Why people travel is a central question for me. I am traveling myself to find the answer why am I doing this? I always read what other travelers say about their motivation and – sadly – I often get disappointed with trivial replies. I think it is great to exchange ideas on personal motivations and when I got familiar with a Travel Blog by Justin and Lauren – a Canadian couple – I thought it is a good opportunity to ask them few questions about their travels and blogging. They traveled around Canada, the US and the Caribbean and in 2015 they planned to visit Italy (and that is how they came across with my blog). Here is what they told me about their way of traveling.
Justin and Lauren in Aruba
How did you two met and is there a travel involved?
We actually met at work! We both work together as video editors for our day jobs. When we first started dating, we both loved to discover new places to visit in our own city (Toronto) or within a day’s driving distance. Soon enough, we were planning trips together to Niagara Falls, Montreal, or places in the USA. This past winter, we went to the Caribbean and our next travel destination will be Italy. While we didn’t meet during our travels, we found out that we both want to travel everywhere in the world together and share all of those wonderful experiences!
Do you learn the world through traditional or local music?
We are both music lovers. Justin can play the guitar and I play the piano, guitar, and clarinet. Learning about traditional music is a great way to experience different cultures. I love finding out about all sorts of musical instruments from different areas around the world – they can make such amazing sounds that don’t normally exist in Western music! With that said, I would love to explore areas like Austria that are rich in Classical music history. . Back at home, we love to hear local bands play at smaller venues.
Is traveling together a good strategy to care for a relationship?
I think that everyone needs their “escape” from regular day-to-day life. Sometimes we work opposite hours and can’t see each other very much, or we have to do chores and things like that on our days off. When we get to travel, we get to spend every moment together experiencing something new, whether it be kayaking, hiking, snorkeling underwater, tasting yummy food, or taking in the surroundings of a completely different place. It is also nice to unwind and relax on a vacation, away from the normal stresses of everyday life. It is so wonderful to be able to visit new places together and it is difficult for me to even think of traveling without Justin! I want him to be able to see everything, too! Traveling together has definitely worked for us and I think it has made our relationship even stronger!
Aruba
Do you like the returns and what do you bring with you from places visited?
The most important thing that we bring back from our travels are photographs and videos. We love to look back on pictures from our trips as memories of where we’ve been. They’re also great for blogging! I also like to collect postcards and sometimes postage stamps if I can find them. I have a collection of postcards of places that I’ve visited. Otherwise, there’s nothing really specific – usually we might bring back something special about the area that we visited. For example, we brought back spices from Grenada, sea salt from Bonaire, and wine from the Niagara region of Canada. Returning home is always difficult because I could just keep on traveling forever! There is something really nice about being at home in your own bed though. Plus, we own a kitten now, so the next time that we travel, we will be missing him! So, it will be great to return to our little cat. The other fun thing about returning is writing and updating our travel blog – I generally start to do this when we return home from the trip!
What is the driving force behind your travels?
We want to visit all of the natural wonders of the world – fjords, waterfalls, mountains, and more! We love the adventure of visiting a brand new place, or even returning to a favourite destination. We want to experience different cultures and try different food – we both eat a plant-based, vegan diet, so we’d love to see the different types of vegetarian food from around the world. We want to learn about the rich history of countries and regions by traveling there in person. I would truly rather be “rich in experiences” than rich with money. We hope to do lots of traveling throughout our lives!
Meet Justin and Lauren on their website and social channels:
Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram – Pinterest – Youtube
