Living a Life of Travel by Etramping: Real People, Real Answers

 

Name: Agness and Cez

Age: 28 and 30

Nationality: Polish

Occupation: Travel Bloggers

Current Location: Gdańsk, Poland

 

1) When Did Your Love Affair with Travel Begin?

Agness: For me, travel was something which was always there, you know? It’s just a part of who I am, I think. I remember watching my friends going out and enjoying themselves, staying up late and partying through their lives. It looked like a lot of fun, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to be stuck in one town for the rest of my life, when there was a huge, incredible world out there to explore. Sure, I was never a huge fan of all the extra work I had to do to afford it, but the travel experience at the end of the road was always worth it!

Cez: I wish I could say the same, but for me it all started in an office cubicle, more or less. I had just been through the latest batch of reports and I thought to myself, “I would love to be travelling right now.” I think a lot of people have this thought, but it was the thought afterwards that really got things moving. “Why am I not travelling right now?” … “Money.”

Agness: So what about when you get rich? You’d just have to keep working to stay rich!

Cez:Exactly! That was it, I realized that the only thing stopping me from travelling was myself! People were travelling without a lot of money, of course they were. I decided that it was time for me to explore my options when it came to budget travel. From there, the rest is history.

 

2) How Would You Describe Your Style of Travel?

Cez: I guess that you could say that we’re mainly budget travelers. We’re mainly about money saving expert travel and showing people how they can do it themselves. That’s what our blog is really all about. We’re expert money handlers!

Agness: Of course, it’s the same now. We started out travelling on much smaller budgets, now it’s a lot easier. We sometimes have been known to splurge when the mood takes us.

Cez: We still offer budget travel tips and tricks, but what’s most important now is the actual experience of travelling itself. Money is only a means to an end. When it comes to the experience, we’re really about building up strong relationships with the people we meet along the way. A huge part of the experience is really about this.

Agness: Like when we went to North Korea, for instance. We made good friends with the tour guides and this really helped us to explore the place in much greater detail!

Cez: Yup! And we like fitness!

Agness: Yeah, we love fitness. We try to make sure that we explore how travel and fitness can be combined: fit travelling if you like!

 

3) What Do You Like Most About Travelling?

Agness and Cez: Freedom!

Cez: Yup! Recalling when I was working as an accountant type, I remember thinking that it would be so great to escape from the predictable working hours and stress. Going travelling has been one of the best things for me. I’m no longer stuck in the daily plug of 9-5. It’s not just me though, I think nearly anyone could live their life like this if they wanted to.

Agness: And we love the twists and turns at every corner. We never know what’s going to happen next. It’s great! One minute we might be sipping coffee in Poland, the next we’re on a plane to the other side of the world, ready to explore another new destination!

Cez: The great thing about that, is that we have so much control over what we don’t have control over! If we find something which looks interesting and we didn’t know about, we can just go over and have a look! I guess it all comes back to the freedom thing.

 

4) What’s the Number 1 Thing Travel Has Taught You?

Cez: Always be happy! Happiness is just so important. Travel isn’t always easy, there’s sometimes problems along the way. Delayed flights can mean you end up waiting around for hours, unable to sleep properly. You can really end up getting crabby and moody.

Agness: Yeah, it’s important to stay happy as much as possible, it stops you from making the situation worse.

 

5) How Do You Save Money to Travel?

Agness: We write! It’s great. We can do it from practically anywhere and it makes us feel great to share our experiences with everyone. We like to think that our articles have inspired more than a few people to pursue similar types of adventures.

Cez: We also do a little marketing for global travel brands. It’s interesting work and it helps pay the bills. But what’s more, it keeps us travelling and delivering great content to our followers! That’s what we’re all about.

 

6) What’s Your Best Budget Travel Tip When on the Road?

Cez: This one’s tricky. There are just so many good tips for travelling and keeping yourself within a budget. If you really made us have to pick though….

Agness: Smile!!

Cez: Hey! I was going to answer that. But yes, I would have to agree. Smiling is so important, especially when you’re travelling on a budget. It keeps you happy and it keeps you sane when it seems like things are completely out of control.

Agness: And it really does create opportunities. Smiling at your tour guide and being friendly, makes them want to show you the best things they possibly can. They’re a lot more likely to offer you a discount as well!

Cez: Don’t overdo it though! Smile too much and they’ll think something’s wrong with you!

 

7) What’s Your Favourite Travel App at the Moment?

Agness: At the moment, we’re in love with Pepo! It’s been great whilst travelling to let us know about some of the really cool, hidden things locals know about.

Cez: Yeah, it’s basically this app for connecting with people who have the same ideas and passions as you, from around the world. There’s a load of people on there, and each of them has something we can learn from!

Agness: And you like the photo filters, don’t you Cez? Haha.

Cez: It’s definitely great for sharing pictures of new places with people. That’s all I’ll say on that.

Agness: Haha. It’s a great app. There are a lot of similar things out there available, but we’ve found that Pepo has really helped a lot more than ones we’ve tried in the past.

 

8) What’s the One Thing You Never Leave Home Without?

Cez: A smile. Did you know that if you smile, it actually makes you happier?

Agness: It’s so important when something goes wrong whilst you’re travelling. A smile a day, keeps the doctor away!

 

9) Name the Most Incredible Place You’ve Visited

Cez: This one’s easy…

Agness and Cez: North Korea!

Cez: We just learnt so much from going there. Our perceptions and stereotypes were really challenged by the experience. North Korea is the last place you expect to find a good pint of beer, but low and behold, there it was.

Agness: Yeah, there’s so much we read and hear in the media about that country. Our stay there was really pleasurable and easy going. We did have to be a part of a tour group, but our tour guides were great people. In fact, we ended up making good friends with them. We’re hoping to go back again sometime.

Cez: There was also Tibet.

Agness: Oh yeah, Tibet was awesome! The people there are so friendly. Everyone is so friendly. It’s really something else seeing Tibetan monks in actual Tibet! The temples are just beautiful; you have to visit them if you’re in Lhasa.

Cez: And then of course, there’s the Tibetan food! I think we should start saying we’re foodie travellers as well!

Agness: You certainly eat enough of it haha!

 

10) Where Are You Heading to Next?

Cez: We’re currently planning a road trip around the Baltic sea. That whole area is just incredibly fascinating. It’s a brilliant place to visit.

Agness: After that, we’re heading towards South America, before finally heading into Antarctica for what might be our most incredible journey yet!

Cez: Oh yeah, we’re both looking forward to that one! I’ve already bought a coat to make sure I don’t get too cold!