Two years on the road. It does not feel like it's been that long! Especially when I think back to writing up our One Year on Road posts a year ago (Jim's and Carrie's).

This last year was rougher for me in a lot of ways. Although we were hit with Covid in year one, the continued pandemic battle made travel planning even more difficult in year two. Countries finally started opening up, only to shut down a month later, with entry requirements, curfews, and mask mandates changing week to week. Having spent May through November of 2020 in the US hiking and adventuring outdoors, we were spoiled by the relative freedom of not wearing masks while outside walking down a street, no curfews, and no Covid tests to get from state to state.

Once we got back on the road internationally, planning went to a whole new level: timing of Covid tests, figuring out if a Covid test was required, what kind of Covid test we could get, where you could get a Covid test, what proof of the Covid vaccine the country would accept, what we needed to show proof of vaccine to do (like joining the gym, or eating on the patio of a restaurant), etc.

There have been a number of days where we said we weren’t sure if we wanted to do this anymore—mostly when trying to plan our next destination and feeling the utter frustration of just not knowing who would let us in the country. And would the rules change again before we travel? And what rules would be in place once we got there? What’s our backup plan in case we have to cancel last minute? We spend a lot of time planning our travel. If you are a full-time traveler, you know how much time is spent pouring over every detail of an Airbnb you are considering staying in for 4+ weeks. We used to really enjoy the time intensive researching of figuring out where to stay and what things we might want to do when we get there. With the constant changes, the planning is so much more stressful and less enjoyable, especially when you aren't sure the plan will come to fruition.

Year 2: Things We’ve Learned

Refundable Everything.

We’ve learned over the last year to book everything refundable. If it can’t be refunded, we generally don’t book it. Early in the year, we were booking flights knowing we could get credit on airlines if we had to cancel. But who wants flight credit on Miat Airlines? We also realized that canceling a flight either a month or just a day in advance gives us the same credit. By waiting to cancel our flights when our plans change, we’ve lucked out numerous times when the airline canceled the flight for us! When the airline cancels the flight, you get your money back—not a credit that you may or may not end up using when it’s a small regional airline.

We negotiate with the Airbnb host to allow us to cancel and get a full refund from them if the border closes or we are unable to get a flight into their country. Since lodging is generally our largest expense, it’s nice to know we won’t lose out on that chunk of change. We haven’t had to use this yet, but we feel better knowing that we can cancel our Airbnb if we need to. Of course, we communicate to the host that we would only cancel as a last resort. We don’t want them losing out on booking their place!

More Space, Please

We look for slightly bigger Airbnbs. When we first started “slo-mad” life, we were staying in some pretty small spaces in some pretty big cities. Year two had me wanting a little more space to stretch out in. When we still had a 2,000 sq ft townhouse as a home base, staying for a month or two in a 200 sq ft apartment wasn’t difficult. There is no “reset” button with slo-mad travel. This has taken some getting used to.

If you can’t get out, get in

Like anything in life, if you can’t get out of it (or you can’t change it), get into it. Accept it. Instead of sitting here whining and complaining about what isn’t, embrace what is. Easier said than done, for sure! For the sake of my mental health, I’ve tried to make this my mantra this year. Problem-solving can be a lot harder in foreign countries when you’re facing language barriers, government red-tape, a pandemic, and are a 7-9 hour time difference from your favorite people. But, holy crap what a fantastic life we get to lead! The challenges can be tough, but we get to do this! How cool is that?

Staying Connected Can be Hard

The 7-hour time difference with the east coast/9-hour time difference with Colorado makes staying connected to our friends and family a lot harder. I’ve also realized that I’m not nearly as interested as I used to be in making new friends. It feels like so much work these days. We’ve been fortunate to meet other slo-mad travelers that can relate to our struggles though. It’s hard being an extroverted traveler in a pandemic, lol!

I’m grateful for texting and video chatting, but nothing beats dinner in person or long hikes with your people.

What’s next?

You can always check out our Itinerary to see where we are headed next (or at least what is currently planned, thanks, Covid). We are tentatively planned out through our Antarctica cruise in March, but who knows how open South American borders will be. We talk about settling down (I miss having a dog!!!) but it always comes back to where? We love Colorado, but hate winter there. We love Florida weather, but not the distance to any real mountains. Until we find that sweet spot to call home, onward we go, exploring and adventuring… And who knows? Maybe we'll fall in love with Marloth Park, South Africa (our destination for November) and never leave!