Traveling Home

Creative duo Joris and Joanna from theworldaheadofus.com have been travelling the world for over six months, and they still have a lot more to explore. Here’s what they’ve learnt so far.

Tell us about your blog...

When we decided to travel the world for a year, we started thinking about how we could share our experiences with others, including our families and friends. Creating a blog was the obvious thing to do but we wanted to make it special.

We’re both graphic designers, and Joris is also a professional photographer. The journalistic photographs on our blog help us to tell better stories and show our readers what we’ve experienced in each country. We want to share real-life stories of the people we meet and the cultures we encounter.

Describe your travel style in three words...

Economical, insightful, different.

Top three places you’ve visited?

A difficult question, especially considering that we’re only halfway through our travels. So far, although we had a rocky start there, we have to admit that India is just incredible. That’s followed by Laos, where we visited the incredible site of Vat Phou. Finally, Indonesia, where we had some of our biggest adventures.

Tell us about your most unforgettable travel memory

Unfortunately, some of the most unforgettable memories can be of bad experiences. Ours started on 5 August 2018, the day that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused a lot of destruction on the island of Lombok. We were staying on Gili Air, a small island only 30km away and we felt the incredible force of nature.

What advice would you give a first-time traveller?

• It's OK to make mistakes.
• Make a list with your travel essentials well ahead of time.
• Don’t overpack.
• Study the countries you’re planning to visit. Learn about the cultures and people.
• Download apps like Uber/Grab/Ola for transportation and Maps.me for easy navigation. They'll save you a ton of money too!

Why do you love travel blogging?

We don’t want to be famous or change the world but when people read our blog, we get the satisfaction and joy of having shared some knowledge, experiences and photos. Ultimately, we hope to inspire people to get out there and see the world with their own eyes.

If you’re a member of our Pathfinders community and would like to share your story, keep your eye on the Lonely Planet Pathfinders forum for our monthly spotlight call-out.