It was an overcast, cloudy day while we waited patiently in the Vancouver, Canada airport to board our first flight. We were excited to see the world from 35,000 feet. I (Miller) love to be high; sitting on balconies, rooftops, mountains, couches and now I’m going to be the highest I have ever been.

All aboard to Scottsdale, Arizona.

How did Modela and I end up flying private from Canada to the United States on a cloudy day in December? We were in the middle of a global pandemic.

My mom, dad, Modela and I were in Scottsdale, Arizona when the pandemic hit. Mom and dad are from Canada and Modela and I are from Mexico, meaning we are limited in the number of days we are allowed to stay in the USA. As our Visas were running out and Trump stopped extending the number of days for foreigners, we needed a game plan. We were hesitant to return to Mexico, as the healthcare system was struggling to keep up with the demand, and we didn’t want to take a spot from a local if we needed hospital care. The only other option, as Canadian citizens and passport holders was to pack up the Jeep and drive through the USA to Canada.

Road trip, woohoo! We stayed in Canada for 4 months. We quarantined in Kitchener, Ontario, slugged on to Guelph, Ontario, then decided to keep on going, all the way to Thunder Bay and through each province to British Columbia, where we settled for 6 weeks in Whistler.

I will definitely share our cross-country road trip and pandemic adventures with you, but today, I am sharing about our first time in an airplane.

Here I am, ready to fly! It was a comfy leather eight-seater with my three seats cozy in couch formation. My sister and I are mostly labs, and part of our charm is that no matter where we have been or whom we meet, we always leave a little of our fur behind. Hopefully, the beige leather seats hide our fur, so mom doesn’t make us sleep on the floor.

The flight time is five hours. Plenty of time for onboard dining, consisting of dog treats – the vegan kind for me – and maybe a chip or two that conveniently lands just in front of my mouth. I have great big canines that should be used to chomp through a delicious steak or chicken meal, but sadly, I am allergic to all animal protein, dairy and most climates with sand, salt and humidity. Go figure, I’m Mexican. My sister, Modela, is small, but mighty. Our parent’s joke that she is made from titanium. She has eaten everything from the stuffing out of a golf cart, poinsettia plant, paint, squeakies, and of course, all things edible too. She lives the dream. Sometimes, I feel like if it was raining dicks, I’d be hit by an asshole.

Modela and I are great travel companions. We don’t get nauseous, we don’t cry, we don’t have a fear of heights or missing a connection, and we can hold our bladders for a really long time. Since our first flight, we have enjoyed multiple flights to many places for lots of adventures.

We look forward to sharing our journey with you. For now, I think I’ll stare out the window and watch the birds go by.