Travel Changes You: Everest, Japan & Going All In W/@aronanderika | The Globetrotters’ Guide Ep. 6

Travel Changes You: Everest, Japan & Going All In W/@aronanderika | The Globetrotters’ Guide Ep. 6

And that and we are live. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Welcome to the Globe Trotters Guide. I’m so happy to have you guys here today. And what am I trying to say? Tonight on the Globe Trotters Guide, we are joined by two creators who have turned Wonderlust into a way of life. From the snowy heights of Everest base camp to the neon alleys of Tokyo, Aaron and Erica have been chasing epic adventures across New Zealand, South Asia, and now they’re in Japan filming, storytelling, and building something meaningful together as they go. They don’t just plan or they didn’t just plan a vacation. They planned a lifestyle shift. And tonight we’re diving into how that happened, how it’s changed them, and what they’ve learned along the way. So, if you’ve ever dreamed of going allin on travel or just wanted to hear what it’s really like to build a life on the move, this is the episode for you. Aaron and Erica, welcome to the Globe Trotters Guide. Thank you so much for having us. Absolutely. It is so nice to have you guys. I’ve been watching you guys now for weeks and weeks and months and months. Um, and I am just loving everything that you guys do from I think I started watching you guys when just around the time you were going to New Zealand and uh and doing places that were in the um uh in the Lord of the Rings. And I kind of fell in love with that cuz I love the Lord of the Rings too as I’m sure you uh got from my comments on your videos. Yes. Yes. Yes. Very much so. So, it’s been very cool watching you guys just kind of travel and I know that wasn’t the beginning of your travel. I know you’ve been doing more, but it’s just been a real enjoyment just watching you guys travel and all that kind of stuff. So, I love it. So, we’re going to interview you guys. We’re going to get to know you a little bit and uh maybe we’ll just jump right into it. Yeah, sounds great. Awesome. So, question number one, these are the easy ones. So, we’re starting out light and we’re going to go deep later on. But who caught the travel bug first? Uh, it was definitely me for sure. Uh, I actually initially traveled to Southeast Asia 10 or 15 years ago and then from there I kind of just started dragging Aaron along on different trips until I kind of forced him to like to travel as well. Yes, it took a little more coaxing for me. So cool. And uh how long ago did you guys actually start traveling? Like when did you start your journey and how did that kind of happen? A while ago. We So we started like our year trip. Mhm. Oops. what happened to go back and do real jobs while we still continue to travel. So, our full-time travel is not a forever thing for us. Um, but it’s something we still want to do. It’s still incorporated into our lifestyle. And we had started traveling even before like our big year trip. We had done several trips every year just to go to different places and and had the idea to go for a whole year after that. Exactly. Yeah. We just uh we still plan on doing at least two or three trips a year in the future, too. So, it’s never going to stop. We’re we’re going to keep going and going. Very cool. And you guys are really going to I know you put on your thing and you have your little ticker about, you know, you’ve gone to what is it 64 countries now? I think it’s 64. 64. 63 or 64. I always lose count. That’s how I keep track actually is Instagram. Cool. And you guys are planning on doing them all. Optimally, yes. Over over plenty of time. Um, we don’t have a specific I know a lot some people are like a hundred countries or something, but I think we want to just go to all of them. I would be satisfied with triple digits in the end. Uh maybe if I’m like 60 or something that’s fine. Very cool. So here here’s a question for you guys. How do you actually decide where you are going to go next? Is it just kind of like your gut feeling or do you have a list? Do you have a plan? Uh mostly it’s uh lists and like plans and opportunities. Uh it’s never really gut feeling with this one. She’s the planner. Uh, definitely big time. But she’s all about lists. I I think like going into this year, we kind of had parts of the world we knew we were going to be at at a certain time. And then from there, we kind of just let like the opportunities and cheap plane tickets dictate how and where we were going to go. So, we knew this part was going to be Asia and then the order that we did all of it just fell into place. Pricing is definitely a huge factor as well. We always try to do it on a budget situation, I guess you could say. All right. So, and this question is not on our list, but you guys have to let me in on a little secret because I’ve been watching like I watch travel YouTube of course all the time and it just seems like half the YouTubers I’m watching seem to be in like the same areas around the same time. Like, do you guys have a secret society that I’m missing out on? Honestly, no. It’s weird. We just constantly just are in the very similar area. Wasn’t there an individual in the same area as us recently? Yeah, we were in Bangkok with another uh group there or another couple that we follow and it just all kind of happens. I think a lot of especially like YouTubers or content creators go towards the cheaper locations or more affordable locations and you’re bound to run into people when you all go to more affordable locations. Yeah, I think that that’s probably it. But yeah, no secret society that I know of yet. Yeah, we haven’t been invited. For sure. I just needed to make sure that I’m not missing out because I really feel like I I’m like this is like everybody’s there. Weird. Believe me, if uh there was one and we were in, you would get an invite for sure. Very cool. So, a little bit of your maybe you can tell us a little bit about your origin story and like was there like a moment when you guys looked at each other and said, “Hey, let’s build our lives out of travel or you know, was it one person more than the other or how did that happen?” I definitely like the origin story. It makes me feel like a superhero. But you guys are basically Thank you. Basically, Erica basically just turned around and said, “Aaron, are you coming or what?” I said, “Okay.” So, no, that that’s not what No, I think we started just I like I said, I started planning a bunch of trips and I’m just like, “Okay, Aaron, let’s go. We’re going.” But then to do this big like full-time travel year trip, Aaron is actually the one that came and asked and brought it up, I think. And how what he always says is that he knew as soon as he mentioned it, I would instantly say yes. So he made sure that that’s what he really wanted to do before he mentioned it because as soon as he was right, as soon as he mentioned it, we started planning for it. And three years later, are you guys talking about travel or engagement now? Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no. Travel like the year. Engagement. That sounds accurate too. Uh yeah. No, this this was specifically for our year trip travel. We had been traveling before that, but I mean take taking off and getting rid of everything and just traveling for a year. He knew that that’s something I would not turn down. And so that’s that’s what he proposed. Yes. Yes. I got the next. Awesome. So, um what was so what was your actually what was your first big trip as like a couple? Like was this it or you know you had you mentioned uh Erica that you had been tra doing some traveling before or like what was your first big okay we’re doing this together and this is our coming out thing. Um, the first big trip that we did was actually like a European trip and that was Oh, I’m trying to think of what year it was now. I think it was 2015. And we did like the classic European hopping between countries super quickly over about two weeks. And I don’t know. I guess I think I think it was as you would expect it to be. Uh for the first people traveling or the first time we traveled together, didn’t really know what we were doing. Uh didn’t really plan super well to be honest and there was a some bickering in streets as we’re trying to find different hostels and we got lost. Yeah, definitely got had some fighting. got a lot of it was a sweaty exhausting moment. Yeah, a lot of fights. Yeah, I think I mean No, go ahead. Oh, I I just I think that that’s what I think a lot of people kind of fear that the first time they go like on a big trip is the unknown. You don’t really know what to do. You don’t know what to plan. You don’t know what to expect. And so I feel like that’s exactly how our first trip together was, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. A big learning experience. Exactly. But clearly you guys got through it and you’re still together, so it seems to have been a success. Yes. Yes. Oh. Worked out in the long term. Yeah. Yeah. It helped us uh prepare for the longer trip, the year trip. Yeah, for sure. So, tell me like I mean you guys said you traveled kind of since 2015 and stuff like that. So, how is your travel style evolved as your kind of audience and your ambitions have grown? Oh, how’s it evolved? Uh, I would say normally we’re pretty quick. We move move go uh on the shorter trips. But now that we moved to this year trip, we’ve kind of slowed down a bit, uh, our travel styles changed in terms of pricing. So, we tend to watch our funds a lot more. Um, do a lot cheaper things, free things most importantly. Um, yeah, but mostly it’s just about uh slowing down a little bit. Um, trying to relax and get some RNR as we go because it’s such a long time. Yeah, I think like as far as the budget travel, that has always been pretty forefront. Um, we want to do things like as well but as cheap as we possibly can. So, that really hasn’t changed much. Um, I think the locations that we want that we have wanted to go to have evolved though. Um, like had you asked me five or ten years ago if I wanted to go to Everest base camp, I would have said no. Um, so I think like different types of adventure activities have become more prominent things that we want to do. It’s true. Yeah. Okay. So, and I have to ask this and and this is not on the uh on the list either, but you guys definitely give off like a Cara and Nate vibe in the early days like like are they one of your like ambitions? Like like are they one of those people who inspire you as well? They are. Yeah. Honestly, they’re the ones that kind of whole inspired me to push this year trip thing because I thought it would be fun. But yeah, we started out watching them as well and we actually have a few people comment about how we’re like look similar and stuff like that. So yeah, just recently we were in Thailand on a bus with someone and they asked if we had a YouTube and they’re like, “Oh, you remind us of Cara and Nate.” So then they got their family to come and subscribe and watch us, too. Um, so yeah, I I think we are one of the many Cara and Nate followers. Yes. Very cool. So, does that mean uh Erin, we’re gonna see you doing marathons pretty soon here in the next couple of years? I don’t know. Nate is a beast with that. I just don’t know if I have the mentality to do those types of challenges that he does. That’s I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see. He says that, but then he was like getting excited about potentially doing some of the peaks when we’re going around base camp. So, we’ll we’ll give it a few years. We’ll see. I was going to say it’s the next evolution. It is. It could be. Yes. Very, very cool. All right. So, let’s talk about Everest base camp because it is I mean that’s huge. And I mean those who know know like there’s climbing Everest and then there’s just like just getting to base camp of Everest is a thing in and of itself that some a lot of people don’t kind of like understand. So I guess like tell me the story of how you guys decided, hey, we’re going to go do the trek to Everest base camp. Like what pushed you to take the leap? How did you how did you get from, you know, New Zealand and checking out Hobbit holes to we’re going to do, you know, we’re going to do Everett Base Camp? Uh, I think, uh, what pushed me was Erica. She just kind of gave me the pushes that we’re going. No, we um, we had started doing more like outdoor hiking activities. Um when we did Machu Picchu, this was like before we started recording anything. Um but we did Machu Picchu and then we kind of graduated a little bit and decided to go do Torres Delp Pine, which was actually our first videos that we ever recorded. And so then that was before this year trip. I was like, I want to do something like really cool and really amazing. And it just kind of seemed to be the next step. In all reality, it was probably a big step to go from Taurus Delpine to Everest base camp. Um, but that was one of the special things like within this year that we planned everything around is we knew we wanted to go in May and so we kind of planned the rest of the trip around that. And part of the reason I guess I was just like, why not? And you can do it so why not do it? Yep. especially while we’re younger before our knees and hips start to get out. Well, I know I’m there. So, and I we have seen quite a few people actually some people was a guy in our group initially was about 62 years old and he was doing it. So, I’m I was honestly baffled by how many people who were in the older stages of life are just doing this. So, definitely I think you could probably do it. There was some really really impressive people like uh one of the day I know we’re going to talk about it but one of the days I was I was actually I thought I was dying and then this this group of older ladies comes up and they just seem as happy and cheerful as ever and I’m over here like huffing and puffing going up this mountain. So definitely all all age varieties can do Everest base camp. It might just take a little bit longer. Sure. And that and that makes sense. And since you mentioned it, I mean, talk about it. Like I I assume some days are a lot easier than others. So, was there some parts in the trick in the in the trek where you’re just like like you’re saying like you just thought you couldn’t make it or, you know, this is too much or what on earth was I thinking? You know, tell us about tell us about that and how you how did you get past it? I think so. Elevation does a lot more to you than you even think it’s going to going into it. You’re like, I can handle the elevation. It’s going to be fine. Um, but the route that we did to Ever Space Camp wasn’t the typical one. We went up uh to Gokyo and then went across a pass before we got to Everest Space Camp. So the pass that we did was Chola Pass and that was the day that I did not think I was going to make it. Like we get probably 3/4 of the way up the pass and I just like turned to Aaron and I’m like I can’t do this. I was like I don’t I don’t know how I’m going to make it up the rest of this mountain. Um and it was snowing on us that day. It was snowing. It was cold. It was slippery. It was the highest elevation we had been to. And then he kind of just looked at me. He took some of the weight from my backpack. And I think I I came to the realization too that we literally couldn’t turn around. There was no option to turn around. And so I had to keep going. And we we ended up making it to the top. It was beautiful. Right as we got to the top, the sun came out and was like shining like over the valley and the mountains. So it ended up being I think really perfect. But there was about an hour’s period of time. I was like, there’s no way I’m making it off of this mountain. Erica is not giving herself enough credit though because honestly, we had a group of individuals who took a group picture and her legs are about half as long as all of ours and she was keeping up with everyone. So, I’m very proud of her for being able to do that. It’s just so impressive that she could keep up with all of us tall people. So, Oh, that’s awesome. And Erin, I just I love how you are like her greatest cheerleader. That is just awesome and it just makes my heart so happy. A thank you. Um that that my that wasn’t really my hardest to stay though. That that was Erica’s my heart state seems like a lot wimpier. It was literally the second day. Um and the reason it was hard was because uh again elevation hits different for everybody and I had some intestinal problems. Um really it was all about not pushing and trying to hold it all in. So, uh, I I I can, uh, I can bet you a lot of people who did the hike can definitely attest to those similar issues. We’ve heard a lot of people having those issues. Yeah. So, do you find like you both push each other equally or is it more like you, Erin, pushing Erica or Erica, do you push Erin more or is it different depending on the day? I think it differs depending on the day and activity. Yeah, definitely depending on the situation. I think when it comes to things like hiking, he probably pushes me a little bit more, but when it I guess maybe getting out of your comfort zone, I might push him a little bit more. Yeah. And it depends who has that extra push and drive that day. If one of us is just tired and over it, then we have to rely on the other person a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that’s actually a good answer. Yeah. No. And that makes that makes a that makes a lot of sense. So, and and this is the part that maybe baffles me a a little bit about the whole like full-time travel thing. And I mean, I am going to get there one day. Maybe when the kids are all done and got them graduated and all that, I’ll go full-time travel myself. But it feels like like a huge amount of like mental whiplash to at one point in time be, you know, right next to the top of the world, you know, in a very remote place and, you know, bare bones and all that kind of stuff with, you know, nothing there and no support to being in like literally one of the biggest metropolises on the world with all the lights and all the noise and the sounds and the and the everything. like how do you guys handle that kind of like switch from like one extreme to the other? Um I guess it just depends on which direction you’re going from like I guess say uh Nepal to Japan or Japan to Nepal. Uh it it it could be good, it could be bad. So, for instance, when we jumped to Japan, the like cleanest, most organized um city I have ever been to, uh it was a great jump because um after doing that hike, it was just nice to get to a little bit more organized and cleaner situation. But um yeah, I guess it just depends. I think we’ve had to kind of change our expectations a little bit. I don’t know if expectations is the right word, but kind of like go go into every place just thinking it’s going to be just okay. And then I feel like we’re pretty much always pleasantly surprised. Um, but it definitely can be whiplash, especially I think the most that we felt it honestly was going from Nepal to Japan. A lot of the other countries were mostly traveling within the same area, but these two countries are so vastly different. I was I I love Nepal. I really loved Nepal, but uh Tokyo was a welcome change. Yes. And it’s just really a matter of getting used to it. I think we’ve kind of just gotten used to the whiplash uh and then the changes and we really just don’t even notice it. But I guess the best thing is to keep lower expectations. Um and then you’ll just never be disappointed. There you go. And I mean, I remember like I lived in Thailand for a while up in Chiang Mai when I was much younger and I ended up leaving because I was sick, but I just remember like having been in Thailand in that slower pace of life for months and then suddenly, you know, I was in Minneapolis and it’s like lights and sound and people and people, right, and and all that kind of stuff and I was like like it it actually literally threw me for a loop. And I know my situation’s a little bit differently cuz I was going from like one living situation to a completely other living situation. But I just remember that whiplash, you know, from, you know, one mode of life to, you know, suddenly a few hours later being this completely different mode of life just being a major big thing. And I guess even people who are just like going on vacation, you know, you go to a place for a couple of weeks and you know, you’re, you know, even if you go to Jamaica, the Caribbean, you’re in this kind of slower mode of life and then suddenly whoosh, you’re back into your job and this and that and so on so so on so forth. So I mean it can be a lot. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. So totally get that. So, it is the time of the show where I have to take a quick pause and I have to do all the YouTube stuff that we normally do. So, first of all, uh if you have joined us, welcome. Um we are live with Aaron and Erica who have been to Everest base camp, which is just cool. We’re having a conversation. If you are at all interested in all of all of this, I do definitely encourage you to check out their videos at Aaron and Erica on YouTube and also on Instagram. They’re there as well. Um, check them out. It’s a lot of fun. If you’re interested in travel and you’re enjoying this podcast, definitely check us out on Well, you’re obviously watching it on our YouTube channel. And if you’re on our Spotify uh listening to us today, definitely check us out at uh the Wonder Crew on YouTube. We also have a Discord channel where we chat and talk about travel, give each other tips and tricks and all that kind of stuff as well. So check that out at bit.ly do or sorry. See, this is the problem with doing things live is if you make a mistake, you can’t go back. I can’t edit it out. Like it’s out there forever now. Take two. We are on Discord, so check that out. bit bit.ly/join17. The 117 of course refers to our big um call it a challenge. Our big challenge um to take for me to take my kids to visit all seven continents and see all seven wonders of the world before my youngest one graduates. He’s 11 years old now. So, you know, I’ve got I’ve got a ticking clock. So, definitely join us. Definitely subscribe to our channel. Subscribe to Aaron and Erica as well. We are having a great time with them. I am loving every second of this. And again, a big thank you to Aaron and Erica as well. But let’s go on to the quickfire round. This is the round where we just get to know you a little bit more with those quickfire questions. Now, there’s two of you here. So, if you both have a different answer, it’s like, you know, that wedding game where you have to like hold up different shoes when they ask a question. I’m kind of expecting it. I’m kind of expecting it to be like that a little bit. So, I will ask the questions and you guys can answer just first one that comes to your mind and let’s go at it. So, first one, backpack or rolling suitcase? suitcase. Um, it depends honestly. That’s kind of a question for me. Uh, I would say in like a lot of places in Asia, I would say backpack so I don’t roll my suitcase in dog poop like but yeah, most of the time suitcase. But yeah, suitcases stay more organized. You don’t have to carry it on your back through the airport. It’s just it’s just more convenient. Very very fair. That makes a lot of sense. All right. Dream destination that you have not been to yet. Antarctica for me. Maldes for me. Maldives. So overwater bungalows. Okay. So I got to dig into the Antarctica part a little bit now. Why? Why Antarctica? Just because it’s like so exotic and few people go there or you know are you looking for the penguins or I love animals. I could like sit there and just film animals for hours and days and Erica has to push me to move on and say, “Okay, we got enough of that uh musketeer. Let’s go.” I said, “No, no, no, no. We need more yaks now.” But I love the animals. I would go there just for the animals, but mostly it’s so I can get all seven continents. I think you and I align in that uh goal for sure. Very, very cool. Well, I wish you luck in getting there. I think you guys definitely should. And I mean, like, why not? I mean, you guys have done so much travel already. Why not knock off that seventh continent? I think it makes a lot of sense. Yes. Yes. 100%. For sure. All right. One tra we’ll do this for each of you guys. One travel item that you always pack, the one thing you have to have with you. Um, I guess it depends uh on on what we consider a travel item. I would say obviously the camera, but I think I probably like a belt bag. I never use it at home, but if I’m traveling, a belt bag would is very helpful for securing your items, carrying more items and stuff like that. Okay. Are you one of those Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Oh, I was just going to ask you focus. See, there’s that lag. You first. I was just going to say for for myself, I was just going to say packing cubes. I live by my packing cubes. They keep everything so organized. Like I don’t do any trip, even like a small trip, like over the weekend, I don’t go anywhere without packing cubes. Fair enough. That makes a lot of sense. So Erin, are you one of those people who like wears your belt bag on your belt? Are you one of those people who like wears it over your shoulder and all those other weird ways? It’s It’s going to depend on what you call it. If it’s over the shoulder, then I call it a belt bag. But if it’s on like the waist, then I’m going to go old school and call it a fanny pack. Fanny pack. There you go. So I guess I wear it on the chest. There you go. You and me are aligned again. Definitely. Yeah. I feel like for me, I can’t justify wearing a fanny pack, but I can justify wearing a belt bag. So, it’s very important how you wear it. Yeah. There. There you go. Awesome. Awesome. All right. Uh, most underrated place that you have ever visited. I think we’re going to have different answers. Uh, I’m that gonna go with Laos, uh, just because it’s not on everybody’s radar. Uh, and it’s just so interesting to learn about all the different things there. Um, and it’s almost just as beautiful as Vietnam as well. So, I just say why not go there as well if you’re over in Vietnam. And I say Albania. Um, Albania is actually like in our top three countries list and we’ve told so many people that and they just see seem to be shocked like, “Oh, Albania.” like it was never even on their radar. I think it’s becoming more of a place to go in Eastern Europe, but they have mountains, beaches, it’s very affordable, a ton of history. So, more importantly, the food is out of this world. Amazing. Yeah, it’s delicious. So, yeah, I have to go with Albania. Awesome. I might put that on my list definitely for our for our European leg. Awesome. All right. Um, here’s one and you guys can both answer or if you have a great story to tell, this is a perfect time for it. Worst airport experience. Again, it’s I think it’s might be a little different. I’m going to go with Catmand do just recently because uh we had a lot of delays, a lot of issues, but mostly it was the sheer amount of people that were there. I’ve never seen anything like it. We pulled up in our van to get to the airport and there were hundreds and hundreds of people and they weren’t even all flying. It was just their entire family came to wish them goodbye and it was literally shoulderto-shoulder, chest to back trying to squeeze through and just get to the gate. Couldn’t even get into the airport because of the amount of people. Wow. I think my the worst one for me personally does have a story with it. Um when we were in Dar Salam, Tanzania in was this like November. Uh we get to the airport and we got there really early because of checkout and when the time of our flight was, but we get there and our flight just doesn’t seem to exist. Like we can’t find anything anywhere. The airline that we’re flying with, I think we were flying here to Zambia, it there wasn’t a sign for it. like there was nothing. And so people kept directing us to different locations. We finally made it to like an information lady and she’s like, “Oh, your airline isn’t flying today.” We’re like, “What do you mean it’s not flying today?” Like, “We have a ticket. We can go online right now and buy a ticket for it as well if we didn’t already have one.” She was just like, “No, no, it’s not flying. It’s not on the schedule. We don’t see your flight at all.” Doesn’t exist. Yeah, it doesn’t exist. And so then we got sent to several more people and finally we get to this one guy and he looks too and he’s like, “Huh? Yeah, it’s not on the board to fly.” He’s like, “But let me call like Air Zambia.” So he called them and they’re like, “Oh yeah, the flight is going today. It somehow just like fell off of our like flight tracking schedule.” And so we’ve been This was like several hours later. We finally found that our flight did indeed exist and everything kind of worked out at that point. But it was very stressful for a few hours just being told that, you know, we need to go to this place. It doesn’t exist there. No one has any idea. Uh yeah, it it was a very stressful situation, especially for me cuz I had booked it all and I was like, I know I booked this. I know I did this. I have the confirmation for it. So definitely worst airport experience for me. No, I I totally get that. I would I would be a little baffled, too. I think my worst airport experience ever has still got to be Heathro airport. I don’t know why, but every time I go into that airport, something bad happens. And I hope my dad isn’t listening to this, but I I have to tell this one just because it’s a little bit fun. So we were actually on our way to Ghana through Kenya actually and uh so we flew from uh Canada where we are to uh Heathro and my dad and we had an 8 hour layover and I mean eight hours is not a long time but my father in his infinite wisdom decided that he had a friend in London and we needed to meet up and we needed to have a lunch or a chat time or whatever they decided they they were going to call it. So, we did. So, we got out of the airport, we went and met this guy. And of course, I was much younger and much more timely. And I was like, um, should we not be like going like this? This is London. It’s not, you know, like, you know, we we really need to get going. And probably about seven hours into our layover, they decide, okay, we better go now. And to this man’s credit, he got us to the airport just on time. And we ran to the uh we ran to the uh to the check-in only to realize that my dad had left our tickets in the man’s car. Oh no. And so we missed the flight and because this was a flight to Kenya, it wasn’t a daily flight. So we got stuck in London for three extra days with like none of our stuff and all that kind of stuff. Like I mean we were packed for Africa, not for London, right? Yeah. Vastly different. And honestly like I mean I like London, right? I love the UK. It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. I just don’t want to be stuck there. The irony behind all of that is had you asked us like before November of last year, Heathrow was our least favorite airport. We hated Heathrow airport. Almost missed our flight because we had to go from one end of the terminal to the other cuz I don’t know. It’s just a maze there. Yeah. So, we we totally agree. Like London, do not like the airport. Yep. 100%. If you ever see some people just running through the airport, that was us like six months ago, literally running through it. Yeah. No, exactly. Okay, let’s let’s continue on from the uh from the airport part. Uh and I feel like this is going to be one of these questions that you guys answer differently again. Um are you the plan every detail type of people or the kind of more winging it type of people? in spirit. I’m the more wing it type person. Uh she’s definitely the planner. I So for the trips like that we plan like with our family and when our family is here or the ones that we were just doing for a few weeks before we set off for this full year, every single detail was planned cuz I want to do as much as possible before I leave. But I wouldn’t say that I wing it. I still have a kind of plan. It’s just a more hazy plan that’s not planned to the minute. But I I’ve tried to not plan as much and it gives me some anxiety to not plan. So I have to do it. She does. Fair enough. And I was going to ask too cuz I know like when I travel I like to plan. Like I am planning Jamaica now months out in advance and it already gives me a little bit of the heebie-jebies that I don’t have everything planned out and like we don’t even hit the plane for months. Like I’m that type of person. But how do you handle it when you have a plan and you’re out in wherever and that plan starts to fall apart? I think I have a little bit of a emotional breakdown for a minute. Um because I do put so much into this plan. Like if we if we don’t make this, we’re not going to make this. Um but I think that I’ve learned to be a little bit more flexible. And I think that that’s been a good thing about having gone for this full year is that I know like I want to kind of fit these things in this day, but in all reality, they don’t have to go on this day. Um, so I think it’s honestly more of like a attitude change for me than anything else. Um, and so and like I’ve I’ve learned to prioritize a little bit more like I really want to or we really want to do this, but if we do this that’d be cool. If not, it’s not the end of the world. I think it’s affected me in the opposite manner. I think I’ve learned to appreciate the structure a little more. Um, it’s it’s kind of something I’ve been used to throughout our travels in the past and uh when something does go wrong, it does make me appreciate what everything Erica does more than it used to. Oh, that’s awesome. I love it. That’s a great answer. All right, so here’s one. One travel splurge that you will always always justify. So that one thing that if you’re like, “Okay, between this thing and this thing, it’s always going to be that thing.” I think that the big thing, and maybe it’s cuz I’m the one that books where we’re staying, but we have not stayed like in a hostel for many years. Like we’ll always stay in a private room, even if we have a shared bathroom. Like we will spend more to stay in a private room. It’s just nice to have your own space to not have to worry about if anyone’s going to take your stuff from your bed or anything like that. So, I think that accommodation to some degree, we don’t stay at nice places all the time, don’t get me wrong. Um, but just having our own space at a hotel or Airbnb or something is something I will splurge a little bit on. I would say um experiences more is what we splurge on. So, we tend to like save in other areas and try and do cheaper hotels and then focus more on the experience. Um, like Everest, for example, uh, and then safaris and a few things that we put extra aside for for those specific experiences. Yeah, it’s funny because the, uh, not the last uh, one that I did with Alicia, and by the way, I noticed that Alicia is actually in our chat right now and she asked a question. So, we’re going to we’re going to answer it as a question. So, first of all, hi Alicia, but the one but the the one before Alicia with Tulu, she actually said the same thing was she would always splurge now on a private room or a hotel or something like that. She basically said, I I am too old to sit in a hostel with a whole bunch of other people and all that kind of stuff. So, it’s it’s funny that uh you guys have come up with, you know, more or less the same answer over the uh you know, over your travels. Yeah. I think that especially like the longer you travel, if you’re gone from home or like being on the road is your home, it’s just nice to have your own space because you’re already uncomfortable so much of the time and like having to learn new things in a new country. Um, so just being able to like come back to your place and not have to share it with 20 other young people who were just out partying is can be kind of nice. That’s true. Yeah. I I’m not into the whole party scene anymore, so that can be uh very nice. Yeah. No, that makes sense. And I see Alicia’s got another question in there, too. So, we’re going to answer Alicia’s question. And for the other people who are watching, if you guys have got questions, please drop them in the chat and we will ask them to well I will ask them to Eron and Erica and we’ll get some answers to your questions. So I see there’s about six or so people in there. So if you’ve got questions, you know, we will try to have some answers for you and we’ll have some fun with it. But uh continuing on um are you more of a solo travel or I guess couple travel people or do you prefer traveling like with a group of people like your family or others like that? What do you prefer it? Well, I think you can take this one, but mostly I think it depends. Preferably couple just like us is so much easier, but it it’s nice to have family. I I love traveling with my family. and they’ve come several times. I know for anyone who’s been watching our videos, they’ve seen them pop in. Uh it just makes the planning a lot more stressful, especially at Christmas when when there was 11 of us and I planned pretty much everything. Um it was very very stressful. We love traveling with them. Um, but we have a different speed of travel too because whenever people come to travel with us, they’re only going for like two weeks or something like that and so want to do as much as possible. Whereas when we’re by ourselves, we kind of take it slower because we know we have more time. So, love traveling with other people, but also really appreciate traveling just like together as a couple, too. Yeah, there’s some other factors to kind of include there. Like for in example, we would walk somewhere in a long distance versus taking like a taxi or a tuk tuk or something uh where our family would prefer the taxi or tuk. They would not like to walk as far. We kind of walk a lot just to save money. To save money for sure. And that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. All right. What is your favorite souvenir that you’ve ever uh that you’ve ever got on your travels? I’ll let you take this one. Okay. So, we were in Laos and I was really excited. We were just shopping around the market, the night market, and there was this uh this this family with all sorts of keychains and stuff made out of aluminum. Uh, and this aluminum, and they were from a village pretty far out, but this aluminum was taken from already exploded bombs from the Vietnam War where they used the Ho Chi Min path through Laos. Um, and they were taking that and turning it into souvenirs and stuff like that. And so I got like a elephants some of my favorite animals. I got like an elephant keychain made out of the aluminum from the exploded bombs. Oh wow. they kind of were like doing it to raise money for the village um and just for like some recognition around it. So, it was like a like a pretty cool and unique type of souvenir. Yeah, that’s my favorite. Yeah, that’s very cool. And I I bet you that as you travel, you guys find things that you would love to take with you, but obviously because you’re traveling so much that you just can’t, you know? So like like tell us like are there are there things like that where you’re just like oh I would really love to take this with us right now but obviously we can’t fit in our suitcase. I feel like that actually that happens so much especially like when we’re at the night markets just shopping. I was like I would love this. Most recently when we were doing Everest base camp we found like the the yak wool blankets. They were so beautiful. we really wanted them, but I’m like, there’s no way we can fit a blanket in our suitcase until we go home. Um, but it happens so often. We really have to be very selective. Yes. But we do make sure that we get because every country we go to, we always do like a Christmas ornament. So, we always get a small Christmas ornament for our tree back home whenever uh whenever we have a tree. Whenever we have a tree. But yeah, we’ve been doing that with every country so far. Oh, that’s very cool. I love that idea. Very, very cool. Okay, so what is one piece of budgeting advice that you guys would give to any traveler? Like the one thing that you’re like, if you’re going to start traveling today, this is the thing you need to know. Uh I think that the big thing is just to figure out what is important to you. Um I guess this is more for like once you’re actually like on the road and in your location. Um, like for us, like we’ve said, it’s we like the private rooms and we really like the like adventures and experiences, but I know other people who like really like to stay at a nice hotel. So, find out what’s most important to you so you can give the appropriate money towards that. Um, and then just the other thing before you actually start out, um, is I think that people a lot of the time like underestimate how expensive traveling or sorry, overestimate how expensive traveling can be. And it can be super affordable. You just have to kind of make maybe I’ll use the word sacrifice, but some sacrifices like in your daily budget. Like I know there’s all of the memes and stuff about people like not getting a coffee so they can go pay for a mortgage and that’s not really realistic. But I think like for a trip a year like saving and not going to get your expensive Starbucks coffee every day really can lead to like some money savings so that you can go on a trip that year. Yeah. Prioritize. Yeah. And I mean I would definitely echo that. And I mean from from my point of view as you know a single parent, one income and three kids and wanting to travel obviously there are definitely some um budgetary sacrifices that one needs to make in order to make that happen. But I have found in life, you know, it’s whether it’s travel or whatever you want to do, right? If you sacrifice a little bit, there’s almost nothing that you can’t do. You’d be surprised how much you can save with just very little things. So, I I definitely echo that 100%. I mean, there are lots of things that I could put higher priorities on, you know, more fancy clothing or, you know, a nicer car or whatever, right? But if you just, you know, push that priority to travel, then suddenly you realize, huh, I actually can travel. I can get there. I can do this. It’s not it’s not as hard as, you know, I thought it would be. You know, people often see the dollar sign of the trip. And, you know, one of my favorite one of my favorite sayings that I repeat to myself all the time is, you know, how do you eat an elephant? Well, one bite at a time, right? Right. And if you just take it one bite at a time, one one budget sacrifice at a time, you know, put that money away and you’ll realize that suddenly you actually do have enough money to go and do your thing, you know, and most people have it will have it easier than I will, right? Because whatever I want to do, I have to do at times four, right? Whereas, you know, most people like you guys, you know, it’s just times two, you know, or a lot of people it’s just them, you know, solo. So, definitely put your put your priority in there, you know. decide what you want and go for it. Yeah, exactly. We’ve like we’ve talked about this so much. It’s just like is figuring out what’s important to you because we definitely agree like you you can make it happen if you really want it to happen. So, I we think it’s incredible that you’re doing it with all of your kids. It’sing amazing. Well, and I mean I I will be the first to say, you know, and and I wi I wish I could just uproot my kids and just go and travel right now, like the bucket list family or some of the others that just, you know, homeschool their kids and go. And I mean, not realistic, fine, you know, but going once a year, well, that is something that’s realistic. So, you know, we just we do what we’ve got to do. And I mean, I know for my kids, they’re going to get an amazing experience, or at least I hope they’re going to get an amazing experience, you know, just and, you know, and yeah, it’s not, you know, gone full-time for a year with them, but you know, sometimes you do what you got to do, right? And you do what you can do, right? Get as much out of it as you can. Yeah, exactly. All right, back to the questions. Uh, mountain or ocean? So the we say it depends a lot but it depends on what we have been to recently. So after having just been in the mountains, we would probably choose ocean. But had you asked us when we were in Thailand, we would have said mountain. So I think we equally like both of them. It just depends what we’ve been to most recently. Yeah, sure. Grass is always greener on the other side. I get it. Yes, of course. Definitely. All right. Uh, what has been your favorite country so far? That’s an easy one for me. So, well, again, emphasis on the so far part because I love Japan so far. But I would say Thailand and the biggest reason for that was um because we happen to be there during their Thai New Year uh with Sron and that’s all for all intents and purposes. There are a lot of other meanings and religious uh movements behind it. But for all intents and purposes, it is a giant water fight throughout the entire country. Uh not just the towns. Like when you go outside, they’re going to be dumping you with buckets and spraying you with hoses while you’re driving on a motorbike. That made it difficult to drive for sure. Thailand was like the first big place that I had traveled to with my sister like 15 years ago. Um, and so I like have had this not an illusion, but I had this idea in my head that it was like always like so fantastic and so wonderful. And then when we went back, I was very happy because like everything that I had remembered about it was true. Like amazing food, amazing people, there’s so much culture, there’s beaches, there’s mountains. Like I just feel like as a country it has almost everything. And so that’s I think we both agree that Thailand is our favorite country so far. That’s awesome. And don’t tell my oldest son, but Thailand is actually on our list. It’s going to be one that I probably just do with him. And uh I’m planning on taking him there around Sonrang time as well. I think love it so so much. And I mean I agree like I I lived in Thailand when I was 23 I guess somewhere thereabouts. And I mean I have so many good memories of you know just being there. You know, I was uh I was uh volunteering at an orphanage at the time, but I remember you being able to get onto my motorbike and, you know, go to the big sea and there was a KFC there. So, that was like my one home food type of thing, right? I have so many good memories of it. So, I can’t wait to go back and, you know, relive some of those uh relive some of those memories with him. That would be amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And what part of uh Thailand did you live in? Chiang Mai. Sorry. Changai. Changai. Sorry. Changai. [Laughter] Changai. Yeah. Especially with the casty up there, too. That’s some of the best cast ever had. Yeah. No, it was uh it was just Yeah. Amazing. Even just watching you guys there, I was just like a I miss it. Soon. Soon. You’ll go back soon. I will go back soon. It is it is on our list. We we have uh we have a bunch of major trips that are planned and those are the continent check off uh ones and then we have some smaller trips that are planned that will just be either me and my eldest son or me alone or me and one of the other ones. So Thailand uh is definitely on there as well so that we can uh well so I can relive some of it. Yes. Yeah. Totally amazing. Yeah. Awesome. Very cool. All right. Um, your best travel meal. So, the best meal that you had? I took mine cows soy like as a dish in general. Again, it was something I tried years ago and I had this like fantasy in my mind about how good it was and I wasn’t let down. The first one we had was in Changai. is one of our favorites that we had actually the entire time we were in northern Thailand. It’s just so like you you can’t go wrong with Caloy. Um for me it’s a little different. I would say and it’s I have a huge sweet tooth. Uh so it’s not an actual meal, it’s dessert, but I would say Papa in Romania, which was um something I could just eat every single day, multiple times a day. Awesome. Those sound both very good. I mean, obviously, you know, doing doing the Thailand thing, I 100% agree with you. So, I’m I’m I’m totally there. That was really good, too. I mean, I loved Kawaii. It was delicious. I love a lot of Thai food and stuff, but you just can’t can’t beat my my sweet tooth. So, there you go. Awesome. All right, this one is probably more for Aaron than for Erica because you’re kind of the filmmaker. And by the way, I love the photography and the fil and the filming that you do. It is just so artistic and lovely and like especially like when you’re in Thailand and just taking some of those shots and the drone shots and just they’re just beautiful. Just by the way, just right out there. I’m going to fan away on you a little bit. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um I mean before we started doing the vlog thing, I’ve always wanted to uh just just make quick five minute cinematic shot or videos of places. Um but then we opted for like the the vlog uh just for more for memories and stuff like that. And then I’ve been saving like certain shots to make those cinematic videos later when we get back home. Awesome. Well, they look fabulous. But anyway, what’s the most what do you feel is the most cinematic shot you’ve ever captured? Like the one shot that you’re just like this will live on forever. It’s it’s going to change day in and day out and I really really have to think about this one. But for the most part, it is um I think we were in Australia and and obviously lighting is a huge factor uh in a lot of things. But whenever we were staying close to the beach, I just walked on out with the camera and the drone as the sun was about to come up and there were just some some drone shots uh that I absolutely loved with the sunset coming up and then it had like seagulls in the background on the on the the sunrise. Oh no, I’m sorry. sunrise and it has seagulls in the background on the on the sand and then I got like a surfer out there as well with the sunrise and stuff and I think that’s probably my favorite so far. Oh, that sounds absolutely awesome and I can’t wait. I mean, I bought a drone specifically for travel and I just, you know, I’ve been practicing with it. But, you know, there’s something different about like practicing in places where you’re like it’s your normal and you see it every day versus, you know, going out somewhere and getting something completely new and different and just lovely and beautiful. So, I personally cannot wait to get my drone out to Jamaica in the grill and start getting some of those shots myself. So, I totally I totally get what you’re saying when you just get to go out there and just like get something the get the the light hits right and just everything comes together. Yeah. Yeah. It’s amazing. There’s a lot of thought that goes into it. Erica is just kind of uh asking me what I’m thinking about and I’m just I’m thinking about how to get this shot or how to get the if I can do a drone shot here and stuff. I don’t know. there’s just a lot of thought that goes into it and um and and just flying a drone in itself is a huge learning curve. Um and because I think we were in Thai Thailand at the one of the parks and some guy had just bought a drone and he was too scared to fly it and he wanted me to teach him how to do it. So I ran him through a quick crash course. Yeah. But that was you when we first got it too. You didn’t want to like he was very very hesitant to ever take it out or do anything. Um, but he he opened up a little bit. It was probably after he crashed it. I was a little anxious about it, but yeah, I haven’t crashed mine yet. Knock on wood. But, uh, I know it’ll happen. Happens to the best of us inevitably. Yeah. All right. Uh, what is one bucket list destination that still feels unreal to even dream about going to? Keeping in mind that we literally just did Everest. Yes. I feel especially for me, Aaron mentioned it earlier, but Antarctica like we we kind of like we think about it, but it’s not something that like we feel like we can actively plan for right now. So, it still feels like a little bit too far out of reach because you do have to cough up quite a bit of money to get there. Um, so it’s a thought sort of, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately. Yeah, I would say the same Antarctica. Although the Maldes doesn’t seem too realistic with how pricey that is, unless we save up enough like credit card points, for sure. Awesome. I’ve got one more and then I’m going to hit some of those questions that are hitting in the chat queue. So again, if you’ve got questions, feel free to pop them in the chat and I’m going to ask them in just a second here. But uh my last question is this. What is one thing that people assume about traveling as a couple or doing this whole full-time travel thing as a couple that just isn’t true? I I feel like people think that it’s like this amazing thing like you’re traveling, you’re doing this all the time. Um, and what we film and like post on social media is sometimes like very different from the actual situation. Like we do experience amazing things and we see amazing things and it’s beautiful, but they don’t show like us missing our flight or uh we sat on the uh the runway for 2 and 1/2 hours in Catmand do on the plane. Um or like us bickering because we’re like so tired and just need to go to sleep. So I think like it’s it’s kind of like glamorized to some degree. It’s again, I don’t want to like take away from the fact that it is amazing cuz we really do do some amazing things. Um, but like it’s real life also. Like real real things happen and you really get tired and cranky and hungry and everything else. Hangry. Yeah. No, definitely. It’s uh it’s it’s it’s not always I guess what? Something in rainbows. Whatever that Yeah. Either way, it’s not always happy. Uh we do bicker and we do fight and uh I think traveling kind of just escalates the bickering and fighting too. So no it just adds stress. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Just wait till you guys have kids to travel with. Then you can really bicker. Oh my gosh, that’s going to multiply by it like 10 times. Awesome. Well, thank you for answering those quickfire questions. I know some of them ended up less quick than the other ones, but that’s all right. That’s part of the fun of doing this. But we do have some questions in the chat and I definitely want to uh get to some of those as well. Thank you to all those in the chat that have joined us and have been patiently listening to Aaron and Erica and me jabber on about our travels. So, let’s get to some of those questions. So, the first one comes in from Alicia. And again, hello Alicia. Thank you for joining us. and uh you know you’ll probably be on here again soon so we’ll see you. So and uh she wants to know like how did you guys prepare and and get kind of acclimatized to the elevation doing the uh you know doing the climb. Um I guess the biggest thing because we had been at sea level for a while. Um, so like we I mean where we’re from in the US is at a little bit of elevation, but we all of the benefits of that had completely gone away by the time we went there. Um, so we took Daimox um just to to help with the elevation. And then the way that they plan like the base camp hikes is that it’s super slow. Like some of the days you really only like hike up like for 3 or 4 hours and then you’ll stay like especially like in Namche when we did that you’ll stay there for a couple days and you do some acclimatization hikes where you hike up and then hike back down to sleep. Um so it’s really just like a slow thing. We didn’t do anything special. Um and it worked out for us. I know other people it didn’t go as well for. Yeah. But mostly just taking it slow. And I would definitely recommend Dimox 100%. Yeah. And I mean some people have been taking we heard them taking Dimox like later in and then stopping and then retaking it. But really you should take it right when you start hiking all the way up to your like highest elevation point. Then never stop taking it. Otherwise it’s going to be ineffective. Yeah. Or less effective. Sure. That makes a lot of sense. And I mean you guys have some experience with doing uh you know high higher up elevations with hikes and such like that as well. So you know I will take that as expert advice for sure. Thank you. So Alicia had a second question as well and uh that question was have you guys ever considered signing up for the Amazing Race? The Amazing Race is my actual dream. We did sign up one year and we never got called back or anything for like a second round, but we did made like a little video and we tried once, but we just got to keep trying. It was it was actually right before we started our year of travel. So, we applied last May. Um, but we felt like we put a fair amount of effort into it, but we never got anything back. But I’ve said like over and over to Aaron and every time we watched The Amazing Race, I was like, I need to be on The Amazing Race. meant to be on the Amazing Race. And I keep saying we would do so good and then realistically we’d probably get eliminated right away. But yes, if you know some people, Alicia, give them our name. Yeah, give them our name. We would love to do it. I actually had an idea that The Amazing Race should do a special with a lot of just travel YouTubers. Oh, that would be amazing. every like team is like just like a travel YouTuber like team like so like like for example like like Karen Nave and like a bunch of other famous people just going on there and just traveling and competing because you all already have that experience. So I feel like it would be a level ground to to go off of. I think that’s an amazing idea. So what we need to do is we need to pause and we need to say this is now copyright. This is our idea. So if it happens between between the three of us have to get paid for us. Yeah. Between the three of us, we have to get paid. And Alicia, Alicia, you had that idea. Yes, she has the question. I don’t even want the money. I just want to be on I just want to be in the race. Just put me in the race. Let’s go. Yeah. We should be listed as executive producer at least, I think. Yes. Yes. Awesome. All right. What’s next in the queue? Uh, the Solomon project. Can I purchase a drone large enough to fly and save on the air? Well, um, I think they do have some pretty big drones, but, uh, maybe not that big. No, no, no, not that big. There is this guy on YouTube who kind of like built his own that he kind of stands on and he goes and and he just kind of flies around for a little bit, but it lasts like 30 minutes. Um, so probably not. Maybe you’ll invent it. Maybe in the future, but I would say no. Too many people would get hurt. I feel like the the way the air industry is right now, putting a whole bunch of people on drones in the air on like Atlant transatlantic flights is probably not the best idea. No, that would be a disaster. Oh man. And uh Solomon project says definitely. Let’s see. Kimberly, Thailand is definitely on your bucket list. And I think it is honestly, and I know Erin and Erica will agree, Thailand is just such an amazing place. And it’s one of those places where you get the best of modern with the best of kind of like the old and you know, you’ve got all the um the temples and like the old style of things, but it’s still a very modern place. So, it is. Yeah. Especially Bangkok. Bangkok is like shockingly modern. Like these huge fancy malls all over town. It’s Yeah, it it’s amazing. Yeah, absolutely. Uh let’s see what else is in there. Alicia, quick crash course and flying quick. Crash course. First number one rule. Don’t crash it. Don’t Don’t crash. And you know, and I and I mean I love one of the things I love about the modern drones is that they are really actually quite hard to crash. Like they’ll do the return to home. The new ones have the uh obstacle avoidance at least for the most part, you know. So, they’re getting so much better and so much easier. So, I you know, I know a lot of people get a little bit nervous about having a drone or flying or they’re like, “Oh my gosh, privacy or this or that.” Get a drone. Yeah. Seriously? Yes. Just uh um one number one important rule if it’s like a DJI uh drone is to don’t forget to switch it out of sports mode. Uh because if you have it in sports mode, it’ll turn off the obstacle avoidance and that’s how I crash my drone. Gotcha. Gotcha. It’s funny because uh the video that we have coming up next week, spoiler, is actually um what I learned from flying my drone when I was at a tiny house. So, I was out and I was in uh a very forested area and uh my drone, it’s just the uh DJI Mini3, so it doesn’t have any obstacle avoidance at all anyway. Oh, no. So, I had to do a lot of learning how to fly it in a way that wasn’t going to cause it to um meet unexpectedly with the ground. Jaba, you always want to have uh what they call a spotter. Uh so, while I’m sitting there with the drone, she keeps an eye on the actual drone. Uh but she always I get a little distracted and then I can’t find it. So, I think in theory that works, but when you’re by yourself that isn’t really realistic either, but yeah, for sure. No, I I I get it. And I mean, fortunately, when I do with the kids, I I will have spotters then, so it’ll it’ll be a little bit easier. My oldest son is actually really good at that, and he’s learning to fly the drone, too. So, between the two of us, we will do our safest flying, I hope. Yes. All righty. Let’s see. More from Alicia. We’d be great. You guys would be great on the show. Uh she thinks it’s a great idea for that. I think it’s a great idea, too. 100 100%. We need to be uh we need to be having a great or uh Amazing Race YouTuber edition. Yeah. I don’t know why they haven’t thought about it yet. I don’t know why. Yeah, I think it would be so fun. Yeah, absolutely. Let’s see. Oh, my daughter’s watching the stream. Hi, Sarah. So, Sarah for Sarah is with her at her mom’s place. She’s not with me, so I don’t know where. I don’t know where or when she is, but hi Sarah. How you doing? What’s up? What’s new? Hope you enjoyed the stream. She’s going to tell me later on. She’s gonna be like, “Dad, you’re so cringe.” As with as all kids would say. Yeah. You’re never you’re never cool anymore. No, I I a certain age. I cashed in my uh my cool cards as soon as I have kids and I I 100% understand and know that I am no longer cool. It is your job to embarrass them in every turn now. Absolutely. That is 100% my job. That is that is what I do now. I embarrass my kids. And they’re like, “You’re so embarrassed.” I’m like, “That is that’s my job. My job is to worry about you in equal parts embarrass you. It’s what I’m here for. Cool. Let’s see. Where are we at? I’m going to put on my blind eyes here. I’ll meet the show. She’ll host the show. So, Alicia, for you guys who might not know, Alicia, Alicia is a host and MC and actor. So, she’s got all the she’s got all the hookups. So, you know, one day she’s going to be hosting the Oscars and um so I fully intend that she actually should have, you know, within the next year or two, she’s got to have some of these uh contacts for us. Yes, that would be amazing. You can definitely host. I mean, even if I’m like 50, 60 years old, I’ll still try the Amazing Race. I don’t know if I’ll do good, but I am I am there. I am I am there with that 100%. Let’s see. Where are we? Uh, Kimberly, that’s hilarious. Seriously, let’s see. Uh, oops. Maybe if I click on the right here. I’m being a little bit blind here. Oh, here we go. Megan, as an animal lover who hates the zoo, what is the best place to visit? Oh, that’s a good question. Definitely sanctuaries. Um, I I guess and you got to be careful about which sanctuary to choose. I mean, it takes a lot of research. Um, for example, uh, one sanctuary we did in Australia was actually pretty cool. Uh, it it’s kind of a zoo, but they have a lot more space um to roam free. And basically they have a giant enclosures that you just walk into and you’re in the enclosure with the animal and they can choose to approach you or not but you have to stay on your path. But the most important part about this particular sanctuary, it was a koala sanctuary where all your money goes towards the koala rehabilitation and hospital. So they treat a lot of koalas um with like diseases or medical issues and then they rehabilitate them and then send them back out into the uh into the uh wilderness. Yeah. And Australia just had like amazing wildlife anyways. I mean kangaroos, koalas, can’t go wrong. And then same in like Thailand. So there’s a lot of controversy with and we did do one uh elephant sanctuaries. Some of them still like allow riding elephants and stuff and that’s always been like kind of a controversy where people don’t do that anymore. And so some sanctuaries take animals that have been worked or have been like put in shows and circuses and just kind of rescue them who can’t be rehabilitated back into the wild. Um, and so they basically attract tourists to come check them out and and and see them and feed them and then they can uh use that money to help care for the animals who can’t be rehabilit rehabilitated. But sanctuary has been the way to go. Very cool. That’s a great answer. I love it. It’s a great I great idea. And I know there are a lot of places I mean and I I don’t like zoos much either. I don’t you know I I’ve always been conflicted about the concept of you know caging up animals for people to view and I understand that there is a conservation aspect to zoos as well and a lot of animals would not even be here if it wasn’t for zoos you know but you know there’s definitely I think some some zoos and some experiences that do it ethically and some that don’t that that don’t do it definitely like uh for example I guess yeah they could do it a little better. So back back home in New Mexico they have they have polar bears really in New Mexico. Yeah. So I don’t know if I that I don’t agree with that. I think if you’re going to have them in a zoo take them further north where it’s colder in a zoo. Yeah. Not in New Mexico in the desert. So that’s just my opinion. Yeah. I mean, up here in Canada where where I am in Alberta, we just got polar bears in our zoo and people are still like, “Oh, come on. Really?” Like, why? You know, and again, I I I get it that there is, you know, a part of that that it’s conservation and, you know, we’re, you know, they’re trying to save the animal for future generations or whatever not. But I don’t know. I don’t know. Very good question. But yeah, it could uh strike a debate that can be talked about for hours. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, we are coming to the end of this uh interview of this time and I really have appreciated you guys’ conversation. This has been great and amazing and I I wish we could just go on for hours and hours and hours, but as Alicia will attest to as well, we do have to end these eventually. But uh before we wrap up um we’ll do some final reflection for you guys. So um we’ll do it in kind of three questions here. So first of all, you know, this life of travel and this time of travel, you know, um what what is this what has it meant to you guys to be able to to do this, you know, to to be lucky enough to travel the world? And what do you hope that other people take from watching you guys on YouTube? I think that there like especially like over this last year that we’ve been traveling like I have looked back like at my pictures and I just like think back to like the time and that we were like that we started this year trip when we were in Hungary and I’m I’m just like is this like really my life? Did I just get to go and do all of this over the last year? Um, so for me like the last year in general like is just full of like moments that I’m like am I the one really doing this? Um, so I think like it for me like it it’s just been like super eye opening amazing that that we were able to like save up and actually go spend time and and do all of this. Yeah, definitely uh a very humbling experience, but probably the best education that I could kind of and eye openening experiences I could really get just because you see it makes you appreciate what you have back home a lot more. You see how hard people’s lives are. Um in other countries like when we did the Hajang Loop in Vietnam, just how hard it is for them to work there. even Mount Everest. They literally have no roads uh up up in those towns and they walk and porter and carry everything up and down and it’s just amazing to see how hard people work. For sure. That makes a lot of sense. Um, what advice would you guys give to either couples or solo travelers or or people in general who want to start doing this whole travel thing but maybe don’t know where to start or don’t know if they can, you know, what would be what would be the advice that you give to them starting off? I I would say I’m gonna take one from the uh famous shoe company. Um, I won’t say words because of copyright issues, but just do it. Just book it. Yeah, I think everyone has like an idea of where they want to go. Like even if it’s just like some fantasy in their mind. Um, so yeah, ju just book it. Just do it. Like it, like we’ve kind of said before, like it can be so much more affordable and doable than people realize just depending on what sacrifices you’re willing to make. Um, and if you don’t know where to go, just get a map and a dart and throw it. But be careful because you might be visiting the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Well, I feel like if you throw a dart at the globe, you’ve got a twothirds chance of hitting ocean. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Maybe just just choose one that’s in your head. We’ll just take it as a sign that we’re visiting Fiji, I guess. I don’t know. There you go. Why not? All right. Okay. Well, as we are rounding this out, um I want to give you guys a couple of seconds to talk about your channel and where you’re going next. I know you guys are in Japan right now. Um but you know, on your channel, it’ll be be uh just coming up with the Everest stuff, but uh what’s coming up next for you guys? We’re pretty behind on videos right now. We still got a few uh Thailand videos, but um right now we’re just uh we’re doing Japan and then we’re going to do South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and then Singapore. Yeah. And that kind of concludes what ended up being a little bit more than a year. So then we’ll go back home. But we still have a few more places in Asia that we are pretty excited about going to over the next like six to eight weeks. Um, most of our content is posted on YouTube. The Instagram is more like for daily stories and updates like that. Um, but really excited. I think I’m most excited. We’re going to go to Komodo Island in Indonesia. So, definitely look out for that one. I’m excited. I’ve been geeking out in Japan, too, because I’m an anime manga fan. So, I Yeah. So, I fit in here for sure. Definitely. That is so cool, you guys. I look I’m really really looking forward to it. So you guys said it’s going to, you know, it’s kind of rounding out a yearish. So what comes after that for you guys? Um so we are going to go back home um and kind of pick up our or get some real jobs. Uh we’re planning actually to move from New Mexico to Texas. Um, so we’ve started kind of looking for some jobs, but we still want to keep traveling. Like we had said before, even before we started this year trip, we were doing like two to three trips a year. So, we’re definitely not going to stop. We’re still going to film. We’re still going to post on YouTube. It’s just not going to be as frequent as as we are right now. All good things, I guess, must come to an end. Yes. Fair enough. Fair enough. Very, very cool. All right. Well, um I do want to thank you guys for being on with us. Again, if you haven’t checked them out yet, definitely check out Aaron and Erica on YouTube, like they said, on Instagram as well. Um I also have to mention stuff that is coming up on our channel as well. We have got lots of stuff coming up. There’s Aaron and Erica and I’m doing a new thing on this stream and I’m not You know when you should have practiced something beforehand and then you don’t and you’re like it’s going to be fine and then you’re like and you’re like well that was a mistake. All right so coming up on the Globe Trotter Guide uh in a month’s time we have another travel couple. They are Canadians just like me. uh Keith and Dev who are also traveling actually I think they’re in South Asia as well at the moment. I believe they’re in Sri Lanka right now or somewhere thereabouts. So we’re going to be talking about travel in the Canadian context. I can’t wait to see them July the 4th which for Canadians means exactly nothing. It’s not a date for us. So no nobody’s going to be on holiday. We’re not going to be taking out, you know, pulling people away from fireworks or anything like that. Us Canadians, it’s a it’s just a regular day for us. Now, if we were doing this on July 1st, that would be a very different thing. Yes. So, I can’t wait to see them. We’re going to be doing them live as well, just like this, except for I’ll be far more polished at it by then. I’ll practice some more. I’ll get it. But July 4th, 6 uh 6 pm Mountain Standard Time. And then uh the month afterwards, just before we leave for our Jamaica trip, actually, just a few days before, we will be doing um a Globe Starter guide with Nicole’s travel tips. And uh she is I think I’m going to call her the queen of the airport lounge. I’ve been watching her stuff lately. And this girl can get into any lounge and is everywhere. She’s got all the tips on points and travel and all that kind of stuff. I cannot wait to uh have our time and talk with her. Um I do have to mention that we are on Patreon. So um we do have our flight crew level which is our founders level. So if you’ve enjoyed this, if you resonate with anything that I’m doing on my channel, definitely check out our Patreon uh at the Wonder Crew. Uh that would be great. But even if you can’t do that, like, subscribe uh to the channel. Definitely helps us out as well. Just every little bit helps us to get a little bit further down our runway and getting to where we want to be in life as well. I do want to thank Aaron and Erica for being on with me. You guys have been lovely and wonderful, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of this conversation. Thank you so much for having us, Mike. It’s been an absolute pleasure. Yeah, this has been fun. Absolutely. Well, that is it for us everybody. Again, a big thanks to Aaron and Erica. For those of you who haven’t done it yet, please like this video. It helps us out. Do like and subscribe. And until next time, keep exploring.

🌏 Join Mike and adventurous travel couple @aronanderika as they take us behind the scenes of chasing epic dreams across continents.

From trekking Everest Base Camp to filming in Japan and exploring New Zealand’s cinematic landscapes—this episode dives into what it means to go all in on travel as a couple and a creative team.

🎒 In this episode:
00:00 Intro – We Are Live!
00:08 Welcome to The Globetrotters’ Guide
00:23 Meet Aron & Erika
01:08 Why This Episode Is for Life-On-The-Move Travelers
06:01 The Secret Society of Long-Term Travelers?
12:04 How They Budget While On The Road
18:05 Everest Base Camp – Cold, Snow, & Surprises
24:05 The Couple Travel Style – Moving Slow vs. Fast
30:07 Packing Tips – Belt Bags and Essentials
36:08 Travel Chaos Moments – Running to Catch the Bus
42:08 Dealing with Culture Shock Abroad
48:10 Budget Travel Hacks That Actually Work
54:12 Funny Travel Mishaps & Lessons Learned
01:00:12 Overcoming Travel Fears as a Couple
01:06:13 The Idea of Joining a Group Tour or Retreat
01:12:14 Thoughts on Flying and Travel Safety
01:18:16 What’s Next After a Year of Travel?
01:24:17 Wrapping Up – “All Good Things Must End”

📅 Special Time: Thursday, May 30 @ 8PM EST (6PM MST)
📍 Live on: The Wander Crew YouTube Channel

🎧 Also available after the stream on Spotify & YouTube Podcasts under “The Globetrotters’ Guide”.