Interview With Ryan and Laura Keller of Round We Go
Ryan and Laura , please give my readers a background about yourselves. What made you want to start roundwego.com?
We had it in our minds since before we got married that we'd like to do an around the world trip before we really settled down (house, dog, kids, etc.). Originally, we had hoped to save up enough to pull the trip off as a honeymoon but we weren't quite there yet. We launched RoundWeGo.com as a way of sharing stories with family and friends, but also as an open journal of our journey and a place to share stories with other travelers.
In all of your travels, in your opinion what country has the best food? and the worst food?
Best food is a no-brainer: India. I (Ryan) am a massive carnivore so the idea of eating mostly veggie dishes for 6 weeks in India seemed depressing. But any thoughts of beef or pork were quickly lost when, even at budget restaurants, you had 20 different spices competing for flavor in dishes that were awesomely complex. Some of the curries were so aromatic I can still smell them.
Worst food: Cuba. The real downfall of communism is their loss of culinary creativity. I am sure Cuban food has been and will again be great, but a whole generation of chefs has been lost due to a lack of paying (and discerning) customers.
When you first started traveling, did your families support your decision?
Absolutely. We never could have had the experience to travel as much as we have if it were not for the support of our families.
Did you always have a love of travel or did you develop your passion for traveling as you both got older?
I (Ryan) always had a sense of adventure, but I didn't realize that travel would fill that sense of adventure until I first ventured out of the country in college. Laura's always had a passion for language so the chance to fully immerse herself in another language and culture was enrapturing for a time coming. I will say that the more places we travel, the bigger our world becomes and the more passionate we become about travel.
What impact has roundwego.com had on your lives?
Our website has opened us up to a lot of other like-minded people and travelers, not only in our city and country but from around the world. Connecting with others with similar interests has made us feel a little less crazy at times.
What has been the least exciting destination you've traveled to?
OK, this is going to say cliched and cheesy, but I really don't think anywhere we've traveled has been less than exciting. There have been places like Egypt where we didn't have the best travel experience, but it was still exciting. And then there are places like Australia that felt comfortable and maybe a bit like home (so, maybe less exciting), but it's still an incredibly exciting place with world-class people and sites.
What has been the most surprising destination you've been to? Meaning, you had a specific mindset about a certain destination but it was totally a differnet experience than you had imagined.
I'm always surprised when I expect not to like a place because it's been over-hyped and overrun with tourists, but end up really enjoying it. Thailand and Greece fall into that - both surprised me with their authenticity.
If you had to decide which destination has been the most influential in your lives, which destination would you chose?
Zambia. We spent a month volunteering there at an orphanage and the 12 kids influenced us and gave us more than we could have ever expected.
What advice would you give to a newbie traveler?
Go. Travel. Now. There's always going to be a reason to wait or not to go, but those reasons are never good enough.
In 10 years, do you see yourselves still traveling or slowing down?
I think we'll be more settled than we are now, but travel is too important for it not to be an integral part of our lives.
Thanks Ryan and Laura for the interview. Visit there blog @ Round We Go !