1. Why did you decide to sell everything and travel?
Traveling had always been part of our plan, but a few different circumstances led to us finally taking the plunge. In 2013 we lost Sian’s mum to cancer just six months before our wedding day. We were stuck in unsatisfying jobs that we didn’t enjoy and came really close to saddling ourselves with a mortgage. When Sian turned 30 we realized it was our last chance to qualify for the Australian working holiday visa. We decided it was now or never. We came to the conclusion that life is too short to spend time doing something that is making you miserable. So we made a huge u-turn, sold everything and hit the road!
2. How much money did you have saved up before your trip? Since you’re married, do you have a joint account and share in all financial decisions & expenses equally? Or do you keep things separate? On average, how much do you think you spend each day when you’re traveling?
We took around GB£15,000 (US$23,000 approx.) to support both of us for 18 months. This meant we didn’t need to work too much and allowed us to buy our camper van in Australia. We share a bank account and pay for everything from that. All of our wages go into the same account, it keeps it simple. Sian travelled with a friend in 2010 and they split everything equally. She found this was a real pain; having to figure out who owed what at the end of each day.
Daily expenses vary greatly - in rural Cambodia we probably spent US$15 between us for food and accommodations. Whereas in Australia we have spent as much as AU$400 (US$288) in a week on accommodations alone. The great thing about Asia is that it’s so cheap to treat yourself. For Emily's birthday we splashed out US$50 a night on a luxury hotel in Siem Reap. It felt like a big spend at the time but in Australia that can be the cost of a meal out.
3. What was the first place you traveled to?
Initially we wanted to go straight to Australia and have a stop over for a few days somewhere on the way. So we searched for the cheapest flight out of the UK and that took us to Hanoi, Vietnam (GB£365/US$562 each). As the Vietnamese visa was for 30 days we decided to make the most of it and stay for the full duration. We loved Vietnam so much that we decided to put off going to Australia and explore Cambodia. We started working for an NGO and ended up staying for four months. Five months after our “quick stopover” In Vietnam we finally made it to Australia.
Koh Rong, Cambodia
4. How do you tackle planning your trips? Is one person designated as the planner for the entire trip, or do you each have separate responsibilities when it comes to planning? Do you leverage each other’s strengths/weaknesses when it comes to travel planning?
We didn’t do too much planning before we left home. All we bought was one flight, visas for Vietnam and Australia and a one year backpackers insurance policy (don’t leave home without it!). Sian took the lead with the planning as she had been backpacking before, but mostly we just arrived at each place and followed our feet. It was challenging but in the end very relaxing to just go with the flow. Especially for Emily who normally needs to plan every detail.
Cape Range National Park, Western Australia
5. Do you have any travel items that you always bring with you and can’t live without?
We both left home with 40 litre backpacks and would strongly advise anyone traveling to take as little as possible. You can pick up everything you need on the road, with the added bonus of shopping locally. The bigger your bag is, the fuller it will be and you will resent carrying it. However there are some luxury items we always like to have to hand. Emily loves to read so her Kindle Paperwhite is essential. Sian can’t live without her music so has to have her iPod.
6. Do you ever get on each other’s nerves when you travel together? (For example: is one of you “messy” and the other a “neat freak”?) Do you ever spend time alone or take separate trips?
Before we left home we discussed the possibility of this, thinking we might need a break from each other every so often. However we found we get on surprisingly well considering we are together 24/7. We haven’t needed to be apart from one another, which is reassuring for us as newlyweds! Some aspects of our personalities did grate on each other at times; especially in the narrow confines of a camper van traveling across the empty landscape of outback Australia. However there is only so long that we can stay annoyed with each other! We are in it together and in the end, we are always on the same team.
7. What is the most challenging part of being full-time travelers & what do you do to deal with those challenges?
It is difficult to travel constantly because you feel like you need to always be on the go incase you miss something, but you need down time too. Quite often we crave home comforts, but then we remember that we’ve sold our belongings and don’t have any! We did some house sitting in Australia which gave us some respite from always being on the move and the luxury of a sofa. Sometimes we feel far away from family and that is hard for us, but we Skype and call home often.
Geikie Gorge National Park, Western Australia
8. Do you have any side hustles or extra sources of income? If so, please explain.
We work as we need to, but we don’t have any form of consistent income.
9. When you travel, do you eat out every day? If not, how do you go about balancing eating out & buying groceries/making your own meals?
We ate out most of the time in Asia, even in Cambodia when we rented an apartment with a kitchen. We tried cooking a few times but it got so hot! Eating out was a lot easier and it was so cheap. In Australia we cooked most of the time, using a one ring gas burner at the back of our camper van. The cost of living there makes it difficult to eat out unless you are earning a salary. We ate a lot of pasta and vegetables, typical cheap and cheerful meals. If it rained while we were in our van it was impossible to cook as we needed to be outside. We had a few miserable meals consisting of cereal bars and packets of crisps. But in the end we worked out it was better for our morale to splash out on a cheap pub meal and sit in the warmth.
Phu Quoc, Vietnam and Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia
10. Have you been able to SAVE any money while traveling? If so, do you have any tips for budgeting/saving while traveling that you can share?
Wages in Australia are really good, we were surprised to find how much we could get paid on minimum wage. We worked for 4 months over Christmas in a shopping centre on the gold coast, we got around AU$23 an hour, $37 on Sundays and $50 on public holidays, it was insane how much money we made. We managed to lease a place to stay, restock our clothing and have enough money to socialise with friends. We still managed save AU$8000, which was a real boost for the next part of our trip.
Three Sisters - New South Wales, Australia
11. Have you ever been harassed or discriminated against while traveling? If so, please explain. (if you have a specific story/example you can give, that would be great!)
We try to keep our PDA’s to a minimum until we know the lay of the land. We haven’t had many problems due to our sexuality, except for the odd raised eyebrow when we explain we booked a double bed, not two singles. We did feel a little discriminated against on a trip we took to Halong Bay in Vietnam. We booked a double bed on the two night boat trip but were put in a room with single beds. Other couples who were not married got the doubles, purely because they were mixed sex couples. It was only a small boat and no one would have wanted to switch rooms so it wasn't worth kicking up a fuss, but we felt pretty annoyed about it. In Asia Sian quite often gets mistaken for a boy and called sir, this can lead to hilarious apologies and is more comical than offensive.
12. Have you ever pretended that you were straight to get through a certain situation while traveling? Again, if you have a specific example, please share.
Traveling in India can be really hard work as a woman. At lot of Indian men see a white female as a green light and will try their luck. Whilst traveling in India in 2010 Sian was harassed and groped a few times on public transport. She quickly found out that inventing a fictional husband and children helped to keep advances from strange men at bay.
13. Are there any cities you’ve traveled to that have been extra LGBT friendly and made you feel more comfortable about being openly affectionate?
We loved being in Sydney for Mardi Gras, the whole city was so welcoming and friendly! We also had a really positive experience with our hotel on honeymoon in Rhodes. We emailed ahead to tell them it was our honeymoon and they upgraded us to a more expensive suite and with a bottle of champagne and a thoughtful card congratulating us on our marriage.
The Grotto - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
14. Can you share a few of your favorite “travel hacks” with us?
We’re pretty useless with travel hacks! We would suggest leaving room for a well stocked first aid kit, and remember to take it with you on day trips. Another good tip is to use a site like Currency Fair when transferring large amounts of money into local currency. It is much cheaper than regular banks and you can save a small fortune.
Check them out for yourself:
Blog: wanderingwives.net