In interviewing Daniel and Audrey of Uncornered Market, I learned how they came about the decision in leaving behind their life in Prague to traveling the world, one footstep at a time.
1) From your very first trip to where you are now; how do you decide which cities and/or countries you will visit?
We usually decide on a region or country as a starting point in our planning and from there reach out to friends and family for advice. If they don’t have advice, then we’ll start asking other travelers & bloggers we know. We’ve changed directions so many times based on a recommendation.
2) Are there specific places that you have visited that you would like to revisit? Maybe you missed seeing something from these places the first time you were there.
Usually when we leave a country we have more on our wish list than when we arrived! We’d love to revisit Peru and Chile as there are so many places we have yet to visit. Same goes for Indonesia – we’ve only been to Bali and we know that is just a tiny part of that vast country.
3) You mentioned you prefer to explore the world on foot – how were you able to figure out how many footsteps you have taken since starting this journey? Did you rely on GPS or knowing how many miles might be in any given city to calculate the number of steps you may have taken?
For the footstep counter we use an average number of footsteps taken per day and then multiply it by the number of days. I wish we were sophisticated enough to have a set up with pedometer that was GPS enabled and tracked everything. Perhaps one day…
4) Between the two of you, how did you decide to take that first step from leaving your life in Prague to traveling and seeing more of the world around you? Was it relatively easy for you to come to this decision and leave one world (secure jobs) behind you for another world that might not be as certain (traveling)?
It was definitely not an easy decision, but it helped that both of us were feeling frustrated by our jobs at the same and that we weren’t learning any more in them and needed a change. Handing in that resignation letter to leave our life of security was the most difficult – and scary – thing we’ve done so far on this journey. But our goals were aligned and we had faith in what we were doing. We didn’t want to look back 10-15-20 years and wonder “what if?” – we call this regret avoidance and living deliberately.
5) What would you consider your most unique experience since you started traveling? What made this experience stand out the most from any of the other experiences you have had on the road?
Ooh, this is a tough question. Some of the highlights of the last few years include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, trekking through the Svaneti region of Georgia, eating goat in a yurt in Kyrgyzstan during Ramadan, and trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.
All of these experiences include some aspect of personal challenge, people and natural beauty. To this, I’d add Antarctica. Mother Natures just blows your mind.
6) What is your favorite street food and why?
It’s really tough to beat street food in Thailand – the food is so fresh, bursting with flavor, and quite varied. There’s so much more to the country’s street food than just red and green curry. And, often you’re spending just a couple of dollars for a veritable feast.
7) Do you ever get the chance to do any cooking or have access to a kitchen or do you rely on eating out (on a budget, of course)?
If we have a short-term flat we’ll often cook ourselves as we do love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. In many places, it’s about the same price, if not sometimes cheaper, to eat street food than to cook yourself.
8 ) How important do you feel it is to know certain words in another language such as ‘good morning’ and ‘good evening’ when traveling?
Very important. Just knowing basic greetings in the local language can break the ice in most situations. It really means a lot to local people to know that you’ve taken the effort to learn a few words.
9) Do you feel it is important to know these words in more than one language depending on how many countries you plan to visit?
Yes. It’s useful to learn a few words in the local language for each place you visit, but I realize that’s difficult for short trips. But, making an effort helps. And often, local people will love to help you learn how to say certain things in their language. It’s a good way to meet and interact with locals. More ideas on learning foreign languages on the road.
10) Any advice you can give to someone who would like to travel long term but they are letting their fear stop them from taking that last step from cubicle life to world traveler?
The most difficult thing is making that decision to go – it’s so easy to talk about leaving and traveling for so long that it never happens. Once that decision is made, things somehow fall into place. And the world really is not a scary place – we’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality we’ve received everywhere, even in places that people think of as “dangerous” (e.g., Iran, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh,
etc.).
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- We make our way down for our second dive at Menjangan Island in Indonesia.
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- We return to where we got married - Pienza - for our 10th anniversary.
