Last updated on July 25th, 2016 at 04:46 am
We’ve been back in Canada visiting family since late October. We’ve been home a lot longer than we thought, but we have been busy!
We’ve found opportunities to house sit, tie up loose ends, and experience our hometown Calgary, more like tourists. Being back in familiar territory we’ve had the time to build some consistent income, do a lot of reading and researching on our favorite blogs and websites, and loosely plan travel for the rest of 2016.
How do we choose where we’ll go?
So what does travel planning for digital nomads consist of? We have a bit of a haphazard method to picking travel destinations. We don’t commit to going anywhere very far in advance and we’re very flexible and a bit spontaneous. Sometimes, a cheap fight will be the deciding factor for where and when we’ll visit somewhere. Other times is will be a place we’ve read about and researched for months before committing to visiting.
The “must haves” that influence our choices are a low cost of living, house sitting opportunities, ease (and affordability) to travel to and from, and weather. The people must be friendly and welcoming to tourists and the culture needs to be family focused and interesting as well. Factoring all of those things in still leaves a lot of choices! So we use other inspirations to narrow down our list of potential candidates. I think our methods for finding travel destinations could become more systematic over time. Until then, this is how we choose travel destinations.
We choose destinations based on friends recommendations.
1. Budapest, Hungary
Photo by Pank Seelen via Flickr
When we were in Bucharest, Romania we met up with another traveling family, Talon and Tigger Windwalker from 1Dad1Kid.com. We spent a lot of time together and came to realize we shared a lot of the same preferences for travel destinations. When our Visa was up in Romania theirs was as well. We parted ways, we moved on to a house sit in Turkey, and Talon and Tigger went on to fall in love with Budapest in Hungary. After hearing their opinions, we knew we had to get there to experience the city for ourselves. Budapest also has a very low cost of living compared to where we’re from in Canada, consumer prices including rent are 44% lower than in Calgary. It’s also in close proximity to other places we are interested in visiting which makes it a perfect city to travel to and from.
Budapest is a priority for us, and about as “set in stone” as you can get for our travel planning.
We choose destinations we know we already love.
2. Bucharest, Romania
We spent three months in Bucharest last year and loved so much about the city. There are so many reasons we want to go back to Bucharest. It is so affordable, there are so many beautiful parks, and Bucharest has so many excellent places to eat! We visited in late winter, early spring so we only experienced a little of the fun the sprawling urban parks in Bucharest had to offer. This year will aim to visit during late summer, early fall to get a different perspective. Bucharest is definitely worth getting to know well for us. The cost of living is low and internet speeds are fast, some of the fastest in all of Europe!
We will travel to Bucharest in 2016 for sure. It’s the perfect place for us to hang out, enjoy great food cheap, and get lots of work done.
We choose destinations based on expert opinions.
3. Seville, Spain
Photo by Harshil Shah via Flickr
A house sitting opportunity lured us to Spain last summer and we did our best to see and experience and much as we could while we were there. We spent one week in Madrid before our assignment began just outside the town of Vera in the Almeria province. During that week, we enjoyed an awesome food tour and were lucky to spend two hours picking the brain of our very knowledgeable tour guide, Luke. He is a resident expert on Spain and we made the most of that, peppering him with questions about Madrid and his favorite places to visit in Spain. Something Luke said about Seville, that it lived up to its stunning reputation, that it is every bit as beautiful and authentic as travel brochures profess, got us fixated on Seville.
We didn’t make it to Seville that trip but we definitely will this year. Not that we need much of an excuse to revisit Spain, it is our favorite country to visit so far! The cost of living is extremely low, there are tons of housesitting opportunities, and the culture and weather are amazing.
We choose destinations to fulfill long time dreams.
4. Prague, Czech Republic
Prague has been in the number one spot on Robs dream destination list for years. We were delighted to learn from friends that it is gorgeous as the photos we’ve drooled over and it’s also insanely cheap to visit! Learning it is super cheap to visit was a bit of a surprise to us, an extremely pleasant surprise. It continues to grow in popularity so we plan to visit in the shoulder or off-season to avoid the crowds of tourists.
We have a feeling the great prices won’t last so we plan to check Prague of Rob’s bucket list this year.
We choose destinations for the love of adrenaline pumping adventure.
5. Iceland
Photo by Victor Montol via Flickr
Iceland, a mystical underpopulated land marooned near the top of the world. Visiting Iceland is a dream for us, and a bit of a stretch for us to travel to in 2016. It is not cheap or loaded with house sitting opportunities but its stunning volcanic landscapes, warm friendly people and quirky culture leave us longing to visit Iceland. There are so many cool things Makai wants to do there. No surprise to us, he is the one in our family that loves Winter! Mak is fascinated by volcanoes, curious about the Northern Lights, and totally enamored with snow and ice. Iceland is at the top of his travel wish list and a serious consideration for both Rob and I as well.
We will do everything we can to make a trip to Iceland possible in 2016!
We choose destinations where we have unfinished business to attend to.
6. Buenos Aries, Argentina
We visited Argentina back in 2010. Makai was was only 18 months old and Rob and I were searching for a way to change how we lived to spend more time with our son in his growing years. Buenos Aries is kind of European. It has a unique sophistication culturally and architecturally. It has all of the best that South America has to offer as well, like a warm welcoming people, a low cost of living, and mild beautiful weather. We fell in love with Argentina in 2010 and I have to say visiting places like Buenos Aries, helped inspire our travel lifestyle.
We are looking to develop a travel rhythm that fits both our budget and our other preferences. Buenos Aires will definitely be a part of that rhythm.
We choose destinations that I’ve written about that piqued our interest.
7. Berlin, Germany
Photo by James J8246 via Flickr
I wrote an article about Berlin last year that inspired our unwavering desire to visit the iconic city. Now it seems every article we read about it appeals to some or all of our priorities. There is so much to see and do in Berlin and it’s an affordable place to visit as well!
The rich culture, tumultuous history, famous architecture, and plentiful urban parks are just a few of the reasons why we need to visit Berlin this year.
We choose great destinations to “stay on the way” to somewhere else.
8. New York, New York, U.S.A.
Photo by Marcela via Flickr
We have wanted to visit New York for a long time but have avoided doing so because of cost. We have spent time in Fort Lauderdale and Miami on our way to our way to other destinations. We found ways to make those stays affordable. New York is a great city to catch cheap flights to Europe. Travel costs are cheaper for some things at different times of year in New York so we’ll need to pick our priorities and then pick the cheapest time frame to visit.
Eating lots of great food is definitely our top priority. Restaurant Week looks like the best time to find excellent gourmet deals in NYC. Participating restaurants about 300 or so, offer 3-course lunch and dinner specials at a fixed price. There are great deals at New Yorks best restaurants two times a year. Restaurant Week happens in the Winter (sometime in January or February) and in the Summer (Sometime between July and August). We will stay in New York on the way somewhere else this year. We just have to time it right to make it affordable.
We may not get to all of these places this year but this is the starting point for our travel plans. The only things that are guaranteed about this list are plans will develop and change as flight deals and house sitting opportunities present themselves.
How do you pick where you’ll vacation? Do you use any resources for travel inspiration? Please share your ideas in the comments below.
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The cheapest place we know is the far north of Romania, we have a house here .It’s Asia-cheap, cheaper! It also puts us within driving distance of many countries, Budapest is our closest Ikea, although we haven;t spent more than 1 day there yet. Asia is my love and to be honest, I’m kinda running out of places to go, I’ve been to all my favourites many times, and taken the kids ( they’re 3 year travel veterans). This year we’ve already been to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Dubai. I think now we’ll just focus on living quietly, maybe drive to some nearby countries.. We need to find a way to sit still more, it’s good for us to settle a bit and be more ordinary, maybe get more friends to come visit us here in the village. So how do we pick……..on a whim!
Great article thank you for sharing. I wanted to ask you about what you consider high med and low cost of living. Every one has a different version of that depending on how financially secure they are . I am interested in some of the places you mentioned. I travel alone and prefer longstay. Thanks
Hi Georgina. The lowest cost of living we’ve experienced is so far $750 a month in Southern Spain. We had accommodation covered with a house sitting assignment though. We consider $1500-$1750 a month all costs including renting an apartment to be a low cost of living. Med would be $2000-$2250 for all costs. And high would be anything beyond $2500 based on how we set our budget. Longer stays keep rental costs lower and monthly costs are always considerably cheaper when we have longer term house sitting assignments. We know the places we are planning to try and get to in this article, with the exception of Iceland will fit somewhere between low and medium cost for us.
Sounds as if you’re gearing up for another year of grand adventures. Rob has a good choice on his list in Prague. We were there for 5 days (not long enough) in 2015 and fell in love with the city. We would love to return one day but there always seems to be somewhere new to discover.
One city I can strongly recommend is Porto, Portugal. After walking the Camino de Santiago we headed for Porto and spent 5 days (hmm… seems to be a trend for us) and what an amazing city. We absolutely loved every minute. I am 1/2 Portuguese so it was really fun for me to visit and get a feel for my heritage. There is just something very special about the city and don’t forget the Port Houses! The Douro River is beautiful as is the Douro Valley.
Safe travels as you travel your way through 2016!
Thank you for your opinion on Porto! I had heard (a long time ago) that Potugal was amazing. No real details were offered at the time, so I forgot about the comment. Five days does seem like a trend!Five is my favorite number so it must be some kind of sign:) Thank you, thank you for the tips! Please know I will reach out for more details, hahaha:)
I like the list! Do you ever choose places because someone you know is living there? I have a hard time, especially with cities, when I visited them not knowing anyone there. I find it hard to appreciate them, often feel frustrated because I don’t know what to do or where to go, and they typically just feel cold and unwelcoming to me. I spent a month in Auckland recently purely because I had friends who lived there and will be traveling to Seattle mostly because I have friends living there as well. I would probably even go to random towns and places I have never heard of just because I had a friend there who could show me what it was all about.
We are starting to choose places where we know people more now Shannon. Traveling slowly, spending a month or more in one place gives us time to meet people and make new friends as we travel. Staying in Airbnb rentals has helped us make lasting connections in different cities as well. I can understand feeling frustrated and a bit isolated in big cities when you don’t know anyone. When we were in Istanbul it was a bit overwhelming trying to decide where to go and what to see on our own. We always like to experience places off the tourist trail, and that kind of helped us in Istanbul. We frequented restaurants and shops in the neighborhood where our Airbnb rental was. Locals came to recognize us and then it was easier to strike up conversations and build friendships. I know it can be harder to do this kind of thing if you have a couple of weeks in a destination. Staying longer is what helps us get to know big cities for sure.