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Ros & Alan Cuthbertson are an Australian couple in their 60’s who have been travelling the world since 2015.
Until Covid, they used Thailand and Vietnam as a base for travel and fell in love with both countries. Today they travel throughout their home country of Australia.
Their blog Frequent Travellers is a great resource for long term travellers. Also, be sure to check them out on Instagram @frequenttravellers to follow along on all their adventures!
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SUBSCRIBEThe passing of family members made us realize that life was short, so we decided to take a step into the unknown by quitting our jobs and traveling to Thailand.
We have always loved to travel and once we arrived in Thailand our longing to explore led us to other countries and cultures. We are never tired of travel, and it keeps us young at heart.
We have been traveling continuously since 2015 and will continue to travel as long as we can. We love seeing the local tourist attractions, exploring the backstreets and people watching, you get a real feel for the country, people are generally friendly and eager to show the best of their world.
Visiting markets and sampling regional dishes is a delight and it always surprises us how food can bring people together; you don’t have to speak the same language, the smiles say it all.
Funny, when we started, we planned every second of our trip but now we just tend to wing it. These days we have no plan, things just seem to happen, I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing, but it works for us and it keeps life interesting.
We went from traveling with a huge suitcase and backpack to a carry-on and a backpack. The choice was easy as we got tired of lugging suitcases around on public transport.
Surprisingly, this minimalist way of travel works well, choosing an outfit is easy and we have found we don’t need a lot of clothing.
Must-haves include comfortable shoes, a couple of scarves, and necklaces to change my basic black outfits from day to night. Alan travels light but can’t do without his tech gear.
We have met so many interesting people and it isn’t until you start traveling the world that you realize that most people are helpful and eager to share their culture.
During our travels, we met a young Vietnamese family who took us under their wing and helped us when we got into difficulty during our stay. We are still in contact, and we will always treasure their kindness.
So far, we have visited 46 countries, favourites include India, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, and Thailand. I found India to be fascinating, full of contrasts and colour, a country that spoke to my soul. I have so many places on my bucket list, in fact instead of getting smaller it just continues to grow.
Our Go-To Travel Apps & Websites
We use google maps, Trip It, Uber, Grab, Skyscanner, booking.com, google translate and airline apps. We started Frequent Traveller as a way of sharing our travel knowledge with others while earning income on the road.
We mix up our travel styles to be as cost-effective and flexible as we can. For accommodation, we switch between luxury, budget, and house sitting to stretch our dollar further. We are always on the lookout for the best travel deals and find loyalty programs invaluable.
Airline Frequent Flyer rewards points have taken us to places we only ever dreamed of, and long-term travel would be almost impossible without them.
We also understand that our audience has a range of travel budgets and expectations and try to produce a variety of content that will suit each need.
We have just finished driving thousands of kilometers across Australia, we watched the sunrise on the east coast and the sunset on the west coast.
We were awe-inspired by the majesty of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the dusty red outback, bedazzled by the jewel-like quality of the Western Australian coastline and overwhelmed by the distance and grandeur of our island home.
Covid has been a game-changer for international travel, and I miss visiting exotic locations but thankfully there is so much to see in our home country of Australia.
While in our home country we have continued to travel and enjoy it so much we started a second site highlighting locations and experiences unique to Australia. Our additional site called Road Trip Australia will help everyone discover what Australia has to offer.
If you have a dream of long-term travel just do it and don’t over plan. For us, taking the first step was terrifying but along the way we have learnt so much about ourselves, we have a new career, have spoken at conferences and have a quality of life we never would have imagined. We are so grateful we had the courage to step outside of our comfort zone.
Other exciting travel stories you might enjoy!
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