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Two Wandering Soles

Two Wandering Soles is a fun, inspiring and award-winning travel blog created by Katie and Ben, a couple who is passionate about responsible and adventurous travel around the world. Find travel tips and money-saving advice for eco-friendly and sustainable travel on any budget.

About Us Katie and Ben

Hi there, we're Katie & Ben!

We seek adrenaline rushes, good food, authentic experiences and adventures off the typical tourist path. 

Follow along for responsible & adventurous travel tips, and inspiration that'll get you packing your bags.

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✨ Right here, right now. ✧ Yesterday morning on Ben’s birthday we went to a yoga class. I was there in this beautiful open-air studio, surrounded by rice fields and all I could think about is how much I have to do… ✧ We just returned from our scuba trip, and tomorrow we fly out to New Zealand. My inbox is eXploDing, we have contracts we need to finish up, we have planning for this next big trip we need to do, and we have a few last minute things we want do here in Bali before we leave. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned packing. I’m getting a little anxious just writing this. ✧ I’m there on my mat with my mind in a million places, and the teacher says we’re going to work on balance postures. “When balancing,” she says, “It’s important not to let your mind wander. You must be in this moment. Right here. Right now.” ✧ Does that ever happen to you when someone is speaking to a group, but you feel like they are READING YOUR MIND and talking only to you?! ✧ So I listened. I felt my feet on the mat. The warm breeze on my skin. I felt my breath as it expanded my lungs and left my body. I heard the dim music blending with a dog barking and wind chimes clinking. ✧ ✨ Right here, right now. ✧ I don’t know about you, but too often, I am thinking about the next thing. And that takes away from the present moment. ✧ No matter how many things are on your to do list, you can take a minute to recenter yourself. To be really present in this moment. Right here, right now. Feel your feet on the earth. Listen to the noise around you. ✧ ✨ Right here, right now.
This guy right here is celebrating his birthday today, and I could not be more grateful to be at his side. ✧ If you don’t know Ben personally, here’s a little glimpse of that ginger guy you keep seeing in pictures... ✧ Ben is the kind of person who will go out of his way to make others feel welcomed, included and appreciated. And man oh man, is he patient. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his last name starts with "Z", so he was always last in line in school. Wherever it came from, the level of patience he has is seriously impressive. And quite honestly, hard to live up to!) ✧ He is eternally optimistic, and looks for the best in people and in situations. He is humble. He listens. Like, reaaally listens. ✧ Ben has such a good heart. It’s not uncommon for me to lose him in a crowd and find him helping a stranger pick up a bag of dropped groceries or looking up directions for a someone on his phone. ✧ He values honesty, integrity and hard work over all else and is constantly pushing me to be a better person. To learn, to grow, to be more grateful (even when I don't feel like it!). ✧ So here's to you, Ben. My favorite dive partner, hiking buddy, travel companion. You're my favorite person to celebrate grand adventures with, and the only person I would want to endure the boring things with too, like night buses and lines at immigration (which is saying a lot!). ✧ 👉 P.S. Ben would never make a big deal of this, but he LOVES celebrating birthdays. (He calls November his "Birthday Month" and reminds me weeks ahead of time exactly how many days there are until his birthday!) So help me make his day and wish him a Happy Birthday 🎉
Can you spot our cozy home?! (Hint: 🛥) ✧ After 15 dives and 5 days spent on a boat in pristine waters, we are back on dry land. I thought I’d be ready, but I’m already missing days where the only things on my schedule are: Dive, Eat, Sleep, Repeat. ✧ We dived with dolphins, and sharks and manta rays (SOOOO many mantas!). We saw colorful corals swarming with fish that make “Finding Nemo” and “The Little Mermaid” look boring. ✧ We made friends from all over the world, and finally had time to just lay on a hammock with a book and read. (For fun!) ✧ One thing that always sticks with me after diving is how there’s this entire world out there that we take for granted. Most of us look out into the ocean and we see waves, but we don’t see all the life that takes place below the surface. ✧ Each time I glimpse just a tiny piece of this mysterious underwater world, I am reminded how we need to fight to protect it. To protect the fish and the corals. The dolphins, the manta rays, the eels and the sharks. And each time I dive, I get slightly more addicted. ✧ If you’re a scuba diver (or have dreams of becoming one!), you should really look into booking a liveaboard trip. This trip with @dragondivekomodo was our 2nd liveaboard, and it’s safe to say we’re hooked! ✧ We’re really excited to share more info, pictures and stories soon. (And rumor has it, Ben’s even creating a video, so keep your eyes peeled for that!) ✧ // @diving.liveaboard
GUYS, TODAY WE SWAM WITH DOLPHINS 🐬🐬 ✧ Heres how it went down: We woke up early, got zipped up in our still-damp wetsuits and hopped into the speed boat that would take us to our dive site. As we were nearing it, someone in the boat pointed and shouted, “Dolphins!” ✧ By the time we descended into the deep blue waters, I was sure they had already swam off into the distance, but no. There they were, 20 meters down, dancing around us. We all just hovered and watched for a solid few minutes as they twirled and played. This was literally my childhood dream happening right before my eyes. ✧ Oh, and on this same dive, we saw a spotted eagle ray and a white tipped shark. So needless to say, the other 2 dives of the day had a lot to live up to! #liveaboardlife ✧ [Raise your hand if you would do a liveaboard and SWIM WITH DOLPHINS 🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️ Check out @diving.livaboard or head to the link in our bio for more info!]
We’re currently on a boat in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by giant rocky islands. We caught a snippet of cell service (how is that even possible?!), so we thought we’d send you a glimpse of what we’re seeing (when we’re not under the water in Scuba gear!)... . PINCH ME ✨ . [If you want to know more about liveaboard trips (anywhere in the world!) check out @diving.liveaboard or head to the link in our bio!] // @dragondivekomodo
Tomorrow morning we’re boarding a boat that will be our home for the next 5 days. This trip of a lifetime was made possible by Liveaboard.com and we could not be more excited! 🙌 @diving.liveaboard ✧ We’ll be spending those days in Komodo National Park scuba diving, reading, eating, laying in the sun, and hopefully spotting a couple of those famous Komodo Dragons! Oh, and getting off the grid, because we’ve been told there’s no WiFi underwater 🧜🏼‍♀️😂 [Eat, Sleep, Dive, Repeat!] ✧ I’ve dreamed of getting scuba certified for as long as I can remember… My dad used to dive a lot in the (COLD!) lakes of Minnesota — sometimes even under the frozen ice! I remember hearing his stories growing up, and thinking what an incredible adventure it sounded like. ✧ Then 3 years ago, Ben and I signed up for a course and finally DID IT. We liked it so much, we stayed on to get our advanced certs. ✧ And now it’s a fun hobby we can do on our travels all around the world! We are still total newbies compared to the hardcore divers out there, but it’s really exciting getting to practice this skill and explore a part of the world we would otherwise never be able see. ✧ This is our second Liveaboard trip and we are soooo stoked to share the experience with all of you! ✧ Are you a diver? Or do you have dreams of getting certified?!
✨ If someone doesn’t have a smile, give them yours ✨ -Zig Ziglar ✧ Have you ever noticed how a smile can communicate something that transcends language? It doesn’t matter where you were born. It doesn’t matter what type of house you live in or how much money you make. ✧ Smiles transcend age, culture, religion, race and language. This small gesture can make a powerful statement. So give out your smiles generously to everyone you meet 😁 ✧ P.S. You may notice I have a few grains of rice on my head. No, I didn’t fall asleep in my meal 🍚 If you’re curious what it’s about, stick around and I’ll explain… ✧ Anywhere you go in Bali, you will see locals who have a flower behind their ear and grains of rice on their forehead and sometimes their throat. ✧ In Balinese Hinduism, this is part of the ritual for their daily prayers. And everywhere you walk, you’ll see small offerings of flowers, incense, candy and coins in containers made from coconut leaves. These are daily offerings to show the gods their gratitude. ✧ It is pretty beautiful witnessing a culture so dedicated to their religion. If you’ve been to Bali, you know exactly what I’m talking about 🌸
Thanks for leading the way half the time, and being brave enough to follow me the other half 😂 #butreally ✧ I don’t know many other partners who would have stuck by the past 5 years, with all my crazy ideas. ✧ “What if we quit our jobs to backpack through South America? Wanna teach English in Korea for a year?!” ✧ And then the dreams got even crazier... ✧ “Let’s travel for a year and live out of a backpack! Wanna work as a snowboard instructor for the winter? Let’s live in a campervan for 3 months! Oh, and we can totalllly build it ourselves (no experience necessary!).” ✧ And then, finally... “I know you have an engineering degree and an MBA, but what if we did a 180 and became full-time travel bloggers?” ✧ Whenever I have a crazy idea, Ben doesn’t laugh or run away (well, at least not yet!). Instead, he lets his mathematical brain takeover and he figures out logistically HOW he can make my wildest dreams come true. ✧ And I don’t think I could ask for anything more in a partner. (Well, that got sappy real fast 🙈 #notsorryaboutit )

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✨ Right here, right now. ✧ Yesterday morning on Ben’s birthday we went to a yoga class. I was there in this beautiful open-air studio, surrounded by rice fields and all I could think about is how much I have to do… ✧ We just returned from our scuba trip, and tomorrow we fly out to New Zealand. My inbox is eXploDing, we have contracts we need to finish up, we have planning for this next big trip we need to do, and we have a few last minute things we want do here in Bali before we leave. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned packing. I’m getting a little anxious just writing this. ✧ I’m there on my mat with my mind in a million places, and the teacher says we’re going to work on balance postures. “When balancing,” she says, “It’s important not to let your mind wander. You must be in this moment. Right here. Right now.” ✧ Does that ever happen to you when someone is speaking to a group, but you feel like they are READING YOUR MIND and talking only to you?! ✧ So I listened. I felt my feet on the mat. The warm breeze on my skin. I felt my breath as it expanded my lungs and left my body. I heard the dim music blending with a dog barking and wind chimes clinking. ✧ ✨ Right here, right now. ✧ I don’t know about you, but too often, I am thinking about the next thing. And that takes away from the present moment. ✧ No matter how many things are on your to do list, you can take a minute to recenter yourself. To be really present in this moment. Right here, right now. Feel your feet on the earth. Listen to the noise around you. ✧ ✨ Right here, right now.
This guy right here is celebrating his birthday today, and I could not be more grateful to be at his side. ✧ If you don’t know Ben personally, here’s a little glimpse of that ginger guy you keep seeing in pictures... ✧ Ben is the kind of person who will go out of his way to make others feel welcomed, included and appreciated. And man oh man, is he patient. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his last name starts with "Z", so he was always last in line in school. Wherever it came from, the level of patience he has is seriously impressive. And quite honestly, hard to live up to!) ✧ He is eternally optimistic, and looks for the best in people and in situations. He is humble. He listens. Like, reaaally listens. ✧ Ben has such a good heart. It’s not uncommon for me to lose him in a crowd and find him helping a stranger pick up a bag of dropped groceries or looking up directions for a someone on his phone. ✧ He values honesty, integrity and hard work over all else and is constantly pushing me to be a better person. To learn, to grow, to be more grateful (even when I don't feel like it!). ✧ So here's to you, Ben. My favorite dive partner, hiking buddy, travel companion. You're my favorite person to celebrate grand adventures with, and the only person I would want to endure the boring things with too, like night buses and lines at immigration (which is saying a lot!). ✧ 👉 P.S. Ben would never make a big deal of this, but he LOVES celebrating birthdays. (He calls November his "Birthday Month" and reminds me weeks ahead of time exactly how many days there are until his birthday!) So help me make his day and wish him a Happy Birthday 🎉
Can you spot our cozy home?! (Hint: 🛥) ✧ After 15 dives and 5 days spent on a boat in pristine waters, we are back on dry land. I thought I’d be ready, but I’m already missing days where the only things on my schedule are: Dive, Eat, Sleep, Repeat. ✧ We dived with dolphins, and sharks and manta rays (SOOOO many mantas!). We saw colorful corals swarming with fish that make “Finding Nemo” and “The Little Mermaid” look boring. ✧ We made friends from all over the world, and finally had time to just lay on a hammock with a book and read. (For fun!) ✧ One thing that always sticks with me after diving is how there’s this entire world out there that we take for granted. Most of us look out into the ocean and we see waves, but we don’t see all the life that takes place below the surface. ✧ Each time I glimpse just a tiny piece of this mysterious underwater world, I am reminded how we need to fight to protect it. To protect the fish and the corals. The dolphins, the manta rays, the eels and the sharks. And each time I dive, I get slightly more addicted. ✧ If you’re a scuba diver (or have dreams of becoming one!), you should really look into booking a liveaboard trip. This trip with @dragondivekomodo was our 2nd liveaboard, and it’s safe to say we’re hooked! ✧ We’re really excited to share more info, pictures and stories soon. (And rumor has it, Ben’s even creating a video, so keep your eyes peeled for that!) ✧ // @diving.liveaboard
GUYS, TODAY WE SWAM WITH DOLPHINS 🐬🐬 ✧ Heres how it went down: We woke up early, got zipped up in our still-damp wetsuits and hopped into the speed boat that would take us to our dive site. As we were nearing it, someone in the boat pointed and shouted, “Dolphins!” ✧ By the time we descended into the deep blue waters, I was sure they had already swam off into the distance, but no. There they were, 20 meters down, dancing around us. We all just hovered and watched for a solid few minutes as they twirled and played. This was literally my childhood dream happening right before my eyes. ✧ Oh, and on this same dive, we saw a spotted eagle ray and a white tipped shark. So needless to say, the other 2 dives of the day had a lot to live up to! #liveaboardlife ✧ [Raise your hand if you would do a liveaboard and SWIM WITH DOLPHINS 🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️ Check out @diving.livaboard or head to the link in our bio for more info!]
We’re currently on a boat in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by giant rocky islands. We caught a snippet of cell service (how is that even possible?!), so we thought we’d send you a glimpse of what we’re seeing (when we’re not under the water in Scuba gear!)... . PINCH ME ✨ . [If you want to know more about liveaboard trips (anywhere in the world!) check out @diving.liveaboard or head to the link in our bio!] // @dragondivekomodo
Tomorrow morning we’re boarding a boat that will be our home for the next 5 days. This trip of a lifetime was made possible by Liveaboard.com and we could not be more excited! 🙌 @diving.liveaboard ✧ We’ll be spending those days in Komodo National Park scuba diving, reading, eating, laying in the sun, and hopefully spotting a couple of those famous Komodo Dragons! Oh, and getting off the grid, because we’ve been told there’s no WiFi underwater 🧜🏼‍♀️😂 [Eat, Sleep, Dive, Repeat!] ✧ I’ve dreamed of getting scuba certified for as long as I can remember… My dad used to dive a lot in the (COLD!) lakes of Minnesota — sometimes even under the frozen ice! I remember hearing his stories growing up, and thinking what an incredible adventure it sounded like. ✧ Then 3 years ago, Ben and I signed up for a course and finally DID IT. We liked it so much, we stayed on to get our advanced certs. ✧ And now it’s a fun hobby we can do on our travels all around the world! We are still total newbies compared to the hardcore divers out there, but it’s really exciting getting to practice this skill and explore a part of the world we would otherwise never be able see. ✧ This is our second Liveaboard trip and we are soooo stoked to share the experience with all of you! ✧ Are you a diver? Or do you have dreams of getting certified?!
✨ If someone doesn’t have a smile, give them yours ✨ -Zig Ziglar ✧ Have you ever noticed how a smile can communicate something that transcends language? It doesn’t matter where you were born. It doesn’t matter what type of house you live in or how much money you make. ✧ Smiles transcend age, culture, religion, race and language. This small gesture can make a powerful statement. So give out your smiles generously to everyone you meet 😁 ✧ P.S. You may notice I have a few grains of rice on my head. No, I didn’t fall asleep in my meal 🍚 If you’re curious what it’s about, stick around and I’ll explain… ✧ Anywhere you go in Bali, you will see locals who have a flower behind their ear and grains of rice on their forehead and sometimes their throat. ✧ In Balinese Hinduism, this is part of the ritual for their daily prayers. And everywhere you walk, you’ll see small offerings of flowers, incense, candy and coins in containers made from coconut leaves. These are daily offerings to show the gods their gratitude. ✧ It is pretty beautiful witnessing a culture so dedicated to their religion. If you’ve been to Bali, you know exactly what I’m talking about 🌸
Thanks for leading the way half the time, and being brave enough to follow me the other half 😂 #butreally ✧ I don’t know many other partners who would have stuck by the past 5 years, with all my crazy ideas. ✧ “What if we quit our jobs to backpack through South America? Wanna teach English in Korea for a year?!” ✧ And then the dreams got even crazier... ✧ “Let’s travel for a year and live out of a backpack! Wanna work as a snowboard instructor for the winter? Let’s live in a campervan for 3 months! Oh, and we can totalllly build it ourselves (no experience necessary!).” ✧ And then, finally... “I know you have an engineering degree and an MBA, but what if we did a 180 and became full-time travel bloggers?” ✧ Whenever I have a crazy idea, Ben doesn’t laugh or run away (well, at least not yet!). Instead, he lets his mathematical brain takeover and he figures out logistically HOW he can make my wildest dreams come true. ✧ And I don’t think I could ask for anything more in a partner. (Well, that got sappy real fast 🙈 #notsorryaboutit )

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