Are you looking to find some tips and inspiration for traveling the world full time? You have come to the right place! We are Artem Gavr and Anastasia Lut – a Ukrainian couple who have been globetrotting for five years now. We are from the city of Odessa which is located in the south of Ukraine.
Our city is situated on the shores of the Black Sea and we have loved the sea since childhood. That is probably why we love islands so much and can’t live without the sea. Our story goes back to the day we met. It was a chance occurrence on the Internet. For the first three years of our relationship we were good friends and spent nights together talking on a balcony. Communication became our favorite thing to do with each other.
One day Anastasia invited Artem and his friends to the island of Koh Phangan in Thailand. Since Anastasia is a fashion designer and Artem a video maker, when we were on the island we decided to create a video for Anastasia’s brand. The video was very important because back in Odessa we would need to prepare a presentation of the video in Artem’s studio.
Lots of our friends gathered and the evening went great. After everyone left, we stayed together alone. On that night everything changed. Destiny was calling and something inside of us switched. Our friendship then turned into a romantic relationship. Before our relationship, both of us had been traveling for over three years – this was a passion we had from birth.
Literally a month into the relationship, Artem proposed and Anastasia couldn’t refuse. He suggested that we go on a six month trip to Southeast Asia. Thus began our first trip – which gradually turned into the trip of a lifetime. We both love to travel because of the people we meet. It’s the people that expand your consciousness. Everytime you hear a completely different story, you realize that everyone creates their own life and script.
We have met many unique people on our travels: an 80 year old hippie lady who was in prison in Guatemala in the 70s, a guy who conducts fruit ceremonies in Mexico, a yoga master who is a former gangster, a 70 year old bus driver from Canada who is 90% tattooed and looks like a young boy living by the sea, etc. And that’s just a small section of the list of people.
Each story inspires you to live differently. Every time you ask yourself: “Is that possible”? We haven’t visited many countries during our travels but we have spent at least a month in each of them. Here are a few destinations that have been memorable: Mexico, Turkey, Germany, Portugal, the Azores, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Georgia.
Our Favorite Places in the World
We have learned that you can’t reason in travel by the category of country. Sometimes it’s hard to say which city or island you like best. We always proceed from our own feelings. Even in the same city, but on different streets, you can feel different. So we look for cozy places in unique parts of the world where we feel the most comfortable and excited.
We have been living on Koh Phangan since early 2022 and it’s 100% our favorite place on the planet. It’s hard to describe in words exactly what we love about it though. It’s just a magical island and to understand what is unique about it you should come and stay here for at least two months. Then the island will tell you all its secrets and reveal its hidden gems.
Here are more favorite places of ours: Mazunte – an amazing “hippie” settlement on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico. We spent two months here and that time will forever remain in our hearts. Like the amazing Tulum, which was the second topic we talked about on our YouTube: see the link here for an indepth look at Tulum and our travel experiences there.
Georgia was another place that we loved. You have incredible mountains, nice people and delicious food. We will definitely come back to Georgia again – especially Kazbegi and Svaneti. Bali was a popular destination that we visited and to be honest we weren’t the biggest fans of it. However, we did fall for Bailan Beach – a fantastic spot to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy quiet, measured moments in absolute paradise.
We should also mention Tanjung Aan Beach in Lombok. It’s an amazing place for surfing (specifically beginner surfers), it has white sand beaches and incredibly beautiful sunsets on offer every night. Bukit Merese is the ultimate sundowner area in all of Indonesia. And last but certainly not least is our beloved Koh Phangan – the northern areas of the island. Pure love!
How we Earn a Living while Traveling the World Full Time
Anastasia is a fashion designer. Her brand LUT is seven years old and well known in Ukraine. However, leading a brand remotely is not easy. It took her two years to set up workflows so that she could design things, oversee production and run a store in Odessa while traveling the world full time. It was a lot of work, and it seemed impossible, but now she does all the work while in Koh Phangan. Designed in Thailand and made in Ukraine!
Our motto is that if you want something badly enough you will figure it out. Artem is a video maker. For over five years he worked with commercial clients but at one point he knew that travel was becoming his life and so he needed to change things. Within two years he was able to move his entire business online. He created a course on video shooting which became the most successful one in Ukraine. We then started a YouTube travel channel.
Challenges & Rewards of Traveling the World Full Time
The biggest challenge is not seeing our parents for long periods of time. So we spend three months a year in Ukraine to be at home with our family. But also we are very much completing our full time move to the island of Koh Phangan – we have more than 25 people from Odessa living on the island with us at the moment and that number could grow even higher.
The biggest reward of traveling the world full time is having freedom and experiencing new things. Think about it: when you live in one place for a long time (in the city), everything becomes familiar. You do similar things everyday and the days and weeks go by unnoticed. Your whole life can go like that. Each day rolls into the next without anything exciting happening.
Everything changes when you travel: you meet new people, discover new horizons, smell new scents and have new experiences. All of this makes life more conscious. You stop living on “automatic”. After all, each new day is an adventure. When you travel, you feel your life is fulfilled. The routine is gone. We believe that this is the feeling of fullness and freedom that many people are searching for but they just might not recognize it yet.
Tips for Traveling the World Full Time
Our top tip for traveling the world full time: if you feel the urge, don’t fight it! We haven’t regretted our choice for a second. Every day turns into a fairytale adventure and that is the way you want to live forever. Also, be sure to take care of transferring your earnings online or learn how to run your own business or job remotely. It’s not a quick process by any means but it’s something you have to get right in order to travel long term.
We also want to advise you to never get involved in tourist traps or touristy hotels – these experiences are not as good. When you come to a new place, make sure you get to know the people on a deeper level. Only the people of a country or destination can open you up to the best experiences. The main thing to remember is that full time travel is the best thing you can ever do!
Biggest Highlight of All: Our Wedding
The most vivid three days of our lives was our wedding on a deserted island. We rented out a wild beach for our special day which was the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. You had to take a 30 minute boat ride to get there. We gathered 20 friends from all over the world and had an unforgettable few days. We planned the whole wedding ourselves.
Our goal was to create something from scratch – imagining it was the first wedding in the world. What would the perfect wedding look like? How do we want to feel? What emotions do we want to convey to our guests? So we created a legendary event that you can see and experience with your own eyes. Click here to see our wedding video. We hope you enjoy it!
