Last updated on October 17, 2024
“How long are you off for?” “Maybe 2-5 years, who knows?” said Steve 730 days ago at our party to say goodbye. It was an answer said half-jokingly. We had no idea what this journey would look like or how long it would last for. We still don’t know where it’s going, but we do know where it’s been, and this post is a celebration of the past year gone by. You can see the first year in photos here. It’s really been quite the journey! Thank you for following along.
We celebrated our one-year travel anniversary in San Pancho, the Mexican beach town that stole our hearts.
We loved it so much we almost set down roots, bought some land and built a retreat centre. But the call of the world still sounded and we realized we needed to explore some more – not just the planet but also our place within it.
Saying goodbye was hard. We’d made some wonderful friends and had a beautiful life there, teaching yoga and spending plenty of time in great company and in awesome nature, next to the beach, ocean and jungle.
En-route back to the UK, we stopped off in Mexico City to taste the world of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two of our favourite artists.
We celebrated my birthday in Tulum, right next to the Caribbean Sea.
Next was a whistle-stop tour of the various places we call home in England – London, Bristol, Aldershot and Redhill – a time filled with family, friends and food.
We took a trip to Tuscany with Steve’s family, eating as much gelato as we could find.
And then followed that with a visit to Barcelona to see some friends and fulfill a lifetime dream.
Yes, 2013 was the year we went in a hot air balloon!
Come June it was time to head off on our next long-term adventure. We were off to Bali for five months.
We’d chosen Ubud because we’d heard it was filled with great food, yoga, a beautiful climate, wonderful people, and plenty of digital nomads just like us.
It had all those things and we lived a wonderful life there, scooting around town, visiting spas and enjoying our beautiful villa.
Ubud also had monkeys, making 2013 the year we were also taken hostage by monkeys in our own home!
After that, anything seemed possible and Steve faced his fear of public speaking by talking about Planetary Collective at the monthly Pecha Kucha night. By the end of the year, his film Overview would have been viewed more than 5 millon times on Vimeo!
I interviewed one of my most admired authors, Lionel Shriver, at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, as well as Lydia Cacho, and Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet. I was excited to say the least.
While in Ubud, we visited what is perhaps the best school in the world. It’s easy to see why many parents decide to move there.
After becoming a little infuriated with the “Eat-Pray-Lovers” of Ubud I decided to explore the esoteric side of the town and the myriad therapies it had to offer, from crystal-light-bed healing to Ayurveda and ecstatic dance. It was a string of experiences I still haven’t quite processed, taking me from great highs to horrible lows and every shade of emotion in between. I came out the other side more skeptical than I began, but still open to the idea of magic. It was certainly fascinating, and I intend to write more on my experiences soon.
In-between these guinea pig activities, we also explored a little more of Bali. Some friends came to visit and we went to the Gili Islands.
Steve and I took a road trip into the mountains, staying at the gorgeous Village Above the Clouds…
…where we met this incredible woman.
For our final weekend, we went to the southern beaches…
…and enjoyed some last licks of sun.
Following Bali, we decided it was time for a bath in the familiarity of England. We wanted to spend some time closer to home, spending quality time with friends and family. We started in London…
…and then set up home in Devon, where I returned to eating cake.
But not before Steve surprised me with a trip to Paris for our five-year anniversary. We even saw The Lumineers.
Christmas was spent with family,
…and New Year’s with dearest friends.
We were in Devon for around four months, living a quaint life of pasties, cakes, baking, baths and beautiful open fires. We put our heads down and worked on our respective projects, taking breaks to walk along the wild coast. Devon has become another home.
We also went to Finland where we were enchanted by a land of snow, saunas and splendid people.
Helsinki is now one of our favourite cities.
This takes us up to now and our new home, Berlin, where we arrived just yesterday. We’re excited to be back in a city and such a creative one at that. The next few months will be busy, especially for Steve whose deadline for Planetary is approaching. After this, who knows? If there’s one thing we’ve learnt in the last couple of years it’s that anything is possible and the only way to take it is day by day. Thank you for sharing in our journey! We’re so delighted to have you with us.
– Victoria and Steve
