I spent $116,000 to travel the world — with my cat
JJ Yosh, 38, has spent nearly $116,000 traveling all across the United States with his adventurous pet, Simon.
The six-year-old Bombay cat doesn’t just live a lush life of luxury in his not-so-humble abode, he travels all across the country kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, rock climbing, camping, hiking and backpacking
In fact, Yosh and Simon have traveled over 300,000 miles together since the curious cat was adopted in 2016.
The Colorado resident estimates that he has spent nearly $116,000 on food, toys, traveling and more to allow his feline friend to pawsper.
He also claims to have built the first-ever house made just for a cat — but Yosh lives there, too.
Like one in four pet owners, Yosh wanted to share Simon with the world and tried to turn his travel buddy into a social media sensation.
Yosh began posting all about their travels and eventually made Simon his own Instagram account. Fans flocked to follow the pair with Yosh accumulating 909,000 followers and Simon Yosh the Adventure Cat earning 707,000.
“I wanted to share our adventure with the world, so I started to take photos and videos to post online — and people loved them! His account took off after just a few months,” he told Caters.
Simon’s Instagram account is filled with photos and videos of the black cat on pawsome adventures hiking in snow or rafting along the Colorado River.
“People haven’t seen many, if any, other hiking cats, so they’re always curious and excited!” Yosh said, explaining that he’s inspired some copycats. “I get a lot of people asking how I did it with Simon, so they can do it with their cats, too.”
“People really have an interest in bringing their cats with them on adventures like Simon and I go on. It’s in their nature to want to play outside.”
But Simon doesn’t even need to go outdoors to play in nature. He and Yosh live in what the 39-year-old claims is the first house ever built for a cat.
“I bought a house for Simon that has its own 80-foot rock in it he can climb, as well as including a tree staircase and indoor gardens he can play in,” he said. “Talk about the ultimate cat house!”
The rock wall can be climbed by both Simon and Yosh as it leads to secret passageways to all the rooms in the house. The home includes an extensive indoor garden for Simon to get his paws dirty, a live misty koi pond to splash around in, a hot tub to soak in, a tree staircase to climb and several outdoor patios to lounge around in the sun — all built into the side of a mountain.
A recent study found that pet parents prioritize fur babies’ happiness over their own, but it seems like both Simon and Yosh are equally enjoying their extravagant life together.
Yosh asked in his most recent post: “Who needs a human when you got a cat?”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post: https://nypost.com/2022/11/08/i-spent-116000-to-travel-the-world-with-my-cat/
