Traveling with my “best friend”

Through the perspective of Kevin

Seesaw fun at Hobbiton in New Zealand, 2016

Brad and I are traveling to Marrakech, Morocco today and I am a bag of mixed emotions. The fact that we are going to Africa for the first time is a dream of mine. I can not wait to see the markets, mosques, and overall culture for Morocco. The food excites me. The weather excites me. The prospect of riding on a camel in the desert excites me. It’s hard to put into words how much I am looking forward to this so here is a picture to emote my feeling of elation.

Having a great time in Tokyo, Japan. 2014

I can’t help but feel a little saddened that Brad and I will not be traveling as husbands. Starting in Morocco and following us for a lot of the next part of our journey around the world, Brad and I will have to travel as “best friends.” We have had to do this in the past when visiting countries where it was not legal to be gay. In some parts of the world if we traveled as husbands we could be arrested or persecuted because of this. However, we have to respect the laws and customs of the places we visit and adjust ourselves accordingly.

We are not a very PDA (public display of affection) couple to begin with, however, we have had to practice reeling in all of the little things that could be an easy give away. Anything from simply saying a quick “love you,” “hey babe,” or “muah” to gestures like a light touch on the back, talking with my hands, or having a fun moment when playing chess in the park.

This is a reminder to all of our LGBTQ friends and straight allies that in the world today, we are not all equal. We are still persecuted by people who hate us because of who we love. We are still told by some friends, family, politicians and religion that they do not accept us because of who we love. We are reminded everyday that we have to take precautions and be careful.

Copenhagen, Denmark. 2016 pride celebration

I am so thankful that Brad and I are getting to travel and experience the world together even in parts of the world that do not accept parts of who we are. I am lucky enough to have a best friend like Brad to travel the world with. I am hopeful that one day being gay will not have to be something to hide. With that being said, as with anywhere we travel to in the world, we will continue to be safe, respect the laws and customs of the country, and soak in every moment of the journey!

Urban Art Around Europe

Urban art is fascinating to us. We love how it involves artists from the community to bring new life into the city. For the past three months we have been collecting pictures of some of our favorites from around Europe. Enjoy!

Reykjavik, Iceland

Brussels, Belgium

Comic Strip wall art around Brussel, 2016

Oslo, Norway

Berlin, Germany

Prague, Czech Republic

Stockholm, Sweden

Frankfurt, Germany

Art across form Frankfurt's main rail station, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. 2016 — Art across form Frankfurt’s main rail station, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. 2016

Paris, France

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Biking Berlin: How to See Berlin in 6 hours!

We love Berlin! There is relaxed vibe that draws you in and keeps you wanting more. With such a relaxed vibe you could spend weeks taking your time to explore every nook and cranny of the city. However, when wanting to see the world in a year, spending weeks in one city is not an always option for us and usually not an options for others as well. To help see more of Berlin, a city filled with so much unique history, we decided to take a 6 hour bike tour through Fat Tire. We had never used Fat Tire Tours before and thought, “what the heck, let’s try it out!” We are glad we did.

Biking through a park on the way to the beer garden

We were able to see Most of Berlin’s highlights during this tour. You may be thinking, “6 hours of biking, that seems like a lot.” We thought the same before taking the tour, however, there were so many breaks when our guide gave us amazing information about the sites that we never felt tired. We even took an hour or so to relax at a German Beer Garden. Prost! If you only have a day or two in Berlin, this will be the best 6 hours you can spend. To maximize your Berlin experience, we suggest taking the 4pm evening tour.

Here are some picture from our amazing 6 hour adventure around Berlin.

Berliner Fernsehturm (TV tower with observation deck)

Our stop at the Memorial to the Murdered Jew of Europe

Bundeskanzleramt (German Federal Chancellery)

We could not have asked for a better time biking around Berlin. We will for sure take more biking tours when we can. It is a great way to see the sights and learn more about the city we are exploring.

We are two en route to bike more cities

Unique Ways our Family Follows our Journey

We have been so excited to see how our family has become inspired to come up with neat and fun ways to follow our trip around the world. It means the world to us to have so much support from the ones we love the most. Thank you to our family! We love you so much!

Our niece and nephew wanted to get a globe and map our journey. They are learning about the world one stop at a time with us. A globe or map is a great way to see how big and beautiful the world is. Their globe even lights up!

Kevin’s Dad, Mom, and two younger siblings decided to follow our journey to places through food. Some places we travel to, they find things from that country and try them. Such a fun way to experience the world with us. Sometimes they are eating better then us!

Brad’s parents follow our journey on our facebook, twitter, and this blog. It is always so great to get a message from them about the places we are. They have wanderlust in the soul.

The trip around the world continues to be fun, educational, and delicious to us and our families. Our lives are filled with love from them and we send it back from wherever we are!

Kevin wishing his sister a happy birthday from Oktoberfest

We are two en route to travel with family in our hearts

5 Ways We Prevent Homesickness

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One of the fears of being abroad for a year is coming down with a bad case of homesickness. Prior to us leaving for our world tour we had not spent much more than 2-weeks away from home at one time, which really isn’t enough time to get homesick. However, when Kevin was 15 he spent a month in Germany visiting family and remembered at about week three he started to miss home. Well, lucky for us we surpassed three weeks and now start our third month homesick free. Here are five things we find ourselves doing often that we believe are preventing us from catching the homesick bug.

1. Texting

Before we left our home in Dallas, we changed our cell phone plans to Google Fi which offers free texting in over 130 countries around the world. It’s great not worrying about being charged every time we want to send a text to loved ones. It is the quickest and easiest way for us to connect. We just have to remember which time zone we are in.

2. Video & Voice Chats

Sometimes texting doesn’t cut it and we turn to Skype. Skype allows us to have voice and video calls for free over WiFi and allows for a good excuse to stop for a cup of coffee when we see a “free WiFi” sign in the window. There is nothing like hearing Mom and Dad’s voice or laughing with a friend. Skype has become essential for scheduling video dates with our friends and family.

3. Social Media

We do not know about you, but sometimes we love taking some time to scroll through social media. Whether it is Facebook stocking our besties or mindlessly reading news articles of what is happening back home, social media has kept home connected to us and us to home, so keep sharing photos of your lunch, we enjoy seeing it.

4. Meeting Friends Along the Way

While texting, talking, and video chatting with friends and family is good prevention for homesickness, there is no better cure than a hug from one of them in person. Being travel bugs ourselves it is only natural that we have other travel loving buddies. Along the way it has been nice to meet up with friends from back home and make new memories together abroad.

5. Each Other

We decided to take this trip together. Not only is this a trip to see the world, it is a journey of discovery. We will have our moments of happiness and joy, we will have our moments of fear and frustration, and we will have our moments of relaxation and quiet. Whatever those moments may be we must always remember that as long as we have each other we are home. To us, this is the most important prevention to homesickness. Home is where we are when we are together, regardless of where that might be.

We are two en route for a homesick free journey

Barberini Faun

[CAUTION] If you’d rather not or should not be looking at photos of nude male sculptures, turn back.

In 2012 we took our first international trip together and as part of that trip spent some time in Paris, France. Prior to arriving in Paris we had spent time in Rome and developed a minor obsession for the Italian sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini’s work adorns the streets of Rome with amazing fountains and his more delicate works filled the rooms of Galleria Borghese. As one does when in Paris we went to The Louvre and sculptures were on the top of the list for exhibits to see. One sculpture in particular stood out, Edmé Bouchardon’s Barberini Faun from 1762.

Barberini Faun by Edmé Bouchardon, 1726 Photo taken on our 2012 trip to Paris, France.

After taking this photo and returning home, it was interesting to discover that the sculpture in The Louvre is a copy of a sculpture by the same name that is believed to have been completed in 220 BC. Wikipedia goes into a good deal of detail explaining what’s happened to this satyr over the past 2200 years, but the quick summary is as follows. It was completed sometime around 200 BC then around 500 AD it was thrown from a castle as a weapon in an effort to defend against a siege. It then spent 1100 years in the castle moat until it was rescued in the 1600s, since then it has been restored various times and changed owners nearly as frequently. All this knowledge of the sculpture sat dormant in our minds for over four years when, a few weeks ago, while exploring The Greek & Roman Plaster Cast Collection (Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik) in Berlin, Germany, we came across a plaster cast of the 220 BC version of Barberini Faun.

Barberini Faun , plaster cast, Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik Berlin Photo taken on our 2016 trip to Berlin, Germany.

After seeing the copy at The Louvre and the plaster cast in Berlin there was only one logical next step and today that came to fruition. Today we got to visit the drunken satyr at his resting place inside the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. This twenty-two hundred year old work or art, in all its forms (from plaster cast to original) captures the eye of the beholder with its unashamed posture and endless detail.

Barberini Faun , c. 220 BC Photo taken on our 2016 trip to Munich, Germany.

We are two en route to appreciate the arts.

Prague at Night

“How did it get so late so soon?” ― Dr. Seuss

Sometimes experiencing the places we visit is not all about waking up early and rushing around to see the top 10 attractions people say you must see. Sometimes the best way to truly experience the city we are in is to see it when the sun has set and the stars have begun to shine.

On one of our days in Prague, Czech Republic, we decided to relax and saved up our daily quota of steps for roaming the city after dark. This is when the real beauty of the city came to life!

Living Prague late at night gave us a new appreciation for the wonder of the city. Not only is the capital of Czech Republic a unique gem of pre-war history during the daylight, it has a majestic power that enveloped us after hours.

We are two en route to stay up late and see the lights of the city.

Our Copenhagen Pride featured on Brazilian Blog!

We are so honored to share our experience at Copenhagen Pride with Brazil’s number one gay travel blog, Viaja Bi! Click here to read all about our fun time!

Here is a link to the English google translated version for those of you, like us, who can’t speak Portuguese.

How We Balance Down Time and Tourism

Have you ever felt more tired after a vacation? We sure have!

Being on the road we are constantly in new places with new sights to see and it is easy to fall into the habit of constantly go-go-going. We have found that it is important to balance the continual urge to see it all with the need for down time. Much like being at home, we sometimes need breaks during the day, relaxing evening, a good night sleep, and “weekends” to unwind from a week of doing.

Relaxing on the Black Sand Beach, Vík, Iclenad, 2016

We have learned how significant regular breaks during the day can be. Not only do we get to rest our feet, but we get to rest our minds. An easy way for us to do this is to find a café, have a cup of coffee, and people watch. Sitting in silence and letting our mind slow down gives us a second wind for more sight-seeing.

Every night cannot be a night on the town. Sometimes the best remedy for a long day is a relaxing evening. Dive into a good book, relax in a park, binge watch a tv show, or even nodding off into an early sleep.

Kevin relaxing while listening to a good book. Ålä, Sweden, 2016

Another way we have learned to balance our downtime with our tourism is by allowing ourselves to not set wakeup alarms and simply sleeping in. Before traveling the world, we always heard how not getting enough sleep can effect many aspects of your life and it is very true. A good night’s sleep is essential for a good day of sight-seeing.

Seeing the sights after a good night sleep. Iceland, 2016

Too many consecutive days of being on the go can lead to getting burnt out. After a few weeks of not having a day off from traveling and sight seeing it was time for us to take a weekend. Two consecutive days of hanging around with nothing planned was pure bliss. It reinvigorated us. From that point on we decided that allowing ourselves to have weekends was one of the most important ways of balancing downtime with our tourism.

Enjoying a weekend with nothing planned. Copenhagen, Denmark

We had to let go of being on a schedule to see everything, rather, experience the place we are visiting. A good way to do this is to balance being a tourist with simple being someone living on the move.

We are two en route for balanced travel.

Stockholm’s Underground Art Scene

Stockholm claims the title “Capital of Scandinavia.” It is the largest city with some of the most beautiful architecture and has an extensive collection of galleried art. However, did you know some of the most fascinating art can be found underground? You literally have to go under the city and into the subways to find it.

On our first trip into the subway, when we arrived into Stockholm, we noticed something was different. The walls were alive with interest. From that moment, we decided to do a little research and found out that 90% of Stockholm’s subway stations host some of the coolest and most unique works of art. A few days into our stay we decided to hop from station to station to feast our eyes on more. Here are a few of our favorites. Enjoy!

Stadion Station - Red Line — Stadion Station – Red Line

Hötorget Station - Green Line — Hötorget Station – Green Line

T-Centralen Station - Blue Line — T-Centralen Station – Blue Line

Stadshagen Station - Blue Line — Stadshagen Station – Blue Line

Kungsträdgården Station - Blue Line — Kungsträdgården Station – Blue Line

We are two en route to explore more underground art.