World Travellers: Travel With Kevin and Ruth

The latest in this long line of World Travellers is with Kevin and Ruth. It is a total pleasure to feature Kevin and Ruth today and break away from the usual 20-30 year olds I interview. This couple are in their 50s and could teach us all a thing or two. Here’s their wisdom…

Who are you?

We’re an early 50’s couple who brought up a family and then when the kids left home we sold it so they couldn’t come back! But more seriously, we just decided that there had to be more to life than working and saving and retiring at 65. Or worse, not making it to 65.

Where are you from?

Originally, we’re from Ottawa, the capital city of Canada.

Where have you been?

Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, United States, Wales.

Where are you now?

South Africa

What are the top 3 places you’ve visited?

Iceland, Czech Republic, Mexico

What is the best travel experience you’ve had?

We randomly met a young couple in rural Mexico. After getting to know them for a couple of days, they asked how long we were staying in their village. We said weren’t sure, and wondered why they were asking. She said “Well, after meeting you we’ve decided we want to get married and we would like you to be our witnesses in the wedding.”

They were married 5 days later. We’re still in touch and we love having this connection with a great young family.

What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?

We were mugged in Zacatecas, Mexico. They didn’t get much, and it was all over pretty quickly. Thankfully neither one of us was hurt, but it was definitely our worst travel experience.

What is the funniest travel experience you’ve had?

We were in our motorhome in Baja, Mexico. We had to empty our holding tanks and we pulled up to an old RV dump station where they have one of those sloped concrete holes where your sewage hose empties. I hopped out of the motorhome and was digging in my pocket for the keys to unlock the compartment. I took three or four steps and I tripped over a rock. I had just taken the keys out of my pocket. When I tripped, the keys went flying, and of course they landed on that slope of concrete. They had just enough momentum to continue sliding…right down the hole!

It was one of those slow motion things, watching the keys slide down the hole and not being able to do anything about it. We tried fishing around in there with a piece of coat hanger, but they were long gone. It was not really that funny at the time, but we sure laughed about it soon after.

What is the scariest travel experience you’ve had?

Bungee jumping. The moment just before you jump is definitely heart pounding!

What is the most random job you have had on your travels?

We’ve never worked while traveling. It distracts us from the travel experience.

How do you fund your travels?

We make a small variable income from our website, but not enough to support our travels. So we currently work in Canada for between 4-5 months every summer. This allows us to get out of Canada when it’s the least hospitable weather and head somewhere warm.

What 3 tips would you give a new traveller before they set off on their adventure?

1) Always look for a better deal. It’s out there, you just have to look for it.

2) Slow down. Rather than trying to see six countries over a month, just see one, and experience all it has to offer.

3) Be humble. There are a lot of people in the world who don’t have it as good as you do. Each one of them has something to offer.

What are your future travel plans?

We’re currently in South Africa, and we’re here until March 6th. We’ll also take a couple of weeks in the tiny landlocked country of Lesotho while we’re in the area. Then in March we head for New York City for a couple of days and then the rest of the month in Mexico.

We can’t plan any further in advance that that. Things are too likely to change. We’ve got South America on the radar though because as we haven’t been there at all. It’s a big place, but we’re thinking Ecuador or Chile as two possibilities.

Biography

Kevin and Ruth Read are based in Ottawa, Ontario but are often seeking out worldly locales that are off the beaten path. Married for thirty years, they are now in their early fifties. They love adventure travel including hiking, camping, and exploring. And they’re never afraid to try something different!

Travel with Kevin and Ruth has been online for almost 7 years. The informative diary style of writing keeps readers tuned in to their activities on a daily basis. Attracting more than 1,000 unique readers every day, this travel website tends to appeal to the 45 to 65 age group. The detailed accounts of their RV and motorhome travel throughout North America and Mexico have prompted many of their readers to take on the same lifestyle. The beginning of 2014 will see them exploring Southern Africa!

Links

www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

www.facebook.com/travelwithkevinandruth

www.twitter.com/KevinandRuth

Thanks to Kevin and Ruth for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured (there’s a HUGE waiting list at present), either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!