Working On a Travel Lifestyle with One Love Our Love

About This Episode

In this episode, we are joined by Mikey and Jana of One Love Our Love. They are a travel couple who enjoy spreading love while traveling the world. Met in Colorado, got engaged in Morocco, and married in the Dominican Republic, they continue their adventures while documenting them online. We talk with them about the importance of communication when traveling as a couple, working on their blog and Instagram, and staying true to their vision.

Introduction:

Jana is originally from Bulgaria, Mikey from Atlanta, and they met in Colorado. At the time, Mikey was a snowboard instructor and Jana was coming over for one winter season to work. This is when they met. Mikey would see her everyday at the checkout and then he finally asked her to go snowboarding with him.

Jana and Mikey had always loved traveling the world, Jana having lived in France and Mikey in South Africa. It was this love that bonded them together and made them want to make this part of their lifestyle.

Part One: Travel

We always start this part with the question, “Why travel?” For them it is all about the freedom to experience different cultures and to break the patterns and rhythms of their normal lives. It is especially great to meet other travelers and to bond with them through the love of travel.

Last they were in Colorado where Mikey still does a little bit of snowboard instructing during the busy season. There, Jana joined him during Christmas and New Years. Currently, they are back in LA where they call their home. As of right now they are going to travel somewhere close, but have no plans at the moment.

For the two of them, the most rewarding travel experience has been their two month travel throughout South East Asia and seeing how people can live such happy lives with less than what they were used to. They also talked about their wedding week in the Dominican Republic when they spent time in the local school and providing gifts to the school kids.

We then take the time to talk about their most embarrassing and awkward time while in India, including long overnight train rides. One of their rides included bunk beds on the trains where passengers were reaching into their bunk beds to see if there was room for them while they were trying to sleep. At the same time on the top bunk, Jana had cockroaches around her.

As for the bad side of their travels, they talk about some times when they got rejected at the border and the time Mikey got Dengue fever. The time they got rejected at the border was into Thailand and their van shuttle just left them at the border while it continued into the country. They had to turn around in the other direction to get to the embassy to get a visa. Mikey grabbed a ride with a local back into town and it all worked out in the end, despite the embassy being closed when they arrived.

Part Two: Relationships

Travel can have a lot of effects on a relationship. For them, their relationship is at its best when they travel together. They love to spend time together and to be on the road together. They also state that travel is a really good test for a relationship. When you can travel together, tat is when you know you can spend the rest of your life with that person.

Besides surfing trips, Jana loves to research and plan the itinerary. This is great for the two of them as it plays to her strength and enjoyment. It is also good for Mikey as he likes surprises.

After asking them about different destinations that they prefer to travel to, it became evident that they really enjoy the tropical island type destinations. This is because in the past when they were living in Colorado they were more open to a tropical destination to get away from the cold. Nowadays, they are more open to other types of destinations.

Closing this section of the interview out, I ask them what other advice they have for a couple that wants to travel together. Mikey talks about the importance of communication including desires and needs before going on the trip, especially if each person wants something different in the trip.

Part Three: Making Travel a Lifestyle

In this section we talk about their website One Love Our Love. When it came to the name, they always wanted to have it related to love and sharing that one love together. The blog began to take shape after they traveled for so long together beginning in 2008. When their friends and family kept on asking them questions and also urging them to start their own blog to share this information, they finally did.

Now that they have this business, traveling has really changed for them. When it used to be more about relaxing and enjoying it, it has become a little more like work with everything that goes into the blog. For balancing the tasks that go into the blog, both take the photos, Jana does the writing and photo editing, while Mikey does the editing of the writing.

In order to balance their enjoyment from their trips that they need to get work done, they have created a schedule. They wake up early in the morning to get any shoots done while the light is the best, they then enjoy their breakfast, get any more shoots done that they need, and then enjoy the afternoon together and see the place they are staying at. They then complete any more work done at night that needs to be completed. They have also tried to schedule their own days during a trip that they can spend for themselves.

For them the most difficult thing about where they are at with their blog is staying original and sticking to their vision, including turning down opportunities that do not align with who they are. The struggle is to stay true to themselves, but to still be able to monetize what they are doing.

As long as you can define your purpose and your goal, you can prioritize what you do and how to play to one another’s strengths in order to accomplish those goals.

We hope you enjoy the Travel Couple Podcast. We want to know your feedback and comments on this podcast.

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