The Big Trip
In 2018, we quit our jobs right after we got married, and left for a budget backpacking trip across the US, Europe, and more. We traveled for over a year, and spent only an average of $63 a day for 2 people, including everything. This trip has greatly informed every part of our lives since.
The Road Trip
We bought a Honda Element in Tacoma, Washington, built our own custom camping setup inside, and drove across the United States from October to December of 2018.
We went south through Oregon and California, then over to Nevada, and across through New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. We stopped in Mississippi on our way to Tennessee, and then sold the Element in North Carolina. From there, we took a Greyhound bus to New York City, which is where we caught a flight to Paris.
You can find blog posts about the road trip here, and an overview of The "Microcamper."
Europe on a Budget
Landing in Paris in December of 2018, we spent the next 8 months traversing across Europe. We spent our first 90 days in the Schengen zone between France, Switzerland, and Italy. We then spent the next 90 days in Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania, England, and Wales, returning to the Schengen zone as summer was kicking off. We hit the Netherlands, another stop in France (the South this time!), and Spain before concluding our time in Europe.
This was all possible thanks to the platform Workaway, with which we had a fantastic experience.
Family Visits in the Americas
At the time of our trip, Andrew's sister was living in Cuenca, Ecuador. We visited her for a couple of weeks, and finally adventured back to our own continent with some time with Andrew's parents aboard their sailboat in the Sea of Cortez.