Where Are We Headed In 2014? Plus How I Saved Over $2000 On Flights

When we left Perth, Australia in May 2012 little did we know how long we would be gone for. It ended up being:

574 days or

1 year, 6 months, 25 days or

82 weeks or

13,776 hours or

49,593,600 seconds

We finally arrived back in Perth on 30^th November 2013. We had several matters to take care of while back here - Christmas with the family, my brother’s wedding, renew drivers licenses and passports, get rid of furniture and check up on our doggy.

I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know how long we’d be back in Perth, but now we know.

136 days or

4 months, 16 days or

19 weeks or

3264 hours or

11,750,400 seconds

After what has felt like a real vacation we are finally solidifying our plans for 2014.

We leave Perth on 15^th April 2014 returning to the unknown.

How was it being back?

It’s hard to translate into words the familiarity of being back in your home city after traversing the globe. We wrote about our apprehensiveness in an earlier post, and most of it was founded. Life became very easy all over again, almost effortless. I started shopping for clothes, staying in my own environment and slotting in dates with friends. It felt more like a vacation after all the intense travel planning and deeply life-changing experiences.

My biggest fear was that the person I had changed into would fade away, but it turned out to be unfounded. I now recognise how my journey has fundamentally transformed me, and I am even more eager to start the next leg of our journey knowing what I know now.

So where to first?

Sensibly, we have decided to circle back to where we left off last November - Europe. We had some amazing opportunities sent our way last year and have decided our first stop will be…

Have you even heard of it? Malta is a southern European country perched in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Sicily and has a long, rich Christian legacy.

With its sunny warm climate, numerous recreational areas, and over nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, we think it’s a great place to resume our nomadic journey.

After Malta we are also excited to head back to Greece, this time checking out a handful of the dreamy islands we haven’t seen yet. Sounds like heaven, right? Bring on the Mediterranean! 

How will we get there and how much will it cost?

Flying form Perth to anywhere is expensive, but when following our own flying travel hacks we figured a way to get back to Europe for much cheaper than originally thought. 

Perth to Malta is normally around $1350 per person, stopping in Singapore and Istanbul. However I managed to find flights for $802, stopping in Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul. The key? Booking several separate legs with different airlines and choosing the lowest priced days. For instance most flights out of KL are much cheaper then flights out of Perth. So first we booked KL to Istanbul. Then we watched the Air Asia sales for best price outta Perth. And lastly we used the Skyscanner price watch as flights skyrocketed from Istanbul to Malta for $400 Sunday night through to Friday and then come crashing down to $120 Friday night to Sunday morning. 

It’s still a lot of money, so thank goodness it’s only one-way.

We will be heading out of Perth to spend 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur before our direct flight to Istanbul. After a few hours making the short jump to Malta.

What’s 2014 looking like?

We have a map you can check out all the places we have been to so far, but this year we hope to take it a bit slower. Last year we covered 28 countries. This year our goal is to do half as many, take our time, and really immerse ourselves in each location.

A nomadic traveller never has a set itinerary, but we would hope our year would look something like this:

April – Malta

April/May – Greece

May/June – Croatia

July – Austria, Czech Republic, Poland

August – Slovakia, Hungary

September – Romania, Bulgaria

October – Turkey, Greece

November – Sri Lanka

December – Maldives, Bali

A big thank you

I just want to express a sincere thank you to all our readers who have been following our journey so far. We are truly excited to bring you some new and exciting destinations and hope you continue to read and enjoy.

Hears to a huge 2014… it’s going to be a fun one!