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Two Months In Bali, How Much Did We Spend?
Posted on April 24, 2013 | No CommentsWe stayed on the island of Bali in Indonesia for 59 days, lets call it two months. We spent a grand total of AUD $3367.92 during that time. We certainly didn’t live like kings or queens and we also didn’t live like paupers… we lived a “just right for us”... -
Pacsafe 20L Personal Safe Review
Posted on April 10, 2013 | No CommentsA few months ago I entered a competition from Bagworld by liking and sharing a product of theirs on Facebook. Of course, I chose the Pacsafe Travelsafe 20L Portable Safe, and I won. Thanks again Bagworld! I love Pacsafe. I love Bagworld. I love Security. Put them all together and... -
Trail Wallet App Review
Posted on March 13, 2013 | 4 CommentsI came across this iPhone / iPad / iPod app a few months ago and without any hesitation, I paid my USD $1.99 and have’t looked back since. Trail Wallet is an app that can easily track your daily expenditure in the local currency of the country you are... -
How To Get From Taipei Main Station To Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Easily
Posted on December 20, 2012 | No CommentsThe easiest way to get from Taipei city to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is by the use of a taxi. However, that’s a little pricey. If you want to travel to the airport the same way as most Taiwanese and the majority of tourists you can catch a bus... -
Multi Functional Travel Gear – Magic Travel Cloth
Posted on November 23, 2012 | No CommentsHi! I love my multi-functional devices, and here is one that I LOVE even more than the usual! We went into a souvenir shop in Taipei in our second week in Taiwan and I saw this awesome handkerchief decorated with the Taipei Metro system route map. It includes pictures of... -
Dealing With Change
Posted on October 19, 2012 | 4 CommentsHow did that happen? Andrew and I are back in Western Australia. We’re currently spending half of our time in Perth and half in a town called Bunbury. It looks like we will be here for at least six months. We have already been home for just under a month... -
Flying Air Asia From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Taipei, Taiwan
Posted on October 3, 2012 | 6 CommentsOur flight base seems to be Kuala Lumpur. The majority of our flights from and to Perth go via Kuala Lumpur. It seemed only fitting that we would fly to Taipei from Kuala Lumpur too. It was the cheapest flight after all. That is important to us! Apart from the... -
Multi Functional Travel Gear – Packing Cells as Laptop Rests
Posted on September 28, 2012 | 1 CommentI get a lot of enjoyment out of being able to find another use for something we already have in our packs. Today, I would like to share with you an awesome discovery I made after complaining for the umpteenth time about how my lap was getting burnt from my almighty... -
Updated Long Term Travel Packing List
Posted on September 21, 2012 | 12 CommentsWe originally posted our “Long Term One Bag Travel Packing List (For Two People)” back in December of 2011. We have now been on the road for over eight months and a lot has changed since then. We have changed bags, sent stuff home, chucked a lot out and replaced... -
Money Tip – Bank Fees When Withdrawing Your Money Overseas
Posted on September 7, 2012 | 14 CommentsI love money. I love holding it, saving it, spending it and talking about it. Most importantly, I love knowing exactly where each cent I spend goes. I am in control of my money except when it comes to accessing my money overseas. This sucks. After all, I worked hard... -
Parcel Postage Rates – Price Guide to Post Stuff from Cambodia
Posted on August 31, 2012 | 2 CommentsI am not going to lie to you. Sending anything from Cambodia is far too expensive to even consider buying and sending home. If you really do need to buy those 30 bags and 10 t-shirts and 100 pairs of earrings, consider either not doing it or accept the fact... -
Five Ultimate iPhone Apps We Use For Travel
Posted on August 24, 2012 | 2 CommentsThe iPhone is a great invention for travellers. I’ll change that sentence. The smartphone is a great invention for travellers. It is a phone, a computer, a GPS map, a game machine, all in one handy fit in your pocket box. Apart from the normal making calls and using... -
Money Tip – Changing Your Lao Kip Into Thai Baht
Posted on August 10, 2012 | No CommentsIf you are like us, you take out a certain amount of money from the ATM each time. This makes it easier to spot unusual transactions. The amount could be $100, $300 or whatever amount you choose. Try to stick with it for the duration of your trip. Sometimes though,... -
Travel Sleep Sheets – Don’t buy them. Make them.
Posted on July 27, 2012 | 4 CommentsWe brought our own bedding with us. It was one of the best ideas I had, bringing our own bedding wherever we go. Just in case the sheets at the hotel weren’t perfect, we always have something to sleep between. Perhaps I am a bit of a germaphobe, perhaps a... -
Laos Unitel Sim Card – Enabling 3G Internet For The iPhone
Posted on July 6, 2012 | 6 CommentsBuying a Unitel Sim Card in Luang Prabang is easy peasy. Pretty much every shop in town stocks them. The Unitel 3G Cell Carrier is the biggest provider in Laos, so look for the sign that says “Unitel” ask for a sim card and away you go. However, not all... -
Speak from Day 1 – Fluent in 3 Months Review
Posted on June 29, 2012 | 2 CommentsWe lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for eight months back in 2009. During this time the only things we learnt in Thai were how to order our favourite foods, ask how much something was, complain that it was too expensive, and then say no thank you. Ok, perhaps we learnt... -
The Cost of Living in Chiang Mai, Thailand – A Monthly Break Down
Posted on May 11, 2012 | 14 CommentsThe below is how much it cost us to live in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a full calendar month. From the 7th February 2012 to the 7th March 2012. There are many apartments on offer in Chiang Mai. Some that are a lot cheaper than the one that we stayed... -
Chiang Mai Walking Tour Map Revisited
Posted on April 18, 2012 | 2 CommentsChiang Mai, Thailand isn’t a dinky town. It is a city. And a big city at that. Coming back to Chiang Mai after a two year hiatus surprised us. The city was just as beautiful as we remembered but a lot of new apartment buildings had gone up and a... -
Dental Floss – A traveler’s best friend
Posted on April 10, 2012 | No CommentsDental Floss is the ultimate multifunctional tool to take with you on your travels. There are so many things you can do with dental floss apart from flossing your teeth. Below are some great ideas use dental floss and a couple other items you may have in your micro mini... -
Health Tip – Travel Insurance on the road
Posted on April 3, 2012 | 2 CommentsTravel insurance is a thorny issue with me. We’ve only ever tried to claim twice. One of those claims has just gone in. We’ll see what happens there. The other was back in 2009 when Tanya got particularly sick and needed medical attention in Thailand. She saw a doctor and... -
What is slow travel?
Posted on March 27, 2012 | No CommentsWhat is slow travel? It refers to not visiting seven countries in two weeks. Instead you visit two countries (if that) in seven weeks. We have all done lightning trips before. We decide to take the four weeks per year we are owed from work as a holiday to another... -
Money Tip – How To Save Money For Travel
Posted on March 20, 2012 | 5 CommentsSaving money for travel is easy! You just need to put your mind to it, follow some simple steps, work out how you could save more money, then do it. Open up a separate web bank account just for travel saving Open up a web bank account that receives... -
Creating a home (and office) wherever you go
Posted on March 16, 2012 | No CommentsOur home is wherever we are. We know this sounds like a cliché but it is true for us at this point in our lives. We are often homeless. This is mainly when we are travelling from one place to another. However as soon as we get into our room... -
Keeping in contact with home
Posted on March 13, 2012 | 2 CommentsStaying in touch with your family and friends can be very important to travelers. In reality, it is more important to travelers that it is cheap to do so. There is nothing worse than spending a lot of money for a 10 minute phone call back home. If you are... -
Visa Requirements For Australians (free spreadsheet)
Posted on March 6, 2012 | No CommentsPerhaps we were too organised. Perhaps we were just too excited about the possibility of going to experience life in another country. Perhaps we were just too overwhelmed by all the visa complications that countries offer these days. Anyway, we created an awesome spreadsheet with all the visa requirements of... -
Money Tip – Having a travel budget and sticking to it.
Posted on February 14, 2012 | No CommentsThere are two main questions we get asked when we meet people on the road, bus, ferry, at the guest house etcetera. First question is “for how long are you traveling for?” The second question we get asked when we say that we are traveling indefinately is “How can you... -
Is this the worst hotel room in the world?
Posted on February 4, 2012 | 2 CommentsWe have stayed in all sorts of accommodation over the years ranging from a clean room with just a mattress on the ground (and nothing else) to a surprisingly gorgeous room with every amenity at our disposal. Unfortunately, we can’t always have the best of the best… this place, where the... -
Why travel light?
Posted on January 31, 2012 | 9 CommentsTravelling Light. Travelling with One Bag Only. Not everybody does it. But everybody should. This is why travelling light is for everyone. Security. When you travel light, with a carry on a plane sized bag, you can take it with you everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere.... -
What do we do with our wedding rings while we’re traveling?
Posted on January 24, 2012 | 6 CommentsTanya and I don’t have the most valuable wedding rings in the world. They’re actually fairly modest by most people’s standards. However, they are still worth more than some people in some parts of the world earn in a whole year. Realizing the disparity between the poverty of some... -
Working and Traveling At The Same Time – Our Location Independent Offices
Posted on January 20, 2012 | 5 CommentsWorking and travelling at the same time is not for everyone. We know this too well. When we first discussed the possibility of “location independence” we were both very scared. Our knowledge of how to work remotely was so limited “location independence” sounded totally unachievable. And now, three months or... -
I am so glad we bought these shoes!
Posted on January 14, 2012 | 4 CommentsTanya: “I am so glad we bought these shoes!” Yes, I am aware that our new shoes aren’t the most attractive shoes in the world. Mine are purple though, and Andrew’s don’t look too bad with socks underneath. Ha! Wearing sandals with socks! We are real travelers now. In... -
The Ultimate Traveler’s Gift List
Posted on December 10, 2011 | 1 CommentWhat do you buy a minimalist traveler for a gift? Shopping for someone who needs to fit all their worldly possessions in one backpack can be challenging. Luckily, we have come to the rescue and devised the following Ultimate Traveler’s Gift List for you! Collapsible 1 Litre Water Bottles Collapsible... -
Long Term One Bag Travel Packing List (For Two People)
Posted on December 6, 2011 | 18 CommentsThis is an old post. Click here for our updated packing list Below is a list of everything we have taken with us on our long term one bag trip. We have done our best to keep it simple, have minimal “stuff” but still be extremely comfortable and to stay... -
Postal Problems. Our continuing mission to figure out what to do with our mail.
Posted on November 1, 2011 | 2 CommentsWe’ve previously mentioned that we set ourselves up with a virtual mailbox company to handle most of our mail. While sensitive financial stuff was going directly to family members, to limit the volume of mail they had to deal with, the rest of our mail was to go to a... -
Tanya’s last day at work!
Posted on October 27, 2011 | 1 CommentTanya recently left her job. This is the third time she has been employed by this particular company. Will this be her last time she leaves the brewery? Only time will tell. In the following video she has just returned from a lunchtime trip to the pub with her coworkers... -
What To Do Before Going Overseas On An Extended Trip
Posted on October 20, 2011 | No CommentsWe’re currently in final preparations for our next international adventure. We’ve been chipping away at our to do list for months but still seem to have a lot to do. We’ve chosen to finish at our jobs a full two weeks before departure to make sure we get everything done.... -
How To Move Overseas. 5 Tips.
Posted on September 26, 2011 | 2 CommentsAn international move is equal parts exciting and frightening. Taking off somewhere you may not have even visited before takes a peculiar mix of courage, desire for new experiences and sheer foolishness Here are some tips to make moving overseas and setting up a new home easier. This is partly... -
Vaccinations and Immunizations For Travellers
Posted on September 24, 2011 | No CommentsTanya and I recently went and got a number of vaccinations done. It’s an unfun but often advisable part of travelling and we’ve made a little video about our experience getting them done. Forgive the echo. In preparation for our next adventure we’ve sold basically all of our stuff with... -
Five tips to help access your post mail online.
Posted on September 15, 2011 | No CommentsWhat to do with your postal mail while you’re out seeing the world is a headache. Why isn’t everything paperless yet? The next best thing is a virtual mailbox that you can use to access your post mail online. Here are five tips to help access your post online. Tip... -
Paperless mail. An easy way to get your postal mail online?
Posted on September 8, 2011 | 1 CommentOne thing that has bothered me when preparing for our up and coming long term lifestyle changing trip… what to do with all our mail? The most obvious answer that we, as well as others we spoke to, came up with was to just get our mail forwarded to one...











































