Here are some questions we frequently get from people:
‘1. Why do you stay somewhere for a month? Isn’t that a long time to be in one place?
There are a couple of reasons we have longer stays.
– Lissette works full-time, so we need stability. We don’t go sightseeing every day and we do all the normal things people do in a day: do grocery shopping, go to the gym, do laundry etc. In many ways we live the same lives we did at home but now get to do that in different places around the world.
– Renting an apartment (on Airbnb) for a month is much cheaper than for a day or week. When you book for a month you often get anywhere between 30-50% off the nightly rate for your stay. So for us travelling slow is really cost effective.
– The 1st year we travelled full-time we were unhealthy. Travelling slower has allowed us to join gyms wherever we go and stay in better shape.
– Being in a place for a month allows us to really get to know a place. Being able to live somewhere a month and (hopefully) feel at home gives us the greatest satisfaction when travelling.
– Slow travel keeps us from burning out. We wouldn’t be able to change places every week (more below)
‘2.‘You’ve been travelling full-time 4 years. Don’t you get bored with Travel? Or burnt out?
Never bored, but sometimes it can wear us down. That’s part of why we travel the way we do. I don’t know how people who constantly move around don’t get burned out. We wouldn’t be able to maintain that for a long period of time. When Lissette has a vacation we’ll have a traditional 10 day holiday somewhere, travelling “fast” between our longer stays. But we don’t do that very often. It’s mostly long stays where we have a base.
We’ll eventually have a permanent base somewhere. But even with that we’ll keep travelling as long as we can.
‘3. Why do you travel? What keeps you travelling? What makes you happy?
We both love seeing different parts of the world. But it’s not all about seeing sights. We both feel it’s important to connect with people in the places we visit. It’s incredible how good personal experiences shape your opinion about a place. Personally, I also get a lot of satisfaction being able to go somewhere and learning to “get things done”: navigating the public transport system, buying groceries at a farmer’s market, figuring out the tricks to getting things done in different places. When everything comes together and you feel like you’re actually ‘living’ somewhere and not just a stranger in a strange land. That makes me happy. For Lissette it really is about connecting to people. The places she’s enjoyed most are the ones where she feels she’s accepted and can talk to locals.
Seeing spectacular sights of course makes us happy. Sometimes we’ll arrive somewhere and it’ll hit us “this is why we travel !”. Being amazed and surprised is what keeps us travelling.
‘4. What’s your criteria for a one month base?
A place that we’re curious about, which is within out budget (I draw the limit at about $1200 US/mo for an apartment), that has sights that we’re interested in, and that also offers day trips in the vicinity. As long as we have a comfortable apartment with wifi and is close to facilities we’re happy.
This page is still a work in progress. If you have any questions don’t be shy, we’ll answer them.