Passion, Purpose, and Partnership: The Origins of World Wild Hearts
We met in 2018 while studying abroad in Canada, the Netherlands, and Peru. This year of studying and traveling changed our lives. That's why we created World Wild Hearts in 2019 with the mission to inspire life-changing travel experiences just like we had. We continue to do it because we still love it!
Belgium
Planning for Adventure: How We Prepare for Our Next Trip
For deciding where we want to travel next, we have a few factors that always come into play: the weather, the high or low season of travel in that area, beautiful nature, cultural activities, low cost, and any gaps in content already made about the destination.
To prepare for the trips, we do a lot of research. Depending on the size of the country, it can take up to 40 hours to research everything thoroughly.
To do the research, we combine blogs, websites, guidebooks, YouTube videos, etc. We also try to talk to people we know who have been there before.
Mexico
Some Of The Remarkable Adventures We Have Done
We’ve had a lot of amazing adventures together over the past 4 years! We’ve been traveling full-time for the past 2 years. Our top experiences include paragliding over the blue lagoon in Oludeniz, Turkey, getting our PADI diving certificate in Dahab, Egypt, camping in the Sahara Desert while riding camels in Merzouga, Morocco, and doing a 5-day hike to Mount Assiniboine in Canada.
Montenegro
Discovering Namibia: An Unforgettable Journey Through Africa
We’ve been to 21 countries together now. One cool travel experience that we really enjoyed was taking a 4x4 around Namibia and camping on the roof of the car each night.
The purpose of the trip was to attend the wedding of one of our friends in Namibia.
But after, we traveled with a group of 20 of us around the country. We rode dune buggies in the desert, watched some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises, spotted giraffes and rhinos on a self-drive safari, and climbed some of the world's most beautiful sand dunes.
Namibia
Embracing Generosity On Our Travels
We’ve met a lot of amazing and friendly people through our travels. Some of the friendliest people we met were in Turkey.
One day, we arrived in a small lake town called Egirdir. We didn’t know what to expect there, but our hosts at the hostel were so welcoming. They gave us tips for hiking, and what to do in the town, and just sat and talked with us for hours each night during their homemade dinners. They really made us feel welcome in their town.
We also had the chance to visit Egypt and meet up with a friend. Her name is Farah, and she was so kind during our trip! When we arrived in the chaotic city of Cairo, she drove us to all her favorite spots each day and brought us to local food spots. She also linked us up with a couple of desert tours, which were some of our favorite experiences in all of Egypt. She went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and having a good time in her country. We’re very grateful for meeting up with her.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Why We Started World Wild Hearts
We started our blog after meeting each other abroad. We realized that travel had changed our lives in a positive way, and we wanted to share our experiences in the hopes that other people would also have positive life-changing experiences of their own through travel.
The mission of our blog remains the same today! We have found new ways to provide helpful information for each destination we visit, and we believe those things are helping first-time and experienced travelers navigate the world for themselves. We really hope that our readers have amazing travel experiences of their own!
Canada
From Office Life to Full-Time Travel: Our Journey
It was difficult at first to have a full-time travel lifestyle. We each had to balance a remote job on the side while we built up our content on our website and YouTube channel. The main issue work-wise was finding reliable wifi so that we could work during our trips. It was difficult because we didn’t have much money and were traveling to budget countries where solid wifi can be scarce.
The main sacrifice we’ve had to make is just not being with family and friends as often as we would like. In order to get more content for our channels, we have to travel. That means we can’t be in our home countries for too long. But on the plus side, we control our own schedule. So when we do go home, we can go for longer periods of time in one stretch compared to when we used to.
Greece
How We Manage Our Schedule
The thing that we’ve found works best for us is actually not sticking to any type of schedule. We basically work around the activities available in the locations that we’re in.
For instance, if we’re in Bangkok and the main activities are at night, then we will work for a few hours during the day and then do our filming and experience the activities in the evening.
But if we’re in Canada and the main thing to do is hike, then we do that during the day when we have sun and then work in the evenings.
It also depends a lot on the weather. If it’s raining, we’ll take a full day to work sometimes. And if it’s sunny, we might spend the entire day outside and then be too tired to work in the evening. It all seems to balance out in the end. We have a goal of putting out one video and one blog post per week, and we have almost always hit that over the past year.
Luxembourg
Why GAFFL Is Useful for Travelers
We haven’t used GAFFL ourselves yet since we’re already a couple traveling around the world together. But we definitely see how it can be a useful app! Anyone looking to share costs would find it useful. We also believe that traveling with other people is the best because you get to share your experiences with each other. Sharing and discussing what happens to you when you travel helps you remember the trips better and gain a deeper understanding of the places you visit.
We use a lot of travel apps ourselves. They all help us save time in our planning in one way or another. The apps we use are maps.me, booking.com, Get Your Guide, WithLocals, Google Translate, Splitwise, Uber, AllTrails, Weather, YouTube, Instagram, Google Maps, Skyscanner, and trip.com. We also look at blogs around the internet for information. Some of our favorite sites are earthtrekkers.com and lonelyplanet.com.
Turkey
We Travel On Budget
Since we’re on the road full-time, it’s important to save money whenever we can. The first thing we try to do is go to cheaper destinations when possible. If we go to an affordable destination, then we balance quality and price, and we just have a number in mind for how much we’re willing to spend on things. Then try to find the highest quality based on that price.
But if we travel to an expensive destination, then we try to find the lowest cost for everything possible.
For instance, we went to Norway last year and chose to camp whenever we could just because accommodation was astronomically expensive. Even when it was pouring rain, we camped sometimes.
We also cook our own food when possible. We do this in countries where it’s expensive to go out to eat and where we have access to quality vegetables and ingredients for the food that we like to eat. That helps us save a lot of money over time.
South Africa
Tips for Avoiding Tourist Traps
We’ve luckily been able to avoid a lot of scams while traveling just by doing research on the country before going.
The biggest scam we have had so far was when we were in Istanbul. We were looking for a particular street to take pictures of. A man told us he knew the spot and guided us there. But instead of going to the street, he took us to his shop and forced us to buy something before leaving. That was a pretty scammy thing to do on his part. bad karma for him.
The biggest challenge of traveling for work is finding reliable wifi. We need good wifi to upload our videos and do some graphic work, so that can be a headache at times. The other challenge, especially in developing countries, is being seen as a walking dollar sign. It’s a shame when what seems like an honest conversation and connecting moment becomes a transactional thing all about money in the end. It’s happened a lot, and we don’t like those moments.
Egypt
Precautions That We Take Before Traveling
We always recommend doing your research before heading to a country. Look specifically for things that you should avoid when traveling there. Some tips for people looking to fill their time with travel are: talk to the people you are staying with to get good local tips (hostel and hotel owners, etc.); avoid carrying too much cash or all your cards with you in case you get robbed, only take what’s necessary for the day (leave your passports in a safe spot at the hotel if you can), try to walk with another person and not just yourself.
Canada
Things We Wish We Had Known When We First Started Traveling
We wish we would have had the understanding to travel at a slower pace from the start. We used to travel faster, and it caused stress at times for various reasons. We have now learned to travel slower and take in all that the country has to offer when we can. This has cut back on stress and allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the cultures and countries we visit.
Turkey
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