Welcome to round 69 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.
Random Traveller 69
Ali & Andy
Who are you?
I’m Ali, and I’m addicted to travel. I’ve been to all 7 continents before my 30th birthday. I love photography, the Spanish language, chips and salsa, and I’m always planning my next trip. I’m from the US, originally from New Jersey, but I spent the second half of my life living in Atlanta. For 9 years I worked in the oh-so-exciting world of aviation insurance before finally deciding I needed to travel more and find a career path I enjoy. I’m now an expat living in Freiburg, Germany, and I’m in the middle of a 5 month round the world trip.
What’s the deal?
I started blogging as a way to talk about travel and interact with other travelers when I couldn’t actually take a trip. I love to travel and it’s a great way to fuel the addiction. Now it’s a great way to let my friends and family know what I’m up to while I’m home in Germany or traveling somewhere else. I also hope to inspire others to travel. I know so many people who want to travel but are nervous about it, especially about solo travel, and I want to show them that it’s easier than they think. Learning about other cultures through travel is amazing, and the confidence gained by traveling on your own is one of my favorite things about solo travel.
We couldn’t possibly interview you without mentioning the twitter love story – Could you give us a quick run through for those who have yet to read your post?
I highly recommend the longer version of my most popular post to anyone who hasn’t already read it, check it out here. But here’s the short version: I bought a domain name in July 2010 and tweeted that I didn’t know how to import my old blog onto the new site. Andy of www.GroundedTraveler.com saw my tweet and offered to help. A week or two later I emailed him some questions about his move from the US to Germany. We decided to Skype again, and we just totally clicked. We spent about four months getting to know each other through Skype and emails, and we fell in love from 4600 miles apart. I had already planned a trip to Prague for the end of November, so he took the train and met me there, our first in-person meeting. It was wonderful! After visiting him at New Year’s, we knew we wanted to spend our lives together, and planned our wedding for June 5, 2011. A month after the wedding I moved to Germany and started my life as an expat.
Ali’s favorite picture from her trip to Antarctica
You’re currently out on the road at the moment, so where are you and what have you been up to there?
I spent about two months in Southeast Asia traveling through Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. A couple of my favorite places were the Gili Islands in Indonesia, Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Hanoi, Vietnam. I’m just finishing up 10 days in Melbourne, Australia, which included an amazing two day trip to the Great Ocean Road. I took 850 pictures in two days, if that tells you anything about how gorgeous the Great Ocean Road is. Next up is three weeks in New Zealand, where Andy will meet me for Christmas and New Year’s, and then two weeks between Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Easter Island. Then I will spend four weeks in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Atlanta visiting friends and family before flying to Italy to go to Carnivale in Venice with Andy. I’ll be back in Freiburg at the end of February.
Following on from above, what’s in going to be like returning to you relatively new home in Germany instead of where your used to?
I had much more culture shock than I expected when I first got to Germany, but traveling these past few months has changed my perspective a bit. I think I’m more ready to be in Freiburg now and make it my home. I know I still have a lot to adjust to, and I still need to learn German, but I’m looking forward to being back there with Andy. I miss my friends and family in the States, but hopefully some of them will come visit us in Germany soon.
Gili Islands, one of Ali’s favorite, most relaxing, stops.
And what’s next?
I know I will be enrolling in German classes when I get home. I’m also hoping to do some soul searching about what exactly I want to do as a career. In an ideal world, Andy and I would like to have jobs that allow us to work from anywhere in the world, but figuring out how to do it is a little tricky. Neither of us wants to be a permanent traveler, but we like the idea of going somewhere for a month or two, renting an apartment, and seeing the sights while still being able to work from our laptops. We have some ideas, but I think it’ll be a bit of trial and error until we each find something that works. And of course, I plan on continuing to blog about travel and life as an expat.
A big thanks to Ali for taking part, great to have you.
Be sure to check her out:
Blog: Ali’s Adventures
Twitter: @AliAdventures7
Facebook: /AliAdventures
Fancy being Random Traveller #70? Contact us.
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Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai, Thailand 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What an amazing story. It really could not happen to a nicer person. But wow I don’t envy the German classes.
Ali, I’m with you on the setting up camp for a while and working from the laptop…and I’m also with you in trying to decide how exactly I can do it (and in a way I want to). Wishing you and Andy the best — maybe we can brainstorm ideas together some time 🙂
Poi & Kirsty – Thanks for interviewing me!
Ayngelina – Thanks, you’re so sweet! And yes, the German classes do sound awful. Not my favorite language, but I’ll figure it out.
Heather – Thanks, I’d love to talk sometime! Let’s link up on Skype and chat one of these days!
Oh German is amazing, but yes admittedly difficult. Have fun in Germany (I am biased though because I LOVE it!) xx
Made it by Ali’s site quite often, and never knew the “Twitter Love Story.” Great stuff!