For a while now I have been wanting to interview my Canadian friends Dave and Deb from The Planet D on the Celebrity Travel Addicts series. This adventurous couple has been traveling the globe full time for almost a decade, covering all 7 continents and some epic off-the-beaten-path destinations like Ukraine, Sudan and Mongolia. Their photography will blow you away! Without further ado, here’s our Q&A with Dave and Deb.
Our passion started way back in 2000. We used to work in the film industry in Toronto, Canada and spent most of our time working and focusing on our careers. We found that we were in a bit of a funk and realized that we didn’t have any interests or hobbies outside our job. We had been together 9 years at that point and hardly saw each other. We had separate lives working long hours and opposite schedules.
It was a trip to Thailand that woke us up. We spent five weeks travelling around the country, reconnecting and getting to know each other again. We tried a bunch of adventures like rock climbing, snorkelling and sea kayaking. Before that trip, we didn’t do many adventures. But when we came home, we kept the adventure going and joined a climbing gym, learned to scuba dive and started mountain biking.
After that, we made sure to travel somewhere different every year. And we always made sure to take on a new adventure that we never dreamed of doing. After splitting our time between work and travel for 7 years, we took the plunge and decided to look into ways to make travel a full time career. And that is when ThePlanetD was born.
We are basically on the road full time. We don’t have a home and when we are back in Canada we stay with our family. Last year we realized that we travelled to 22 different countries on five continents. We really love to visit places that we haven’t been to yet. And our favourite thing is to get outside and have an adventure. The more off the beaten path the better. But we really do love travelling anywhere. It’s not like we only go to remote destinations, some of our favourite places to visit are well-trodden cities like New York and Paris.
We aim to inspire people try something new. We want people to step out of their comfort zone and turn their travels into an adventure. It doesn’t have to be as challenging as cycling the continent of Africa or climbing to Everest Base Camp, but just to try something new. Take baby steps. We were excited walking through a jungle for the first time and visiting our first authentic market. It’s about making your travels a well-rounded experience where you immerse in the local culture, get out in nature and learn about the destination.
We also like to share our favourite things and insider tips about destinations. We want to inspire people to go to new places and take the fear out of travel. If we can do it, you can too!
Antarctica
Mongolia
South Africa
There is so much to do at all of them, but I’m going to choose Antarctica because I think many people don’t realize how much there is to do there.
105
Thai, Japanese, Mexican
Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler Canada. The food is excellent, but it’s also an event. Start with apres ski champagne and oysters before going into the world’s coldest vodka tasting ice room, then head downstairs to check out the massive wine cellar. Ask to sabre a bottle of bubbly and then enjoy a six course tasting menu. Heavenly.
One Week with Joshua Jackson of Dawson’s Creek fame. This is a motorcycle road trip across Canada. I love seeing Canada in movies.
We mostly spend time in the lounges. We travel so much I don’t bother exploring airports much anymore. So I’m going with Istanbul because I love the Turkish Airlines Lounges.
Dublin, Ireland. I find everyone in Ireland so friendly.
Dave of course!
We binge watch TV shows. I actually look forward to long flights so I can catch up on the hottest TV series.
I’m going to go with Western Mongolia. Driving through Mongolia in the Mongol Rally brought us to the most remote regions of the country. Very few tourists make it there. Because we were driving ourselves, we got to go to spots that nobody else gets to go. There were literally no roads. We followed dirt paths and a compass. We camped in fields and we interacted with nomads. It was incredible.
Save enough money to sustain you for at least a year. If you want to make a living at travel, it is going to take time. It won’t happen overnight, so make sure you have enough money to get you through the period you are building your business. Travel to destinations where you can stretch your dollar like South East Asia or Central America.
iPhone, a Sarong, travel insurance, Gold Bond Powder, portable power bannk
We have yet to visit Uganda and Rwanda to trek to see the mountain gorilla. That’s on our list to finally make our way there this year. We’re hoping to go in May.
“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal” ~ Paulo Coelho
We are heading on a 1000km snowmobile ride to northern Canada on the Hudson Bay where we are going to spend time with the Cree learning about their traditions and way of life. We’re then heading to Scotland to drive the North 500 – Scotland’s answer to Route 66 and then it’s off to Istanbul before heading overland through the Balkans to Tuscany.
Dave and Deb are well-known travel personalities in both online and mainstream media. Their highly acclaimed Travel Blog is a two time winner of best travel blog by the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) They’ve travelled to 105 countries on all 7 continents working with travel brands and destinations as spokespeople and brand ambassadors. They’ve been featured by international media outlets spanning such as Martha Stewart, RedBull, BBC and En Route. Dave and Deb speak around the world about not only travel and blogging, but pursuing passion and what it takes to make it happen. Follow their photography on Instagram and adventures on YouTube
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