You have voted on the future of this website.

The winner is:  Share travel information on cities and places we visit or live in.

The site will now focus both on Fort Collins, Colorado, where Justin and I live, in addition to places in which we visit.  Some of these places will be local, in Colorado.  Other places will include various cities and regions of America that we explore.  

Justin and I would love to visit other countries and continue international travel.  For now, we are both focusing on life in America.  However, feel free to ask questions and request articles on other countries we visited.  For example, the “Rome Hostels” article was requested by a backpacker traveling to Rome, interested in finding the best hostel Rome.    

It’s not Europe, but when it comes to America, I can’t think of a more fascinating place to live and experience life than Fort Collins, Colorado.  The city offers an awesome biking culture, an active downtown, countless opportunities for nearby recreation, a handful of local micro breweries, museums, shops, restaurants, bars, theater, festivals, and so many other opportunities for entertainment and adventure.  I couldn’t imagine a more dynamic place to write about.  I hope you enjoy reading about Fort Collins as we set out to discover and explore life!

Soon, life will bring us to Michigan again, for a brief visit.  Since we have both grown up in Michigan, and are very familiar with the Great Lakes State, I plan to write a special article on Michigan.  Enjoy reading about the Big Mitten!

Thanks again for voting.  Please let us know if you want to hear about something special or have an idea for an article.

Justin and I have moved to Fort Collins, Colorado.  I now have a wonderful job as a preschool teacher and Justin is exploring various employment opportunities.

Although we are not currently living a nomadic lifestyle out of backpacks, we still have a great passion for travel and exploring the world.  The two of us are excited about where we are in life.  It’s great to live out of a backpack and pursue continual travel, but we are also excited to be in one place permanently.  Last week, on May 27th, Justin and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary.  Over the past 3 years we haven’t lived in one place for more than a year.  The two of us have lived an extremely nomadic lifestyle.  Feel free to check out some of our favorite cities in which we have lived in www.justinandnatalie.com

For now, Fort Collins, Colorado will prove to be our happy home as we become a part of a community and continue to build great friendships.  However, after experiencing a season of international travel, Justin and I will be unable to deny future travel adventures.  Although we are currently unable to depart on a long-term trip, the two of us will supplement our wander lust with small trips and adventures that we will mix into our current lifestyle.

Soon the You Choose poll to decide the future of www.nomadbackpackers.com will close.  At this time, we will formally announce what the plans for this website include.  I can’t wait to see the outcome!

Follow Up

The You Choose Poll results:  The outcome was for our website to be updated with cities and places we visit or live in.  

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Vote, because You Choose what will appear in the future.  It’s up to You!

The You Choose poll is located in the sidebar.  Scroll down and You Choose is on the right.  If you have a better idea, that’s great!  Email us.  We would love to hear your great ideas or advice for how www.nomadbackpackers.com should transition.

Although, we don’t know where we are going next.  We love to travel, and plan to do lots of exploring in the future.  There will still be many adventures to read about.

You Choose what is next!

On another note…

Thank you for voting in our most recent You Choose poll.  We are currently unable to explore South East Asia.  However, when we travel to South East Asia in the future, we will be sure to take part in a Multi-day elephant riding trip.

Since Our New Office is always on the go, Jason and Sara agreed to a virtual interview.  Their advice will help anyone think outside of the cubicle and dream of working, while traveling the world.

Natalie: How did you gain the necessary skills to work remotely?  Did you read lots of books?  Experiment with personal websites and online marketing?

Jason: Trial by fire. Sara and I have left multiple broken and failed websites in our wake. From these failures we have attained enough knowledge, confidence, and skills to both make money through our own websites, as well as, help others do the same.

Of course, books, education, and experience played a role as well.

Natalie: Is it difficult to work while you are traveling?  Are the distractions endless?

Sara: Generally speaking, it is a little harder to work overseas than it is at home. Internet access is often a problem, so we usually plan around that. As for distractions, while living in Denver, I was distracted by episodes of Lost and invites to happy hour.  My more recent distractions of jungle tours in Costa Rica and shoe shopping in Bangkok are just as tempting as the Denver distractions of my past. It’s all about discipline.

Natalie: Do you have a physical home to return to?  How long have you been traveling? How often do you return?

Sara: Our address is Public Storage unit #67, Denver, Colorado…we’re definitely homeless, but surprisingly we don’t miss having a home. We just miss friends and family.  Jason and I altered our lifestyle in August, 2008. We return to the states every 1-3 months to take care of business and see friends and family, and we plan on returning to the USA at the end of May for a wedding…we almost always come back for the weddings (including our own).

Natalie: Weddings are a good excuse to return (especially your own).  Is it difficult to keep new work consistently coming in?  Do you have key clients you depend on?  Are you ever concerned that work opportunities will lessen with the global economic issues?

Jason: Finding new clients is always a concern, regardless of where we are. Still, we like to think we’re doing a good job because we’re able to depend on referrals for new business. As for the economy, we’re not terribly concerned. The Internet industry is still going strong.

Sara: We plan on working remotely through the end of the year. After that – who knows. The more time we spend doing this, the easier it gets.

Natalie: It’s good to know it gets easier.  It has been fascinating to learn about your lifestyle of travel and international telecommuting.  Your lifestyle will encourage and inspire so many others to work remotely as they travel the world.  Thanks Jason and Sara!

NOTE:  The photos I have included are not actual photos of Jason or Sara working around the world.  Although, they look just as sharp while working remotely.  If you would like to see actual photos of Jason and Sara visit their gallery.

Check out Jason and Sara at Our New Office and follow their travels.  Jason’s latest travel discovery is bite-size bananas in Panama.  While Sara is savoring her natural alarm clock each morning, as the sounds of traffic, horns and car alarms wake her up in Panama.

As for Justin and I, we are sorting out our next step in life.  Thank you so much for all of the encouraging emails and topic suggestions for future articles we will consider writing.  Be sure to vote in our next poll, You Choose, coming soon!

You may be wondering, where is Singapore and is it a city or a country?  It is both a city and a country, located on a small island just south of peninsular Malaysia.  Although Singapore is small, it is centrally located. Its central location and modern airport make Singapore one of the transportation hubs of South East Asia

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Singapore’s government conducts extensive city planning, as every square foot of Singapore’s small size is structured to create modern efficiency in order to propel Singapore to economic greatness.  In fact, after living in Singapore for over a year, Rex and Lisa developed a great metaphor to explain Singapore. In many ways, Singapore is a life size version of SimCity the computer game.  The land will only hold a certain number of buildings and when a new element of the city is needed, such as a new housing development or a library, these buildings are strategically planned and constructed. Existing buildings are demolished to create new space.

For those who enjoy food (and seriously, who doesn’t?) Singapore is a great place to find almost any type of food.  The city of Singapore offers a variety of cultural districts including Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street (really, that’s the name of the street) and many other small subcultures offering delicious dining.  The fresh juices are incredible.  I will never forget my first Avocado juice -  green, smooth and full of potassium.  Foodies, flock to Singapore during your next appetite for adventure.

Another great aspect of Singapore is its simple public transportation system.  It is possible to hop on and off of the MRT (the underground transportation system in Singapore) and arrive in a new location within a few minutes.  Since Singapore is an island, you are never too far from the beach.  I found a few kids having fun on the shore taking advantage of the beach along East Coast Parkway.

As for the phrase ‘Asia Light’ I agree 100%, especially after my time in China.  When I was a college student, I spent a summer semester (2005) in Beijing studying Mandarin Chinese at a university.  This is the best point of reference or comparison I may offer.

A few comparisons of Singapore and China:

In Singapore the standard Western toilet bowl is typically found in most public bathrooms. In China however, at least in 2005, the squatter toilet was common.  Or my favorite, the trough style toilet, which I actually took a picture of.  They really exist.

Singapore law will fine individuals for spitting on the sidewalk and as a result, Singapore’s streets are so clean they practically sparkle.  While young children in China can be seen going to the bathroom on public walking paths.  These young children (typically 4 years old and younger) will tend to wear clothing with no fabric around their bottoms, allowing easy access to relieve themselves as desired.  Note the baby bum in the photo below.

Singapore’s street vendors (hawkers) are certified with a strict grading system.  A’s for the most clean and sanitary establishments, B’s for rather sanitary, C’s and so on.  Compare this to China’s street vendors selling mango on a stick shouting, “yi quai, yi quai, yi quai” (one dollar, one dollar, one dollar).  Who knows where the mango was pealed?  Or how long it’s been on the stick, in the sun, with flies landing on it.  But it’s only one Chinese dollar ($0.15 US) and on a hot summer day, mango on a stick sounds great!  Don’t worry, when traveling to Singapore just look for the big A and you will know your food is not only delicious but also safe to consume.  As a backpacker, you can learn to eat all of your meals at Maxwell Food Center.

Get into a Singapore cab and you will be able to  a converse in English, just like you could with a New York City cab driver.  It is humorous to compare this to my cab ride experiences in China.  With some characters scribbled onto a piece of paper and my best conversation skills after studying Chinese in college for 2 years, I would still find myself hoping to end up at my intended destination.

If you want to travel and witness intense Asian culture, as illustrated in my comparisons and the last two photographs, travel to China.  However, if you are a bit apprehensive to undergo the culture shock Asia offers, perhaps Singapore is a good way to start.  Ease in with Singapore, ‘Asia Lite’.  You can even drink the tap water.

Nomadic Matt has put together a great list of cheap things to do in Singapore.  Feel free to check it out.

Now we have a plan! I spent most of yesterday in my pajamas sorting through places on maps, looking into various forms of transportation, and mixing up dates on the calendar to create a starting route.

Justin and I have fallen in love.  Not only with one another, but with New Zealand.  We have both dreamed of going to New Zealand for a long time.  In fact, it was where we really wanted to go on our honeymoon, but we went to Belize instead.  We could afford to go to Belize, while New Zealand has always seemed out of reach.

So out of reach that we spent the past several months discussing ways to get to New Zealand.  We even explored the possibility of crewing a yacht.  However, our transportation decision was made upon the discovery of reasonable air fare from London to New Zealand (as long as we leave on November 1st…I know we are missing Guy Fawkes Day in London Remember, remember the 5th of November).

The Recap

Where do we begin? -> Italy

Why? -> My brother is getting married in Italy

Any other Italian adventures? -> Yes – visiting the small town Bagnoli Del Trigno where my grandma was born…with my grandma and grandpa (AWESOME!!!) and hiking and enjoying Italy with our good friend Cup.  We end our time together in Padova where Cup will then live for a month (or a few years).  Padova is west of Venice. 

Once our Italian travel plans solidified we were left with the following question

• - “How do we get from Venice (around Oct 17/18) and end up in London by November 2nd so we can fly to New Zealand?”

Going to London the Long Way

I had everything sorted out, and had planned a wonderful path for us.  As I was attempting to book a series of flights on RyanAir it suddenly became apparent that I wasn’t fast enough. The flight from Barcelona to Madrid wasn’t 10 euros anymore. Now Justin and I would have to pay 95 euros per person.  A few of the other flights I wanted to book had also gone up in price as well.

Wait a minute! I spent a leisurely hour or so, selecting the flights and formulating a plan. Why did my plan fall through so quickly?

The only option was to redesign our plans, destinations, dates, and everything. We are backpacking. We do not have a specific place to be, so it doesn’t really matter where we go or how long we stay. I applied our flexibility to the problem. At the same time, I had to keep the time crunch in mind.

I found new hope upon finding the first flight we would take from Venice to Paris. Only 20 euros! Alright, this is good! Then I found another at the same price from Paris to Barcelona! Then Barcelona to Dublin at 20 euros again! Finally, Dublin to London, again for only 20 euros!

Just as I was realizing, that I had our “new transportation plan”, Justin (also on his computer) mention he had a cheap flight from Venice to Barcelona. I immediately responded by saying, “Great! But I figured all the flights out. I’ve got em! Only 20 euros a piece for all of our flights, but we need to book them right now.” Both of us still in our pajamas teamed up and booked all the cheap flights with RyanAir. That last click with the mouse was a victorious moment. I don’t think people realize that a couple can fly around Europe without spending a lot of money ($170 for all of our flights). Compared to purchasing rail passes, we have been able to save hundreds of dollars with our inexpensive flights.

Overall, I never imagined that Justin and I would ever have the opportunity to visit these cities. It doesn’t even seem real yet. We have already begun trying to brainstorm ways to afford to stay in each of these cities.

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HELP US SLEEP AND EAT:

Do you have a friend or family member that lives in one of these cities? Could we crash on their couch for a night? Know of a great hostel in one of the cities we plan on visiting? Is their something we must see or do? Know of a good market to buy food to cook? How about a good place to eat vegetarian food? Any opportunities you know of to volunteer?

Let us know your ideas or advice for the places we plan on traveling to.

Cup’s father was a navy doctor and, as a result, Cup spent his childhood living in such boring places as Iceland, Italy, Japan, the moon, etc… As it turns out, Cup and his family still know people all over Italy so the three of us may have a chance to meet up with several of Cup’s acquainted. How cool is that?

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