Work, Life, and Travel Balance with Gamin Traveler

Episode #43

A Podcast for Travel Couples

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Work, Life, and Travel Balance with Gamin Traveler

About This Episode

In this episode, we are joined by Rachel and Ruben of Gamin Traveler. They are a travel couple, one from Spain and the other from the Philippines, who believe in working for the things you love and taking accountability for your freedom. We talk with them about balancing clients and travel, choosing a niche within the travel space, and being unique online to grow a following.

Introduction:

Ruben and Rachel started blogging three years ago beginning with just Ruben’s travels and later branching out into both their travels as a couple. They also run a client run business from the road as well.

They met while Couchsurfing when Rachel was hosting on the free accommodation platform for travelers. Their relationship blossomed from there when they traveled together to see where their relationship would go and finally for the past two years they have been traveling all the time together.

Part One: Travel

Travel for them is something new. Always experiencing something new is a big reason why they travel the world together. Rachel did not grow up traveling with family and her first ever plane ride was with Ruben. Ruben’s family was always traveling locally, but never too far internationally like he is now. For Ruben, it was his love of maps and geography that

Before this interview, they had just traveled through Europe including France, Portugal, Greece, and Ruben’s home country of Spain. At the moment of this interview, they were in the Philippines spending the holidays there and with weddings they are attending they are spending more time than usual in Rachel’s home country to visit surrounding islands. Next they are traveling further north in the Philippines to visit more islands. They are also going to be traveling separately at some points which is new for them this year.

Ruben’s most rewarding travel experience was when Rachel visited Europe for the first time as somebody who had not yet seen the continent. He thought it was incredible to see her reactions to everything. For Rachel, she really enjoyed glamping in Sri Lanka when they were invited by one of their followers who worked at the hotel and saw they were in Sri Lanka.

A time that they can look back on and laugh at came in Meteora, Greece when they missed their train after sleeping past their alarm. Being in a place where they could not read the signs and it was in the evening it was difficult to know how to get to where they needed to go. Luckily a local helped them out eventually and they were able to find their way.

Their worst travel experience comes when they were in the Maldives. One of the most picturesque and stunning settings. They were kayaking with all of their shooting gear when their kayak flipped over in the water and their equipment fell into the water and was ruined. The only thing they saved was their GoPro. With everything being so expensive in the Maldives they decided to wait to their next destination in Sri Lanka to pick up new gear.

Part Two: Relationships

Travel has helped Rachel grow as a person and to expand her boundaries. Coming from a group of friends and family who would not understand the idea of long term travel, it has really challenged her to grow and fight for their relationship. Not only do they travel together, but they also work together while traveling which creates a whole other aspect to their relationship which also causes challenges that can be crazy and create so many challenges. For Ruben he is happy to share the moments together.

Ruben really enjoys the planning and preparing of the trips that they go on together. He is the organized one of the two. He also really understands what Rachel enjoys while on the road which makes planning for the two of them much easier.

Anywhere that is an island, a beach, and very quiet is where they would recommend another couple to visit together. Places in northern Philippines is high on their list for island hopping destinations and enjoying the beaches together.

Rachel and Ruben have some great advice for first time couple travelers including leaving your comfort zone together and experiencing that together is really important for the two of you and your relationship. Being flexible and skipping the normal routine will really help your relationship by challenging yourselves and growing from it.

Part Three: Making Travel a Lifestyle

Gamin is an old French word that Ruben and his friends used and it is a word that people use towards those who spend so much time in the streets. So for Ruben who was always on the road, it just seemed natural that when Rachel told him to start a blog and set it up for him that he called it Gamin Traveler.

With a blog comes a lot of work that needs to be done. Ruben takes on work with the blog and social media whereas Rachel takes on the technical aspects of running the blog including photography, editing, and dealing with clients. Rachel had actually started out by being a digital assistant for other companies as she really enjoyed the digital marketing aspect.

Eventually they came across an Instagram coach and they took the course they offered which allowed them to grow a client base after completing the course which they could then transfer their skills that they learned over to their own channel. We also talk a little bit about the importance of constantly learning as the platforms and algorithms are always changing. The biggest things they learned was to choose a niche that needs to be served and to grow and network with a community of like-minded people.

With all of the work that Rachel and Ruben are doing there comes a lot of balancing that they need to do. This includes having a staff that can help them with client work, planning their travels appropriately, and working with their strengths. They do need to sacrifice some things like not being able to see a sunrise or a sunset. They also do travel slowly to make sure they see what they want to see, but to also get the work done that they want. Internet is another thing that they need to consider as their work with clients relies on an internet connection that some places they travel to may not be able to offer.

One last piece of advice they provide includes chasing your dreams. If this is the type of lifestyle you want to pursue you should understand the amount of work that goes into this, but if this is your passion then you should chase it. In addition, if you do pursue this lifestyle then you should plan some rest days to work on your relationship and to enjoy the travels.