Meet Shaughan & Bridget
Our story started as most couples do. We met through friends and fell in love from a very young age. Once we had degrees, we secured jobs and bought a house. We became a successful, career-driven couple, living the lives we planned. We were happy and comfortable but knew there was more to life.
Job security, making money, and acquiring material things was always important to us. But we started noticing a new desire, one for adventure and exploring. Slowly, this new desire was becoming more important.
Over two years, we made a conscious decision to focus on making this dream come true. We spent hours researching and planning. Eventually, we had saved enough money to sustain our long-term travel plans.
Then, boom we were off. In the beginning, we documented all our adventures on Instagram. But we found this was only showing the highlights of our travels. We’ve learnt so much travelling full-time. Our goal was to share a real behind-the-scenes view of what it’s like living on the road.
We created The Big Walkabout blog offering you valuable insights into long-term travelling. With details on budgeting, where to stay and what to expect. Our main goal here is to inspire you and help you reach your travel goals.
Bridget Beguin
Hi, I’m Bridge. I’m a feisty ginger passionate about travel and all things outdoors. I enjoy being fit and healthy and spend half my life convincing Shaughan to do the same. One day I’d like to retire to a farm where I look after 20 pugs. For now, I’m content living a material-free life and exploring the world.
Shaughan Schultz
Hmmm… lets see. Worked as a designer in a corporate environment for years and decided there were other passions I wanted to pursue. Namely, travel and photography. Now every day is an adventure and getting to explore other creative outlets has been a gamechanger.
Our Travel Highlights
Formula 1 Singapore
Nusa Islands, Bali
Hanoi, Vietnam
Angthong Marine Park, Thailand
Cat Ba Island, Vietnam
Frequently Asked Questions
What Made You Decide To Quit Your Jobs And Travel?
We had both become tired of the 9-5 grind and found ourselves more stressed out than happy. We had come to realise that cool cars and a nice house are great, but there are a lot of negative aspects that come with that type of lifestyle. We had a growing urge to explore the globe and see what else was out there. So we decided to change things drastically, we sold everything we owned, grabbed our backpacks and haven’t looked back.
How Do You Cope Living Out Of A Backpack?
Actually it’s pretty liberating. When we sold everything rather than feeling like “O my god what have we done” it was like “O I don’t have to sustain all these things any more”. When you travel you really don’t need that much, nor do you want to carry it everywhere. Our bags have actually gotten lighter since we started traveling.
How Do You Not Kill Each Other?
Trust me, we’ve tried. Travelling together as a couple is a big adjustment. Previously we were both very independent and were quite happy to do our own thing. Now we spend almost all of our time together. So have adjusted the dynamic of our relationship somewhat. But we do sometimes go to sleep with one eye open😉
What Is It Like Traveling Long-Term?
It is pretty amazing compared to our previous lifestyle, but we also realised that you can’t spend two days here, three days there, you will burn out. This is more of a holiday approach when you have limited time. The idea behind long-term travel is that you can stay much longer in a location and really immerse yourself.
How Do You Choose Where You’re Going Next?
This, for the most part, is governed by our budget. If you want to travel long-term, it’s more cost-effective to travel within a specific region. International flights are one of our most significant travel expenses, so we prefer to pick a region and travel from country to country.
What Do You Miss Most About Home?
Having a Braai, or as you may know it a barbeque. We’re both originally from South Africa, and this is a big part of our culture. Where we get together with friends and family and have a jol, or as you may know it a party. Our friends and family are a big part of our lives, so it has been hard being away from everyone. While we get to experience new cultures all the time, we do miss our own from time to time.