In this edition of Celebrity Travel Addicts, we speak with Justine and Scott from Wanderers of the World, a travel-obsessed couple who are proof that you can hold down a 9-to-5 job and still explore the world! We chat with Justine and Scott about what travel means to them, the advice they have for those who feel their job gets in the way of them being able to travel, their favorite things to do in Brussels, and much more. Check out their top destinations around the globe and find out where they’re off to next!
Our love for travel started without each other at first and continued to grow once we started dating. As a young boy and teenager, Scott was often whisked off on adventures with his parents and brothers; this is where his love of skiing, snorkeling, and adrenaline-fuelled passions came from. As for me; my childhood involved numerous camping trips but it wasn’t until I was 23 when I was hit with the travel bug. Keen on using my Italian qualification from college, I embarked on a solo trip to see eight cities in seven days throughout Italy. Upon returning, I made it a goal to see at least three new places abroad every year and more of the UK in between. 18 months later, Scott and I met each other and it wasn’t long before he was brought along for the ride.
Travel brings excitement, adventure, and passion into our lives. It gives us something to dream about and then put into action. It teaches us new things about ourselves, each other and cultures around the world. And it shows us that there’s beauty wherever you look and whatever you’re attracted to; be it ocean blues, forest greens or sandy whites.
We’d been travelling together for about two years when Scott suggested the idea of starting a travel blog. This was in May 2016. Initially, I laughed off the idea as I didn’t know anything about running a website and so I continued to plan our upcoming multi-city trip to Los Angeles, Honolulu, Hilo and San Francisco, which was planned for September of that year. But his idea stuck with us throughout that trip and we found that all we wanted to do when we got back was tell people all about the paradise landscapes we saw in Hawaii and why others should visit too. A month later, Wanderers of the World was born. Since then, our blog has evolved with us and we now focus on travel that couples can do around the 9-5 like day trips, weekend getaways and 1-2 week holidays. We’ve found that the larger travel blogs are often run by digital nomads who don’t have the same issues and concerns as those of us with office-based full-time jobs. We wanted to create a space to inspire others like us and show them that they can see the world; they just might have to do it one destination at a time and whenever they’re able to.
If travel is really something that you want to do, then your 9-5 won’t stand in the way. Yes, you might have to do some advance planning in order to get time off approved rather than just hop on a plane tomorrow, but that shouldn’t be an issue. Where do you want to go next year? Start thinking about it now and put it into action! Remember that your 9-5 is your gateway to travel not the enemy; you need money to travel, right? So your job is what will help you to do it. And lastly, don’t forget about everything in your own home country – a quick day trip or weekend jaunt to the countryside counts as travel just as much as a trip abroad. You may even be surprised by what’s waiting for you in the next town along!
We spend 95% of our annual leave days and UK bank holidays on travel, which equates to around 30 days per year. And then we probably spend another two weekends per month travelling on top of that. So we’re looking at around 75-80 days of travelling per year. We’re not very good at sitting still so we love to visit places with a good balance of relaxation, adventure and nature. You’ll often find us travelling around the UK in search of new places to hike and take in the countryside views but we also love European city breaks as they’re perfect for long weekends. To give you a flavour for our kind of travel, a few of our favourite trips have been to Belgium, Vienna, Iceland, Finland, Morocco, Hawaii, Bali, Singapore and Dubai.
We’re doing this to share our own personal experiences with our readers that they can hopefully learn from. But with this comes the need to be truthful in everything that we say and do. For us, this means keeping our photos realistic of what it’s really like to see a place (warts and all) and describing the pros and cons where relevant too. We hope that by being a normal everyday couple, readers will find us approachable and feel like they can ask us whatever they want.
Given how much we loved and were surprised by our trip to Brussels in Belgium, here’s our ‘top 5’ list to hopefully convince you to take a trip there too!
To be honest, we haven’t been keeping count. But between us, it has got to be well over fifty by now.
That’s easy: Italian, Singaporean and British.
Archipelago in the heart of London never ceases to be the most unusual restaurant we’ve ever eaten at. It won’t be to everyones’ taste as dishes on the menu include things like zebra, crocodile, kangaroo and even chocolate-covered locusts for dessert. We implore you to find the two or three most unusual dishes on the menu and indulge… you never know when you might get another chance to eat something so unique.
Into the Wild is a tear-jerker but is full of beautiful visuals and scenery and is a strong reminder to get out there and see the world but always be prepared when doing so.
Schiphol in Amsterdam. When we visited in 2017, it had row upon row of giant sunflowers outside it. This was a wonderful way to welcome us to a new city and served as a beautiful reminder of Van Gogh’s connection with the Netherlands too.
Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. They’re chilled, down to earth, welcoming, honest – and make great friends!
Besides each other? Our Rough Collie, Kai. He joins us on most – if not all – of our UK trips and days out.
Writing. On average, it takes us around 2-3 hours to write a new blog post from scratch (not including publishing time). This really eats into the hours spent on a plane, it’s fun – and gives us one less blog post to write when we come home!
Because we both work full-time, we usually choose to work with local brands and tourism boards; not exactly what you would call exotic but it has given us a chance to visit places in the UK that we might never have done otherwise. We’ve recently partnered with Visit Swansea Bay and spent three days seeing the best of the Gower Peninsula in Wales. It was the first area in the UK to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and we had never thought to visit before. It’s simply stunning so I’m glad we got the chance to do this as a press trip.
Don’t expect everything to be perfect. There will be mishaps along the way – anything from cancelled and delayed flights to lost baggage and freak weather. But just as long as you can travel with an open mind and positivity and remember to laugh about your misadventures together then you’ll have a great time no matter what.
Our phones are our lifelines and navigators (thanks Google Maps!), as well as what we take the majority of our photos with. You’ll also find us clinging to a good book, mini journal for keeping blogging notes and a headphone splitter, so we can still ‘Netflix and chill’ while travelling.
We both have a longing to travel around Japan for three weeks to see places like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Uji, the Snow Monkey Park and Mount Fuji.
“Home is not where you are from, it is where you belong. Some of us travel the whole world to find it. Others find it in a person.” – Beau Taplin (an Australian author and songwriter)
Aside from a few more weekend jaunts around the UK, we’re currently planning my 30th for next year, which is probably going to be island-hopping in Croatia with day trips to Krka National Park, Plitvice Lakes and the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.
We’re Justine and Scott; full-time workers, part-time travellers. Our travel blog, Wanderers of the World is for couples that want to travel outside of the 9-5 like going on day trips, weekend getaways and 1-2 week holidays. Come and escape the 9-5 with us via our blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
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rishiindiatravels says:
Great post. Blog that has meaningful and astute comments are more enjoyable. The benefits of travelling are not just one time things. Travelling changes you mentally and physically. Thanks for sharing!