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Murphy's health certificate finally showed up, and our flight is scheduled for tomorrow..... FINALLY. Best birthday present ever.

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Ready, Set, Go!

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It's been quite a journey just getting to this point: Research, research, research—our eyes blurry from reading articles, watching videos, and following blogs of those who made this journey before us. We sold our house and condo in Arizona, then sold or donated most of our possessions. The visa process required us to fly to Los Angeles for interviews. We shipped a few select belongings to France in a shared container and packed two suitcases that we'll live out of for potentially the next six months until we find permanent housing. We arranged temporary housing and rental vehicles while we house hunt and learn to navigate the local highways. Getting our 85-lb Labradoodle, Murphy, to France was another challenge (spoiler: his kennel is the size of a Volkswagen Bug)—which presented its own set of issues. But we're finally here: it's travel day! We're flying out of Chicago on Air France—a quick 8-hour flight, followed by a 7–8 hour drive to our Airbnb in Verniolle, Fra...
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TRAVEL PLANS DELAYED: We've been temporarily grounded. In order for Murphy to fly to France, we are required to obain a pet passport from the USDA no more than 10 days before our arrival. So we carefully got his exam and vaccines completed, paid the fees, had the vet send the documentation electronically to the USDA with a prepaid overnight envelope (as required) and waited for the passport to arrive. Thanks to government turmoil, the passport has not yet been received -- and there is, of course, no way to contact the agency for a status update. So instead of starting our big adventure, we spent the day cancelling and rescheduling flights, car rentals, airport assistance, and hotels. FUN FACT: if we don't receive the passport in the next 3 days, we will have to begin the 10 day process all over again, including having to cancel/reschedule all the travel arrangements yet again.
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WE HAVE ARRIVED!! On Saturday, we drove 2.5 hours to the airport in Chicago, arrived 3 hours early (as required, due to having an animal to transport in the hold). It was not an easy task managing Murphy's kennel, especially since the airline required that we remove it's wheels. With Murphy somewhat frantic inside, the kennel rocked like a teeter totter on the luggage cart--not to mention how challenging it was to tranverse the EXTREMELY crowded airport with a wide load AND 4 pieces of luggage. When we finally boarded the plane, we could hear Murphy barking down in the hold. Thankfully, he settled into the 8-hour flight after awhile, and made it through the trip just fine. Before we left, we hired a private porter service to meet us at the gate in Paris, assist with clearing customs and with getting our bags, giant kennel and anxious dog to the rental car--they don't come cheap, but they were worth every single penny. Even with all their help, it took 2.5 hours before we w...
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