Living The Dream: When Travel No Longer Works

1. What was the first country you visited? Who with and why did you choose it?

Hungary was the first foreign country I’ve visited. I was 10 years old. And I visited it with my parents. This was not a country of choice, just a trip my parents took me to. I’ve also went on two school trips to Venice, but this wasn’t my choice either (although one cannot complain about visiting Venice!). The first time I went abroad by myself was on a road trip with three of my college friends. We visited Amsterdam, London, and Paris. I was 20 years old. If I remember well we chose these cities because they were far enough from home to make a road trip exciting, we had friends to stay within each of them (we were students, and budget was playing a major role in our decisions making process), and they are all great places to visit.

2. When did you start a travel lifestyle? What inspired that change?

I always loved to travel, but this first road trip was a turning point for me. Since then, I’ve been hooked to traveling, and I try to travel as much as I can. During the college years, I used to work part-time in a grocery store, save as much as possible to travel during the summer. The following year I went on European Inter Rail trip to Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. Then to the South Africa. And finally after graduation I’ve joined a cruise ship and traveled the world.

3. Do you have a base you travel from? Or is it continuous travel? And why do you choose that style?

I live in Croatia now with my Canadian boyfriend. I work full time. We did our share of continuous travel (over 2 years), and we don’t think it’s any longer for us. We still love to travel. It’s just that we prefer now to have a base we travel from and return to. That said, we would like to have a location independent job so we can be free to move around more often. We dream of escaping a cubicle life so we can spend more time together and travel more often.

4. How do you fund your travel lifestyle? Is it something you do when travelling or are you a saver?

We have two ways to fund our travel lifestyle. I work full time, and we have a steady income. We try not to spend money on things we don’t really need.  However, paycheck is never big enough. But we’ve been fortunate to live in a touristy town in Croatia where we can rent our apartment to tourists during the summer. This gives us an additional revenue stream that goes toward funding our travel lifestyle.

5. If you could tell yourself one tip before you started your travel lifestyle, what would it be?

Travel your way, and choose your travelling companion wisely. Travel is the most enriching experience you can have. It gives you so many new perspectives, it opens the mind and enlightens the soul. It brings so many different opportunities your way. However, if you travel someone else's way, it can be painful and you won’t enjoy it that much. The same goes for your travelling companion. Not everybody makes a good travel companion. And your choice of who you travel with can break or make your trip.

6. What does "Living The Dream" mean to you?

Well, for us Living the Dream means finding your passion in life, and living the life you love and you are meant to live. It’s waking up in the morning happy to embark on that day’s adventure (no matter what it is: job you love, next destination you’re heading to, or taking care of your children). When you live the dream there is no other place you’d rather be at than where you are at that very moment of your life. For us Living The Dream also means spending as much time together, with our family, friends and people we care about.

Name: Vera & Frank

Website: Frank About Croatia

Twitter: @frankaboutcro

A comprehensive Croatia travel guide and blog: sharing the best of Croatia just as we discover it.