Our Current Journey – Where are we and where have we been?
As can be imagined, our current journey is constantly changing as we wander the globe. So as we move around we will endevour to keep updating this page. So scroll down to the bottom to see what we are currently up to, or read through to see where our journey has taken us to up until now.
We met on a mountain trail in Nepal in 1996 and have been travelling and working our way around the world ever since. Long periods of travel have been interspersed with periods of working to pay our way. We are roaming indefinitely now and plan to for as long as we are able. It’s taken us almost 30 years of travel to see 100 countries and we expect it will take 30 more to see the rest. Around the world in 80 years… I like the sound of that!
Choosing to Isolate in Krakow, Poland during the Covid-19 pandemic
Countries we have visited
A Brief run down on our travel history together
1996 – Met in Nepal and travelled through India for 3 months. Flew to England where Lee was working. Mandy returned to NZ for 3 months but we missed each other too much, so after 32 aerogrammes and NZ $1,000 in overseas phone calls, This was pre internet!, Mandy flew back to the UK, where Lee met her at Heathrow airport on Christmas Day 🙂
1997 – Travelled together for 6 months in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize before returning to the UK where Mandy started her 2 year UK working holiday.
1997 – 1999 Living and working in the UK, and taking short breaks in Europe
1999 – South East Asia for 3 months. Roaming through Thailand, Malaysia, through Borneo and on to Singapore.
2000 – 2003 Living and working in New Zealand. 3 months in Thailand and Laos before returning to UK.
2004 – 2006 – Living and working in UK. Taking the chance to further explore Europe and a visit to Cuba.
2006 – 2007 Took 14 months off – spent 3 months cycle touring and camping across France from Marseille to Le Havre. Then went to Hong Kong and Japan. Spent 2 months in Perth, Australia visiting family and fell in love with that wonderful city, deciding to return.
2007 – 2009 Loved living and working in Perth. Lived a frugal lifestyle and saved hard, deciding it was important to follow our dream of travelling the world
2009 – 2012 On the road for 2 & a half years
Spent 6 months slowly roaming in South America. Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay. Back to NZ briefly, then South East Asia. Thailand, Cambodia and Viet-Nam.
Back to UK and Europe for summer 2010 then a Trans-Africa expedition on an Oasis Overland truck. Through 26 countries in Africa in 10 months from Morocco through West and Central Africa to South Africa and back up through East Africa to end in Egypt. An epic journey through some of the most amazing landscapes!
Unfortunately the Arab spring prevented us from continuing overland through Syria. Instead we flew back to UK then down to Greece, Albania and the 7 countries that once comprised the Republic of Yugoslavia: Macedonia; Kosovo; Montenegro; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Serbia (where they crossed out our stamp from Kosovo in our passports!), Croatia and Slovenia.
We then returned to Perth, having decided we were over travelling and just wanted to settle down, buy a house and take a long break from travelling. We never did buy the house.
2012 – 2017 Living, working and saving in Australia
The desire to settle down lasted a full 2 years, then we started getting itchy feet again! We knew that the way to financial freedom was to work and save hard in Perth, so we took a number of drastic measures: The first was to live with other people, rather than paying rent for our own apartment.
Rather than drive, we cycled everywhere, including the library and supermarket; we only bought clothes from secondhand shops; we only went to super cheap but delicious Asian restaurants in Northbridge or used the Entertainment Book vouchers. In this time we managed to saved enough money to travel for years, provided we were careful. It was time to hit the road again!
2017 Onwards – Leaving Australia with the intention of travelling for as long as we possibly can. Some time in NZ, then Malaysia and on to return to Nepal for the first time in 21 years. We spent an incredible 2 months trekking in the Himalayas around Annapurna and Everest regions. A stopover in Oman and on to UK before beginning The Grand Tour of the Eurasian continent!
2018 – 2020 – The Grand Tour of the Eurasian Continent
After way too long for our own good living a sedentary lifestyle in Perth, Mandy and I finally upped sticks in August 2017 and set off on a long haul trip with no time restrictions, to explore as many new countries as we could. Every country in the world is unique in its own way. Whether it be the landscapes, the climate, the culture or the people with their own personalities and traits. We find it all fascinating and we want to sample everything. Our feet were itching to travel again, so it’s off into this wonderful world of ours we go.
Read our story from the very beginning
REMEMBER – This page is constantly in a stage of flux as we are continuously moving.
How to travel the world as a Frugal Traveller
How long are you travelling for?
This is one of the first questions we usually get and it is the most difficult to answer. We do not have a time limit as we have sold or stored all of our meagre possessions and hit the road permanently. We tell people 2 to 5 years for this trip but we are only guessing. This response is usually met with a quizzical look.
It looks like we are now travelling permanently and indefinitely. We can’t think of a better way to spend our lives. This is our passion.
Where are you going?
Easier to answer. We’ve got a rough game plan. The title of this page provides a clue. We set off (on this leg of the trip anyway) from England in January 2018 with the intention of crossing the Eurasian continent mainly by means of the Trans Siberian train to Vladivostok in the Far East of Russia and slowly making our way back to Europe travelling westwards, through China and on the silk road across Central Asia.
So far this has taken over 2 years and we have not finished yet. We do not want to hurry it. Travelling slowly is the best way to really get to know a place. It will be as flexible as we can make it although visa lengths can be the most restrictive aspect.
Our Current Journey – Highlights of our 2018 travels
Our Current Journey – Update 2018
So by the end of 2018 we had made it all the way back across Central Asia (which we absolutely loved) to Iran. We had to return to Australia for a family wedding and took the opportunity to escape the northern hemisphere winter for a few months and visit NZ as well.
You can click on links to our adventures in…
Norway, Finland, Russia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
Our current Journey – Update 2019
After wintering in NZ and paying another short visit to Australia we returned to the region to continue our Grand Tour of the Eurasian Continent. Being budget minded travellers we took the cheapest option and found a bargain flight to Greece which we just couldn’t refuse! As we were in the area we took a side trip to the magical island of Santorini before flying on to the Caucasus region to continue our travels.
We gave ourselves plenty of time in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan which were all thoroughly enjoyable countries to visit and then continued into Turkey and had a wonderfully eye opening visit to Iraqi Kurdistan, probably the most hospitable place we have ever been to. We travelled on through Turkey into eastern Europe and Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and the fascinating break-away state of Transnistria.
A 46 hour bus journey took us on to England from Bucharest at the end of the year to perform some house sitting duties for family. It was a much needed rest after a busy year of travel and we had the intention of returning in the new year to continue our journey through eastern Europe.
You can click on links to our adventures in…
Greece, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova
Our Current Journey Update 2020
Heading back into the region in January 2020 we will continue the journey north through eastern Europe. Visiting Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Arriving back on the Baltic sea where we began this journey over 2 years previously!
For the rest of 2020 we have some plans in our heads but nothing set in stone yet. There will be a visit to Iceland in May and a short tour around Europe with family from NZ, then another great adventure awaits us. We’re not quite sure what it will be yet…
Watch this space!!
Covid-19 pandemic curtails our 2020 travel plans! We decide to isolate in Krakow, Poland. Read here.
Our blog…
We intend to tell our story and post photographs of each country individually we have passed through. Bear with us, we are working on that. We will continue to add current content as we go, giving you the latest stories and information as we travel.
Also the purpose of our blog is to show people how it is possible to travel the world on a simple budget as we do, allowing you to travel for longer and further. Look out for useful tips and information in our travel blog posts and check out our frugal travel category for specific blog posts on budget travel.
Watch our YouTube Channel to see our latest travels
Join us as we wander the globe!
Please Comment Below
If you have any questions about our travels, past or present, please leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.
9 thoughts on “Our Current Journey”
Hi Lee and Mandy,
You didn’t see us on the Pamir Highway because we visited the Yurtkamp near Sary Mogul. We will try to cross the border friday the 15th juni. I hope you have A good trip on the Pamir and maybe we will meet you anywhere on the Road westward.
Greetings to all of you, Bert & Johan
Hi Bert. Sorry we missed you. We are already in Khorog now. Awesome trip all the way. We met the French couple on the recumbent heading your way. You’ll probably see them. The Wakhan valley is really special. Hopefully we see you in Dushanbe.
How about a 2022 update?
That’s a great suggestion, thank you! We can update 2022… and soon it’ll be time for 2023!
Hi Lee and Mandy, tonight whilr lying on bed with my wife and youngest son and brousing through some news site I read your journey since 1996. You are really wonderful. But to settle down and to start a family with kids is even more satisfying and it brings happiness that is far more than what you experienced in travelling. I am sure you are not aware about it. If you sonetime come to india, then meet our family and stay few days with us, to understand the pleasure and happiness of closely knit family. By the way, I am a retired engineer settled in Gujarat.
Hello Syed, and thank you for your lovely comment. I believe that everyone has their own path, and am happy that you have found contentment and joy with yours, as have we with ours 😃😁
Sorry for typographical errors in me prev post, i am using a smart phone hence these errors got un noticed
You’re travels are so interesting and helpful! Just curious: any plans to remain in one country indefinitely and when & where would that be for you two?
Hello Dee, and thank you so much for your lovely comment. I think it would be a tough discussion, but if we had to choose, it would be Australia for us both.