Download directly, on iTunes, or Stitcher.

Andy Steves grew up following his dad Rick Steves on his travel related work trips, spending two to four weeks a year in Europe while his dad updated guidebooks, created TV shows, and led tours. Initially pursuing a college degree in Industrial Design, Andy decided to shift his career focus towards travel based on his experiences during a trip he took to Europe after graduating high school, and realizing there was a niche for shorter term city tours for students studying abroad and on a budget. Since launching Weekend Student Adventures in 2010,

Andy has expanded the company to fit a variety of travel styles and tour lengths, and ensures quality experiences by visiting the city first to build optimal itineraries, and only hiring local guides. After growing to offer tours in fifteen cities across Europe, Andy has also released a Europe guidebook and has recently launched the Andy Steves Travel Podcast.

On this episode we talk to Andy about what it was like to grow up following his dad around the world and how he changed course to start his own travel career. We also chatted about how he launched Weekend Student Adventures, plans the tour itinerary in each city, and how he slows down occasionally to have a day for himself to keep from getting bored of similar sights while traveling. Andy also shares his experiences on what it takes to be a good guide, the changes he’s seen with time in the way people travel, and some of his ongoing and upcoming projects.

Enjoy!

What we talk about in this episode:

• Andy’s traveling starting from a young age following his dad who traveled a lot for work, and one of his earliest memories from a cruise he was on
• Spending 2 – 4 weeks in Europe every year growing up when his mom would take him to visit his dad on his longer work trips
• Andy’s indifference as a child to these trips due to his dad’s busy work schedule, but how these trips unconsciously provided him the foundation and tools to later build his own travel related career
• How traveling for work or a travel career can seem glamorous to people from the outside, but isn’t always the case
• Andy’s first solo trip with a friend through Europe after graduating high school, and how his dad encouraged him to take the trip and plan it for himself
• How planning and traveling by yourself can be tiring and lead to you feeling discouraged, but how you can really enjoy yourself once the feeling passes (and it usually does!)
• How Andy decided to shift to a travel related career after initially studying Industrial Design in college
• The types of weekend and week long tours his company offers across fifteen European cities, which was initially focused on students studying abroad who usually have shorter periods of time off, but how people traveling with a variety of travel styles can take advantage of the tours
• The first tour his company ran in London with about eight travelers from Rome, and how the tours grew from there
• How he decided what itineraries to include in his guidebook Andy Steves’ Europe: City Hopping on a Budget, and how he plans the itineraries and selects local guides for his tours
• The qualities required to be a good guide, including being sociable, knowledgeable and balancing being in the moment with planning on the fly, and how having a good guide can help you to get the most out of a sight or city
• How Andy keeps from “sightseeing overload” and keeps his mind fresh to imagine what tourists that are new to the area would be interested in
• The changes Andy has seen in the way young people travel and how they come down to new technology and the creation of the sharing economy
• How Andy chooses home bases to work out of, and the benefits of his current home in Medellin, Colombia
• How Andy is working to expand his travel experiences around the world by using an innovative planned “detour”
• One of Andy’s favourite places to visit being Budapest, Hungary
• Andy’s current and upcoming projects including his book and podcast
• What Andy is hoping to achieve with his podcast in helping others to experience more meaningful travel and lifestyles, and what that means to him
• Andy’s tips for meeting locals, like picking up some of your hobbies from home in your new location, and how he deals with language barriers (hint: he uses a lot of Google Translate!)
• How Andy keeps a sense of community as he travels the world, and understanding that a regular sense of community might be one of the sacrifices you make when you travel the world

This episode of The World Wanderers is sponsored by AutoSlash. AutoSlash is the #1 site for getting a great deal on a car rental. They figure out the best coupons and discount codes to get you the lowest rate possible, and then track prices on your rental right until the day you pick up the car. If they find a lower rate, they email you so you can lock in the savings. It’s like price protection on your rental. They can even track the price of rentals made on other websites. AutoSlash has saved customers millions of dollars on car rentals. It’s completely free – give it a try on your next booking!

You can also check out our travel community on Facebook where you can ask questions, get travel recommendations, and find community members in your area!

If you would like to support the continued growth of the show and receive cool kickbacks like postcards from around the world and one on one calls with Ryan and Amanda, head on over to Patreon. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Music Credits:

www.bensound.com

You can connect with Andy on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter and online!

Photo credits to Andy’s Instagram and Facebook

Globetrotter’s Life: Tour Guiding and Travel Overload with Andy Steves of “Weekend Student Adventures”

Welcome to the World Wanderers. We’re Ryan and Amanda, a traveling couple and digital nomads taking you on our adventures as we explore locations, destinations, and careers.

In this episode, we introduce you to Andy Steves, the son of Rick Steves, whose name is probably familiar to many travelers. 

Andy runs an award-winning company called Weekend Student Adventures, and he is also the author of Andy Steves’ Europe: City Hopping on a Budget and host of the Andy Steves’ travel podcast.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Andy, who had a strong love for travel and started traveling at a very young age, has created such an amazing career for himself.

We discuss growing up on the move and how Andy’s love for travel was born in this podcast.

As we talk, we discuss his career choice, how he continues to travel, and how he enjoys working anywhere in the world as an author and a business owner.

The Beginning: Andy’s traveling starting from a young age following his dad, who traveled a lot for work, and the early memory of a cruise he was on.

From age 6, Andy has accompanied his dad Rick Steves on his travels.

Being an adventurous kid, he shares a memory of a time when he and his father were roughhousing on an overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo.

“One of my first memories was roughhousing with my dad on a bed on an overnight cruise from Copenhagen up to Oslo. We were on this kind of smaller ship the size of a fast ferry and we were just horsing around on the bed, and he swiped my legs out from under me. It knocked the air out of me, and as a little kid, I thought I was dying. So this is my first memory ever of travel, it just stuck with me. 

I think I was like five or six years old at the time. But it’s funny, the random little things that stick out to you.” – Andy.

Spending around four weeks in Europe every year growing up where his mom would take him to visit his dad on his longer work trips.

Andy and his sister traveled a lot during childhood. That’s because his family didn’t want to spend most of the time without his father. So he would always spend two to four weeks every summer in places like Germany, Italy, and Ireland. 

“My mom would bring myself and my sister over to visit my dad halfway through his long trips through Europe. So he’d go over for about three months each year, over the summer, and that’s a long time to be away from the family. So, the three of us would go and track him down, whether he was in Germany or Italy or Ireland, once a year for those long family trips. And then we’d try to take a bit of a vacation. Sometimes to Mexico, once or twice to Hawaii in the off-season. So, it was two to four weeks in Europe every year growing up.” – Andy.

The trips unconsciously provided Andy with the foundation and tools to build a travel-related career later.

Being a child and traveling with his father, Andy couldn’t distinguish between a family vacation and traveling for work. Also, his dad was busy following a strict schedule about his work. 

But, that unconsciously provided Andy the foundations, tools, and habits to later build his travel-related career.

“My dad is the hardest worker I’ve ever met in my life; he just pounds through a city and is always researching, updating his guidebooks, researching hotels and restaurants, doing walking tours with various local guides, all these different things he does during the day. And then he’ll stay up because he needs to be sure to get all of his notes down before he goes to sleep, that’s a kind of a rule he holds himself to.” -Andy explains.

“So when you’re his family tagging along, he doesn’t slow down at all. You’re expected to keep up. He’s a pretty intense traveler. It was always work when we were going through Europe, not so much a fun family time. So it was a situation where it wasn’t a fun experience all the time, but it did open my eyes to the beautiful diversity of Europe. And, it gave me the background, training, and skills I needed to do what I do now running a podcast, tour company, and having my own guidebook. “ – Andy.

How traveling for work or a travel career can seem glamorous to people from the outside but isn’t always the case.

It may surprise you to hear Andy’s experience with his father, who is always on the move or traveling for work ever since his youth. A travel career may seem glamorous to people, but we can see that it isn’t always the case if we dive deeper into the subject. 

Andy explained a situation that he and his sister experienced when they were on a family working trip.

They weren’t getting along and, as any kid would do, they interrupted their father’s agenda. But, their father decided to deal with the situation. He concluded by saying that he was fortunate to have been in such a situation. 

“He has a plan that he has to complete—every day. There were times when my sister and I weren’t getting along with each other, and my parents would get tired of us and send us away with 10 euros for the two of us for dinner. They told us just to go and find our dinner. We were like 12 and 10 years old. 

Our money was barely enough for a burger and fries. So that taught us how to get along and find new situations. All in all, I got to say it was an incredible childhood growing up, and I’m fortunate to have all these experiences.” – Andy.

So even if traveling may seem glamorous, we understand that it isn’t always the case, particularly in a situation where you need to work and have no time to sleep or not being able to spend time with your family. 

Andy’s first solo trip with a friend through Europe after graduating high school, and how his dad encouraged him to take the trip and plan it for himself.

Imagine making a solo trip after graduating high school and being encouraged by your father. That was the case with Andy. 

He told us about his dad’s fondest travel memories when he decided to solo travel through Europe and got connected with a co-writer, which changed his life and helped him boost his career. 

“My dad’s fondest travel memories are from his first solo travels through Europe. I don’t always mean to bring it back to him, but he enjoyed himself so much. That’s what connected him with a co-writer, a coauthor of his, which changed his life and set them off on a course to run Rick Steves Europe.”

So, when Andy decided to go on a backpacking solo trip through Europe, his father strongly encouraged him.

“With him having that experience, he wanted to be sure and help facilitate my own backpacking trip through Europe when I was old enough. So after I graduated from high school, my best friend, Alex, and I went on a six-week backpacking tour through Europe. And that was great. It was an incredible experience to do exactly what we wanted when we wanted.”

Planning and traveling by yourself can be tiring and lead to feeling discouraged, but how you can enjoy yourself once the feeling passes (and it usually does!).

Planning and traveling by yourself can often be intense and tiring. Unfortunately, that’s the case because you are the only one worrying about doing all the planning and organizing things to do, which can often be overwhelming. 

Andy, the only one doing his research and planning for the Europe trip, told us he learned a lot thorough this experience. He also explains the feeling he sometimes gets during long international trips and how he deals with that. 

“So, I was the one doing the research, and organizing all the travel plans. I learned a lot. Every once in a while, especially on a long international trip, when you’re tired, jet-lagged, and hungry, you get that pit in your stomach, and you’re thinking, what the hell did I get myself into on these longer excursions?

And, that was my first introduction to that feeling, but I was fortunate enough to have a friend I got along with. So, everything went well on the trip, and I got that feeling, but I knew that it was just a passing, sort of short depression, and then once the clouds lift, you can set off on your adventure.”

Andy told us how sometimes you can get burnt out while traveling and you don’t want to sightsee or do anything to learn more about the place you are visiting and his experience with this.

“That’s just part of the human experience, but you have to recharge and remember you can’t sightsee or do anything if your body’s not up for it. And I think if you don’t really feel like it and you’re exhausted and then still go out and see something, that’s pretty incredible.”

How Andy decided to shift to a travel-related career after initially studying Industrial Design in college.

Sometimes a specific decision sets your path in life onto a particular course. That was the case with Andy, who shared how his initial plan on studying architecture at Notre Dame changed, and he ended up studying industrial design instead. 

Further on, he describes his summers  working as a tour guide with his father and studying abroad in Rome. That’s when he spotted an opportunity to create budget travel for students.

“I was planning on studying architecture at Notre Dame, and I ended up in industrial design. So I have given myself a chance to try completely different industries and practices. 

But then I spent my summers working as a tour guide for my dad’s company and I studied abroad.

Those were other types of travel, working on the road and providing a service to paying customers and studying abroad where I got to stay in Rome for four months. So I had the time of my life, but that’s when I realized that there was a need for budget travel.” – Andy.

With that, he got the chance and motivation to develop a business plan and try his shot with a weekend tour company for students that provides budget travel.

“For students abroad, I had the chance to develop a business plan during my last two years at Notre Dame in 2010. I didn’t have anything to lose. I realized that right there was my chance. So let’s give this a shot and see if there is something to this weekend tour company for students abroad in Europe.” – Andy.

The types of the weekend and week-long tours his company offers across fifteen European cities, and how people traveling with a variety of travel styles can take advantage of the tours.

He explains how his brilliant idea evolved over the years into his company, which now serves 15 cities, starting with only 8.

“I started with five cities. Now, it’s been eight years and we run 15 or 16 different itineraries. It’s just been an incredible chance for me to connect and interact with amazing locals from across Europe and around the world.”

But it’s not only the numbers that have changed, it is the initial idea as well. Starting by only providing budget trips for students, he explains how they have expanded way beyond that. He developed a change and evolution of his approach to travel along the way.

“This kept me busy for the last few years. Students studying abroad in Europe, who are there for longer periods, but on the weekends or when they have a week off to go take trips – that’s kind of the target market. We do more than student tours, and we do more than weekend tours now. That’s the original niche that we were going after, but I’ve realized that my approach to travel is through connecting with locals, sightseeing…”

His new way of doing things is to provide a similar experience to every client, letting them experience travel the way he does—connecting with locals, seeing the sights of a place, and getting a sense of the people and history.

“All that you must see and must do is included in our packages. This sort of approach to organizing tours, I think, is relevant to everyone, not just students. So, I’ve branched out and started ‘andysteves.com’, where we’re laying the foundations for tours, where we stay in hotels, but still interact with the same great relatable locals and have the same great experience.”

The first London tour his company ran with about eight travelers from Rome, and how the tours grew from there.

The first tour he ran as a start to his business was in London. Andy talks about what that was like and everything it took to prepare for that starting trip.

“We had eight or nine people in London, and it was just a collection of students, mostly coming from the school I spoke at, John Cabot and Rome. They came out to London for a weekend. I was running it solo, and I had spent ten days prior learning everything that I was going to teach for the weekend.”

He mentions it as a heart-warming experience since it marked the beginning, and he got to meet so many new people. This was when he was very young, and the students were almost his age, but he still describes it as professional, besides the relationships he built, which made it meaningful.

“I still stay in touch with some of the people on that tour. So, I was fortunate to make a lot of friends with tour members over the years. It was a professional tour, but I was very close to the student’s age. I was only 23, and these students were 20 and 21.”

 As he designed his first successful tour, his methods proved successful. He then conducted the same research for other cities, such as Rome, Prague, and Paris, in the following years.

“I had been through the city a few times before and I had taken a bunch of tours. I’d learned a lot. So, I was just kind of designing the tours as I went. Getting the chance to go through it in person helped me refine the itineraries for each of these different cities. So I did a tour in London, then Paris, and then two in Prague and one in Rome.“

How he decided what itineraries to include in his guidebook Andy Steves’ Europe: City Hopping on a Budget, and how he plans the itineraries and selects local guides for his tours.

When it comes to picking cities and creating the perfect trip, we learned that it takes so much in-detail research and dedication to make the right choice to provide the best experience for everyone else coming along. Thus, Andy first experiences everything by himself before making a checklist of things he wants to offer his travelers later. 

“It takes about two months of research. I collect ideas, read newspaper articles, reach out to local guides, and set up a ten-day visit to any new city. Then I arrive, and I usually stay in two different apartments or Airbnbs in two different neighborhoods that I want to experience more than others. Then I spend the next week and a half just doing everything I possibly can in the city during the day and night, marking all of those experiences and venues on a map. Then I see which has the most bang for your buck and link all those together in a geographical order that makes geographical sense.”

And believe it or not, his formula always seems to be working!

“That’s been a formula I’ve applied to like 15 or 16 different cities, and it has worked out well. The reviews we get are great, people just love our approach to these weekends and spring break trips. So it’s been really rewarding to do something I’m passionate about, but also something that I happened to be pretty good at.”

The qualities required to be a good guide include being sociable, knowledgeable, and balancing being in the moment with planning on the fly, and how having a good guide can help you get the most out of a sight or a city.

Having Andy’s profession is something that might sound easy and fun, but the job description he gives us is not something to be underestimated.

“The job description of a good tour guide is very long because you have to be everything to everybody.

You have to be scholarly. You have to know your stuff. Of course, you have to know what you’re talking about. But you also need to be personable and talk and just chat about the weather with any kind of person. You have to be fun, but you also have to be serious.”

Being a good tour guide can genuinely make the trip a different experience for everyone.

“It’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s a little bit of everything, and you have to be in the moment, but always planning for the next moment. 

How Andy keeps from “sightseeing overload” and keeps his mind fresh to imagine what tourists that are new to the area would be interested in.

Like any other job, this can become overwhelming too. However, Andy has a way of coping with this and advises everyone else to find their own and just stick with it if they find themselves in this situation.

“It’s true. You can kind of become numbs to the sights or get sightseeing overload, and you just have to take it at a pace that works for you. For me, it’s my job. So I go in, and I learn. I’m a big fan of art nouveau, so I geek out on all of these historical subjects pretty hard.”

The changes Andy has seen in the way young people travel, new technology, and the creation of the sharing economy.

He also notices a change in the way young people travel. Finally, we touch on the development of technology and how it has become a downside, but also beneficial when moving around the globe nowadays.

“The fact that we are all traveling around with smartphones and are always connected has really changed the way people travel for better and worse. Some people have a hard time putting their phones away and really interacting with the people that they’re surrounded by.” –Andy says.

“Number two is the sharing economy. I love Uber because I don’t have to worry about taxis ripping me off. I take Uber in Columbia, where I live in Medellin. I take Uber in Budapest. That way, I don’t need to worry about getting ripped off.

How Andy chooses home bases to work out of, and the benefits of his current home in Medellin, Colombia.

When he started doing this and began traveling for work, Andy tells us that he set up a home base for himself in Prague. During that time, he and his friend ran a small Airbnb business at the time but eventually stopped because of the circumstances that occurred.

“For years, it’s been Prague. Prague has been my home base. I ran kind of an Airbnb operation on the side with a friend of mine. Things have changed in Prague. They’re more strict on the legality of Airbnb because it’s drastically changing the city. There’s a lot more competition, and prices are getting driven down for hosts, so I’ve kind of wrapped up that side thing.”

Right now, it’s hard to determine where he lives. Although he shares where he is originally from, he spends most of his days moving from one place to another in different parts of the world.

Fortunately, he has found a special place that he fell in love with at the moment, where he spends at least one-third of the year, and that is Medellin, Colombia. So, he could probably call this “home” for the moment.

“It’s hard to say where I’m living. I’m from Seattle. Tonight I’m going to be sleeping at my mom’s house when I return home to the Seattle area. But I’ve spent three to four months a year in Columbia for the last year and a half. So I’ve spent five months in Medellin, and I absolutely love it. It’s just a beautiful city, with warm people, a great culture. I’m practicing my Spanish and learning a little bit of salsa.”

Why does he like this place so much? It was love at first sight, once he took a stroll around almost two years ago. The culture, the people, the beautiful views are just some of the reasons that made Andy stay. 

“I went a year and a half ago, well close to two years almost. I got to Medellin, and then I walked through the neighborhood I was staying in, and I was like, this is the coolest neighborhood I’ve ever seen in my life. Considering all the cities I’ve traveled, I felt that was quite a reaction.”

Additionally, living here saves him a great deal of money. He tells us how everything is so cheap and affordable, and it’s the place for him. 

The price was right and the cost of living is so nice there. If you stay in a tourist area, you can have lunch for two bucks. Breakfast is delivered for two bucks, about three and a half for lunch. I like to live on the peso, but I try to make money on the dollar. And that’s been a formula that works for me.” -Andy.

How Andy is working on expanding his travel experiences around the world by using an innovative planned “detour.”

Andy spoke with us about his ideas for expanding his travel experiences and providing customers with more options. A common problem he was experiencing seemed to have sparked this idea, and he explained what brought it about. 

“There are several things I’m considering. We have an innovative product called a detour, a WSA detour. So many people were coming up to me and saying: “Hey, can you just tell me what to do for free? And then I’ll go off and do it on my own. Do you mind if I just kind of do my own travel?”,  and I’m like, this is my business. This is how I’m supposed to make money. I can’t just give away my secrets for free.”

This process led to “Detour,” which he thoroughly explains, and you are sure to be amazed at the idea.

“So I decided to write up a 10-page chapter for each city. We include your sightseeing reservations and your accommodation reservations, and then put that confirmation information into the first page of the detour so that you can scan the barcode on this first page at the door, the Coliseum, and the Vatican, and skip the line and get in. And then, you’re standing in a hostel that we work with and that we trust and that we’ve had a good experience at.”

“I feel like if I tried to expand, I wouldn’t be able to offer the quality that I’m committed to. I love that idea of the detour.”

One of Andy’s favorite places to visit is Budapest, Hungary.

Since Andy travels almost all his life, we were naturally curious to hear which are his favorite places in the world. We love hearing about other people’s travel experiences and recommendations, and we’re sure you would too!

As a top pick, he suggests Budapest. He tells us why, but really, you would have to see it for yourself.

“If I could do it again, I would spend that same time in Budapest. I love Budapest, and they have these thermal hot spring baths you can visit. You feel so rejuvenated when you pop in there for a few hours. And the people are interesting. They’re not the most smiley or friendly people, but then once you make a connection, they’re genuine and authentic, and I appreciated that vibe.” – Andy.

Andy’s current and upcoming projects, including his book and podcast.

Wonder what’s next on Andy’s list?  He is currently working on his book and podcast, which he believes is something that travel enthusiasts and people who are interested in learning more about his experiences will find valuable. He also developed a website where he shares information to help guide people in planning a trip. 

“I’ve got a few different things in the works. I’m working on this podcast, and I’m trying to branch into ‘andysteves.com’ as a more general travel brand for custom travel consulting, local tours, things like that. And that’s a lot of computer time in front of me, so I just gotta buckle down and take care of it, whether I’m here or somewhere else.” – Andy.

As with every other digital nomad, travel has become work for him as well. As he says, this is something that never fails to happen when you have a lifestyle like this, despite the fact that people are often misled about what it’s like to run a business while traveling.

“I think that I never want to be putting out something that’s new and not true to what my life is actually like. I just think that people get this idea of what a digital nomad life looks like, and I think that you just touched on kind of what the reality is when you’re creating a business, and you’re branching into new things.” – Andy.

He says he spends so many hours in front of the computer now, but it allows him to pursue his dream of constant travel at the same time and create content for the world to enjoy.

“You do spend a lot of time behind the computer, making sure that stuff gets done, so you can do the things that you love, like travel. It’s work. I’m not complaining, but it’s work for sure.”

What Andy is hoping to achieve with his podcast in helping others to experience more meaningful travel and lifestyles, and what that means to him.

During his travels, Andy encountered so many fascinating people from all over the world. So, he got inspired to record a chat with a lot of them to hopefully inspire others to strive for a more meaningful lifestyle full of traveling. 

“I realized that I have a ton of fascinating and interesting conversations with amazing locals from around the world, including my guides in Europe. Why not just chat with them for 45 minutes and share their stories and give them some social media traffic, and hopefully inspire others to pursue a more meaningful trip or more meaningful lifestyle.” – Andy

He has had some pretty memorable experiences throughout his travels and created some great connections along the way, which he felt incredibly fortunate to have.

“I feel so fortunate to have the experiences that I’ve had, and I’m also fortunate that I’m passionate about sharing this, the value of meaningful travel that gives me the motivation and the drive to produce a plan. 

For me, it’s really simple. I love anytime that I’ve had unforgettable experiences because I’ve put myself out there to make connections with the people around me, the locals around me are from entirely different backgrounds.” – Andy

Andy’s tips for meeting locals, like picking up some of your hobbies from home in your new location, and how he deals with language barriers (hint: he uses a lot of Google Translate!).

A suggestion Andy told us was that you should always pay attention to the things, hobbies, or interests you enjoy and do research about that so you can use that info and set up checkpoints throughout your trip. This can lead you to meet people who share the same interest with you, thereby making it easy to meet locals everywhere. 

“One thing that I’d always suggest no matter how, or what your travel style is, is to pay attention to the things that you enjoy, whether it’s your hobbies or your interests, whether you’re into music, festivals, or sports events, or half marathons or chess or yoga or ventriloquism, whatever it is you’re into, Google the heck out of what’s going on in Europe related to your interest. And then you can use those kinds of events and dates as checkpoints throughout your trip, to make sure you drop into this city at this time because that’s when you’re going to find yourself surrounded by people who’ve done the exact same thing, who put in the effort to pursue something that they’re interested in. And immediately, you have something in common, and you can build a friendship from there. I found that to be the best way to meet locals wherever I am.” – Andy.

He also told us that he uses Google Translate a lot because it has many features that can help you communicate with anyone on the go.

“Google translate is great. And it’s something that you can type out, and you can show in big letters for somebody who might be elderly, or who can’t see. You can basically speak into it and it translates visually. 

You can hold it over a menu, and it translates visually onto your phone screen. It replaces the letters, which is crazy technology. That’s been an enormous help. It eases all sorts of language barriers I’ve encountered.” – Andy.

How Andy keeps a sense of community as he travels the world and understanding that a regular sense of community might be one of the sacrifices you make when you travel the world.

Ever thought about the sacrifice you need to make when choosing to build this type of lifestyle?

One of those is letting go of an actual community, like friend groups and family that you would normally spend every day with. Andy shares what it’s like to feel this way, but also highlights that it doesn’t have to be a bad thing after all.

“There are sacrifices that you make in any sort of lifestyle that you choose. Having an actual legit community is one of those sacrifices. I think you can keep in touch with your friends and loved ones via FaceTime and Snapchat and Instagram and all that, but I’m on the road, and all of the people that I have been hanging out with for the last three days aren’t going to be where I’m going tonight.”

The advantages and disadvantages are both evident. In this way, you have much more of a chance of meeting people you have something in common with.

“That’s just one of those things you gotta kind of live with, I guess.”

From past experiences, we find out what this aspect of traveling has been like for him. He also says there are possibilities of developing some kind of community when being a nomad, but recently that hasn’t been the case for him.

“You meet so many incredible people when you’re traveling, and I think that you can kind of build an online community, which is really amazing. When you stay somewhere, then you can definitely develop a community, but I’ve just been too much of a tumbleweed.”

Last words 

As we enjoyed our pleasant conversation with another globetrotter, we felt truly inspired by his stories about how a childhood passion can become a reality.

Quite a life journey of someone who is young yet accomplished, and does what he absolutely adores – traveling. Hearing about his ideas and what he does for a living while being on the road was equally an adventure for us.

Additionally, Andy’s story shows the life of a person who is constantly on the go and running a business simultaneously. Putting your passion into practice is not always easy, but it is almost always doable if you give it your best effort.

If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest checking out our other episodes about other Digital Nomads sharing their unforgettable experiences:

• Chasing Adventure with Annette and Daniel Fortner
• From Cleveland to Costa Rica and Beyond: Talking Travel with Joe Baur
• Patagonia to Canada on a Bike: An Interview with Alex Krauss
• Jackie Bolen on Everything You Need To Know About Teaching English Abroad
• Exploring Non-Conformity to Find your Passion: Chris Guillebeau and the Beauty of Travel