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This week on the show we are joined by Cameron Seagle and Natasha Alden from The World Pursuit!
After traveling full-time for almost four years across six continents and 85 countries, Cam and Natasha decided to base themselves in the Canadian Rockies. Now they travel half the year and explore the mountains for the other half, documenting it all on social media and their site Theworldpursuit.com.
In this episode, we explore their story from how they met and started traveling, how they built a career in travel, and why they decided to settle down a bit after living as nomads for 4 years.
If you would to get access to the past and future episodes of our nomad series as a World Wanderers Insider, head on over to Patreon.com/theworldwanderers. Thank you so much for your continued support!
In this episode:
- How Cameron and Natasha met and decided to go traveling together
- Moving to NYC to work in the film industry and then deciding to find a way to travel full-time
- Traveling on a budget in Europe
- How they started travel blogging and the process from starting to covering expenses
- Reality vs expectations when you’re working and traveling
- Deciding to travel and road trip through Africa
- What it is like trying to buy a car and cross borders when traveling in Africa
- The challenges of blogging while road tripping in Africa
- Deciding to find a home base after almost four years of permanent travel
- Settling down in Canmore, Alberta
- What are Cameron and Natasha’s future travel plans?
- Connect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/theworldpursuit/
If you would get access to the past and future episodes of our nomad series as a World Wanderers Insider, head on over to Patreon.com/theworldwanderers. Thank you so much for your continued support!
Digital Nomad Life: Creating a Life & Career of Travel with Cameron and Natasha from The World Pursuit
Welcome to the World Wanderers podcast, your source for travel stories, travel destinations, and travel philosophy. We are your hosts Ryan and Amanda, and we will be taking you on today’s adventure as we speak with this week’s guest.
In this week’s episode, we are joined by Cameron Seagle and Natasha Alden from the blog The World Pursuit!
We were able to interview this young traveling couple in person, after having so many zoom interviews this year, where they shared with us their interesting travel stories, the beginnings of their travels, and how they found themselves in Canada at the moment.
We also learn more about their traveling blog, which you can head to, to find out more about them and their amazing travels and how that turned their dreams of a digital nomad lifestyle into a reality!
How Cameron and Natasha met and decided to go traveling together
Since this couple started traveling 4 years ago, we were curious to find out how they started their journey. It was an interesting story to hear and not a typical one!
They said they had met back in college when both of them didn’t really have any traveling experience.
“It all goes back to when we first met in college. When I was younger, my parents didn’t really travel or anything, we kind of did the typical American vacations.”- Natasha
Natasha tells the story of how she met Cameron in a bar. She spontaneously asked him to be her travel partner when she decided she would travel Europe a week later. He agreed, and shortly after that, he was to become her partner and travel buddy.
“Then I met Cameron, at a bar, very romantic. About a week before I graduated, I had a few drinks under my belt and I said, well, I’m leaving for Europe, so if you want to join me, feel free. And of course, he said yes!”-Natasha
The whole thing was a big adventure, but they say they are very fortunate that this random decision worked out in the end. They both took a flight and met up in Norway, and the rest is history!
“I hopped on this flight to meet her. And honestly, I’ll never forget landing at the airport and being so nervous.”-Cameron
Moving to NYC to work in the film industry and then deciding to find a way to travel full-time
Since they both have finished college, and their big Europe tour was coming to an end, naturally the next step they took was building their careers in the film industry.
“The next step was to go get real jobs. Since we had both graduated from college, it just seemed that naturally, it was the next choice.”-Cameron
The best way to do this was to move to New York City, and that is exactly what they did. But Natasha says something was missing. Having settled down didn’t satisfy her need as a natural traveler.
She wanted to keep moving even though she didn’t have an idea of how they could constantly keep doing it. After saving up for a year, they finally decided to start traveling again.
“So we moved to New York City and we both started our careers in the film industry. Obviously, I missed travel quite a bit.“-Natasha
They share that having built this career was something really good, and that they loved what they were doing, especially Cameron, but this static life had to come to an end, and working remotely around the world was something they preferred to do.
“I still have a passion for film production. Obviously, we love the life we have now. No regrets, but at the time I was really enjoying my job. I found it fulfilling, it was intensive. So I found it fulfilling in that way, but I’ll never forget it, New York can be pretty brutal… “-Cameron
Traveling on a budget in Europe
Their next big trip was a trip to Europe once again. They found a way to keep savings so that they could tour as much as they could. This meant having to live on a budget that entire time.
“We devised this plan on Valentine’s day to just save as much money as we could. Pretty much not have much of social life, just work and put everything in the bank so we could leave and go travel for as long as we could off of that savings.”-Cameron
When they were finally ready, they packed their bags and found the cheapest way to get to Europe, and that was taking a flight to Latvia.
“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about Riga, Latvia. I didn’t even have many desires to go there. I’m not saying it’s a bad place there, it was just never on my list. But it was the cheapest flight into Europe.”-Natasha
They say that traveling on a budget can be hard to maintain, but it is still something that is really enjoyable since you are doing it to have all these amazing experiences. Fortunately, they managed to do it and keep moving around the world!
“The first few months of our travels, probably the first year of this initial trip, we were on a tight budget. We were hosteling, trying to find $7 rooms because we were doing $30 a day. We were trying to keep it at about a thousand dollars a month. So, it was a pretty tight budget, but we were totally capable of doing it.“-Natasha
How they started travel blogging and the process from start to covering expenses
Later on, we were curious to find out about how the idea of blogging came up.
Natasha, as she says, had always been daydreaming of this lifestyle and would always follow travel blogs that inspired her to start her own.
“When I was having my travel daydreams at my job in New York, I was looking at a bunch of travel blogs, and all these people, all these bloggers were saying that they were actually making money on their travel blog at the time.”-Natasha
Especially when she found out they could make money by starting a travel blog, she figured this could be a way to keep them moving and keep their travels coming.
They didn’t have any big goals at first, so it was still just a blog started for fun, and to share photos mainly for family and friends. It did, however, turn into something much bigger!
“I didn’t understand how blogs made money, but I figured if they could do it, then we could do it too. So, I told Cam we should start a travel blog, just update our friends and family with what we’re doing. Maybe it’ll turn into some free trip offers. Maybe some kayaking company will take us on a free kayaking tour. I remember one of our first comped experiences was a bike tour in Serbia. That was great for us.”-Natasha
After six months, they started gaining some recognition and getting some money from what they loved doing. They say it was not much, but it was something they were proud of and they were happy to do.
“I want to say about six months in we were making a little bit of money. It wasn’t a lot. I want to say maybe we hit our first $500 around that point.”-Cameron
This was the time when they officially became digital nomads. From that point on the blog grew, and having made their dream come true, was the best thing in the world!
“And to make that while traveling and working, working remotely, we thought it was the most awesome thing in the world.”-Natasha
Reality vs expectations when you’re working and traveling
As always, we asked this couple what life is like now after the hobby becomes a job, and their answers were no different than any other travelers that go through the same experience.
They share that the idea behind this digital nomad concept and the reality is a completely different thing.
“I think it starts off really awesome. We really enjoyed it. And I still get a lot of enjoyment out of blogging and traveling at the same time. But then it turns into more of a job over time…”
Since their passion became a job, they decided they needed to differentiate travel for work and travel for enjoyment in order for their wanderlust to remain.
They say that you should be able to find ways to maintain this life so it doesn’t become overwhelming and something you dread. Reality is different and putting a line between work and travel, even though it is hard when you are doing this, it’s something that is crucial.
“We were working and traveling at the same time, and we weren’t able to enjoy our travels because we were working while we were traveling. So we needed to delineate. This is a travel period. We’re going to just go and enjoy ourselves and take photos and collect content. And then a work period. We’ll settle down and we’ll write blog posts and work.”
They were fortunate enough to maintain this balance and share with us what it’s like for them, and the difference when it comes to vacationing and long-term travels.
“I just think that’s the reality of being a long-term traveler. You don’t want to fill your days with a never-ending itinerary. The thing with long-term travel and vacation is that there are really big differences. It’s like with travel bloggers, it’s your lifestyle. You’re always planning. Like it’s always the next destination. What are we doing next? What’s in the city to do? It’s always something new. Whereas at least with the vacation, you can plan in advance, and then you don’t have to think about those things.”
Deciding to travel and road trip through Africa
After having stayed in Europe for almost a year, they decided it was time to go on a big adventure.
“About a year in, we had mostly stayed in Europe, and then, we were ready to keep venturing. We weren’t ready to stop traveling. It was just getting better. I’m actually looking forward to that adventure”
Their next adventure was Africa! With no plan, and a one-way ticket they were on their way to their first big road trip around the African continent.
“So we booked one-way tickets to Africa. We booked it and we flew to South Africa… And we were ready for our next big adventure, which, at the time, we didn’t know what we were doing, we just had this one-way flight, but it turned into quite a big trip around Africa.”
After arriving in South Africa, and spending some time there figuring everything out as they went, they decided to buy a vehicle and start their exploration.
“People spend years planning this trip. We just bought the car and we were taking off two days later, with only mild plans for the next few days.”
During this period they traveled through 14 countries, went through so many things, and we were excited to hear all the stories along the way. They truly had an adventurous trip!
“And we linked our trip through 14 countries for a year and camped in the Bush and went on safari. And it turned out to be one of the best adventures yet. It was a proper adventure.”
What it is like trying to buy a car and cross borders when traveling in Africa
They shared what it was like having the troubles of getting a car when being in a foreign land. We learned there were many difficulties, but they somehow managed to get through them.
“That was exactly the problem. It was getting the car registered to our name. So in South Africa, you need this, they call it a tin. It’s a traffic identification number and it corresponds to you. So we went through all these hurdles and kept applying for it and trying to get it in all these different ways. And eventually, we couldn’t, they just wouldn’t give it to us.”
They always found a way to make things work, and fortunately getting their car registered, which was among the hardest things to do, was finally out of the way. After having everything sorted out, they were ready to take off!
“So we kind of gave up and we were like, well, what are we going to do now? And we knew these people that we’d kind of met and they were really friendly, and we just decided to ask them if they could register the car for us. So we bought the car and registered it in their name and then just took off!”
Despite all the struggles that would appear constantly they realized that there really are no rules in this place, so they just had to fight their way through it and always find ways to get to the next destination. Eventually, they did and they say the whole experience was amazing!
“There really aren’t too many rules in Africa. A lot of places don’t even need insurance…We just took off without much planning…When we were crossing the border it was never, ever easy. It was always a whole day affair. By the end of it, it felt like a game.”
The challenges of blogging while road tripping in Africa
They share what it was like to maintain their career while being on this big adventure. This was a great opportunity to share something with the world, which not many people have done before.
Going on this trip allowed them to be able to create some really great content, which turned out to be very beneficial, and a big boost to what they were already doing.
“The idea with the whole Africa trip, besides it being this awesome adventure that we wanted to go on, was that we had never met anyone that had done it and specifically bloggers. So we thought if we did it, we’d be some of the first and we’d be able to have all this really cool content, providing tips and information for anyone that wanted to follow in our footsteps. So we were constantly updating our blog with travel tips.”
Because of their unique journey, they got a lot of exposure. Their blog got numerous mentions everywhere, and their career really took off!
“We got a lot of media mentions and features in news articles and stuff like that because we were able to use this content that was unique to kind of sell ourselves.”
Deciding to find a home base after almost four years of permanent travel
Returning home for six weeks after spending such a long time in Africa was a big reverse-culture shock. It was a break they needed before they started traveling again, which was back to Europe.
“At no point during this time, did we have the intentions to stop traveling. We were just trying to travel a little slower, maybe not exhaust ourselves out so much, but we were still very much into traveling.”
After Europe, they went on a big snowboarding trip in America, before they decided it was time to start building a home base. Japan and Canada were their two options. Japan is beautiful, and they would have loved to live there, but Canada was their pick since they are much closer to family there.
“I think December 2018 is when we decided we needed a home base and we debated between two places. And that was based purely on snowboarding because we had really fallen in love with this hobby. So we debated between Hokkaido in Japan and Western Canada. Now we’re in Canada.”
Settling down in Canmore, Alberta
Another reason they decided to live in Canada was the culture, and how easily they can be integrated with the environment.
Even though it wasn’t their homeland, the place still felt like home and it was very familiar to them.
“I think Canada was a great choice because it’s North American culture and we can make friends very easily. We can engage in these mountain activities, get outside as much as we want, but it still feels different than living in the US.”
As stressful and challenging as it was, moving to Canada was a big relief at the same time.
“It was so relieving, in the first beginning, when you land and you get here. It’s stressful because you’re moving into a new place. We hadn’t even seen the place. We signed the lease virtually.”
They eventually got over the shock of settling in this new place and finally came to enjoy it.
“It was a great decision and a good lease. Once you get past that first two weeks of that shell shock of settling down, it becomes really relaxing. It was relieving to have a homebase after so long without one.”
They share what that whole experience was like, and the things they came across when making this big change. It was definitely something new and an experience they’ve never had before.
“It did feel weird cause we arrived with two suitcases and snowboard bags. We had to furnish a place, and we didn’t have any belongings really. Going to Ikea and spending money on things like a couch and a bed, that was kind of scary.”
But even though making this unknown decision felt scary at times, they finally get to enjoy it. Having a home base was something they were lacking, and they say it feels good now to be able to have this place.
“It was this unknown decision that ultimately we’ve enjoyed. We’ve enjoyed having a home base.”
What are Cameron and Natasha’s future travel plans?
And finally, we were curious to hear what their future plans hold.
They shared that they have a pretty long list, and are ready to take off once again!
“Before COVID hit we had plans to travel around the South Pacific. That was our next big trip. We’re going to do a two-month trip. And then we also wanted to check out some more places that we hadn’t been to yet.”-Natasha
Currently, as with every other digital nomad, they are just playing a waiting game because of the world pandemic. They say they cannot wait to start traveling again and venture into the world!
“So right now we’re just in a waiting game. Like everyone else. We’re waiting to see when the borders will open and we’re very much itching to travel. I mean, Canada and the mountains are great. We’re very fortunate to be stuck in such a beautiful part of the world. But, as travelers by nature, we want to go somewhere for sure. “- Natasha
Last Words
It was exciting getting to know this young and adventurous couple that has taken the path of living as digital nomads!
They had tons of amazing information and stories to share, and we were happy to hear all of that in person. Their journey is really unique, and we are glad they share all of that on their blog!
The World Pursuit is their little playground and it is a place where you can take a peek into their life, and even learn something or get inspired to start your own nomadic journey.
So if you are one step away from making the decision to follow in these footsteps, go and check that out!
