Road Trip Through Africa Advice and Travel Lifestyle with The Lost Two

About This Episode

In this episode, we are joined by Claudia and Kaan of The Lost Two. They are a Canadian travel couple, one originally from Poland and the other from Turkey who met in Toronto via social media. We talk with them about how they worked and continue to work to live this travel lifestyle of theirs, tips for road tripping through Africa, and how they manage their relationship while on the road.

Introduction:

About nine years ago at the time of this interview, Claudia and Kaan met in Toronto through social media. It began when they followed each other on Twitter through a Toronto community. Later they became friends on Facebook. Finally, they met up in person and the rest was history.

Part One: Travel

We ask them our favorite two word question: Why travel? For Kaan, having been raised in the United Arab Emirates and his family involved in travel, it was all about that experience that influenced him to be on the road. It is that first experience of traveling that gives you an addiction to get out there more. Claudia became interested in travel in university.

As far as who influenced who to travel, Claudia takes credit for influencing Kaan to follow her way of travel which is with a backpack and not with two suitcases. Two months into dating they had their first backpacking trip to Hawaii which started their travels together and their relationship.

They were last in the Philippines where they visited and island called Siargao, currently they are in Bali, and next they are traveling to South Africa where they will do a road trip through South Africa into Namibia and Botswana.

They had already done a road trip from Kenya to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe where they camped the whole way taking them a month to complete. The road trip included: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Mozambique, and finally Zimbabwe.

As far as road tripping through Africa, they let us know that East Africa is heavily populated which tends to involve higher crime rates. So, instead of doing the road trip on their own, they went through a company that provides essentially a hostel on wheels. It is a massive truck that is outfitted with all of your necessities to travel long term. They had people of all age groups and all parts of the world experiencing East Africa together.

We turn this conversation towards their experiences together starting with their most rewarding travel experience in Tanna, Vanuatu, which is actually one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of GDP, but one of the happiest. They stayed in a hut with no electricity with no running water. They run on the barter system and live off the land. It was such a unique experience for the two of them to see how people can be so happy with so little compared to us.

We then talk about their most funniest travel experiences like when Kaan got on the wrong flight in Chicago. They also talk about their bad flight experiences when their flight was cancelled in Cusco, Peru and had to stay there for a couple of more days. Another time when Claudia got stuck in a blockade for two days with no way of contacting Kaan to tell him where she was and running out of food.

Part Two: Relationships

When you are spending the entire day together all of the time, you are traveling, but you are also managing a business together, Kaan explains that you really need to schedule time just for the two of you. Whether you are going to the beach to catch a sunset or having a nice meal together, these will really help build your relationship while on the road.

We ask them how they get past the conflicts that inevitably come from travel and running a business together. Claudia talks about taking a break from one another for a short period of time when things get heated. They can then come back to one another and come to a consensus on their argument.

We talk about how Kaan plans most of the itinerary when they are on the road and how he likes to book some extra time to really explore a place more and to be more spontaneous on their travels.

Part Three: Making Travel a Lifestyle

The conversation then turns to how they came up with the name The Lost Two. It began with their personal Instagram accounts when they would post photos to inspire their friends and family. They simply came up with the name when brainstorming names to continue this posting on Instagram.

In 2017 they did a 20 country trip where they visited every continent except South America and arrived back in Toronto in the fall. They returned to jobs, had rent to pay, and vehicles to pay for. For themselves, they were not happy with a typical two to three week vacation per year and were looking for happiness through their passion of travel.

They worked two jobs each for seven days a week and posted their apartment on AirBnB on weekends and stayed at Claudia’s parents over the weekend. There was a lot of sacrifice to be able to save up for their lifestyle and to leave for Bali. They also talk about how they teach English online to also help fund their travels.

We close the interview by asking what they wish they knew before leaving for this travel lifestyle. They tell us that you are going to work harder than you ever would at your 9 to 5 job. They give us a long rundown of their typical day, but at the end of the day they are doing something that they love.

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