Needless to say, 2020 was not in any way the year we expected or even thought plausible. Travel or otherwise. Originally, on our 2 year around-the-world trip started in June 2018, and had planned to wrap up in November 2020. We even went so far as to prepurchase our one-way tickets from New Zealand to LA. After touching down we had hoped to spend some time in Las Vegas and Indiana with our families for the holidays before launching into what we had deemed “phase 3” of our transition to a life abroad. Mexico and Colombia, were among our top 3 countries (the third being Bulgaria) to begin setting down some roots in our plan to build our much anticipated nano-brewery. Some of you may be familiar with our story and plans, up to this point…

However, COVID of course, changed everything and anything. No doubt like many, many countless others who have had their lives upended by this unending devastating pandemic, we have chosen to adapt to the new reality forced upon us by understanding that COVID had, in fact, NOT corralled us into a dead end of “not possible’s” and “can’t do’s” but rather, given us a blank slate to ponder. It gave us time to dig deep, introspect, research, analyze, reflect, grow, and most importantly… dream about we really wanted for our future. Our dream, it turns out is to remain nomadic, to achieve a lifestyle that is location independent. And we’re going to strive to make it happen. This is not to say a nano-brewery won’t still happen somewhere… a “pop-up” brewery is a thing after all. So, we used our 6 months in the US to become real estate investors, to rehab and rent out our first ever home. And, now we’re closing out 2020 just like we began it… traveling, but now with no end in sight. 

That said, it’s time to wrap this year up with The Geneys, our annual “best of” list…

Most Welcoming Culture: Cambodia

We couldn’t have asked for a better country to get “stuck” in during the beginning of the COVID outbreak. The Cambodians, from the locals, down to the government entities were welcoming and understanding of the situation that foreigners like ourselves had found themselves in. We were able to extend our visa at no cost and with little effort. This is very unlike nearby Thailand and Vietnamese who were not quite so welcoming of foreigners during this time. We couldn’t have been in a better place.

Honorable Mention: April Mead, one of our followers turned friend, who took us in during our US Road Trip in Iowa

Most Memorable Paid Accommodation: Riberas del Pilar, Mexico

Arriving to our Airbnb apartment ($25/night) on Lake Chapala was a very welcome retreat after six months of not traveling and working on our house. It was a large apartment with a full and well-stocked kitchen, big comfy bed, claw foot bath tub, a pet bunny, a rooftop terrace to do yoga on, hammocks and solitude. We couldn’t have asked for a better intro to Mexico. https://abnb.me/bO7CPm9EAcb

Honorable Mention: Contessa Condominiums, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia After a month in India, we were more than happy to be enveloped into our 20th floor high rise luxury apartment in KL, which featured a roof top infinity pool, gym, sauna, a yoga room and washer/dryer all for the mere price of $21/night.

Memorable Unpaid Accommodation: Housesit in Kuala Lumpur

Our housesit in KL was a two bedroom accommodation, killer view of the KL city skyline, a pool, and the totally irresistible kitten Sunny…

Remember, if you are interested in free pet sitting or free accommodation, we love TrustedHousesitters! Click here to save 25% off.

Honorable Mention: Staying at Irvington Court, where we used to live in Portland, Oregon with good friends

Best Boondocking: Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA

Thanks to the IOverlander app, we’ve been able to find some amazing free camping options in the US, as well as internationally. Our favorite of 2020 was camping perched on a bluff overlooking the Badlands of South Dakota, especially because we got to watch two storm systems converge in the distance. GPS Coordinates: 43°53’22.9″N 102°13’36.2″W

Honorable Mention: east side of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA: Outstanding view of the mountains, up a small forest service road with fire pits. GPS Coordinates: 44°56’43.2″N 109°43’07.8″W

Most Charming Small Town: Ajijic, Mexico

Ajijic has recently been named one of 132 Pueblo Magicos (Magic Towns) throughout Mexico. These are designated by the tourism board as unique, appealing and culturally important places to visit. You can bet we’ll be making visits to several. It’s easy to see why 30,000 expats live in or around this Pueblo on Chapala Lake.

Honorable Mention: Kampot, Cambodia

Most Captivating City: Georgetown, Malaysia

The historic UNESCO center of Georgetown is a wonderland that’s made for strolling, where maps are not required because it’s thrilling to get lost. You will find yourself saying either “wow, or yum” at every turn. It’s a jumble of striking colors, eclectic architecture, interactive street art, and tasty temptation

Honorable Mention: Guadalajara, Mexico

Stunning Natural Wonder: Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming, USA

The Grand Tetons are unquestionably overlooked compared to nearby shining sister, Yellowstone. But for us, they offered, more solitude, more raw beauty and far less crowds, especially during COVID.

Honorable Mention: Ko Lipe, Thailand 

Man-Made Wonder: Angkor Wat, Cambodia

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it in movies or pictures, getting a glimpse of the UNESCO world heritage site of Angkor Wat in person rendered us both speechless. An awe took over our bodies with seeing something so truly magnificent, practically turning us to jelly. But Angkor Wat is so much more than just one temple complex, which everyone recognizes and rightfully marvels at.  The sheer size and magnitude of what was built at the whole of the Angkor Wat site, is what quickly becomes incomprehensible. Built in 12th Century AD, this complex is actually the largest religious monument in the world at an astounding 154 square miles.

Angkor Wat typically sees 2.6 million visitors a year, and is well documented to be thronged and chocked with tourists. In fact, Fodors travel in 2018 incredibly placed it on their DO NOT go list because of the irreparable damage that the swarms of tourists are doing to the site. But, for us, being there during just as the current global COVID-19 pandemic was ramping up, meant we had a very different, and quite abnormal visit. The closest thing we could compare it to was kind of like having an exclusive fast pass to enter Disneyland before it officially opens to the masses. But better. Much much better. The spoils didn’t just stop with lack of crowds, or lines, or strangers photobombing us, Cambodia was also offering discounted entry (2 days instead of one for $37, or 5 days if your buy 3).

Honorable Mention: Bear Tooth Highway, Montana, USA

Best Transit Experience: Renting a scooter in Arambol, Goa, India

As many of you know, we had a rough start to our time in India and Arambol not only redeemed India entirely for us, but gave us a real feeling of home for a month while Mandy took yoga teacher training. Since we had  put some temporary roots down, we made the decision to rent a scooter to take care of all of our transportation needs. Renting for an extended period allowed us to have some leverage in negotiating a good rate and once we did a bit of shopping around we nabbed a deal of just 250 Rupees/day or $3.48. It was absolutely exhilarating and adrenaline-pumping to ride one throughout the beach towns and countryside of India and Greg got pretty good at it as well.

Honorable Mention: USA Cross Country Road Trip: Portland, Oregon to Evansville, Indiana

Best Street Food: Malaysia

We were lucky enough to get to visit our top three foodie destinations in 2020…Thailand, India and Mexico. But, the STREET food in Malaysia is simply dynamic…full of variety, bursting with flavors and all for rock bottom prices. Meals are usually $1-$1.50/entree. This is one of the many varieties of street noodles we had in Georgetown.

Honorable Mention: Thailand 

Most Regrettable Departure: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Naturally, after two months our departure from Phnom Penh was the most difficult because we were not only leaving a city we’d grown to love, but we were leaving behind a 22-month travel leg we’d been on since July 2018. But with COVID, we had little choice but to stay in Cambodia for the indefinite future, or head back to the States. With bittersweet hearts, we chose to head back to the States to pursue our first real estate investment and start the next stage of our quest for financial independence. 

Honorable Mention: Arambol, Goa, India

Most Underrated Destination: Idaho, USA

We always knew we loved Idaho, but we fell more and more in love with it this year…from the snow capped mountains, to abandoned ghost towns, to the steaming hot springs, to cascading waterfalls, to the abundant breweries, it is undoubtedly packed with everything explorers like us are always seeking to discover. If it weren’t so cold in the winters, we could probably move there. 

Honorable Mention: Nebraska, USA 

Best Cultural Experience: Homestay in Kampong Phluk, Cambodia

Staying with a wonderful family near Tonle Sap and exploring the floating villages. Also, visiting a school and teaching English to a crew of about 20 Khmer kids of all ages. 

Honorable Mention: Eating tapas insects at the Bugs Cafe, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Most “Ah” Moment: Spa Termal Tlalocan, San Juan Cosala, Mexico

After months of working on the house in Indiana, it was finally time to get back on a plane fly to Mexico. The termal spa was the cherry on top and featured multiple unique soaking baths including apple cider vinegar, flowers, chocolate, coffee and mud. What a way to unwind!

Honorable Mention: Moving into our third and final apartment in Phnom Penh with a pool after suffering through COVID for two weeks. 

Best History Lesson: Tuolsleng Genocide Museum & the Killing Fields, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This is one of only 343 known sites where thousands of Cambodians were executed by their own people during the 1975-1979 Genocide. Three million of Cambodia’s eight million died during this tragic regime. This is when the Khmer Rouge party, under Dictator Pol Pot, rose to power and essentially wanted to kill not just their enemies but everything, to start over with a new Cambodian  “master race.” This social engineering scheme targeted “new” people: anyone who was westernizing, educated, or even seemed educated in any way. This included things like wearing glasses, speaking a foreign language or having soft hands (due to lack of field work.) 

It certainly gave us a newfound respect and admiration of the Cambodian people who survived this time, as they continue to rebuild their country after such recent atrocities. It also put in perspective the insanity of what’s going on with COVID. Although at the time, there was a lot of uncertainty for everyone, it made us feel grateful for a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clean air and water, a comfortable bed, and the simplicity of being free (even though we sometimes feel “trapped.”) Things can always be worse and it’s important to remember this at times like these. It was during this time we started focusing on how we were going to develop and grow during COVID and not let it get to us, no matter what happened. 

Honorable Mention: the site of Jesse Jame’s death, St. Joseph, Missouri

Best New Friends:

Canadians Annabelle & Yi, who we met in Sri Lanka and again in Phnom Penh. We had plans to meet them a third time to do a jungle trek in Malaysian Borneo in April, but naturally that didn’t happen. That said, we will definitely be meeting up with them on our travels again!