Mike & Lily are 2 kitties who make us all jealous with their adventures in the most beautiful parts of the world.

Mike & Lily's favourite things to do are sleep, eat, sun bathe, shoulder rides, kayaking, going on road trips...you know, all the regular cat things

Their favourite toy is a rattle ball covered in rabbit fur and their favourite food is quail or lama.

What kind of adventures do Mike & Lily go on?

Hiking, kayaking, sledding, bike rides, shopping

Tell us about your most memorable adventure

This past weekend we got to go kayaking at Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. It is Catdad's favourite place in the whole world.

We had never been there before because we don't wake up early enough to get in. The parking lot is fairly small, about 100 cars, and when it gets full they close the road. This usually happens by about 8am. After it closes, you just have to get lucky and drive by at the exact time someone is leaving.

The first time we drove by at 8:15 the road was closed. So we went to Lake Louise instead.

It was pouring rain so we decided to go home around 10am. As we passed the road to Moraine Lake, someone was leaving so we were let in.

It was still raining as we were inflating our kayaks.

Once we got in the kayaks and started paddling to the end of the lake the wind stopped and the sun came out to reveal the beautiful blue water.

Why did you decide to train Mike & Lily?

We moved to the mountains and one of the trade offs of living in this beautiful place is that housing is very expensive and much smaller than in the city.

Mike and Lily don't have as much room to move around in our home as they did before and I wanted them to be able to stay active.

As I explored our new home, I wanted them to be able to experience these new places with me.

How did you train Mike & Lily? 

They had been harness trained since they were kittens but never liked being outside much when we lived in the city.

Where we live now, there is much less traffic and construction and much more green space. From the first time I took them out here, they were much more comfortable and happy to explore.

I also got them a backpack to ride in if they got tired or scared.

I didn't really do anything to train them, I just take their backpack every time we go out so they have somewhere safe to go in case we need it.

What has been the most rewarding part of having a catexplorer?

You always have a friend to adventure with.

It has also kept us more active, we plan more activities because we want to make sure they get out enough.

What has been the hardest?

It takes a lot more planning when you take cats anywhere.

You have to pack a lot more stuff and you have to make sure every destination is cat friendly.

Sometimes plans have to change on the spot because some places call themselves "pet-friendly" when they really mean "dog-friendly".

Or sometimes you have to change plans because the cats are just not that into it.

In hindsight, what would you do differently?

Now that I know how much they like to travel and now knowing, how many cat-friendly hotels there are, I would have started taking them travelling much earlier. Until last summer, I rarely travelled because I hated leaving them at home and I didn't realize how feasible it was to travel with them.

What advice would you give other humans training their catexplorers?

You have to be patient and keep in mind that no matter how long a cat has been doing something, there will be good days and bad days.

And remember that cats have very different personalities and will take to different activities differently.

Is there another Catexplorer that inspires you? 

There are too many to name...seeing everyone's' photos from around the world inspires us to do more and adventure farther

We are grateful to be part of the catexplorer community on Instagram. We have learned so much from everyone and continue to be inspired.

Follow Mike & Lily on Instagram (@adventuresofmikeandlily), and on Facebook.