us At Home Abroad

Beata and Tomek

us At Home Abroad

Our RTW lasted 583 days = 1 year, 7 months, 5 days. That means 83 weeks/13,992 hours/839,520 minutes/50,371,200 seconds of LIVING THE DREAM

We love to travel. It is as simple as that ;-)

30.09.2011 we embarked on the trip of our lives ;-) in 2007 we got inspired by our friends (Monique and Nigel who constantly travel and have been on the RTW) and since then we have been thinking about it all the time. We finally set up a date, started to save up and focused only on preparation ;-) We could not just stay at home all the time so we traveled a bit in between but now the time has finally come for 'the big one' ;-)

We plan to be away for 18 months but we will see how far our money goes;-) Hope you will enjoy our adventures and maybe we can inspire someone to do the same;-) We live only once so we have to follow our dreams;-)
We travel on strict budget and try to give ideas of how much things cost in our blog. It is our way of giving back to other travelers as we found it very helpful when planning this trip.

Our RTW route was:

Leg 1: Poland (home visit), Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia, China (for all the blogs and map of Leg I, Please Click Here)
Leg 2: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia (for all the blogs and map of Leg II, Please Click Here)
Leg 3: Sydney, Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico (for all the blogs and map of Leg III, Please Click Here)

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Total Distance: 0 miles / 0 kmMouse: 0,0
RTW 2011-2013
The Route: Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma/ Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina,Uruguay, Brasil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico => HOME

Exceptionally easy to fall in love with kind of place!

Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Petén Region » Tikal March 13th 2013

The Grand Plaza

Beata and Tomek

It is no secret that we love ancient civilisations. If you follow our blog you already know that we would trade any modern city break for a historical site visit. Visiting Central America was no different. If you ask us today what was the most memorable Mayan site we would say Tikal with no hesitation. Why? Well, it is a combination of things but I would say for the discovery part mostly. You truly do feel like an explorer when you enter the vast jungle of the Guatemalan rainforest in Tikal. You immediately think what it must have been like when this site was discovered? Would we want to be the explorers’ shoes? Hell yeah!!! Let’s start from the beginning though. It was really hard for us to leave Antigua. We rarely stayed in one place ... read more

From alfombra to alfombra ... Antigua in preparation for Semana Santa

Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Capital Region » Antigua March 10th 2013

in the making

Beata and Tomek

The whole Catholic world prepares for the biggest event in the Church calendar. In Europe believers are busy with their lenten vows, shopping for the Holy Week celebrations and attending evening mass. In Guatemala people build beautifuly decorated carpets made of saw dust, flowers and fruit and organise whole day long processions every Sunday. We were lucky to be part of one of them. The abundance of shapes and colors In the morning inhabitants of the Jocotenango village go out of their houses to begin their preparation. It is Sunday and this week valacion (holy procession) is passing through their streets. Everybody is busy around beautiful alfomras as if they were artists preparing for a gallery. It is going to be a very important day, as people from all over the region will arrive later to ... read more

Back to school again...

Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Capital Region » Antigua March 9th 2013

taking a break

Beata and Tomek

Do you remember school at all? Do you remember enjoying it? Cause we do, but what we don’t remember it being so tiring….I suppose this was one thing we did not take into account when we decided to enroll to one of the Spanish schools in Antigua. You may think we were crazy to do it after all these months spent in Latin America, but we really though this through, we promise. Entry to Guatemala was very swift and pleasant and we had no issues whatsoever. It only takes couple of hours from Copan and Antigua seems like a natural stop over when you there. Well, who would not want to stay in Antigua for a couple of nights anyway? We met many who consider this town one of the most enchanting, most beautiful or mesmerizing ... read more

alfombra in preparation fro Semana Santa

Gangsters and Mayas….contrasts of Honduras

Central America Caribbean » Honduras » Western » Copán Ruinas March 2nd 2013

Copan Ruinas

Beata and Tomek

So we entered Honduras on the bus – crossing went really smoothly as did the exchange of money we had left from Nicaragua. The only thing that made us a little bit uneasy was a huge gun our guard was holding all the time. On one hand it made us feel secure but on other, we felt very unsure about this country. On arrival in Tegucigalpa, we were shocked by how shabby this place looked. As the likes of Peruvian or Bolivian towns, it looked poor and grey. Tica Bus dropped us at their office (not the station God forbid) and we already knew that a few hotels were in the neighborhood. Shock number 2 – the entrance to the first hotel we checked was guarded by 3 gates with steel bars. What on earth? We ... read more

Go with the flow...

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Northern Pacific Coast » Leon February 28th 2013

Old church

Beata and Tomek

Our arrival in Leon was full of something … hard to say of what though. We did not know where we were when the chicken bus entered the town so we watched out for the cathedral. In the end it is the largest one in the whole Central America - hard to miss. With a large big church look-alike building in sight we hopped out of the bus. Little did we know at the time how many big churches actually there are in Leon. We quickly discovered that we were still around 5 blocks away from the Parque Central which is the epicenter of everything going on in this town and where we wanted to be located for the next 4 to 5 days. We are usually great with maps but somehow this maze of little ... read more

When you think you've heard it all….think again!

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Southern Pacific Coast » Granada February 25th 2013

having a break

Beata and Tomek

We must admit, it was difficult to get ourselves out of Isla Ometepe. Even though it is not the most stunning place we have ever visited, we really liked the vibe of it and we felt sad moving forward. Unfortunately our beautiful journey was coming to an end and we felt the time pressure more than ever. If not that, we would have probably stayed there for weeks, cycling around the island, soaking in sun and drinking those amazing $1 cuba libres. We got trapped for one night (see previous blog), which was out of our control so in fact we got one more night at the island as a gift from mother nature. We always say that there is no point in freaking out about things you cannot change or control so we take the ... read more

Trapped on an island…on a lake…are you kidding me?

Central America Caribbean » Nicaragua » Southern Pacific Coast » Isla de Ometepe February 19th 2013

view from Esquiputas

Beata and Tomek

We left Costa Rica with fond memories. It is the most important thing for us when traveling. Nice and pleasurable memories popping into our mind when we think back. We have already learnt that these memories depend on so many factors like weather conditions, people we met, lucky/unlucky events, food, hotel etc. When thinking of the future we only accept the best scenarios and maybe this positive way keeps us safe and happy most of the time. We certainly hoped that our next destination would be equally lucky for us. We have heard so many great things about Isla Ometepe, with its beautiful landscape around not one but two volcanoes; and equally bad things about Nicaragua. It is still considered one of the most dangerous places in Central America and we ... read more

the story of how we got robbed

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Limón » Cahuita February 14th 2013

what you've got there?

Beata and Tomek

It was bound to happen one day. We have traveled so far and for so long and we have had no problems whatsoever. But how and when was hanging upon us, as it usually is for all long-term travelers. Panama and Costa Rica are considered rather safe so we did not give them much thought in that respect. We were not even supposed to stop in Costa Rica. It is considered touristy, expensive and well too modern. Did not sound appealing to us, to be honest. What you read about places is never 100% true so as usual our plans were altered by a certain traveler we met in Panama. She told us about a little village very close to Panama border which she loves and adores and comes back there every year for a few ... read more

Surprise, surprise ... this place is actually quite stunning!!!

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Bocas Del Toro » Isla Colon February 9th 2013

and no people around

Beata and Tomek

So we were looking for some balance in Panama...and after experiencing modernity of the capital, mild climate of the cloud forest and hills we were finally headed towards the coast. We did not expect much. In fact we were not even very excited. We thought Bocas del Toro will be well too touristy for us, too modern and too overcrowded. However, we wanted to be on the beach for a while and it was the best choice around. So far Panama had been very pleasant and we did not encounter any tourism-related problems i.e. scams, overcharging, theft etc. But the moment we got off the bus in the port town of Almirante we noticed different behaviour towards us. Suddenly the taxi driver wanted 5$ for a silly 1km journey and would not let go and follow ... read more

The trick is to find the perfect balance

Central America Caribbean » Panama » Panamá February 3rd 2013

ruins in the Old Town

Beata and Tomek

Panama City & Boquete We all have been there … with too many ideas and places to see and not enough time to realize it all. Usually it is a position in which all short-term travelers find themselves, however sometimes even long timers as us have to face the same. Then how to find the right balance and make the trip worthwhile? How to choose in order to feel no regret? With those questions in our mind we landed in Panama City to begin our Central America leg of RTW. We had no clue as what to do next but we just decided to let it be. It had happened before that people we had met and things we had read altered our way so we knew that eventually we would get 'inspired'. Just in case ... read more

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