Meet Belinda
Hello fellow dog-lovers! My name is Belinda Jones and I am a British magazine journalist and author of a dozen travelicious novels and a real-life US road trip romp that made the Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller list alongside my writing hero Bill Bryson – quite a thrill!
When I first met Bodie in 2010, I was told, “This dog loves to ride in cars!” and that’s when my two greatest passions collided – Dogs & Travel! After just a few weeks together we took a 2,000-mile road trip prompting the book BODIE ON THE ROAD – The Dogged Pursuit of Happiness. (Think Marley & Me meets Eat, Pray, Love!)
Traveling with Bodie has been a life-enhancing game-changer and this website details our ongoing adventures along with an abundance of dog travel tips. (Many learned the hard way!) We hope it will inspire you to travel in style with your furry friends!
Meet Bodie
Bodie was found wandering the meanstreets of South Central Los Angeles, picked up by Animal Control and set to be euthanized at just 3 years-old. Mercifully Jennifer Pryor of Pryor’s Planet swooped in and saved him. After a series of foster families, I met him at a street adoption in Studio City – I was looking for something big and fluffy but when he planted his furry bottom down on my bare flip-flopped feet, that was it – love at first sit!
Bodie had impeccable manners when I first met him, most of which I’ve since undone. He’s also become very ‘chatty’ with a full range of Scooby Doo noises when he doesn’t feel he’s getting the attention he deserves.
Although I don’t know Bodie’s actual birthdate we celebrate on St Patrick’s Day as March 17th was the day he ‘moved in’. We’ve been together since 2010.
What breed is Bodie?
I get asked this question every day and my response is typically, “Whatever you want him to be!”
Everyone seems to see something different in him: Shar Pei for the furrowed brow, Chow Chow because of the purple on his tongue, Shiba Inu for the foxy features. He even gets Australian Dingo or Carolina Dog, which visually may be the closest call, though I did just meet a Korean Jindo at Crufts who was his doppelgänger.
UPDATE: Bodie’s DNA results have come back with 50% Bulldog (explains the underbite), 25% Samoyed (the Spitz factor!) and 25% Spaniel, which is utterly baffling.
Where do Bodie & Belinda live?
Bodie and I first lived together in Los Angeles, walking distance from Griffith Park and have since crossed the US three times and visited 30 states. We spent 2.5. years in Portsmouth, VA, 1.5 years in San Diego and 4 years exploring the blustery beaches and muddy woodland of Devon in the UK.
One day we’d like to retire to a ranch in Colorado and fill the surrounding fields with romping rescue dogs.