More than six months into this crazy adventure, we are finally answering some of the questions we get often on the blog. These come via text messages, Instagram DM’s and during random conversations. There is really nothing better than random questions and texts from our favorite people, so keep them coming.
What time is it there?
This is the number one question. You have no idea how much this question comes up. We try to stay in the know on the time differences between us and the Central time zone where our families live. We switched our phones to military time recently to make things easier.
What is your favorite place so far?
Laos and Namibia are the places that come to mind first. They are parts of this trip that surprised us in the best ways, challenged us the most, and have us wanting to get back to experience more.
Do people hate Americans?
This comes up when talking to friends & family back home. We have been pretty lucky to travel places where they don’t get a lot of Americans (until Europe). That works to our benefit because they don’t really have an opinion going into our interactions. We had one pretty rough encounter in Swakopmund, Namibia with a South African man who had too much to drink and REALLY hated Americans, but we never really found out why or got a chance to understand better before his friends saved us. We also work really hard to blend in as much as possible in the places we visit, so unless someone asks us, we usually don’t offer up too much information.
Where do you stand on Trump?
This is the main question we get from people on the road when they find out where we are from. We answer honestly (and it’s no secret to anyone that knows us) – we are not fans. It’s interesting to hear the opinions of the people we meet, but we are pretty sick of talking about it. There is no elevator pitch for a conversation like this, so we have to constantly make the decision to answer quickly and move on or to be prepared for a deep dive into politics with a stranger. We’ve gone both ways and it really depends on the situation.
Which way does the toilet flush?
Sadly, we checked when south of the equator and the toilets all seemed to avoid any swirling. The water just goes straight down. This was a let down for us and all those that asked. Maybe someday, we will visit a country where the toilets swirl and we can witness it going in the other direction.
Are you eating lots of good food? Anything make you sick?
This was mostly Steph’s brother, Tim, who watches every food network show about traveling. We avoided most kinds of street food in Asia because so much is meat. We have enjoyed some of the best food from all over the globe and always share our favorite meals on our monthly recaps (see the most recent one here). There was one bad meal in Vietnam that had one of us worshipping the porcelain god, but that’s it.
Is it safe there?
There haven’t been many places that have made us uncomfortable. We’ve experienced a few moments in countries that we couldn’t understand the language and weren’t sure exactly what the rules were. The weirdest moments have been during transportation when you find yourself jumping in a vehicle with a driver that doesn’t understand you. Luckily, we’ve always made it to our intended destinations.
Safety has been important to us, so we follow a few basic rules. We are mindful of where we are traveling and where our most important items are at all times. There is a lot of research that goes into each of our destinations so we are aware of any current scams, areas of concern or just basic safety information.
Are you happy?
One thing we’ve learned is that when posed with that question, we typically jump to explaining how difficult life on the road is in an attempt to not oversell our happiness. It’s our defense mechanism because so many of the reactions to our choices have been surprise, envy or “that must be nice.” People are always curious how we are able to do this, where we got the money and what we are going to do when we return. The truth is, we worked a long time to save up for this trip and plan it out and we are really proud of that. It’s just hard to start conversations with how happy we are because it feels boastful, obnoxious and vomit-inducing. No one really wants you to swoon over how good things are in the first 30 seconds of a conversation.
Since boarding our plane on April 3, we haven’t had a single moment of regret. We are beyond grateful, humbled and happy that we have this opportunity. There are small moments of frustration, longing for our people or discomfort, but those are part of this journey. That being said, we are working really hard to drop that defensive response and answer honestly.
How long are you planning on traveling?
The answer to that is simple. Until the money runs out.
Are you going to live overseas?
As fun as it would be to call many of these places home, we have learned that the United States is home for us. Visas and green cards are a challenging obstacle to many of the places we’ve fallen in love with. There is so much of the US we haven’t explored and it will always be home for us.
Where are you now?
Good news! You can always see this on our website by scrolling to the bottom of the page or looking on the right hand side of the screen. It’s not our exact location, but it will always tell you which city we are currently exploring. The answer currently is Prague.
Where are you heading next?
This is often a popular question and we don’t always know. Today was a planning day for us and we booked our next stop in Poland. We try to stay about a week out for plans leaving a little wiggle room if we have a change of heart. Our current plans are to explore Eastern Europe for the next few weeks including Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia for sure.
You can read more about how we plan on the road by clicking here.
