My Story: Kim and Rob of Simply Traveled

The travel world is made up of hundreds of different types of people from everywhere and each with their own unique story. People travel. More than you probably think. And in more ways than you might have realized. Over the years I certainly have learned of creative ways people travel that I never even thought about!

This feature is a place for travelers of all types to share their story. How do you travel? What type of upbringing did you have? What led you to decide you’d like to have travel in your life? Do you come from a family of travelers or are you the first one to really break the mold? What drives you to get up and go to work so you can fund your travels?

Hearing people’s travel stories is one of my favorite things to do when I am on the road. No two people have the same background or the same travel style. And there are so many different ways people work and save for travel! If you would like to be featured and share YOUR STORY please send an email to: tiffany@vagabondway.net. And with that, let’s meet this week’s featured traveler –

Hi, my name is: Kim and Rob. I TRAVEL. This is my story.

Please introduce yourself. Where are you from and where did you grow up?

Kim and Rob in Mongolia.

Do you come from a family of travelers? Summer vacations? No vacations?

We’re the black sheep of the family when it comes to travelling. With the exception of our older siblings, most our families travels’ have been limited to domestic journey’s. Living in a landlocked state, Kim’s family always lived for their annual beach holidays. Rob’s parents used to load up the kids and take off on various road trips around the country during school holidays.

When did you start traveling?

Kim fell in love with travelling in 2001. She took her first overseas trip to Denmark with a school project and has had an insatiable desire to travel ever since. Rob was more of a late bloomer, not travelling out of Australia until 2008. But, when he did it, he did it with a bang. His first trip was living and working in Indonesia for 6-months. Together, with family on both sides of the world, we love to travel, balancing our time visiting with family and friends, and exploring the great unknown.

Exploring the beauty of Sapa, Vietnam.

What is your travel style? Do you maximize all your vacation time from a job? Do you just quit jobs to travel? Are you able to work remotely? Are you a weekend warrior who maximizes their time?

In January of this year, we quit our jobs and decided to travel for 12-months before moving to the States. We have no intention of going back to 9-5 jobs and look forward to continuing down the travel blogging path for years to come!

How do you fund your travels?

Luckily, we’ve both always been big savers. So, whilst in our careers, we were always putting money away. We also have several investment properties that helps us continue creating value whilst we are spending our savings. Yes, we’re new to the travel blogging industry, but our aim over the next 12-months is for it to fund part of our ongoing travels moving forward.

Green mountains of Vietnam.

What has been one of your favorite travel experiences?

We recently took a trek outside of Beijing to a secluded, non-touristy part of the Great Wall of China. After taking in the views and cooling down following our hike, we set up camp in one of the watchtowers on the Wall. It rained the whole night, and we woke up the next morning to sunshine. We felt so lucky to have had such an epic experience!

Even the cows in Mongolia are stunning!

What is a next destination you are so excited to see?

Stoked to check out Sri Lanka! Both excited and terrified of visiting India, so keen to visit “Little India” to get a taste of what we’re in for. The beaches, the culture, the food, the people – looking forward to experiencing every ounce of it!

What words of wisdom do you wish to share with other people who are wanting to include more travel in their lives?

Now is the time! What’s stopping you? If you don’t do it now, when will you? The truth is, you probably won’t.

Horse trotting across the plains of Mongolia.

Author Bio: Simply Travelled encourages people to take a LEAP! – an adult gap year, career break, sabbatical – call it what you will.

Do it now, and travel simply.