WDS round the World: All Your Questions Answered

WDS Round the World: All Your Questions Answered

Since we announced our departure from Dubai to finally take off on our  #WDSRTW Round the World trip, we’ve received many questions, in private messages or on Instagram.

While we did a Facebook Live video to answer most of those, we felt like it would be valuable to write those down in an article, allowing us to also look back on to during and after the trip!

To catch up anyone wondering, we are taking off on an around the world trip for the next 8+ months, covering more than 25 countries in 4 continents. This stemmed from a desire to explore the world while we’re still (relatively) young, healthy, and without any major commitments.

So we decided to quit our jobs, leave our comfortable apartment, sell our furniture, donate most of our clothes and belongings, pack a carry-on, and say goodbye to our traditional life for a much more adventurous and exciting lifestyle. We are ready to explore, experience and discover all sorts of new paths, countries, and destinations, near and far, underrated and classic, relaxed and hectic.

We’re proud to say that we worked months and month, nights and weekends to accomplish this and make our dream come true after endless saving and planning.

We have asked for your questions about this decision to leave everything to go travel the world, and we received tons of responses so here is everything you need to know about our 48-Hours in producing full-time working UAE-resident life to transitioning to full-time travelers. Enjoy!

What are your job profiles and tell me how you decided to pursue the 48-hour travel concept?

I (Jeff) am a television producer and Anne is a social media marketing manager so our combined skills complemented each other nicely when we first started dating and realized we wanted to travel together but only had the weekends. We started to scan for cheap airfare from Dubai for short 2-3 day trips and began filming our adventures with our iPhones to share.

How long have you both been in Dubai and where all have you traveled as a couple and individually?

Anne has been here for six years and myself, four. I was living in Thailand at the time and had done quite a bit of traveling before moving to Dubai and Anne was fresh out of finishing her master degree here in the UAE. Since we met in late 2014 we have traveled to over 30 countries together.  

Would you advice people that 48 hours is enough to explore a place?

Absolutely! We have been able to really explore some amazing cities and countries in just a weekend from Dubai. Of course there is always more to explore and to see but the beauty of living so close to so many amazing destinations is that you can get a taste and then plan further trips back to experience even more.

Why would you recommend people to travel more often?

For us, travel became an escape from our full-time jobs and brought us closer together as friends. Seeing the world together, meeting new people in new cultures, trying different foods and dealing with the hiccups and stress that come from travel can really bring people together, or apart, but either way you'll learn and grow.

Tell me about your new venture and what struck you guys to do it?

After spending years working full-time in Dubai and filming videos all over the world on our weekends we thought it was about time we expanded our adventures and traveled full-time for a bit. We recently got married last September and don't have any kids yet so this seemed like the perfect time in our lives to dedicate our energy and creativity to going our for more than a weekend, exploring and focusing full-time on making new memories, adventures and filming more content.

How many months and countries does this entail? How have you guys been preparing? Whose idea was it to embark on this venture?

We both came to this idea together and have been planning some version of this trip since we got married. An adventure like this can seem like such a huge task to take on, but due to Anne's amazing planning and spreadsheets, we have broken down every task and goal before we need to go into manageable items and slowly ticked them off. As of now, we're planning to be on the road for about nine months and visit 25 countries on four continents.

How did you take the leap of faith to go on this adventure? Do you plan to become full-time travel bloggers or return to pursuing your respective professions?

We have found real passion in creative storytelling through our travel videos and would love to work with some brands and partners who believe in them as well. Of course, we would love to turn this hobby into a full-time job but we also want to enjoy every second of this adventure and not film every second, so it's a balance.

Leaving steady jobs and a paycheck can be scary, but what is more scary is the thought of being at the same jobs five years from now with children or debt that don't allow us the freedom we have now, so we're seizing this opportunity to go out into the world and we couldn't be more excited to see what it gives us!

How have you been preparing financially for this trip? Have you been saving and for how long? How much should a couple save to be able to go on an adventure like this?

A trip like this comes down to very careful planning and we have been saving for a long time. Every month I give my wife all my money, and she organizes it all and keeps track of the finances, and we couldn't do this without her :) Joking aside, something like this doesn't get prepared for overnight and without a lot of planning it may seem impossible. Luckily Anne and I do not eat out a lot, buy fancy things, drive cars or have expensive habits so our money is saved for travel and it's allowed us to slowly get to this goal.

Will you return to make Dubai your base after the adventure or move to another region altogether?

We'll see! Right now we are only thinking about the next few months of our travels and we'll see what opportunities, challenges or options come to us while traveling. We have absolutely loved our time in Dubai and it will always hold a massive place in our hearts, but for now, we are out on the open road and cannot wait to take our audience with us. Luckily for us, we still have amazing friends in Dubai and, as Dubai is so connected to the world, we already know we'll be passing back through at least a few times in the upcoming months.

Did you face resistance from family and friends about leaving well-paid jobs to go on this adventure?

I think our families, of course, had the first thought of their children giving up steady jobs but once we explained our reasoning and plan for the trip both our sets of parents and siblings, could not have been more supportive and helpful. I think our friends might hate us though...

How are you going about packing for such a big trip? Have you been downsizing to fit your lives into two suitcases?

We have never traveled with a checked bag on any of our trips the last four years and we're not about to start now! We always pack light and carry everything we take with us so we'll each only have a backpack and a small carry-on bag - be ready to see us in a lot of the same clothes!

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them in comments on reach out on our social channels. We’ll be publishing regular updates, pictures and videos so make sure you’re following us on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook :)

See you on the road!

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