Personal Stuff

Personal Stuff.jpg

This is where we share our thoughts, stories and lessons learned while traveling and living overseas. Get to know us a little better as we share our no-bullshit opinions on some controversial topics. We value honesty, and we hope you dig it too. These are our most personal (and favorite!) pieces we’ve written. We hope you enjoy them!

Contents

Year in Review   |   Opinions & Personal Articles   |   Income Reports

Year in Review Articles

2023 Recap: Our Year in 23 Memories

2023 turned out to be a very full year. We're sharing our highs (& a few lows too) to give a glimpse behind the scenes of the last 365 days.

22 Moments from 2022

One of the most beautiful parts of 2022 was realizing that we can still go on adventures even with a little one in tow. 

21 Memories from 2021

When I think back to the start of 2021, it feels like a lifetime ago and at the same time feels as if it just started yesterday. This year was a Big year for us, with a capital B. Here are 21 of the most notable experiences we had this...

Highs & Lows of 2020

2020 was a rough year for many people — ourselves included. We didn’t want to break our tradition of doing a year-end review, but this time it’s full of ups and downs instead of just highlights. If you’ve been wondering what 2020 has been like for travel bloggers, we’re bringing...

19 Highlights of 2019

When I think back on what we did in 2019, it feels like a lifetime and a blip all at the same time. This was a year was a big turning point for us in so many ways, both professionally and personally. Here’s a highlight reel of some of the...

Top 18 Memories of 2018

With a new year on the horizon, we are reflecting on some of our favorite memories from 2018. From traveling adventures to blogging wins, we’ve had a pretty incredible year and are sharing all the details with you!

17 Highlights of 2017

2017 was the year where we worked at a ski resort, lived in a campervan, and moved to Thailand to start working on this blog full time. 2017 was a year of adventures and lessons that we will take with us for life. We'll take you through our favorite moments...

16 Stories from 2016 (in 1 sentence each!)

Whoa! How did this happen? It's almost New Years and time to say goodbye to 2016. We are continuing our tradition of looking back on the year, so here are a few of our best memories from the past 365 days!

15 Memories from 2015

2015 has been a year of firsts, of goodbyes, and welcomes. And it was nearly impossible to choose just 15 memories, but here are a few that stood out amongst the rest.

14 Lessons Learned in 2014

2014 has changed me in ways I cannot even begin to express, but here are a couple of the lessons we've learned along the way.

Opinions & Personal Articles

2023 Recap: Our Year in 23 Memories

2023 turned out to be a very full year. We're sharing our highs (& a few lows too) to give a glimpse behind the scenes of the last 365 days.

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This changes everything…

After traveling for nearly 8 years, we're about to embark on a journey unlike anything we've ever done...

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75+ Best Travel Movies to Inspire Your Wanderlust

We’ve curated a giant list of wanderlust-inducing movies that’ll make you feel as if you are on an adventure far, far away. This list of travel movies covers all genres, from comedies to dramas to documentaries and even a big section of travel series on Netflix!

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65 Books for Travelers: Curing Your Wanderlust One Page at a Time

We’ve curated this giant list of books for travelers including titles we’ve read (and loved!) ourselves, as well as some books that are on our personal to-read list. We’ve done our best to round up a variety of different kinds of stories about travel so you’ll be sure to find...

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9 Things to Consider Before Quitting Your 9-to-5 Job to Travel

It may seem like everyone and their hipster neighbor are quitting their jobs to work remotely and travel the world. Amiright? So is it the answer for you? We're delving into what it's really like to quit your job in pursuit of freedom. And I'm going to give it to...

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Letter to my 18-Year-Old Self

What advice would you tell your fresh-out-of-high-school self? I sat down and wrote a letter to mine and here's what I had to say.

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How Disappointment Can be a Good Thing

How a big disappointment helped us figure out what's next on this journey we call life.

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Losing a Loved One While Overseas

We knew when we left for this year-long trip, we'd be making a lot of sacrifices. We would miss weddings, births and graduations. We would miss celebrations with old friends and holidays with families. But we never thought we would have to experience the death of a love one.

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India is Not for Everyone

I have kind of a love-hate relationship with India. Here's why.

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7 Life-Changing Lessons Travel Teaches

Travel is often thought of as a frivolous, self-indulgent activity. And sometimes it is. But what we often overlook are the life-changing lessons that travel teaches us.

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My Problem with Bucket Lists

That's right, I have some beef with Bucket Lists. But it may not be what you're thinking.

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Love Letter to Minnesota

Dorothy was right: there really is no place like home! Traveling to faraway places has shown me just how special Minnesota is, and has inspired some poetic words.

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Announcing Our Biggest Adventure Yet

We are beyond excited about this next adventure we're embarking on. No, there isn't a baby on the way or a even new house... Read on to see what we can't stop smiling about!

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9 Ways Studying Abroad Changes Your Life

Whether you’re thinking about spending a semester overseas or are reminiscing on your own time abroad, join me in celebrating all the ways studying abroad can change lives for the better.

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9 Lessons I’ve Learned as an Expat

As my year in South Korea comes to an end, I have realized some big lessons I've learned along the way. One thing's for sure -- this year has changed me in ways I never would have expected. Find out what I've learned as an expat.

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10 Ways Overseas Travel Makes Couples Stronger

Traveling overseas will be the best thing you ever do for your relationship. Here's why.

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18 People You’ll Meet While Traveling

When you’re traveling and staying in hostels, you’re bound to meet some interesting characters… You may just fall in love with an exotic stranger, or fate may align your path with the best friend you never knew you were missing. And more likely than not, you will meet some people...

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Confessions of an Expat

Between weekend adventures to new cities, trying exotic foods, and delving into another culture headfirst, there is a secret that all ex-patriots share.

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Korean Apartment Tour

When we finally opened the door to the place we would be calling "home" for the next year, we were shocked.

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Korean Surprise!

One of the more insightful lecturers warned us about a phenomenon she amusingly referred to as the “Korean Surprise”. She explained that in Korea, it was typical to find out things at the very last minute. “Hey, instead of teaching your normal 6th grade students today, you will teach their...

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Back to “Normal” Life… For Now

There are so many things we miss, but we are constantly being reminded how amazing home is, too.

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Are we really doing this?

Have you ever taken a leap of faith and pursued a dream even if it terrified you? We're walking you through all our emotions as we made the decision to leave behind the familiarity of home and pursue our dreams of traveling. Whether you're interested in quitting your job to...

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Blogging Income Reports

How We Made $74,367 in Quarter 4: Travel Blog Income Report

Ending the year with a bang! In this travel blog income report, we’re pulling back the curtain and releasing our traffic stats from Q4 in 2019. We are also sharing how much money we earned, what we spent and how we made major gains on our site this quarter.

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How We Made $63,750 in 3 Months: Q3 Travel Blog Income Report

The last 3 months have been our most successful and profitable blogging months to date! We switched our travel blog income report to a quarterly format, so follow along as we share our monthly traffic and Q3 revenue of over $63,000!

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How we made $17,811 in 1 Month on our Travel Blog: June 2019 Income Report

Come find out how we make money on our travel blog: We’re showing you everything from where we receive our traffic to where we get your revenue. This income report for June not only shows that we had another stellar month, but we actually had our highest monthly profit to...

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How we made $18,065 in 1 Month on our Travel Blog: May 2019 Income Report

Take a peek behind the curtain and see what we worked on this month, where our traffic came from, and how we made more than $18,000 last month! We’re sharing our successes, fails, disappointments and lessons learned in this travel blog income report.

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How We Made $16,389 in One Month (while Island Hopping!): Income Report April 2019

Last month, we shared our very first income report, and we received such a good response, that we’re doing it again! People are always asking us: “How do you earn money on a travel blog?” And we finally broke it all down, with examples, screenshots, and lots of numbers! Come...

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How We Made $14,179 in 1 Month On Our Travel Blog: Income Report March 2019

We put our heads down and committed to learning everything we could about how to monetize our travel blog. And now, blogging is both of our full-time jobs! We’re breaking down exactly how we earn money on our travel blog to inspire newbie bloggers and answer the most common question...

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Where to Next?