I created the “Travellers’ Tales” section to give other travellers an opportunity to talk about their travels on my blog. Today I would like to introduce you to Julie and Zach , a travelling couple from the USA. They blog at Ruhls of the Road .
I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to “Travellers’ Tales” , fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.
We are Zach and Julie Ruhl from Ruhls of the Road . We have been married 2 years now and have been traveling together since our first month of dating! We are currently traveling full time throughout the US and Canada in our DIY campervan with our adorable pup, Kobe! Kobe is a fierce long-haired chihuahua who loves the outdoors and is a terrible guard dog. Our favorite travel activities include hiking, snorkeling, and trying the local foods. When we aren’t traveling we love to go on runs together, read, and plan our next trip.
Our earliest travel memory together was our first trip together after only dating a few weeks. We went to sunny San Diego, California. We made it safe and sound, but unfortunately our bags did not and we had to go through our entire trip without any of our belongings! Since then we’ve both become a backpacking king and queen and have never checked a bag again. Julie’s earliest travel memory was from when she was in Kindergarten. She was about to head to Disney World with her family and got the chickenpox a few days before they were supposed to leave.
Luckily the chicken pox were under control by the time the trip took off and she was still able to go. Zach’s earliest travel memory was going to the Wisconsin Dells with his entire family (he comes from a very large family of 7 kids). They all piled into the car for a crazy road trip and waterpark adventure together.
Well I’m currently answering these questions from Seattle, Washington - the great Pacific Northwest! We’ve been traveling for the past 9 months and have been to 25 US States and 2 Canada Provinces. Some of our favorite stops were The Florida Keys, Havasupai Falls in Arizona, Grand Tetons in Wyoming, Glacier National Park in Montana, Yoho National Park in British Columbia and the Cascade mountains in Washington.
Over the last 9 months our favorite thing we did was hike to Havasupai Falls in northern Arizona. It’s a 10 mile hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where we camped for 3 nights and hiked to the most beautiful waterfalls we’ve ever seen.
The best holiday ever was our trip to Europe with Julie’s family in 2016. We got engaged half way through the trip at our favorite destination ever - Plitvice Lakes in Croatia. It’s definitely a trip we will never forget and we were so fortunate to have Julie’s family there to witness the moment.
Croatia is still our favorite country to this day. We always talk about how we would love to move there one day and live in this tiny fishermans town on the coast called Trogir. It was such a beautiful country and had the friendliest people ever!
If you ever visit Croatia, we would recommend doing an island hopping tour. Croatia’s coast is scattered with the most beautiful islands (over 1000 of them to be exact) and we had a blast cruising around with our own private skipper. He took us to whichever island we wanted to go and even showed us a few of his secret secluded spots.
We are each other's favorite travel companions! We also think our pup makes a great travel companion as well.
Our camera! We absolutely love to take photos and videos on our camera to document our travels. Our camera is always in our hands and we are always looking back at our content to reminisce on our travels.
Go with the flow! Have a loose itinerary or plan for your trip but ultimately be ready to throw those plans out the window if a different awesome opportunity comes up or weather/travel delays happen. You never know what’s going to happen when you are away from home, but it’s so important to cherish every moment and not dwell on things you can’t control. Make the most of every trip and we think going with the flow is the best way to do this.
This is a tough one! There are so many places on our bucket list and it’s continuously growing and changing. If we had to pick one place I think we would pick somewhere in Africa to experience an African Safari! Seeing these animals in their natural habitats would be an amazing experience and definitely one that would leave an imprint on our hearts.
We took a night bus from Hanoi to Sapa Vietnam and that was the longest night of our lives. Between the honking, swerving, being terrified for our lives and having to pee incredibly bad, we’ve never been so relieved to make it to our destination.
Thank you, Julie and Zach , for sharing your fascinating adventures with us!
I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to “Travellers’ Tales”, fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.
Who will I feature next? I’ve got an exciting line-up ahead. Make sure you subscribe to the free newsletter so you don’t miss out on some exciting travel tales.
Sara Essop is a travel blogger and writer based in South Africa. She writes about family travel and experiences around the world. Although she has been to 50 countries thus far, she especially loves showcasing her beautiful country and is a certified South Africa Specialist.
