LAST UPDATED: November 15th, 2018
Today marks 1000 days of travel! It’s a pretty big number and a really cool accomplishment, so I put together a blog post summing up some of what we’ve done and learned along the way!
The numbers
Days of travel: 1000
Beds we’ve slept in: 58ish, plus our silver steed (our echo)
Average budget: around $700cad/month
Countries: 4
States/provinces: 42 states, 5 provinces
Flights: 21
House sits: 9
Friends made: SO MANY
Tacos eaten: too many to count!
Coolest experiences:
Amanda:
Walking the USS North Carolina Battleship in Wilmington, NC. This was the first warship we boarded, and we did so because of Seth. But I think I ended up enjoying it more than he did! I was completely in awe to walk the narrow halls and sit on the fold away beds that men actually used in the height of WWII. Such a humbling experience!
Visiting NYC and walking the streets. NYC has always been a dream of mine to visit. And it definitely didn’t disappoint. So much so that we returned a year later for another week! Next goal: to see a Broadway musical.
Touring the Toyota factory. Factory tours are a significant theme in our road trips, and the Toyota factory was the coolest one yet. Watching the assembly line in process and hearing the safety checks they follow was a cool experience. Especially since we drive a Toyota!
Driving Route 66. This was one of those goals I had never really given much thought until it happened to be right in front of us. And then we started driving it… and I can’t imagine how I ever could have overlooked how amazing of an experience it could be. I’m dying to go back and finish the Route to California now!
Seth:
Visiting the USS North Carolina Battleship. I can’t even describe how cool this was! It’s one of those things that words can’t describe, you really just had to be there!
Best memory:
Amanda:
Visiting the Grand Canyon and Page, AZ. Life goals were reached this week! The minute I stepped up to the edge of the Grand Canyon I was breathless. And the week that followed will never be beat! From walking through the red rock of Waterholes Canyon, to getting up to watch the sunrise over the Canyon. Absolutely amazing, every minute of it!
Digging up turtle nests on Cozumel. GOALS! I’m in love with turtles.. Something about how they carry their homes on their backs like we do endears them to me. This day we got to dig 4 feet under the surface of the beach to make sure the nests were empty, and save any baby turtles that hadn’t made it out. Then we watched a nest ‘hatch’, and the babies make a run for the ocean. This day meant so much to me that I actually got a photo of one of the babies tattooed on my arm!
Just driving. Being on the open road, in our little Echo that has taken us to so many places, beside my adventure partner… Nothing compares to the feeling of the wind in my hair, the sun on my face and the knowledge that we can do whatever and go wherever we want.
Our day trip to Isla Mujeres. This free excursion (thanks to a time share presentation) was one of my absolute favourite in the last 1000 days. We snorkeled the reef, wandered the island in a golf cart, had an amazing lunch, and watched the sun set from a catamaran. Absolutely amazing experience!
Seth:
Meeting on Harley on Route 66. I’ll never forget meeting Harley. He’s been living on Route 66 for years, building up his collection of signs and other weird stuff. He kept calling me ‘baby’ and wanting to take a picture with me. He was really weird, but really funny! He even gave us a tour of his house that was also full of his collections.
Snorkeling with turtles in Akumal. Swimming beside giant turtles was amazing. You don’t realize how big they actually are until you get beside them!
Eating al pastor tacos for the first time. My mom kept telling me to try them, but I didn’t want to. But one day I was hungry and tried a bite of hers… and now they’re my favourite!
Seeing the Titan II missile silo in Tucson, AZ. It was HUGE! Hearing the story about how the guards lived underground with it and were always ready to launch it if needed was really cool.
Favourite place:
Amanda:
Wilmington, NC. We loved the town so much we extended our 3 hour stop to 4 days! The battleship, beautiful beaches, TV show sets and a delicious taco place.. It was hard to move on from here!
Vinales, Cuba. Cuba was a rough start for us, but ending in Vinales was the best choice we could have made. The most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen, streets that are filled with chickens, carts, cars and people, and a breathtaking tour through the Valley of Silence.. I loved it all.
The foodie scene in Playa del Carmen, MX. It’s no secret I’m a taco fan… But I’m also just a plain ol’ foodie! The ability to go for Mexican, German, Thai, American and Jamaican in a single week is awesome. And I love that we can easily walk to each one.
Seth:
Wilmington, NC. I liked walking around the battleship, it was the first one I ever saw in person. The taco place was the best! I don’t really remember this part, but my mom says I loved swimming in the ocean for the first time on this adventure.
Grand Canyon, AZ. Getting up to see the sunrise was tiring but amazing. The Canyon was way bigger than I thought! Walking through Waterholes Canyon was pretty awesome, too.
Favourite thing we’ve eaten:
Me:
Chicago dogs. Something I didn’t even know existed has become my favourite food after trying it for the first time this fall! And I don’t even like mustard, relish or pickles!
Fresh bagels in NYC. Made fresh with cream cheese with actual chunks of fresh vegetables… Other bagels will seriously never taste the same.
El fogon tacos. No other al pastor will ever compare. These are seriously the best!
Manne’s Biergarten guacamole. Go figure.. A German restaurant makes the best guacamole I’ve ever had!
Seth:
Dollar pizza in NYC. Thin crust, mild tomato sauce, just the right amount of cheese and garlic salt sprinkled on top… No pizza will ever measure up.
Al Pastor tacos in Mexico. I didn’t think I’d like these… But it turns out I do! Fresh off the trompo is the only way, and they better serve it with double tortillas!
What we’ve learned:
I am way stronger than I ever realized…
Whether dealing with sub-par accommodations, missed flights or the confusion of learning how to overcome language and culture barriers, I am so much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for! I’ve had a few moments of falling apart, of course. But through it all I’ve managed to become a much stronger and more motivated person than I ever thought possible. Not having someone beside me to pat my back or wipe away my tears has taught me to look within myself and find a way to do it on my own.
I’m actually GREAT at making decisions
From deciding which flight option to book to which hotel best suits us… which city to go to next or how much we can spend on excursions… In most families these are 2 person conversations. In ours, I pretty much decide everything myself. Sure, Seth gives input. But there’s some nuances that are hard for a 15 year old to fully understand and sort out. He’s making amazing progress, but at the end of the day, the fallout from all decisions sits on my shoulders as the parent in this team. Sometimes that thought seriously stresses me out! But when it’s all said and done, I have no choice but to recognize that my (our) decisions have led us down a pretty amazing path!
We are adaptable
Flights get missed, plans get changed, wifi quits and sometimes our rentals suck. Things happen. Travelling has taught us that these things always work out in one way or another. Like the time we got bumped off a flight to Cuba and ended up with free bar on the plane… Or the time we rented an (presumably) illegally powered apartment in Mexico, had our power cut off, then got moved to a GORGEOUS place in an amazing location for the rest of the month. Even if things don’t take an awesome turn, we always manage to find a way to make the best of them.
The world is HUGE
In 1000 days we’ve had some seriously amazing adventures.. But we’ve still only seen such a tiny percentage of the world! We can’t wait to see where the next 1000 days leads us!
We are living our dreams…
From the outside we’re living a dream. And to be honest, we pretty much are. I’ve wanted to travel since I was a teen, and I’m still amazed that I wake up in this life! Making the decision to give up our comfortable lifestyle and travel full time has changed everything for us! From our outlook on life to our goals and how we go for them, deciding to go the abnormal route has set us down a path that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives!
… but bad days still happen
But even with all the amazing experiences we’ve had, bad days still happen. Missed flights, bad roommates, stressful travel days, travel scams, terrible accommodations, friend drama… All have been a cause for stress and tears. Our life may be awesome, but it’s impossible to be awesome all the time.
What’s coming next
We don’t plan too far in advance, but we’ve started to think a bit further ahead than we used to. So far this year we have a 4 week house sit in Idaho on the schedule and a couple blogging conferences in the US, which we’ll drive to. After that we’re talking about doing another long road trip before joining our family for Christmas again!
Here’s some pictures from our adventures over the last 1000 days…
And tonight we’re cheersing our cupcakes to the next 1000!
