After 4 Years Of Dating We Decided To Travel The World Rather Than Settle Down

We started dating in 2010, when we were 19 years old. We always spoke about wanting to travel the world together, but due to studies and work, we never felt like it would be a possibility. Not for people like us at least. We thought that people who traveled were the lucky ones. It just felt like a reality that was too far out of our reach. So we continued our studies, working and carried on with our lives, forgetting about the idea of travel.

In January 2014, we decided to move in with each other and to focus on our careers and settling down. Literally after one month of living together we said NOPE! We thought this point in our lives was a pivotal moment for setting up the future which meant we’ll most likely never get to travel the world. We didn’t like that thought lingering on our minds. So we made a promise to each other – save as much money as we could for the rest of the year and use that to travel the world.

From that moment on we started simplifying the way we lived, to try and maximise our savings. We started working overtime and would pick up any extra work we could. We cut out buying lunches, dining out and drinking, in exchange for budgeting our grocery bills and preparing meals for work and dinner. Sometimes, we even went back to our parents houses for food! We started selling our possessions – both of our cars, our furniture and even sold some of our clothes at a market.

Fast forward a year later to January 2015. All of a sudden we were waving goodbye to Sydney, Australia from the sky, en route to our first destination.

It’s now been 13 months since we’ve been on the road. We have encountered many great experiences, immersing ourselves into different cultures and putting ourselves out of our comfort zones.

We know that this is only temporary and we’ll have to rebuild, but if I could sum up our experience so far, into one quote, it would be this one I saw floating around on Facebook –

“I urge you to travel. As far and as much as possible. Work ridiculous shifts to save your money. Go without the latest iPhone. Throw yourself out of your comfort zone. Find out how other people live and realize that the world is a much bigger place than the town you live in. And when you come home, home may still be the same & yes, you may go back to the same old job, but something in your mind will have shifted. And trust me, that changes everything.” (Author: Unknown)

More info: mossandbush.com

We always spoke about wanting to travel the world together, but due to studies and work, we never felt like it would be a possibility

We rented motorbikes and rode through different parts of Vietnam

We thought that people who traveled were the lucky ones. It just felt like a reality that was too far out of our reach

In January 2014, we decided to move in with each other and to focus on our careers and settling down. Literally after one month of living together we said NOPE!

We started our travels in the busy streets of Bangkok.

Then we made a promise to each other – save as much money as we could for the rest of the year and use that to travel the world

All of a sudden we were waving goodbye to Sydney, Australia from the sky, en route to our first destination

We’d wake up early to see main attractions to avoid the flood of tourists…

It’s now been 13 months since we’ve been on the road

We have encountered many great experiences, immersing ourselves into different cultures and putting ourselves out of our comfort zones

(we later learned that riding elephants is bad, so looking back on this picture is a bittersweet moment for us)

In North Vietnam, we were stunned by the amazing landscapes and people we passed…

We volunteered teaching English to Cambodian children who couldn’t afford to go to government schools…

Our accommodation while teaching the children…

The Taj Mahal is so much more beautiful in person

We stumbled upon a wedding in the streets of Varanasi

Our beautiful Nepali family

We ditched the backpacks and decided to buy bycicles and cycle through Europe

We took wrong turns that led us to places like this…

This particular night in France we had no where to stay so we camped in this park…

We cycled (walked our bikes) through the French Alps…

and into Italy

We earned our first bit of money on the road in Germany

We cycled from Germany…

To The Netherlands

From The Netherlands…

To Denmark

We sailed across the North Atlantic Ocean

To the beautiful Faroe Islands

We sailed into the East Coast of Iceland

and had our first white Christmas in Iceland

We urge you to travel. As far and as much as possible!

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