed Sonia's number and, through gushing tears, relayed the tragic news to her. The distance between California and Japan felt an unbridgeable chasm at that devastating moment. The next two weeks were agony as Sonia completed her Olympic responsibilities. Roody was cremated during that time, and we ceremoniously buried his remains on his favorite beach when she returned. We were despondent. Worse than his loss was the knowledge that he died without us, without the tender strokes and familiar smells which irrevocably bonded him to us.

....it was the spring of hope.

Six months after those tragic events, we were still feeling Roody's void. Sleep was elusive without his comforting, low-drone snore, and there was a glaring gap on his favorite chair in our living area. But it was in the kitchen where we most felt his absence; where once our furry vacuum cleaned-up whatever food we dropped, each bend-down was a poignant reminder of his passing. We were adjusting, but it was a slow and often emotional process.

Prior to his death, we'd planned to use the flexibility our jobs afford us and hit the road in 2022, traveling the country as digital/guiding nomads. Roody was an integral part of our imagination, and we questioned if the trip would still have the same meaning in his absence. Would it be as entertaining without him sticking his hound snout into EVERYTHING? Would walking and hiking have the same meaning without his leash in hand? Would lunching in public parks be as fun without him terrorizing the resident squirrels?

Knowing that Roody wouldn't want us to stop adventuring, we decided to come up with a different mission for our year. We still envisioned making animals a part of it, but we weren't ready to adopt another into our family. Sonia joked, "Is it possible to borrow people's pets?" A Google search revealed the Trusted Housesitters website; at the top of the page it read, 'Connect with like-minded pet lovers and exchange pet care for a place to stay." 

BOOM! And just like that, a new mission was born. We began making arrangements to hit the road. The car packed on January 13th, we left San Francisco and set out to explore America...one pet at a time.