With this being our 9th year of travels, we have learned a great deal from our previous experiences while on the road. When reflecting on our travel lifestyle, which has evolved over many years, we have come to realize the significant importance of managing the speed of travel. The other important aspect is understanding and figuring out what makes us fully content.
To recap, in 2015, we dove right into the mix and began a rapid paced whirlwind journey covering eight countries in seven months thru South East Asia. We visited Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines and Myanmar. Back then, we were only permitted to stay in each country for the maximum of 30 days. We wanted to cover the numerous highlights of each country and that meant we had to travel fairly quickly. Fortunately, nowadays most countries in SE Asia have extended the allowable time us flashpacking Americans are permitted to stay in each country. Many countries have recently revised the old maximum stay of 30 days to an expanded 60 or 90 days.
If you factor in the following math, we visited seven countries (one country per month) and on average visited at least six (6) cities/towns/islands in each country. This meant we were not staying in any one location for more than five (5) nights. That is a lot of packing, unpacking and navigating to each individual location. We needed to move at this quicker pace in order to effectively cover the numerous targeted destinations in each country on our ‘wish list’. Any particular destinations that we could not include on our initial trip to SE Asia, we knew we could cover on our future return trips to Asia.
We loved the adrenaline rush of experiencing new places every few days in these foreign and exotic countries. However, we were younger back then and had a lot more pep in our step. Flash forward to today, we have learned to slow it down and have transitioned to a more ideal balance of a ‘slower travel’ philosophy. This keeps things interesting and exciting, but not so much that it burns us out.
If you factor in the following math, we visited seven countries (one country per month) and on average visited at least six (6) cities/towns/islands in each country. This meant we were not staying in any one location for more than five (5) nights. That is a lot of packing, unpacking and navigating to each individual location. We needed to move at this quicker pace in order to effectively cover the numerous targeted destinations in each country on our ‘wish list’. Any particular destinations that we could not include on our initial trip to SE Asia, we knew we could cover on our future return trips to Asia.
We loved the adrenaline rush of experiencing new places every few days in these foreign and exotic countries. However, we were younger back then and had a lot more pep in our step. Flash forward to today, we have learned to slow it down and have transitioned to a more ideal balance of a ‘slower travel’ philosophy. This keeps things interesting and exciting, but not so much that it burns us out.
Drawing from years of travel experiences, we now have a clear understanding of exactly what makes us content. Consequently, we have built up a handful of our favorite places that we enjoy returning to on a continual basis. Staying longer term in our most desired locations in far-away places keeps things exciting while preventing any possibility of a repetitive and ordinary lifestyle. As long as we get enough challenge and freshness in each travel destination, then we are good to go.
With that being said, we made it a priority to kick off this year of travels and stay two full months on the island of Mo’orea in French Polynesia.
This years travel circuit of 4 months in Maui, 2 months in French Polynesia, 2 months in the Gold Coast of Australia and 4 months in SE Asia appears to be an enticing itinerary as it includes all of our favorite places. This routing also works very efficiently as we cover a significant amount of ground but limits our time in the air as it involves no backtracking. Consequently, it’s also very cost effective, which we like.
Take note, all of these locations are surrounded by arguably some of the best beaches in the world. Always having the ocean and beach close by seems to suit the lifestyle we enjoy so much. A daily swim in the saltwater ocean and absorbing all that vitamin D from each of these sunshine filled locations, have kept our bodies feeling young and healthy. Reflecting back, I cannot definitively say that travel may prolong our lives, but I can assert that it certainly keeps us more mentally and physically fit which I assume will help prolong our lives.
On our previous trip to Mo’orea, we stayed for two weeks in an Airbnb up on the mountain overlooking the famed Cook’s Bay. We loved the location in Paopao so much, we contacted the owner of the Airbnb and made arrangements to stay for two full months. Two months in one location on the small tropical island of Mo’orea definitely meets our definition of ’slow travel’. We loved our relaxed stay and was really able to get into the rhythm of the island without constantly feeling the need to be constantly on the move. We basically lived amongst the locals and a lifestyle just as the locals lived and transformed into complete chill monsters. Barbie fed and raised a family of baby chickens everyday while Big Doug gorged on the freshest and most bright red tuna sashimi that I purchased daily from the local fisherman.
The view of Cook’s Bay from our Airbnb lanai was spectacular (check out the beginning of the video above). Every morning we would watch a cruise ship or a private yacht pull in and anchor up in the bay. The highlight was when Mark Zuckerberg’s, super impressive 300 million dollar yacht docked in the bay for twelve days. We never got to meet the social media kingpin but we did constantly spy on his yachting daily activities thru our Leica binoculars. Initially, I thought two months on Mo’orea may be a bit long but time went by so quickly as we both really appreciate the tranquility and the local Polynesian presence on Mo’orea. We will return!
Our time in French Polynesia passed so quickly but we are excited for our next two months visiting all of the world renowned beaches lining the Gold Coast of Australia along with a return visit to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia.
With that being said, we made it a priority to kick off this year of travels and stay two full months on the island of Mo’orea in French Polynesia.
This years travel circuit of 4 months in Maui, 2 months in French Polynesia, 2 months in the Gold Coast of Australia and 4 months in SE Asia appears to be an enticing itinerary as it includes all of our favorite places. This routing also works very efficiently as we cover a significant amount of ground but limits our time in the air as it involves no backtracking. Consequently, it’s also very cost effective, which we like.
Take note, all of these locations are surrounded by arguably some of the best beaches in the world. Always having the ocean and beach close by seems to suit the lifestyle we enjoy so much. A daily swim in the saltwater ocean and absorbing all that vitamin D from each of these sunshine filled locations, have kept our bodies feeling young and healthy. Reflecting back, I cannot definitively say that travel may prolong our lives, but I can assert that it certainly keeps us more mentally and physically fit which I assume will help prolong our lives.
On our previous trip to Mo’orea, we stayed for two weeks in an Airbnb up on the mountain overlooking the famed Cook’s Bay. We loved the location in Paopao so much, we contacted the owner of the Airbnb and made arrangements to stay for two full months. Two months in one location on the small tropical island of Mo’orea definitely meets our definition of ’slow travel’. We loved our relaxed stay and was really able to get into the rhythm of the island without constantly feeling the need to be constantly on the move. We basically lived amongst the locals and a lifestyle just as the locals lived and transformed into complete chill monsters. Barbie fed and raised a family of baby chickens everyday while Big Doug gorged on the freshest and most bright red tuna sashimi that I purchased daily from the local fisherman.
The view of Cook’s Bay from our Airbnb lanai was spectacular (check out the beginning of the video above). Every morning we would watch a cruise ship or a private yacht pull in and anchor up in the bay. The highlight was when Mark Zuckerberg’s, super impressive 300 million dollar yacht docked in the bay for twelve days. We never got to meet the social media kingpin but we did constantly spy on his yachting daily activities thru our Leica binoculars. Initially, I thought two months on Mo’orea may be a bit long but time went by so quickly as we both really appreciate the tranquility and the local Polynesian presence on Mo’orea. We will return!
Our time in French Polynesia passed so quickly but we are excited for our next two months visiting all of the world renowned beaches lining the Gold Coast of Australia along with a return visit to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia.
Big Doug & Barbie Drop Out of Society 