Six years ago, I drove up to Kalama, WA, looked at the grumble of pug puppies that had just been born, and chose the pup who was pushing his plate of food around with his head. Time passed, and Rhinoceros (Rhino) Mirich Hopey grew from the office dog who sat on my desk, to a running buddy – covering trails, tracks, and mountain bike rides, to earning his “keep” in my apartment by cleaning peanut butter jars with unrivaled focus and making sure the apartment premises were secure. Everywhere I went, a stocky black ball of fur came trailing after, or (in most cases) stampeding ahead. We climbed mountains, jumped off waterfalls, explored national parks, ran along beaches, attempted swimming, road tripped, and camped. Rhino sampled all the delicious food Portland had to offer, and throughout his adventures, gained a healthy dose of fans who follow my Instagram account solely for the #Rhinopug feed.

Hong Kong was our next adventure, and I was determined that Rhino would be a part of it. From my contract negotiation (#1 ask: Employee wants her Pug to be moved to Hong Kong), to our flight schedule (PDX to SFO to HKG – not the shortest option, but the best for Mr. Rhino), to our housing decision (must be pet friendly), bringing Rhino overseas definitely added a layer of complexity – and a bit of stress to our planning, but having us all in Hong Kong together was very important.

We were set to travel right after the New Year, and I had started Rhino’s paperwork in December as I knew it was complicated and required time. Unfortunately, by the time January 1, 2015 rolled around, the import rules for Hong Kong had changed. Everything that had been going “according to plan” quickly halted. I panicked, as I had already committed to a start date for work, flights, and our temporary housing. Trevor posted our situation to his Facebook feed, and within minutes, Courtney (Trevor’s former neighbor) said she would be able to help us out.

A quick re-write of our plan meant Trevor, Rhino and I traveling to San Francisco on our original schedule, but with one major twist; Rhino would now be staying behind in San Francisco with Courtney, her husband Kyle, and Murph, her adorable pup, while Trevor and I flew on to Hong Kong.

Three weeks later, Courtney would drive Rhino to SFO and send him on the longest flight (and biggest adventure) of his life. This was not the original plan, but it was a plan, and I was so thankful that someone could help us.

The day of Rhino’s flight arrived and I stalked the progress of  my “live cargo shipment” by refreshing my computer screen repeatedly on the hour. At 10pm, Hong Kong time – twenty hours after Rhino had been dropped off at SFO, Trevor and I followed a man who spoke very little english, through a very strange warehouse, to a very small office, where a crate sat, containing a very smelly, very anxious, and very delirious little stocky black ball of fur.
Rhino had arrived. We were all here. The adventures could finally, officially begin.