The honeymoon that never ended

Sam and Eva Bakker at the Buddha statue lookout in Pai, northern Thailand.

Eva and Sam Bakker set off on a three-week honeymoon. Fourteen months and 20 countries later, they’re still travelling the world.

What inspired your move, and how long have you been there?
We got married in July 2014 and went on a three-week honeymoon. Three weeks turned into three months, and we realised we weren’t ready to settle down so, in November 2014, we made a permanent move out of New Zealand.  Fourteen months and 20 countries later, here we are … still alive.

What do you do?
Our business is set up overseas because we always knew we’d expand and have more clients overseas than in New Zealand, which is exactly what happened this year.

We run an online business where we create software and training from our own rich marketing backgrounds to help other businesses, plus we also teach others how to do what we do.  Both of us get invited to speak at conferences and events about marketing, online business, social media, etc.  Eva is a bestselling author, so she’s still involved with speaking about inter-generational relationships, but that business is now fully online too.

For more information check out www.laptopstartup.com, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages. 

What are the greatest advantages to travelling all the time?
New experiences, new friends, new outlook.  We’ve learned stuff like: don’t touch someone’s head in Thailand, don’t whistle inside in Russia, at the very least say “Bonjour” when greeting someone in France, be prepared for very narrow staircases in Holland so pack light …

Sam with his laptop outside a typical Dutch fast food eatery in The Hague, Holland.

Quite bluntly though, travel is cheaper for us.  Even when you take into account the flights, yacht trips, hotel rooms, and eating out most of the time, we’ve saved more money than we would have if we stayed in New Zealand.

Disadvantages?
Packing.  Every time we leave another country, our luggage gets a bit bigger, so you just can’t get too attached to stuff.

What do you do in your spare time?
Whatever the country we’re in is offering is what we’ll do in our spare time.  We both love the beach so when we have the opportunity we’ll try to fly or drive down to the nearest beach.  Both of us lived in Wellington most of our lives, so seeing the sea and ocean used to be an everyday luxury, but we noticed it felt weird not being near water as much these last 14 months. 

Eva outside St Basil’s cathedral in Moscow, Russia.

What’s the local delicacy and would you recommend eating it?
In the Maldives we went fishing and the fish got cooked for us by some fancy five-star team for dinner – not a delicacy but definitely an experience.  Basically, eat it all and don’t be boring!  Go out to a restaurant and ask your server to surprise you.

Easiest way to get around?
Mopeds in Asia, car in Europe, bicycle in Holland.

What’s the shopping like?
Everything’s either the same or cheaper than in New Zealand. Sam got a Rolex in Europe – saved a few thousand dollars than if we bought it back home.  But apart from that, if you’re just buying regular stuff, go local and check out the shops you don’t recognise the names of.

Besides family and friends, what do you miss most about home?
$1 sushi and BurgerFuel.

How easy is it for you to get back to NZ?
It doesn’t seem that long any more … going halfway around the world will take you 30-40 hours, but you’re sleeping half the time, or working if the plane has wifi, so the time goes by quite quickly.

For Kiwis looking to move or travel, which industries are seeking fresh talent?
The only other people who travel like us and earn on-the-go are English teachers, freelancers, and travel bloggers, so if you want to work and travel, pick one and just do it – there’s room for everyone.  If your profession limits you job-wise, make your own job like we did that will let you travel or be free to do what you enjoy.

If you know an expat who wants to share inside knowledge of their home away from home, email escape@star-times.co.nz with Expat in the subject line.

 – Stuff

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