Life is meant for good friends and good adventures.
The journey of someone’s life is sweeter when travelled with a dog. It is really a wonderful experience one can gain in their lifetime. Shurastey is a golden retriever who always loved adventures, beach walks, camping and waterfall baths.
His owner who is a social media influencer once said about his companion,
“He is very friendly. Where I go, he goes too. When I wake up, he is waiting for me and is always by my side,”
Jesse Koz, who is a 29-years old salesman, decided to leave his job over his dream. With 10,000 reais in his pocket, a furry, golden retriever friend named Shurastey along with his Volkswagen Beetle, he started his journey in 2017. He was inspired by backpackers group on social media and the people who travelled without money.
“I wanted to do something new, something different, something that would make my heart flutter, that I would remember a few years from now and make me smile out of nowhere, just with the memory that my life was worth living,” – He wrote.
This dog friend and his owner duo became famous among travellers in the world. As a result of this, the dog’s name was alluded to in a song “Should I stay or should I go” by the English band The Clash.
He was an inspirational social media influencer for thousands of travellers around the world who died in a car crash two days before completing his lifelong dream road trip. His 1978 Volkswagen Beetle entered into a head-on crash with a Ford Escape in Oregon, US and he died with his beloved dog on the spot.
He had travelled 52,000 miles across 17 countries with his pet dog, a golden retriever Shurastey since 2017. His dream of travelling across the US was once slowed down in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic when the travel restrictions imposed by the US government prevented from travelling across the US-Mexico border.
“You must never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway but a dream never does.” – Earl Nightingale 90
This determined traveller restarted his trip with his friend dog, Shurastey at the beginning of the year 2022 and crossed in early February.In his Instagram profile he had posted several pictures with his dog. He regularly shares images of his expedition.In February, he had posted an image with his dog in front of a sunset. In the caption, he wrote
“I told him how important he was to me, and that I wouldn’t have made it this far without his company. He just smiled with his tongue hanging out and breathed not my face. I just wanted to enjoy a sunset in the company of my friend, I know we still have many more to come and as far as it depends on me we will always be together until the sun sets one last time.”
The influencer’s plan was to travel up the West Coast, crossing Canada and reaching the final destination of Alaska. Just 4 days before his accident, he shared a photo one last time with his furry friend in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
He captioned,
There is no happiness without freedom … I came out of a prison that was my old life where others made the decisions for me so I could have the freedom to choose what I wanted!”
May he find the peace he was looking for a long time. The news of his death was an emotional roller coaster for his fans and there are so many memorable quotes written by his fans to pay tribute to this beautiful soul.
This is not just a story about a man who died in a car crash. This was a story about freedom and friendship. Jesse, Shurastey and the car “Dodongo” remained together until their last breath.
