City travelers, here’s our latest interview with world’s most inspiring travel bloggers. Throughout the year, selected travel experts will share their favorite city destination and travel experiences, offering plenty of inspiration and good advise for your next city trip!
Today, meet Lesh and Jazza of NOMADasaurus, travel writers and photographers who have been traveling the world together since 2008. Right now, the couple is on an exciting overland backpacking trip from Thailand all the way to South Africa, deliberately avoiding any kind of air travel. Very sustainable indeed!
Lesh and Jazza, your best city trip so far?
Montreal is our favorite city, although we may be a little biased because we ended up living there for 6 months. The art and music scene, mixed with the French influence and close proximity to pristine nature made it a real winner for us. Surprisingly the cost of living in Montreal was very affordable, especially as many events such as concerts were free.
Your tips for city travellers heading the same way?
Do not miss Tam Tams on Sundays at Parc Mont Royal. During summer, large gatherings of people get together to form drum circles, practice circus tricks, play music and even get involved in medieval role-playing games. Such a wonderful atmosphere.
The Plateau is a funky neighborhood with lots of hip bars and restaurants, and Old Montreal adds to the historic scene in the city. Don’t miss out on the jazz clubs peppered around the town either.
As professional travel bloggers, what makes a city worth visiting for you?
Lots of free activities for people of all ages. A strong art scene is a big winner for us. High quality museums are also important, and an efficient public transportation system to get around. There must be cheap places to eat and drink around the city to cater for people like us who are on a budget. Having a central park or seaside area provides cool places to relax and mingle with the locals.
We want a city to have character, not just be functional and practical.
Your five ingredients for the perfect city trip?
Art. Music. History. Culture. Budget friendly.
Which gadgets/apps are essential companions for a modern city traveler?
Because we now work on the road, we couldn’t travel without our [easyazon_link keywords=”11 inch Macbook Air” locale=”US”]11 inch Mac book Air[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link keywords=”iPad Mini” locale=”US”]iPad Mini[/easyazon_link]. We also have a [easyazon_link keywords=”Samsung Galaxy S2″ locale=”US”]Samsung Galaxy S2[/easyazon_link] for checking emails and social media while we are out on the road, as well as connecting a local phone number to it. However, this phone is quickly dying on us.
We regularly use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Trover for our social media. Our favorite travel apps are Google Translate (which has saved us countless times), Maps.me (for offline maps when moving around) and XE Currency Converter.
Would you describe yourself as responsible travelers?
We are strong believers in that our actions while traveling should have a positive effect on the community, culture and environment. We are always conscious about the way tour operators we work with operate and how they contribute to the local community.
We always try to spend our money in small restaurants and businesses, rather than with large corporations. We avoid any activity that could be detrimental to wildlife or the local population.
The world is a beautiful place, and we are lucky enough to explore it. It would be a shame to see it destroyed by careless travellers.
Your key insight from traveling the world?
The world is not as scary as the media portrays it, and people are almost always inherently good.
Don’t let society’s expectations stop you from following your dreams. Everyone is on a different path in this life, and none of them are the ‘right’ one. Do what makes you happy.
Thanks, Lesh and Jazza!
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