This week we’re back in the UK preparing for our big move to Thailand this Saturday! I’m ridiculously behind with sharing our European adventures on the blog but posts are coming soon about our time in Bratislava, our family holidays in Italy and Spain and my favourite city of the year: Prague. Right now though, it’s all about getting ready to head back to Thailand – here’s a look at how we’re preparing to start our new life in Chiang Mai.
How much did we spend during our five and a half week stay in Croatia? Andrew and I travelled along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia exploring UNESCO protected Old Towns, waterfalls, islands, national parks and beaches. Here’s a detailed breakdown of our Croatia travel costs.
My name is Amy, I’m from the UK and I just arrived in New Zealand yesterday to start my round-the-world trip,” I told the boat-load of strangers as we took it in turns to introduce ourselves. “Ah, you’re fresh then!” replied the Rock Boat guide as we sailed the paper-flat waters of the Bay of Islands. I nodded, assuming he meant that I was a fresh new traveller, because I certainly didn’t look fresh after stepping off a 24-hour flight just the day before. I looked around at the international collection of tourists gathered on the boat deck; all were at different points in their travel adventures while mine was just beginning, and in ‘fresh traveller’ style I was cramming every second with action.
Back in 2013, travel-starved and weary from the routine of daily life in London, Andrew and I chose to leave the UK to travel the world indefinitely. The decision wasn’t driven solely by a desire to simply see the world, I was also searching for something more: the freedom to create a better way of life. So, has travel enabled us to create our dream lifestyle?
This year a lot has changed for us. After our attempt to live and teach in Madrid collapsed, Spain felt like an epic fail. Everything was a confusing, unhappy blur for me and I had to confront a lot of negative feelings; dissatisfaction with our financial situation, dread about teaching again and uncertainty for the future. We were forced to re-examine what we want from life and figure out how to live happily - this eventually led us to the realisation that we want to become digital nomads.
On our first evening in Croatia I stopped to watch the sun from our balcony, and as it sunk towards the black mountains on the horizon, I tried to remember the last time I’d paused to watch this everyday ritual. For me, sunsets and sunrises are entwined with travel. In my ‘ordinary’ life back in the UK I rarely took notice of the sun’s daily rounds, it was travel that made me stop and look properly at the world, inspired me to hike up hills or seek out special spots to witness this simple beauty.
As the children piled onto their bus we heaved a huge sigh of relief. Our last English camp was over, work was finished and we were free again. Minutes later we were speeding away from the tiny Spanish village into the countryside, towards a fresh adventure in a brand new country. As I watched the sun beat steadily down on the passing fields of red poppies, I hoped that the next chapter of our travels would be less turbulent than this one.
We spent our final five weeks in Spain living in the historical city of Toledo while working at English immersion camps. One of our main goals during this time was to earn some cash and reduce our outgoings by living as simply and cheaply as possible, so how did we get on? Here’s a breakdown of our living costs in Spain for five weeks.

It felt good to be on a bus again, moving away from the modern streets of Madrid into the countryside. A patchwork of green and brown fields beneath a cloudy sky passed alongside us as we sped onwards toward our temporary home, a cluster of clay rooftops and spiky church spires crowded onto a hilltop: the ancient city of Toledo, Spain.

Our relationship with Madrid has been a rocky one. After falling in love with Barcelona, we had high hopes for the Spanish Capital and intended to establish a new life there. Unfortunately, these aspirations crumbled and we ended up spending one of the darkest periods of our travels in Madrid. However, since moving away to Toledo we’ve managed to get some perspective and see the city with new eyes - here’s are our highs and lows of visiting Madrid.