When you’re on your honeymoon, you sometimes wish it could last forever.
Unfortunately, honeymoons eventually end—for most couples, anyway.
That’s not exactly true for Mike and Anne Howard. On Jan. 22, 2012, the couple left their New York home for their honeymoon. Their plan was fairly bold: They’d travel to as many countries as they could, limiting their budget wherever possible.
They’re still traveling. Over the last six years, they’ve become National Geographic co-authors (check out their first book, Ultimate Journeys for Two, here), started a travel blog, visited all seven continents, volunteered in tribal villages, and launched their own travel workshop service.
We spoke with Mike and Anne to find out how they manage the financial (and personal) challenges of living a life on the road.
[Editorial note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
HEALTHYWAY: So, you guys have been traveling nonstop since 2012, is that roughly accurate?
ANNE HOWARD: That is accurate, yes.
We just decided—life is short, and the world is big. For our honeymoon, we planned a year-long journey around the world. We just haven’t come home yet. We realized that there was a lot more to see, so we just pressed on.
Recently, we bought this little funky RV, and we’re now exploring North America.
That’s awesome. Had either of you traveled extensively prior to that?
MIKE HOWARD: Sort of. We knew we had a sense of adventure. We were living in New York and used whatever vacation days we had to go on international trips or take road trips, but that was nothing like this. This is on a different scale—it’s really nomadic living.
And you got the inspiration from a friend of yours, is that correct?
M: Yes, that’s right.
A: Mike was actually at an Oktoberfest for a friend’s bachelor party. He met his buddy who’d just went around the world with his girlfriend for under $100 a day. We said, “Wait a minute, that’s basically the same as our rent, and we’re not even eating out or doing anything fun at all.”
That was a benchmark that we thought we could achieve.
Setting benchmarks seems pretty crucial for this sort of thing.
A: Yeah, I mean it was really helpful to have that encounter. Honestly, our life was good when we were in New York. We had good jobs, we’d just bought a house, we were about to get married. There was no reason for us to just sort of drop everything.
I think a lot of people decide on around-the-world journeys because they think, “Well, I’ve hit a rut in life, and I just had to get perspective.” That wasn’t us.
M: Our lives were good, but we also knew that’s just one view of the world. There’s so much more to explore and experience, so we decided that we valued travel that much. We said, “Hey, we’re going to prioritize this, because you can get hit by a bus tomorrow.”
A: You know, you could wait until you’re 65 and your knees are creaky, but then you can’t hike that mountain you wanted to hike. We just thought, “No messing around. Let’s do this. Let’s start saving.”
I think most people think that you’d have to be rich to do something like this.
M: Yes, it’s good to have those numbers be tangible, because we’re not millionaires. You could—if you start saving, it’s basically cutting out your Starbucks coffee and not going out every night of the week. You could make some simple changes and start a travel fund.
So we suggest that to everybody. If you do want to travel, quit talking about it and start making plans. Make yourself a travel fund. Set aside 5 percent of your paycheck every month towards travel. It is very achievable at every level.
A: We’ve now been traveling for six years, and our budget keeps going down. And we’re getting better at travel hacking—from frequent flyer miles to using home-sharing services, travel is crazy affordable. It’s way cheaper than going home, in fact.
What’s your travel budget around these days?
M: We don’t measure it on a daily basis, but we did an audit in 2016. I should note, we’ve had a lot of different travel styles—the first two years was just straight backpacking. We did 33 countries from 2012 to 2013.
A: And that speed can be expensive. We traveled really fast and went a lot of places, which increases your budget.
M: So our budget in the first two years was $74 for the two of us per day. That was all in—flights, hotels, visas, food, everything. From 2015 to 2016, we did a lot of house sitting. We averaged 10 countries per year, for those two years, so we went a little bit slower. Basically, we visited 20 countries over those two years.
House sitting helped bring our costs down a lot and gave us more immersive experiences, and our budget went down. And flights—like Anne said, we do almost every long-haul flight on [frequent flyer] miles for the entire trip. I don’t think we’ve paid for any flights, so that helps.
Last we checked, the budget was under $25 for the two of us, all-in, per day.
Whoa. Are you traveling comfortably for that kind of money?
A: Yeah, we know, it sounds really scary. We throw out those numbers, and people say, “Are you living under a bridge? Are you watching paint dry for fun?”
But no, we’ve had some really epic experiences. We took care of a beach house with two infinity pools overlooking the Pacific Ocean while in Costa Rica. That cost us nothing. We had a cat that we fed twice a day, but that was pretty much our only job!
M: We took care of a farm in Portugal. That was actually a phenomenal experience, to take care of a farm at the height of harvest. And you have neighbors, so you’re bartering potatoes for tomatoes and breaking bread together. It was a kind of thing that you couldn’t actually pay for. We did it for free, but it was invaluable.
A: That’s the thing with travel. Traveling inexpensively doesn’t mean you’re skimping on experiences. It’s actually shown us how to become a little more nimble and resourceful, realizing that the more creative you are with the ways you travel, the more rewarding it is.
I love that outlook. It’s really about these organic experiences. Is that something that kind of developed as you were traveling, or did you hit the road with that in mind?
A: I’d love to say that we were that wise going into this, but no. We had our bucket list. We wanted to hike Machu Picchu and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. But it was really about the people we met along the way and the unforeseen events—the serendipitous moments. That’s the magic of travel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba9_-ynhZtZ/?taken-by=honeytrek
Taking the photos, that’s not what leaves you fulfilled. It’s really getting to know the people. The people are what make every place unique.
M: What stands out are the moments.
A: We’re in the bayou right now in Louisiana. We went to this Cajun dance hall that’s been around forever, and they’re famous for their live music.
Well, you know what? When we were there, there was no live music that night, but instead, we wound up hanging out with the family that owns the hall. They kept the place open until midnight, just chatting with us. We learned their life story, and they were showing us these family photographs and instruments—let me tell you, we had a more intimate experience than anyone who’s ever seen them play as a band.
You can’t plan everything, and that’s a good thing.
Do you have any other examples of when things have gone wrong?
A: Oh, plenty.
M: The one in Jordan…
A: That was more of a risk, but yeah.
The buses had stopped running. Buses don’t run on a normal schedule on Saturdays in Muslim countries, and we were trying to get from Petra to Ammon. It was my birthday, and Mike had organized a nice hotel—normally, we don’t splurge on something like that.
Oh, and we were leaving the next morning, so things kind of needed to run on schedule. With no bus, we decided we could take a really expensive cab, but that didn’t seem like a great option, so we decided to just ask around.
We see this bus that is full of Jordanian women, so we ask the driver, “Are you heading to Ammon?” And he says, “Well, eventually. Let me ask the girls—we can give you a ride to Ammon, but we might make a stop on the way.”
M: Turns out they’re going to a wild dance party in the middle of Wadi Rum desert, two hours in the opposite direction.
We get on the bus, and they greet us with tea and sandwiches, then they cranked up the music. It was a full-blown dance party that they’re throwing on our behalf, just because they wanted to welcome us and share this experience with us.
So we didn’t get to the fancy hotel. We didn’t make it home at a reasonable hour. But let me tell you, that couldn’t have worked out better. It’s all about traveling with an open mind, a warm heart, and letting things unfold.
And I imagine that kind of helps to keep the stress levels low. I’m sure you get asked about that a lot, but—well, being in close quarters with another person for so long, that has to be stressful.
A: Oh, for sure. It all looks so glamorous on Instagram, but that’s not real life. We are living on the road. We didn’t know where we were sleeping or what we were eating. Your basics of survival are kind of in question every day when you travel. You don’t know where you’re going to sleep, what you’re going to eat, or how you’re going to get from point A to point B.
You’re reinventing all the time, and yes, that can be stressful. There have been some low moments, but the high moments are over the moon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWVWOGuBU36/?taken-by=honeytrek
Like Mike always says, we think of this in terms of chapters. Right now, we’re in this RV chapter—we’ve got this 33-year-old Toyota Sunrader without power steering. It’s got a four-cylinder engine. It’s nothing glamorous, but then again, we didn’t have a closet for five years.
M: We didn’t have our own kitchen, our own bathroom, our own bed. Those things were always changing, so this level of consistency has been really refreshing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf02wDNBAWB/?taken-by=honeytrek
We have this adventure-mobile, and we do all these crazy things, but at least the main piece is consistent. It’s our bed. It’s our kitchen, even if it’s not fancy. If you’re nimble and you change how you think about things, the stress of traveling is absolutely manageable.
Do you think that you’ll ever find yourself living in a normal house again? Is that on the horizon, or is that not even something you’re thinking about?
A: It’s nothing we’re thinking about in the near future. We stopped planning at a certain point, and we just let things happen.
And it’s working for now—like they say, don’t fix it if it’s not broken.
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Tag: interview
For most athletes, one Olympic appearance is a lofty goal. Five Olympic appearances seems downright impossible.
Just ask Danielle Scott-Arruda. She played indoor volleyball at every Olympics from 1996 to 2012, setting the U.S. record for most Olympic appearances by a female volleyball player and bringing home two silver medals in the process (along with the Best Blocker award at the 2000 games). In 2016, she was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.
In her final Olympic appearance, Scott-Arruda was 39 years old—much older than the average Olympian—but still a force on the team, serving as a valuable mentor for younger players at her position. Behind the scenes, she was savoring every moment.
We spoke with Scott-Arruda to find out what it’s like to compete in the Olympics, how it feels to narrowly miss out on a gold medal, and the athletes Olympians need to be in order to compete at the highest possible level.
[Editorial note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
HEALTHYWAY: Tell me how you got your start. As I understand, you didn’t have a typical path to the Olympics.
DANIELLE SCOTT-ARRUDA: Well, I actually did a lot of different sports growing up, and going through to college, actually.
That started with physical education classes [in grade school], just being exposed to different sports and activities. It’s unfortunate we don’t do a lot more P.E. in schools today!
But in those classes, that was when I was first introduced to the sport. I didn’t play with a team until my 6th grade year, which is actually pretty late when we’re talking about something like the Olympics.
Of course, nowadays, there are club teams. Some parents start their kids as toddlers. At the time I started, I wasn’t even allowed to compete in 6th grade—those were the rules. So I did other sports. I did basketball, softball, and track and field through high school. Eventually, I got a scholarship for volleyball and basketball.
Flash forward, and I was invited to the national volleyball team. After the 1996 Olympics, I took a couple years off and tried out for the WNBA, but I didn’t quite make it, and then I went back and continued my career in volleyball.
I didn’t realize you’d tried to make the WNBA.
Yeah, it wasn’t in the cards for me. Seven years had passed since my collegiate basketball days by that point, and I was pretty well-established in volleyball. I ended up putting my basketball shoes back in the closet after the third attempt.
So, at what point in your athletic career did you realize that you had a chance at going to the Olympics?
It was actually pretty late. I started club volleyball in my sophomore year of high school. I was 15, and kids were starting a lot earlier. It wasn’t until the end of my junior year when I started getting recruiting letters.
That’s when people started telling me—”Hey, you know, you might be able to compete in the Olympics.”
Had you watched many Olympics by that point? Was competing there one of your goals?
Sure, we watched the Olympics at home, as a family, but I wasn’t watching it saying, “Someday, that’ll be me.”
I didn’t have that sort of confidence until I had these outside influences telling me that I was pretty good. That’s important. Look—I was really shy growing up. I wasn’t the confident kid. A strange thing happened: When people started boosting my confidence, I continued to get better.
By my junior year of high school, I thought the Olympics were a possibilility. By my senior year, rumors were flying around—”Maybe you’ll make the ’92 games.”
So I started really working towards that. In my freshman year of college, there were tryouts for the national team, and things really spiraled from there. That started the process. It happened gradually.
You’re at your first Olympic games in 1996. What did it feel like just stepping into the arena the first time?
You know, it was so amazing. It was my first games, and to have it at home, in Atlanta—well, to be clear, Atlanta isn’t my home, but the United States certainly is—anyway, it was incredible.
[pullquote align=”center”]“It never tapered off. In fact, all the little things that a lot of Olympians do traditionally … it was never old.”
—Danielle Scott-Arruda[/pullquote]
It was such a long process. To become an Olympian, you don’t work every four years, you work every day, training for six to eight hours. It’s your life.
With that kind of an investment, I can’t imagine what it feels like to get the call.
When you’re finally named to the team, it’s just—you don’t believe it.
It stays that way, if you’re fortunate enough to compete in multiple Olympics. Each time after that it’s that same reaction: “Wow, I did it.”
You know, you can work really hard to accomplish that dream, but the reality is that only 12 people make the team, along with a couple alternates. So when you finally make it, it’s just that sigh of relief. All that work was worth it.
Do you have time to just sit back and enjoy that accomplishment?
Oh, no! The work continues. After you’ve received the call, now you have compete and train with a small, specific group of athletes—teammates—and really hone in on your common goal. You have to know what each person’s role is, and you’ve all got to get on the same page very, very quickly.
We have to know how we want to finish in the Olympics, and there’s really only one goal at that stage—win. Strategy is an enormous part of that.
But, with that being said, we did get to appreciate the accomplishment, even if we weren’t “sitting back.” My first Olympics was in Atlanta, as I said, and a lot of my family was able to attend. We had so much support, being on our home turf. That was definitely exciting.
And really, once I competed at that level, it got in my blood. I was like, “Okay, I’m just going to do this thing until I don’t. Until I can’t.”
Did any amount of the excitement taper off with each successive Olympic invitation?
It never tapered off. In fact, all the little things that a lot of Olympians do traditionally—with the pin trading, and going to opening and closing ceremonies, the flag-bearing ceremonies, all those little things—it was never old.
[Editorial note: This seems like as good a place as any to mention that Olympic pin trading gets pretty crazy. Athletes, journalists, and dignitaries arrive at the Olympic games with boxes of country-specific pins, which they trade with athletes and obsessed collectors.
In the modern era, pins essentially function as currency. According to one collector, “You can get in some places with a pin where you probably couldn’t get in if you handed them a $20 bill.”]
At my fifth Olympics, I was the only one that went to the closing ceremonies. I’m like, “What, you guys aren’t going?” I can’t believe that! This is a once in a lifetime thing!”
And okay, we were blessed to do it more than once, but the point stands. You’ve got to appreciate every moment.
It must be hard to live in the moment. I imagine the spirit of competition is just kind of weighing on you the entire time that you’re there, but you want to enjoy the experience, too.
Right. Every other day, we’re competing, so you have to practice and rest the day before the competition. And it’s kind of that continuous cycle of living moment to moment.
But our coaches were more conscious of letting us have a balanced experience. We were still focused, but we made time to go to chapel or spend time with friends and family. We wouldn’t necessarily watch other competitions, but at least we’d spend time with the people who went through that journey with us.
From talking to you, it’s clear that you love representing the United States.
I would always have this expression: If you cut me, I’ll bleed red, white, and blue. I love competing for the United States. To travel, and to represent our country—I mean, for me, it never got old. I never got burned out.
You won a silver medal in 2008, right?
In 2008 and 2012.
Can you tell me what it was like to win that first silver medal?
Winning the silver medal was kind of bittersweet, you know?
By that point, I had gone to three previous Olympics, and I’d left with nothing. Of course, it’s all about the journey and all of that, but when you’re working so hard with that one big goal…
And with our teams, we weren’t necessarily expected to be the top contender, but we were able to overcome some difficult obstacles. We felt like we were playing for something bigger than ourselves. Then, we won the silver, and it was great, because we were going home with something physical. But—well, I’m sure you’ve probably heard this before—when you lose the gold, it’s hard to really celebrate.
So it takes a moment to realize extent of the accomplishment. I think I was able to appreciate our second silver more.
But, gosh, we were so close to winning gold, and I think that’s kind of one of those things that kept me wanting to contribute, in whatever way I could, and keep playing as long as possible.
[Editorial note: Close it was. In 2008, the U.S team won four of five matches in the preliminary round, only losing to Cuba, and then beat Cuba 3–0 in the knockout-stage semifinals to advance to the gold medal game. Scott-Arruda scored seven points in that game—third on her team—but they ultimately fell to Brazil three sets to one.
In 2012, they came arguably closer. They won all five matches in the prelims, only dropping two sets out of 17 played. In the knockout phase, they shut out the Dominican Republic and South Korea before falling, once again, to Brazil in the finals. As a reserve, Scott-Arruda played six sets.]
Did nerves play a role? I mean, I’m sure you’re used to playing in front of people by that point, but—
Well, I think each person kind of deals with nerves differently. And I always felt some butterflies, but to me, that meant I was ready to compete.
I’d just say, “This is part of my routine.” In fact, if I didn’t get the butterflies, I’d feel like something wasn’t right. It’s a fine line, I guess, but if you prepare properly for a game, you probably won’t have severe nervousness by that time. You’ll have it under control.
I was confident in our preparation so I could dig through the anxiety. And that’s just how it was for me—everyone’s different.
What other personality traits would you expect an Olympian to have?
I think have that desire, that drive. There will be obstacles and setbacks. You have to be willing to learn from them. You have to have a growth-type mentality.
You don’t lose, you learn. You learn from each experience. And you’ve got to be able to learn from criticism, focus in, and make adjustments. At the same time, you can’t beat yourself up or say that you don’t deserve to be there.
In team sports, you’ve also got to deal with a different coaching staff every time. Each staff has their own goals and plans, and you’ve got to be willing to change. Never feel like you know everything.
Because in the Olympics, you’ve got to keep adding tools to your toolbag. And when I have camps and clinics, I tell the kids, “Hey, this is just something else you can add to what you already know.”
I think it’s interesting—you said that you were able to get to the Olympics thanks, in part, to the the confidence instilled by coaches and family members. It’s really cool that you’re working with young players now and giving that confidence to other athletes.
Definitely. It definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment.
I remember this one experience, I was coaching with the 8th grade team at a local school here. And one of the athletes could not serve the ball over. But she was getting better, and I could see her effort.
Still, sometimes, she would immediately come towards the bench to be subbed out. We had a great lead against another team, and I was like, “No, go ahead give it a try.” You know where this is going—she served it over, and scored a point.
Those little moments, where you see a kid develop—it brings so much to the job. That self-confidence is important for sports, but it’s important for life, and it’s absolutely wonderful to watch it develop.
Find out more about Danielle Scott-Arruda’s volleyball training programs here.