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Rendezvous With Rovers – Thais from World Trip Diaries

This week on Rendezvous with Rovers on Weekend Travel Inspiration, we learn all about Thais and her family’s travels. She runs the blog, World Trip Diaries, where she talks about all the places they’ve been and things they’ve been up to for the last few years.

Tell us a little about yourself.  Who travels with you? Where do you live now?  Tell us a little about where you are from and if you recommend it to people as a travel destination.

My name is Thais Saito. I was born in Brazil, but have lived abroad for the last decade. Home has been New Zealand for the last 8 years now! They’re both beautiful countries worth exploring, definitely!
 
I have 4 kids between 5 and 14 years old, and my husband Angelo. They’re my travel companions. We’ve been traveling full time for the last 20 months now!
City at night.
 
What inspires you to travel?  What types of places call to you? 
 
We’ve been traveling full time for the last 20 months now. Traveling to anywhere from New Zealand is extremely expensive so we decided to go around the Americas, and
then we just didn’t stop.
 
I love warmer climates with beaches and rivers, waterfalls. The rest of the family prefers colder climates, so we just really need to put up a bit of everything to try to keep everyone happy. It’s not easy, but doable.

Describe your travel philosophy. 

We’re budget travelers for sure, but we do spend a lot with food and experiences. What we save on accommodation, we spend on the rest. We are, after all, a family of 6 traveling with one income.
 
Friends in the forest.
 

What types of things are you interested in while you are traveling? 

A little of everything is the secret, I think! We love the beach, but seeing Machu Picchu for the first time was magic. We loved zip lining through the jungle in Costa Rica just as much as we loved doing a chocolate making workshop. But, yes, I have 4 very different kids and I need to accommodate everyone’s needs.
 

What is one funny, embarrassing, cute, or even frustrating anecdote from your travels?

My youngest, when she was nearly 4, at the beginning of our trip, got a little confused. She couldn’t understand why we were moving so much, and why she couldn’t carry all the toys she wanted. And then, one day, she said, out of the blue, that ‘Home is where we are’. That’s been our motto since then.
 
Visiting Macchu Pichu.
 

What is your next destination and what are you looking forward to doing there?

We’re in Japan now, and we have another month here before moving on to the UK! It’s our first time there so we’re really excited!
 

What is one travel book or movie that you can recommend to folks?

I’d recommend people to watch or read a movie written by someone from the country you’re visiting. It enlightens a lot about the customs, culture, and life in general. It’s not easy, but it’s doable!
 
Salt Flats.
 

What is one thing you take with you traveling, no matter what?  What would you say is your favorite piece of travel gear that you take with you?

Apart from the passport, coconut oil! It’s super useful! I use it as a face wash, moisturizer, deodorant, lip balm, hair oil, sunburn or hand cream, and even cook with it when I want to!
 

How did you get started travel blogging, and what would be one piece of advice you can offer newbie bloggers?

I started to keep family and friends updated to our trips, but it slowly got a bit broader and bigger. I recommend people to start right from the beginning. It’s easy to start off with a good blog than have to fix everything – I’m still fixing mine. Learn about SEO, social media, fill all the blanks from day one!
 
 
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Rendezvous with Thais.

Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

renucas

Tuesday 27th of February 2018

Lovely interview! How have you been, Corinne? It's been a while we exchanged any thoughts. So lovely to be on your blog after such a long time! :-)

Corinne Vail

Tuesday 27th of February 2018

Hi! Thanks...I love doing these interviews and getting to know another like-minded person.