A young couple has revealed how they walked away from their comfortable lives to go travelling around the world.
Amanda and Daniel Tran, from Perth in Western Australia, were both leading the ‘ideal’ lifestyle – high-flying careers, perfect marriage and loving families.
But the 27-year-old lawyer and her electrician husband, aged 28, decided to give up their six figure combined salary to embark on an adventure of a lifetime after tying the knot in an extravagant wedding ceremony.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the pair revealed how they set off in March 2016 with the ‘initial plan to travel for 12 months against the wishes of our families’.
We fell in love with travel so much that we hope to pursue a life of full time travel. One of the hardest things for us has been breaking the proverbial bamboo ceiling coming from Asian backgrounds.
‘My parents particularly were always focused on getting an education, a full-time job, get married, buy a house, have kids and settle down until you retire.
‘We had the perfect careers for pay and lifestyle but it was never going to be enough for us.’
Coming from an Asian background, the pair were faced with concerns about ‘security and stability’ when they broke the news to their families about their plans to go travelling full-time.
‘My mum was freaking out and begging us just to go for two months,’ Amanda said.
She would say things like “why can’t you be more like your friends – they have a house, kids and great jobs’ or ‘how can you just throw away your law degree?” or “what if you can’t find a job?” or “what if no one wants to employ you because you took a break?”.
‘I told her that on my death bed, I would never look back and say “gosh, I wish I worked that extra year instead of travelling the world”. And I’m young now – the things I can do now I’m not sure that I will be able to do 10, 20, 30 odd years from now.
‘It used to frustrate me that my mum couldn’t understand or relate to me but while I was travelling, I realised that it’s not for lack of wanting to but rather because she has never dared to dream about this kind of life.
‘She fled Vietnam and came to Australia for security and stability. No wonder it made her so nervous that I was abandoning the two things that she fought so hard to have. She wasn’t trying to stop me from living my life, she just wanted me to have what was most important to her.’
And so the couple decided to drop their ‘normal lives’ to go backpacking full-time because they both shared a ‘sense of adventure, passion for travel and desire for more’.
‘It also took a lot of faith. We were walking away from what many people value as the ‘ideal’ life – great salaries, jobs and lifestyles,’ Daniel said.
‘But you can’t take your money, your house or whatever with you when you die. We value relationships and experiences so even though it was risky, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.’
Amanda said she had long dreamt about travelling well before she started dating the love of her life.
‘I had dreamed of doing something like this solo but when he came into the picture, we started making plans together,’ she said.
‘We didn’t just wake up one day and say “hey, let’s just ditch everything and go” – we both wanted to explore and see the world so that’s what we’re doing.’
The couple, who blog under LVV Travel, have been travelling on a tight budget after saving up for a year.
‘We worked and saved up a lot of money. It took very strict budgeting and limited spending to save up in a year for the trip,’ Amanda said.
‘And you can definitely travel for “cheap” if you want to. Our average spend for South East Asia was around $55 AUD for two people per day.
‘We also secured some sponsored work from our blog – so that has helped to keep some costs down. We’re also planning on holding a photo exhibition and selling some prints later this year.’
Her husband said the pair had set a different budget for each continent.
‘While travelling, we are always on a budget. Each country and continent is different and we factor that in when choosing where we are going,’ he said.
‘We track every dollar of what is spent so that we know how we’re going. We’ve managed to travel 14 months so far off savings and have two more months before we’ll need to work to top up that account.’
Some of the biggest challenges the pair faced have included: ‘budget worries, repetitive food, super long bus rides or a 40 day road trip with long drives and spending 24/7 with just each other’.
‘And you pretty much have yourself the perfect TV drama,’ Amanda said as she laughed.
‘I think the toughest challenge is spending 24/7 with just this one person. Sure we met other people and make new friends but for a lot of it, it’s just us.’
Daniel explained being away from home has been challenging for him.
‘You’re away from a lot of home comforts – friends, family and familiar places so you can’t just call up a friend, go out and vent,’ he said.
‘You just have to learn to talk about things and deal with it then and there. We’ve shared some of the highest and lowest points of our lives together and our marriage is so much better for it.
‘I miss home sometimes. More so than Amanda anyway. It’s usually when we’ve missed some pretty important milestones like the birth of my nephews. Also, food is the best in Australia.’
And plans to settle down? The pair said they will continue to travel – as well as work to save up for their next adventures.
‘I’m not sure if we’ll ever “settle down” in the traditional sense which definitely freaks out our families a little,’ Amanda said.
‘I do think our society is a little too obsessed with the idea of home ownership – so much so that you see many young people getting into massive loads of debt they can’t afford just to say they own a home.
‘Daniel and I bought an investment property when we got engaged and that pays for itself. We aren’t in a rush to buy any more property because we have no legitimate reason to.’
Daniel added: ‘Over the next few years, we’re going to work and travel, then start a business that aims to tackle a social issue. We have no idea where we’re going to that or what the business will look like but we’re ready and willing to go wherever we are called to.’
The pair have certainly lived to tell their tales – from mountain biking down the ‘world’s most dangerous road’ to visiting the spectacular heritage sites.
‘There have been so many highlights – we’ve mountain biked down the Death Road (Yungus Road) in Bolivia, hiked to Rainbow Mountain in Perú, visited the Amazon and with met our sponsor child in El Salvador,’ Amanda said.
‘We also saw the Northern Lights in Iceland, watched a sunrise in Bagan and we got certified for scuba diving and free diving. We’ve also been so privileged to visit many other world wonders and world heritage sites too.
‘I conquered my fear of heights by crossing every bridge and hiking up mountains – I even jumped off a bridge in Ecuador. The list is far too long.’
Daniel added: ‘I also hiked six hours up a volcano – Aconcagua – to watch another, Fuego (fire), erupting. Amanda went and got a massage instead.’
The couple are now back in Australia – but they are planning a road trip through Western Australia and Northern Territory over the next two months.
‘It’s definitely time to explore more of our own backyard,’ Amanda said.
READ MORE HERE: Perth couple walked away from high salaries to travel | Daily Mail Online
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