As part of our goal to make life easier for bus travelers, we contact travelers who’ve had firsthand experiences around the world. Last time, we featured Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott from Uncornered Market. Today, we’re happy to share an interview with another traveling couple, Nicole and Cameron Wears from Traveling Canucks. Residing in Vancouver, Canada, this married couple has visited 50 countries in the past seven years.
Nicole and Cameron share a common passion for travel. In 2008, they traded their jobs for a backpack and a long checklist. After a year on the road, they chose to make their home in Vancouver, British Columbia, and continue to keep travel as part of their lives. They are living proof that it is possible to build a career and family AND travel the globe.
1. What’s your next travel destination?
Our next trip will actually be the first international trip that we take with our baby boy. We are flying to sunny Palm Springs, California! We can’t wait to catch some needed sun and relaxation; it’s been rainy and cold in Vancouver BC. Surprisingly, we have never been to Southern California, so we are really looking forward to the trip.
In the coming months, we plan to visit Honduras, Hawaii, Germany, Switzerland and France. So hopefully Baby B won’t have any issues with airplanes.
2. In a previous interview with CanadianLiving, you’ve given tips on how to keep a relationship healthy while on the road. What about the benefits of traveling as a couple?
We love traveling together because we always have someone to share the adventures and memories with. It’s nice to have someone to dine with every night or play cards while on a long train ride. We’ve been traveling together for 10 years, so we really don’t know any other way.
Traveling as a couple has helped us get to know and understand each other on a completely different level. We travel well together and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, making for a much better travel experience. In our opinion, exploring new places and experiencing new things is essential for a healthy relationship!
3. I’m a fan of your Photo of the Week series. What’s your favourite picture taken in Canada? How about one of your favorite in the rest of the world?
Wow – that’s a tough question! It’s so hard to pick just one. We really like the photo from Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta. It’s a picture perfect turquoise lake that is dwarfed by giant snow-capped Rocky Mountains – it’s brilliant!
It’s way too hard to pick one favourite photo from around the world, but we put together a collection of our favourite travel photos.
4. At Busbud, our mission is to make bus travel information easy to find so that travelers can make better travel decisions. Have you encountered moments in your travel where you found yourself wanting a service like this? And do you have a bus travel story you’d like to share with our readers?
Absolutely! It recently happened on our trip to Belize a few months ago. We booked our return flight to leave from Cancun and we had to figure out how to get from Belize to Cancun by bus. It was actually quite frustrating because most bus lines didn’t have a website that was up-to-date (many didn’t have one at all!).
One of the hardest parts about finding transportation in foreign countries is that it’s difficult to find a website in English that provides honest and accurate information. We can definitely see ourselves using a service like Busbud.
A bus travel story to share would be the one we took from Luxor to Dahab in Egypt. We were told by many tour operators that the bus trip would be approximately 14 hours. We were prepared for a 14 hour journey, what we were not prepared for was the 22 hour journey that it actually ended up being!
5. I’m actually traveling to Vancouver this spring to judge a swing dance competition. Any restaurants/venues that I shouldn’t miss in Van city while I’m there?
There are so many things to see and do in Vancouver; it really depends on what you’re interested in. It’s very possible there will still be great spring skiing on the local mountains in April, but that’s weather dependant. Walking around the Seawall at Stanley Park is a fan favourite, as is wandering the cobblestone streets of Gastown near Waterfront. Some fun places to enjoy drinks are Granville Street, Robson Street and Granville Island, which has local artist shops, fresh seafood and restaurants with amazing views.
We wrote an article about “Things the Locals like to do in Vancouver”.
6. Finally, I really enjoyed your message about balancing career & family with traveling and chasing your dreams. I saw that you are even traveling with your baby this summer! What advice would you give people who are struggling to find balance in their lives? How do you make it all work?
We believe that everyone should travel, at least once a year (ideally more). It opens your eyes to new cultures, food, music, traditions and experiences. It’s a great way to connect with your partner, family and friends in ways you simply cannot do at home. This doesn’t mean you have to backpack across Southeast Asia or take a career break. But make an effort to experience the world, even if it’s just a quick weekend getaway.
So many people have said to us, “I guess now that you have a baby you’re travel days are behind you”. This statement couldn’t be further from the truth. We now want to introduce him to the world and have a new purpose for our travels.
Finding balance in your life is essential. It really isn’t hard to achieve once you make it a priority. Start by setting small goals, like saving an extra $100 per month or planning a local camping trip. Life balance is different for everyone, but if travel is important to you then you must make time for it and understand that sacrifices will need to be made to reach your goals.
Thanks Cameron!
You can get in touch with him on Facebook and Twitter. And of course, visit the blog Traveling Canucks to follow their adventures.
Photos by Cameron Wears at Traveling Canucks