
14 Apr Eastern Europe and Onwards to Asia ā our New Travel Plans
After going through a rough patch in Spain, we flew back to the UK to regroup. We celebrated our first Easter in years with family scoffing chocolate, completing some spring chores, visiting a friend in Devon and enjoying some home comforts. We also took the chance to do some serious travel planning for the next six months and weāve come up with an itinerary that takes us from Spain through Eastern Europe and onwards to Asia.

Making Easter cakes with our nephew in the UK
New Travel Plans: Living and Working in Spain
Iām writing this from our new apartment rental in Toledo, a medieval city and UNESCO World Heritage Site located just an hour outside of Madrid. Ā Weāve only been here a couple of days but weāre already very happy in this ancient hill-top city in our lovely apartment, which is right in the heart of the historical district, just steps away from a gothic cathedral. Weāre overjoyed to have our own place (even if it did cost us more than anticipated) and weāre taking advantage of the peace, quiet and fast internet to get lots of online work done.

Our new temporary home: Toledo, Spain
Weāve rented our apartment until mid-May, but weāll be leaving for a few days at a time to work with kids in English Immersion camps in Guadalajara, which is just north of Madrid. As always, weāll be sharing our teaching experiences on the blog, as well as plenty of pictures and stories from our temporary home in Toledo. Although we struggled in Madrid before Easter, weāre determined to see this stage of our journey as a new start and given that weāre just an hourās busĀ ride away from the capital, weāll be venturing in to explore Madrid with fresh eyes.
Six Weeks in Split
Spain isnāt as cheap as we thought it would be so after we finish our immersion camps in May weāre moving to a more affordable part of Europe. Ā After hours of research on Airbnb and Skyscanner we decided to head to Split in Croatia, a country weāve been longing to visit for quite some time. Split appears to have all the elements we love; itās another historic UNESCO city full of windy narrow streets, itās right by the sea and has good transport links to other parts of the country.
Weāre renting an apartment in Split for six weeks and one of our key goals during this time is to focus on living simply and cheaply. Having a kitchen means we can keep food costs down by cooking many of our meals and we got a great discount on the overall rental price by staying for longer than a month during shoulder season in late May and all of June. That doesnāt mean that we wonāt be exploring Croatia though; when we first arrive we have a few days planned in Dubrovnik and weāll be able to take bus trips and go island hopping to other areas of the country during our stay in Split.
A Brief Tour of Eastern Europe
Despite living in the UK for most of our lives, we really havenāt seen much of Europe so weāre keen to do some more travelling once we leave Split. Weāre sticking to Eastern European countries which are in the EU where our money will go further and we wonāt have to pay visa costs. Weāll be focusing on budget travel by taking long bus rides between countries, staying in basic accommodation and making the most of free activities and cheap food.
Our tour of Eastern Europe starts with a bus trip to Budapest in Hungary. Weāre intrigued by the cityās history and size (itās one of the largest in the EU), its World Heritage Sites, beautiful parliament building, geothermal springs, castle and reputation as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Next weāre headed to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia where thereās plenty more historic buildings and medieval architecture, castles, cathedrals and baroque palaces to explore.
The finale of our trip will be a visit to Prague in the Czech Republic, which has been top of our list of European cities to visit for a long time due to its architecture, castle, multi-cultural history and low cost of living. Weāre so excited to get back to our travel roots during our Eastern European tour with some full-on sightseeing in a corner of the world weāve yet to explore.
Holiday Time in Italy and Spain
The hardest thing about our nomadic lifestyle is missing family and friends back in the UK; youād think weād be used to saying goodbye after travelling and living abroad for most of the last three years, but I actually find this harder than I used to. So, weāre happy to be spending some holiday time in Europe with family in late July and early August.

Visiting the Colosseum on our first trip to Italy in 2012
First weāre heading back to Italy, a country we visited a few years ago and loved, to hang out with Andrewās family in a villa in Perugia. We also plan to spend a few days in Florence and weāll be eating as much pasta and gelato as we possibly can during our two-week stay in Italy. After that weāll be joining my family in Malaga, Spain, for a week of sunshine, food and pool/beach time; weāre particularly excited about hanging out with our nephew on his first holiday abroad!
Onwards to Asia!

Weāre returning to Chiang Mai!
The biggest news we have to share is that weāll be returning to Asia in mid-August. This was a hard decision to make since weād planned to stay in Europe to be closer to family, but in the end we had to listen to our guts and recognise that Asia is the best place for us to be right now in terms of work and living costs. Iāll be writing more about our reasons for returning to Asia and what weāre hoping to achieve there, but for now I can tell you that weāll be flying intoĀ Thailand and making a beeline for one of our favourite Asian cities: Chiang Mai.
What do you think of our upcoming travel plans? Have you been to any of the places weāve mentioned and can you give us recommendations of things to see/do?
Gilda Baxter
Posted at 16:28h, 15 AprilI have lived in Europe for 28 years and have yet to visit Prague and Budapest. Eastern Europe has so much to offer with a rich history and culture, but I donāt know when I will make it there and therefore I am looking forward to travel vicariously through you. Sounds like Thailand is calling you back? Chiang Mai will be a great place to base yourselves for a while. I would love to go back there and stay for few months. Your nephew is adorable, I remember making little Easter cup cakes with my kidsā¦great fun?
Amy
Posted at 10:25h, 16 AprilHi Gilda, yes, he is ridiculously cute! Thailand is definitely calling us back, weāll have to see what the work options are like there but hopefully we can make it our home for a while. Canāt wait to share our Eastern Europe stories with you too š
Kristen
Posted at 02:04h, 16 AprilSo exciting! Are you guys going to try to teach there?
I canāt wait to hear more about Spain and Split. Croatia is so high on my travel list right now, Iām finding it so hard to be stuck in LA. But not for much longer!
Exciting to hear more about your upcoming adventure!
(And very cute nephew!)
Amy
Posted at 10:23h, 16 AprilHi Kristen, yes, weāre looking at teaching and volunteering in Thailand for a while if things work out. Weāre excited about Croatia too, we have been wanting to visit for ages and weāre looking forward to sharing our experiences on the blog. It sounds like you have exciting travel plans too!
Louisa Klimentos
Posted at 00:10h, 18 AprilWow,you took lovelly photos of such beautful historical buildings.Iam so glad that you worked out your travel itinery.Everything is falling in place now and i am so happy for you.Eastern Europe is so underrated and now people have realised ,how beautiful it is.I loved to see Korto Montenegro .i think it might be in Eastern Europe.It has amazing mountains,with a river which run in between the mountains.It looks like a fiord,but it isnāt because it wasnāt formed by glacial activity..It will be great to see you come back to South East Asia,for a period of time.i canāt wait to read your beautiful travel experiences,love Louisa
Amy
Posted at 21:16h, 22 AprilHi Louisa, Montenegro sounds lovely, weāll have to check it out one day. Thanks for reading and following our journey, I hope youāre well.
Louisa Klimentos
Posted at 00:14h, 18 AprilSorry i didnāt realise that the photos were taken by someone else.You take beautiful photos anyway.look forward to seeing them
Amy
Posted at 21:17h, 22 AprilThanks Louisa, we look forward to sharing our adventures with you š
Izzy
Posted at 12:44h, 20 AprilWow, you guys are returning to Spain?! Iām glad that while the first round of plans didnāt work out, it didnāt dampen your attitude towards the country. Just a heads up: I found that Croatia was very pricey in comparison to the likes of Bosnia and Serbia, especially Dubrovnik and Split because they are on the Dalmatian Coast. Food is particularly expensive if you eat out a lot so try to make your own food. I think Budapest is one of the best places I have ever visited so I hope you enjoy your time there! And Prague is on my itinerary when I head back to the States next year. Canāt wait to read about the upcoming adventures!
Amy
Posted at 21:20h, 22 AprilYes, we are back in Spain now and have just finished a school camp week; weāll be in Spain until the end of May before moving on. Thanks for the heads up on Croatia; we have an apartment booked so hopefully we can save money by just cooking most of our meals. Budapest sounds awesome, Iām excited!
Rhonda
Posted at 17:43h, 20 Aprilyea for Chiang Mai!!! It sounds like some lovely months ahead before heading back to one of your favorite cities. Good for you for following your gut. We have only been back in Mexico for 2 days but are already feeling more at home than we did in our short time in San Diego for the camper repair and while I donāt know if weāll end up here eventually for good⦠SO glad to be back now!
Amy
Posted at 21:21h, 22 AprilHi Rhonda, Iām glad youāre feeling more at home in Mexico now and itās nice to hear from another Chiang Mai fan ā weāre excited about returning!
Shaun's Cracked Compass
Posted at 18:33h, 20 AprilThese are excellent travel plans!
Florence was my fav city in Italy by far and Chiang Mai speaks for itself.
Safe & happy travels!
Amy
Posted at 21:22h, 22 AprilThanks Shaun. Great to hear more good reviews about Florence, Iām excited!
Mel
Posted at 09:49h, 21 AprilPrague is a lovely city with such an interesting history. We stayed for a couple of days last June and really enjoyed it. One tip is to say āDobridenā (āgood dayā) or āahoyā (āhiā) and āDekujuā [day-koo-you] (āthankyouā).
to all the shopkeepers rather than just saying it in English. Itās nice for them and youāll get much better service.
The āfreeā tours are great to get your bearings in Prague. You do end up paying but just what you think is fair at the end of the tour. They usually sell other tours ā my husband did the beer tour and we did the castle tour and they were both also excellent.
We also went to Bratislava and while the train station is a bit grim, the old town is fantastic. It was a warm sunny day which always helps but even so its a great little city. We visited the castle and had a delicious slovak meal (rabbit and parika, and perky (sort of ravioli with plum jam inside and poppy seeds and melted butter over it)) at Restaurant Hrad (on the steep street leading up to the castle) then got a very moving history lesson from a young girl in a shop about Bratislavaās struggle to be free. Made us feel very ignorant and very lucky.
Iām so glad things are falling into place for you both, it would be great to hear all about your eastern adventures.
Amy
Posted at 21:24h, 22 AprilHi Mel, thanks so much for all the tips! I hadnāt heard of the āfreeā tours before but they sound like a great idea; we definitely want to see the castle too. Wow, it sounds like we have a lot to learn about the history of the places weāre visiting; I had no idea about Bratislavaās struggle. Thanks for reading and Iām excited to share our adventures with you š
[email protected] The British Berliner
Posted at 08:03h, 22 AprilThis is great news Amy! You guys are going to have such a great time in Eastern Europe. And guess what? Even though I consider myself somewhat of an expert in that region, I havenāt been to Croatia yet so Iām looking forward to reading all about it! And if you have any questions, let me know!
Donāt worry in the least that youāll be missing your family once youāre back in Chiang Mai, they can, and will, visit you. Itāll be great for all of you! Who doesnāt want a few weeks to āvisit familyā lol! Have fun xx
Amy
Posted at 21:26h, 22 AprilHi Victoria, Iāve been checking out some of your posts actually about Eastern Europe as research š If I have any questions Iāll let you know! We are excited to finally see some of Eastern Europe.
Jane
Posted at 02:20h, 27 AprilWise choices! Iād love to be in Europe again and your plans to go to Split definitely have me yearning⦠I always thought of Spain as being a cheap place to live too, though East Europe has the edge for sure. We missed Budapest last year as I was trying to get my āturning 10ā daughter to Disneyland as a surprise and so missed it, but definitely next time. Another trip over and buy a small vintage caravan is the plan before too long.
Amy
Posted at 20:53h, 29 AprilHi Jane, thanks for reading and commenting. Your trip to Disneyland sounds awesome and Iām sure youāll make it over to Budapest at some point. Good tip about the caravan; my little brother has actually just bought an old postal van that heās converting into a camper š