1 year on the road today!

Today, we completed one year since we left Dubai! Happy we-left-Dubai anniversary!

Moving out from the United Arab Emirates meant quitting our jobs, emptying our rental apartment, selling almost everything we used to own and starting to explore the world with more time. Just the two of us.

This year has been incredible! Our horizons have expanded like never before, while visiting new places, observing different life styles, testing our taste buds with new flavors and, bonding more than ever. I mean, we’re soon going to get married - I don’t think we could be bonding much more than this, right? ;)

 

So, what have we been up to this past year?

 

Explored ancient churches in ETHIOPIA while I got fleas… but it didn’t really matter. Ethiopia was a great surprise! We met a lot of cute chatty kids with whom we talked about Bollywood and life in their village and explored a little bit of this country’s rich history.

Read more about our adventures in Ethiopia.

 

Organized an event in INDIA, where we roamed the streets with our own elephant! Only in India!…

See some of the photos we clicked in India.

 

Visited our friend Anita Catita in LONDON and went for a Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert – Ashray’s favorite band that he got to see live for the first time!

Fancy a stroll around London? Come with us…

 

Ashray came to PORTUGAL, my homeland, for the first time. We spent time with my Mom and Sister, ate cod fish (my favorite!) and hung out with friends.

Sample a bit of Portugal by reading more about my country.

 

We did a road trip in SPAIN that took us from Barcelona to Andalucia. Ate tapas galore, spent way too much money on tolls and finally ended up in Madrid at Elisa’s home, who used to be my flat mate in Lisbon.

Vamos a Espana!

 

We headed to MEXICO and fell in love with this country: the colors, the history, the blue waters and their yummy food! Such a culturally rich nation, we absolutely love this place!

We have a lot of posts about all of these Mexican wonders – have a look!

 

“Traveled back in time”, spending some time in La Havana – CUBA! We learnt how you can live with so little and still have such a positive outlook towards life.

You can travel back in time too, with these posts and photos…

 

Took our first surfing lesson in COSTA RICA and explored this land’s natural wonders.

Nature at its best, right here!

 

Went to Carnival in BRAZIL, where we got robbed and punched, but still had a good time! It was interesting to appreciate from the front row how big disparities between poor and rich can mess up things. Also our friends Dushi and Avinash came to visit and that was so much fun!

Wanna dance some samba?

 

Ended up in ECUADOR after our flight to Bolivia was cancelled and discovered what later became my favorite country in South America!

How can you fit so much variety in this tiny country? Well, you can!

 

Had play dates with cute sea lions in the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS! Out of this world…

We have wonderful photos of it all if you are in need of a smile!

 

Spent 3 months in CHILE, the longest country in the world, where we visited from freezing Antarctica to the driest desert in the world (the Atacama). I had no idea this country would be so rich, and I don’t mean in landscapes only!… To add on to the great Chilean experience, our friend Ayush came all the way from India, taking a 35 hour journey to spend some crazy times with us!

Explore with us – there is so much to be seen!

 

Visited EASTER ISLAND (aka RAPA NUI), one of the most remote inhabited places in the world.

Have a look at how impressive the Moai status are and understand the history behind them…

 

Crossed by land to PERU, where we explored cities, jungle and the Andes… and where Ashray proposed to me in Macchu Picchu! <3

Read and see more about Peru!

 

Now, we are in BOLIVIA, where the first place we visited was the Isla del Sol that, according to the Incas, was the birth place of the Earth.

More on Bolivia!

 

Personally, I couldn’t have asked for more this year!

Sure I got fleas in Ethiopia, tick fever in Costa Rica and got punched in Salvador da Bahia while I saw my beloved video camera run away for her new Brazilian life… But I got to eat REAL Mexican food (stay away from me Tex-Mex!), spent time with friends I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years, learnt that people can survive on little and the more you have doesn’t necessarily mean the happier you are, explored the most extreme landscapes I had even seen and, most importantly, I am still with Ashray and this is meant to last!

 

 

12 months, 13 countries, 25 flights and more than 1000 meals later, we’d like to say

THANK YOU for piggy-back riding with us!

Cool experiences feel even better when you can share them with the world, and knowing that you are on the other side reading really inspired us to write, photograph and take videos to show you that, the world is waiting for YOU!

 

Here’s to many more years of traveling and sharing!

So, what’s next? Be around and soon you shall find out…