How we caught the travel bug

How we caught the travel bug

We had both always wanted to visit Thailand, so in November 2017 we left Heathrow Airport heading for Bangkok for a 3 and a half month adventure travelling through Thailand and on to Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. As well as being an amazing experience, the trip would also be a test to see if we could manage a nomadic lifestyle and earn a living whilst on the road.

Going to Thailand

We planned the trip fully before we left …. costs broken down for each day, along with accommodation and transfers.  We weren’t quite up for arriving and pitching up where ever we could.  We weren’t really up for back packing hostels so opted for the cheapest accommodation with a private bathroom.  The accommodation in Asia, Thailand especially, seemed to be mostly high end or hostels. However, by booking early we managed to find hotels and guest houses within the budget we had allotted that suited our needs. 

Arrived in Bangkok, just waiting for the room to our room at the Maderla Guest House. Great little place with a restaurant on the ground floor serving some great Thai Food. Brilliant location, 10 minute walk to Lumphini park, close to the train line and bus stop. Clean comfortable room with ensuite bathroom. Great price too!

Food in Thailand is so cheap! We’d read that you could get a meal and drinks for under a fiver, but didn’t quite believe it. They were right, we ate really cheaply  –  fresh juices and smoothies are everywhere in Asia along with cheap fruit stalls which was our breakfast along with fresh hard boiled eggs and bread bought from the local 7/11 shops.

Fresh Coconuts in Thailand
Fresh coconut water on the beach in Pattaya!

Lunch was cheap street food and dinner was eating with the locals at street side restaurants or at the night markets. Anything from Tom Yum to the most amazing Pad Thai.

Amazing prawns and pad thai at the Taling Chan floating market!

Treating ourselves on Christmas day in Koh Samui. 6 course seafood platter with wine for £15 per head. What a bargain and fabulous food including Lobster, Snapper, Squid, Stuffed Muscles and the most amazing Soft Shell Crab Curry!

We pre-planned just a small selection of excursions that were high on our must do list. Researching the ones with the best reviews, we booked a brilliant Thai cooking class in Krabi, the best lady boy show in Phuket and the most amazing boat and snorkelling trip around the Phi Phi Islands.

Living the dream on the Phi Phi Islands!
Our brilliant Thai cooking class in Krabi! Cooking Tom Yum, Papaya Salad, Pad Thai, Thai Green Curry, spicy Thai soup and Thai Fried Bananas.

With some pretty decent pre-planning, the trip was awesome, super successful and we had an absolute blast. As we got towards the end of our Thailand leg, enjoying a week on the amazing Phi Phi Islands  –  somewhere we had both only dreamed of visiting, we discussed the possibility of travelling indefinitely, going to all of the other places on our bucket list!

How we caught the travel bug
Contemplating the possibility of a full time nomadic life and trying to hatch a plan to make it happen!

So on our return back to the UK, we put our heads together to try and work out a way that we could travel the world on a budget.  After trawling numerous blogs we came across a website that offered a service where people could house and pet sit for people around the world.  Because of our love of animals, the idea of pet sitting while travelling the globe sounded amazing.  Before we knew it, the plan was hatched and thetravellingpetsitters was born.

You might also like to take a look at these:

Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links meaning that, with no extra cost to you, we earn a small commission if you make a purchase. We recommend only products and companies we use.

Add a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment