Danika Garlotta / No Destinations
Danika and Chris Garlotta, who are taking an open-ended trip around the world.
Three cocktails later, Danika remembers, the couple had decided to quit their jobs to
From there, it was a whirlwind. The plan was originally to spend one year getting things in order, then spend about six months traveling, but as the pair started listing places they wanted to visit, they realized they'd need more time to travel - say, a year. Then, Chris found an incredibly cheap $300 airfare to Rome that offered only one departure day in March, so they moved up their schedule by six months.
While Chris had traveled extensively before settling down in San Francisco, Danika's travel was mostly limited to a yearly trip to Mexico. Chris, who worked for tech companies doing graphic design and website development, and Danika, who was the head of marketing for a group of boutique hotels, felt their desire to experience new cultures and see new things was sorely limited by their work schedule.
"It's always difficult to get away from work," Chris explains. "We liked to do frequent trips, so we would do two one-week trips a year. But then we started to realize that at two weeks a year, we would never see all the places we wanted to go."
The Garlottas are now nearly a year into their trip, with no immediate plans to return to the States.
Here, they've shared some of the incredible photos from their Instagram and website, as well as answers to our burning questions: How do they make it work? Which credit cards and bank accounts work best for long-term travelers? What advice do they have for others? And, most importantly, how do they afford it?