In 2013, we quit our jobs to travel the world and unexpectedly met each other in Luang Prabang, Laos. Here's our story of from being broke backpackers to luxury travellers because of travel blogging.
Jonathan and I met while backpacking in Luang Prabang, Laos. After doing a few months motorbike trip in South East Asia, he was broke and decided to teach English in Hanoi, Vietnam while I was continuing my trip and doing a yoga retreat in Thailand.
We decided to meet again after 2 months of keeping in touch and did a motorbike trip in North Vietnam and from then our love story began.
We both quit our jobs at the same time without even knowing each other – I was working for an Oil company in Kurdistan, Iraq while he’s an Architectural Technologist in the UK. When we started dating, we both knew we didn't want to return to our old corporate jobs so we had to find ways to sustain our life on the road.
We did so much to keep living our dream. We taught English in Vietnam and Peru, pushed wheelbarrow around the town of Machu Picchu, set up our own massage business. We volunteered in Exchange for bed and food to survive, taught yoga on donation basis only, hitchhiked for hundreds of kilometres to save on transportation and adventure.
Our family and friends told us to start a travel blog but we both didn't know how to do it, so we studied for months on how to build one. We read a lot of bloggers who are earning a full time income with just blogging. With over a year of continuous travelling, over 35 visited countries in 5 continents, we both thought that we definitely have interesting experiences aside from our unique love story.. so we said why not?
We invested money on starting a blog – bought a domain, built our social media following and started writing with our intention of making our dreams come true. We both wanted to experience Luxury and we knew that one day it will gonna happen. Focusing on our goals and with our tagline “Monkey Backpackers to Luxury Travelers”, we started working on it.
Slowly we just realized that we’re already doing it - staying in Luxury Penthouse suite, enjoying the private jacuzzi overlooking the sea, riding a private chartered flight, skydiving in Brazil, riding a private yacht in Colombia, exploring the heritage site of Pamukkale, Turkey.
We’re not yet "rich" but I know that when you set your goals, you’ll eventually reach your dreams!
More info: twomonkeystravelgroup.com
Our First Motorbike Trip in North Vietnam
The trip that made us officially as a couple. We both didn't know our plans in life but we knew that we could do everything we want!
Our DIY Trek to Machu Picchu
Before travel blogging: After a month of volunteering in a hostel in Peru and with only less than $500 on our bank accounts.. the locals thought us the easiest way to go to Machu Picchu without spending a dime, we walked 30 kms in one day just to reach this world wonder.
Invited on a TV Show in Arequipa, Peru
Aside from teaching English, we invested on our Ayurveda Massage Therapy Certificate and it became one of our source of income before Travel Blogging.
Hitchhiking in Patagonia de Chile
Taj Mahal during our Backpacking Days in India
We dont usually pay for entrance fee, we only go outside or choose one person who would want to go inside museums etc so we could save money on our $25/ day backpacking budget.
Snorkling in the Maldives
It took us 7 months of working crazy hard in Hanoi, Vietnam to finally afford a trip to the Maldives.
Blogging while Hitchhiking in Patagonia de Chile
We decided to fully launch our blog while we were backpacking in South America. We travelled and worked on writing about our travel experiences before blogging!
Overnight Sleeper Train in India
The time when our daily budget was only $25 for both of us!
The beginning of our Luxury Lifestyle in Costa Rica
After 5 months of launching our blog, we told ourselves that we wanted to experience travelling on Luxury but we couldn't afford it. We decided to contact a luxury resort and spa and that's how everything started and we became more confident on reaching our dreams.
All-expense paid Press Trip for 3 weeks in Turkey
Now, we're invited on all-expense paid trips around the world. This one was last October in Turkey
Private Yacht Trip in Colombia
Exploring Baku, Azerbaijan
Luxury Motorbike Trip in Morocco
Went on a Press Trip in Florida Keys
We got to experience riding a seaplane during one paid press trip in Florida Keys. Adventure activities, memorable experiences while getting paid!
Invited as Panel Speakers during the World Tourism Forum
After a year of blogging, we got our invite to be panel speakers to talk about Travel Blogging during the World Tourism Forum in Istanbul, Turkey
Enjoying this life while in Morocco
Enjoying the scenery of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Pinching myself if this lifestyle is true and happening. Dreams do come true