I created the “Travellers’ Tales” section to give other travellers an opportunity to talk about their travels. Today, I would like to introduce you to Lisa and Lisa, travel bloggers from South Africa. They blog at Soul Drifters .
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.
Well it's always a bit hard to tell someone something random about yourself but here are some basics. We are both from South Africa, both our names are Lisa (what a coincidence right?) and we really, really, really love to travel. We love to travel so much that in 2018 we gave up our corporate jobs and left South Africa to travel full time around Asia. We focus on adventure and cultural travel and love discovering places that offer something unique or out of the ordinary.
Lisa N. Her earliest travel memory was when she went to Cape Town as a teenager with her parents on a 3 week road trip from Durban. After that trip she discovered how much she loved traveling and dreamt of visiting new places around the world.
Lisa W. Her earliest travel memory was also travelling around South Africa, in the Transkei, Eastern Cape region. Her family are big fisherman, so they would pack the car for a weekend with tents and supplies and go travel the coast to fish and explore different untouched areas.
Before starting our full-time travel adventures, our last international holiday was in 2017. We went to El Nido in the Philippines. It was one of those post card locations with sandy beaches and transparent oceans.
We rented a scooter and just explored all the different beaches on our own, no map or direction. We just rode everywhere we could and took all the small dirt roads to the different beaches. It was perfect.
One of our best holidays was when we went to Goa, India. We have some incredible memories there because it offered such an incredible vibe over the New Year period,. We were with a friend of ours and we just ended up having an amazing time. Everyone who goes there is just so chilled and it has a really hippy vibe which we love. We never had a day planned, yet everyday we ended up doing something spontaneous and fun.
S.E. Asia by far! It’s authentic and each country is so different to any other part of the world. From the food to the people and the exotic locations, it has so much to offer. The people in Thailand are some of the friendliest we have ever met and some of the best food we have tried was from Sri Lanka.
Get to know the locals and explore the temples. Each temple is unique and has something different to offer. You could spend hours just wandering around - they all have such a peaceful atmosphere.
Each other! Lisa N. is an adventure junkie and Lisa.W loves culture. Together we push each other to try new and different things, we make a good team!
Cameras and many of them! We have learnt that pictures are so important and tell stories when travelling. What you will get from a Go Pro is not what you will get from your normal SLR camera. Even your camera on your phone sometimes captures moments that your SLR can’t!
Be open and willing to learn about people and experience new things! You have to have an open mind and heart. Different places have different traditions and beliefs. You will not have a true authentic experience if you do not go into temples and get blessings or not taste the local food or get to know the locals. It can be hard at times because some customs may not be what you are used to but you have to accept that your way of life is not necessarily going to be the same as someone else's in a different country.
Some of our best travel experiences have come from trying things out of our comfort zones.
Laos and Buthan, we are both looking forward to going there. They both look and sound incredible!
Our favourite place in South Africa is the Western Cape. It is a beautiful area with mountains, ocean, and wine farms and there is so much to experience there. When we eventually return to South Africa, we will be relocating to Cape Town.
We once got on the wrong bus in Sri Lanka because we mispronounced the place we wanted to go to. For some reason we checked our phone GPS and realised we were heading to the wrong city, in the opposite direction. We had to stop the bus (it was a local bus which was over loaded and overcrowded, filled to the max). It took us 15min to find all our luggage and equipment from the cargo hold at bottom of the bus.
We stood on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to wait for another bus. Everyone on the bus was just staring at us. They weren’t too impressed and they must have thought we were mad!
In the Philippines, Lisa W got really sick just before we were due to come home. Her legs were really swollen and the trip home was a nightmare. She ended up spending two days in hospital when we got back to South Africa due to an allergic reaction to insect bites.
You can follow our adventures on our social channels:
Thank you, Lisa and Lisa , for sharing your fascinating travels 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.