Nothing to loose and a world to see.

Travel bloggers Tina and Teo come from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and have traveled to 44 countries between the two of them with no plans on stopping anytime soon. They are vegans and aspiring minimalists, living by the motto “We have nothing to lose and a world to see”. You can find their blog Following Sunsets here.

Tell me about your most and least favorite experience while traveling.
So many amazing experiences come to mind, but we both agree on the most favorite one. It was last year in New Zealand, at the very south of the South Island. We were sitting in our camper van on a chilly fall morning, wearing jackets over our pajamas and watching the ocean, hot coffee in hand. We had been there the day before, hoping to see Hector Dolphins, the rarest and smallest species of dolphins that reside in those waters. We were out of luck, so we decided to come back the next morning before moving on with our trip. This time we saw them, two groups of them, about 6 per group, and they were jumping out of the water just meters from the shore. We looked at each other and instantly a decision was made. We got out of the van, put our swimsuits on and ran into the sea. The water was warmer than the air and as we were waist-deep in, the first pod of dolphins swam by us. They were so close you could touch them. We could see their eyes and hear them make sounds as they made another round by us. Curious creatures as they are, the second pod also made its way to us. It all happened very fast, it felt like no more than a minute, and they were on their way to find something more interesting to check on. As we ran back to the van we were shaking, partly due to the cold, but mostly because we were filled with adrenaline, excitement and awe. This has definitely been the most beautiful, humbling and memorable experience of our travels so far.
As for the negative experiences, we have learned to make lessons out of them. Every bump in the road is there for a reason; to make you stronger and wiser. Fortunately, we haven’t had any really bad experiences on our travels, but there have been a plane missed, car broken down, credit card declined and so on. We like to call them misadventures. 🙂

Why write a travel blog?
Well, the idea came about three years ago on our first American road trip. Traveling is a big part of our lives and we figured it would be great to share our adventures with anyone interested and hopefully inspire and help our readers with their own travel plans. There’s a lot of information on the internet, but there’s also a lot of things we learned first-hand while traveling that might be useful to others as well.

Blogging can be a business. Is this in a way a business & pleasure thing?
Not really. Our main goal is to share useful information about traveling and our lifestyle, and we try to do it in a genuine and not-spammy way. Monetizing a blog can sometimes compromise blogger’s credibility, so we have some reservations about that, but are open to it if it fits our personalities and principles.
I find your blog posts quite unique and interesting regarding destinations. How do you choose your destination?
Ha, we like to joke that destinations are choosing us! We are very open and flexible in regards to where we travel, because there is so much we want to experience. So we regularly check for affordable airfares or bus and train tickets and when something feels right, we go for it. A lot of our travel destinations in the past 4 years have been based on our study exchanges, internships and summer schools. More recently we gravitate toward destinations like New Zealand, Australia and Canada, where we can travel and work for up to a year or two.

Would you say that you have a certain lifestyle which allows you to travel as much?
Yes, for sure. Traveling has changed the way we perceive the world and has helped us grow, learn and understand what really matters in life and what doesn’t. Based on that we have set our priorities and consciously created a lifestyle that allows us to do the things we enjoy. And traveling is definitely one of them.
Your blogs are full of interesting tips even how to travel and enjoy ourselves when we are limited to just two days!

Is that your answer to our paid vacation leave of 20 or 22 days per year?
Yeah, why not! There’s always somewhere you can escape for a couple of days, options are basically endless, and it’s a fun way to break the routine.

Do you always travel as a couple I mean in company? How is it different from traveling on your own?
We always prefer to travel together. For us, traveling is about making memories and who better to share them with than your best friend and life partner. We enjoy each other’s company, we are partners in crime and we are there for each other when things don’t go as planned. Traveling together makes the highs so much higher and the lows much more bearable.

I loved your post about not-so-touristy destinations but still super interesting to see in Slovenia. What is your view on tourism in Slovenia?
We definitely noticed a trend when it comes to tourism in Slovenia and it goes something like this: Lake Bled, Ljubljana, and Postojna Cave. And for most tourists it ends there, which is a shame, because Slovenia is such a beautiful country with so much to offer. We are very supportive of ecotourism and believe Slovenia has a huge potential in that area, so we hope to see more eco-friendly options emerging as opposed to mass tourism in our country.

Do you think it’s in our blood to migrate?
Well, it is in ours! 🙂 But no, we don’t think everybody feels this way about traveling and that’s okay, too.

What are top 3 destinations or trips you would recommend to anyone?
No doubt here: New Zealand, Iceland, American road trip.