“He didn’t stop following us.”
Rushing through Bolivia in a taxi, a woman named Krista noticed a flash of fur darting behind her vehicle. There was a dog chasing after her car, weaving through the streets to keep up.
It would’ve been easy for Krista to turn a blind eye — she was on vacation with her friends, and they were leaving in a few weeks. But the animal lover couldn’t bear to ignore him.
“He didn’t stop following us,” Krista said in a video for The Dodo. “I was like, ‘Hey, guys, can we please stop?’”
Krista began taking care of the friendly stray. She named him Chase, fed him and allowed him to travel with her and her friends through the country.
“From the beginning, I grew this deep bond with him,” Krista said.
When it came time to leave, Krista knew she didn’t want to part with her fuzzy friend, but she also knew that importing a dog from Bolivia would require months of paperwork. She found the pup a temporary home at a Bolivian street dog rescue facility. She said goodbye to Chase, promising that they’d reunite.
Seven months later, she fulfilled her promise.
“When I saw Chase again, it was amazing,” Krista said. “He remembered who I was, and we were so happy.”
Back in the United States with Chase by her side, Krista felt immense relief. She’d done it.
Meanwhile, Chase happily settled into his new life.
“When he first arrived, he felt right at home,” Krista said.
These days, Chase and Krista are inseparable, traveling the country together in a comfy camper van.
“I couldn’t imagine a more perfect travel partner and companion,” Krista said. “I could be traveling to the farthest corner of the planet, but I have my best friend by my side.”
