The experience of a young couple who has been traveling for more than a year

In January 2022, Sofía Lusson and Jesús Sánchez They began the trip of their lives, an experience they had been dreaming of for a long time.

The couple in their thirties proposed go around the world carrying their backpacks for a year and a half, an adventure that they show through their Instagram profile and serves as a diary for their families.

“I had always wanted to take a trip like this. In 2015, I bought flights to go on my own in February 2016, but in August I met Jesús,” says the Madrid native.

From August to February he changed his mind and ended up staying on land, but the idea never left his mind, he confesses.

“I kept repeating it to myself,” jokes the man from Cáceres.

The pandemic had to arrive for them to finally decide to embark on the journey they began more than 400 days ago. However, strict COVID-19 restrictions worldwide also truncated their initial plans to leave Madrid in January 2021, so they postponed the departure for a year.

The idea was that this tour of the world would last a year, but like all plans related to this trip, nothing ends up going as one had thought and the adventure has been extended for another 6 months. Total, 18 months living as a couple with a backpack on their backs loaded with “very beautiful, but also too surreal” stories and anecdotes to tell upon her return.

“It’s no use planning. You can have a global idea of ​​the itinerary, with how many days to spend in each country, but from there to what happens next, everything changes,” says Jesús.

“Our initial plan was broken in the second month. The only thing we have maintained is order,” adds Sofía. “We had the idea of ​​staying 16 days in Bolivia and we stayed 35; 50 days in Mexico and in the end it was 90. In El Salvador it was going to be 10 days and it ended up being a month.”

As young people indicate, situations change due to factors that do not depend on you. At the moment, they have already traveled through South and Central America, although the trip began in Egypt as a result of flight cancellations during the pandemic.

At the time of this interview for Business Insider Spain, The couple is in Managua, but their journey will continue in Los Angeles and Honolulu (Hawaii) for 3 days to make the jump to Sydney. The week-long stop in Australia will take them to Asia, where they will travel for 3 months.

Going around the world is very romanticized and does not mean being on vacation

After many buses, planes and all kinds of accommodations and adversities, the young people have learned many lessons from this adventure.

“I think everyone, before going on a trip like this, has to know that it’s not vacation. We thought it too and it is not like that at all. Going around the world is very romanticized, but it is much harder physically and emotionally. On a personal level it is a very journey heavy, introspection and improvement. Furthermore, no matter how much you already know this continent, it is a great cultural shock,” says Sofía.

The young woman, who took advantage of the end of her higher studies to undertake the trip, insists that His biggest advice for traveling is based on 3 pillars: patience, empathy and a lot of respect.

“We are used to things working in Europe in a way that here you have to forget about. Social reality is complicated and there are things that worry us in Spain that don’t here. There are inequalities and there are times when you have to live in situations in which those that you can only follow that advice of patience, empathy and respect,” he maintains.

An example that he considers shocking at first is the amount of garbage: “I think they have more important problems than some of what we fight against. For example, if there is a lack of food in a home, recycling is not a priority. For a European mind it is shocking, but it is their reality.

Don’t lose sight of the budget

One of the main reasons why they say that this type of trip is not the same as being on vacation is the budget.

“On vacation you spend a lot more money and you don’t cut corners at all. The first month when you start traveling you do take more vacation time and nothing works out well for you, not even your budget,” they point out.

“At first you feel that anything goes. You eat in restaurants, you drink in bars and you do all the activities in the world because it is also cheaper than in Spain,” says Sofía, who explains that in the second month they already began to assess whether it was worth taking a beer at the bar instead of buying it in a store.

According to Jesús, who planned and keeps track of the budget, They spend 42 euros a day and try to adjust to 1,200 euros a monthalthough they don’t always succeed.

They had saved everything from Spain (where they had the “great luck” of being able to rent their house) and They recommend having at least 10,000 euros saved per person for a year of travel.

“Our budget, which is very low, but which has allowed us to do many things, is a mix between being able to enjoy and being calm. We have not stopped doing any of the important things of the trip and we have gone to all the places we wanted to go. We wanted to enjoy ourselves like crazy. But there are also people who have a lower budget and do less things, but in the end they travel the same. your way of traveling decides the budgetbut if you make it cheaper you also subtract a certain freedom and time,” they maintain.

The couple assures that one learns along the way and there is a moment when you assume that not everything can be done, and that not all activities are worth it, no matter how much they have been recommended to you.

“It is very important to know what is most important to you,” they agree and explain that You have to know how to choose well what your priority is to invest your budget: sleep comfortably, eat well, leisure or excursions. “We are clear that what we prioritize is leisure time with a beer in the afternoon. That is what makes us enjoy ourselves.”

Of course, they find it necessary to take days “off” or “on vacation” without looking at the budget, because although you have to always keep it in mind, you can’t let it make you bitter.

“Uruguay gave us the biggest scare, we didn’t expect it. The budget there made us anxious, so we had to change our mindset to be able to enjoy the trip,” these globetrotters say.

Goodbye to comforts

Another reason why they claim that they are not on vacation –and corroborated by the travelers with whom they agree– it is because a trip like this is not synonymous with luxuries and comforts.

“We live with our backpack that weighs 13 kilos on our back, we travel an average of 7 hours a day on buses from hell, it is horribly hot and we sleep in shared rooms with 18 people,” they explain.

Furthermore, they point out, Your quality standards have to disappear along with your prejudices the day you get on a plane, because otherwise you will not enjoy the trip.. They also consider that you cannot go with fear and without interacting with the locals and their culture. “If you skip this you may be skipping the best, because there are beautiful beaches everywhere,” they say.

The choice of the place to sleep depends on the budget of the moment, although they plan on 15 euros per night in total. For that price they sometimes find private rooms, while other times they stay in local people’s homes.

How long they stay in a place is closely linked to how comfortable they feel there: “Sometimes the body asks you to stay and rest, even if the destination is not the best, and dedicate yourself only to shopping.”

Living with a backpack on your back also means barely changing your clothes for more than a year, in addition to washing everything by hand daily so as not to mix it with clean clothes, because laundromats are “really expensive.”

Another reason why they maintain that “not everything is as romantic or beautiful” as they make it out to be is that the traveling as a couple can be complicated.

“It is a lot of time alone in very adverse situations: we are hungry, sleepy, hot and we are very tired, so conflict is easy. It is about having patience and doing independent things to give each other space. When we meet people we try to separate ourselves and have another atmosphere. It’s a brutal couple exercise. In 6 years we had never been angry and now it hasn’t been 6 days,” they say, laughing.

Money, connection and health to function

Being faithful to the budget means being travel professionals. low costwhich in turn involves perfectly controlling currency exchanges and commissions.

“The whole issue of currency exchange is a hassle. We have 3 different special cards for travel that we try at different banks and find the one that charges the least commission or is free. Even with specific travel cards they charge you or make you a bad currency exchange,” says Jesús, who adds that it is essential to carry cash for emergencies – and, yes, emergencies happen, they say.

After having crossed countless borders, they are clear that The first thing you have to do as soon as you arrive at a destination is have a SIM card from the country and withdraw money. “That solves your life and from there you can function,” they maintain.

On the other hand, both agree that traveling without insurance is very dangerousin addition to being mandatory in some countries after COVID-19: “Nothing has happened to us, but we have had to use it due to drinking bad water or things like that. It is easy to get sick because your body takes time to get used to the continent “.

As they explain, There are countries that require some vaccines such as yellow fever.. For example, if you go to Brazil and then want to change countries and you don’t have it, they won’t let you enter, as almost happened to Sofía.

“They almost deported me because I didn’t have the vaccination card, but Jesús had it on his cell phone and saved me, because he has photos of all the documents. Otherwise, I would have been trapped in Brazil,” she says.

The luck of being able to travel freely

Both Sofía and Jesús claim to be very aware of how lucky they are that their passport is red, something that “defines your life.”

“We have heard terrible stories. Now we are approaching a very bad border between Colombia and Panama where everyone crosses illegally to reach the United States and people die because their passports do not allow them to pass safely,” they lament.

On this trip around the world – which they estimate will end in July, although experience has taught them that nothing is as planned –, they have learned that You have to enjoy places more without the anxiety of wanting to see everything.

“You should not generate super high expectations, because the trip will annoy you. It is a basic mistake. Things emerge and you learn to travel by traveling“says Jesus.

“I wish everyone could make this trip, but I know that we are very lucky. Whoever can, should fight for it and try,” recommends Sofía.