The idea of seeing the world has always had a special allure about it. There is something very compelling about being able to experience different cultures, meet like-minded people and gazing our eyes on the wonders of the world. As a young girl I was fortunate to be surrounded by a family who also shares this passion of wonder; getting on a plane to a new place was never a strange concept to me; Justin on the other hand had never experienced travel in that way, when I convinced him to come to Australia with me right after we graduated I knew his life was going to be forever changed.
Since beginning our travels and serious exploration of this beautiful world in 2010 we have been graced with so many amazing opportunities and met so many like-minded souls. I think we both have different aspects of travel we admire more than the other, but can always agree that being able to experience different cultures around the world is extremely important to us.
Every time we experience a new country or city we come home with an ever greater appreciation for what we are blessed with in our own lives. If travelling teaches us nothing other than to be grateful for what we have, then that’s okay.
One of the most beautiful moments we had was our first time in Asia. We were in Thailand on our Honeymoon, happy and in love, excited to start the next chapter of our lives. We were walking down the streets in Chiang Mai enjoying watching the locals prepare for their day; it was in that moment we realised how much joy these people shared in their lives. It became so clear to us that we didn’t need to have an abundance of money or material things in our lives to make us happy, instead we needed memorable human interactions.
It’s moments like that they keep drawing us in to explore more of this world. Although we always have our camera’s ready to go we make a point to disconnect as much as we can from social media until we get back to Canada, there is something special about sharing your experiences with people when you’re with them than over an e-mail or text, so we wait to share our stories with family and friends until we come home.
Food is definitely another alluring part of travel for us, We thoroughly enjoy eating our way through different countries, trying new spices and flavors as often as we can. When in Thailand we took a Thai cooking course, and in India we went on many street
food tours, just to be able to try everything possible. We still can’t decide where our favourite meals come from, and we are always trying to replicate dishes from around the world in our own kitchen at home.
Our favourite “date night” back in Canada is randomly choosing a country, and preparing a 3-5 course meals together. We have managed to perfect a few dishes and our family and friends love when we create the unique dishes for them to share as well.
I know there are so many individuals out there who love to travel solo and experience the world on their own, but we feel so grateful that we have one another to share these travels with. To be able to sit back at the end of a long day in a new country, a familiar face, a glass of wine and endless chatter about what we just went though is something we thrive for. Travelling together has not only grow us both on individual levels, but it’s also strengthened out friendship, and our marriage along the way.
Experiencing culture from travel isn’t only from the local’s you meet, it’s also from the other travellers you run into along the way. This is the Third reason we love travel so much. We have met people from all over the world while we have been abroad and to
share stories, get tips and laugh at the pub after a long day is always wonderful! We’ve met friends along the way we are still in touch with today, and hope to keep growing our “travel family” over the years.
The fourth reason we love to travel is to be able to see the natural beauty of this world other than behind a computer screen. The internet has made everything so accessible to
people nowadays, but there is something special about standing with our own feet in world heritage sights; to say we hiked for 4 days to get to Machu Picchu, walked through the crowded streets in Delhi, snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef or went cage diving with Great White sharks These are our personal accomplishments that make us proud to live the life we do.
These are our top 4 reasons we live the life of travel that we do, the reasons that when we are flying home from one adventure we are already deep into planning another, the reasons why no matter what life throws at us we won’t give up on seeing every square inch of this beautiful world we live in.
Share with us why you love travel, and recommend some new places we should see below!
J & J Travel 