Interview of the Month February

Our travelbloggers of the month February! Meet Xiaowei and Ben of the Dutch travelblog Travelhype!

CHAPTERTRAVEL: Hi guys. Glad you had time for this interview. We know that you’ve quit your jobs to go on a world trip, but we would like to know a bit more and we think our readers as well! Maybe you can first give a short introduction about yourself before we start the questions?

Xiaowei and Ben: Hi! First of all, thank you for having us for this great interview! To give you a short introduction about ourselves we are Xiaowei (26) and Ben (28) and started our travelblog Travelhype in July 2015. Before we started our big trip through Asia, we used to live nearby Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After graduating we worked for over a year, saved some money and decided to hit the road. At this particular moment we have visited 21 countries in total (including previous trips) and there will be a lot more to come. We have an endless bucketlist so this should work out just fine;). Travelhype is a travelblog initially started to inspire others to travel as well. We write about our own travel experiences, we share travel tips and everything related to traveling that inspires us.

Thank you for your introduction! So let’s start this interview. What is the favorite place that you’ve traveled to?

Our favorite place we’ve traveled to; well that’s a difficult one. All the places we’ve been have left a spell on us and they’re all unique. But if we need to mention one than we would say that Japan has been a great surprise to us. Japan has it all: the best food, friendly people, beautiful landscapes, ultra modern cities, but also authentic temples, shrines, gardens and teahouses. Japan is highly developed compared to other Asian countries and may even be more developed than some European countries. But what makes Japan so unique is that, even though it’s highly developed, their traditional culture is still visible in the everyday lives of Japanese people. Their ancient traditions and habits luckily never got lost, despite all modernization. But still, we have a lot more places we absolutely like. We also loved Italy, Indonesia, Thailand and so on.

Oh, we would love to visit Japan, we haven’t been there yet! Can you name five places in the world where you haven’t been, but really want to go? Why would you want to go there?

1. South Africa. Because of its amazing wildlife and nature. We would love to go to the Kruger national park one day and climb the Table mountain.
2. New Zealand. We would love to go to New Zealand, just because of its diversity in nature and outdoor activities. Hiking through New Zealand’s natural beauty must be amazing.
3. Australia. This widespread country has so much to offer. They have the most beautiful beaches and weirdest creatures. Not to mention the buzzing cities of Melbourne and Sydney. Australia is also the world’s best place for surfing and diving. Diving at Great Barrier Reef and learning how to surf are definitely on our bucketlist.
4. Peru. We cannot wait to visit Machu Picchu. The Inca ruins seem like a magical place and a true must see.
5. Brazil. Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Iguacu Falls, statue of Christ the Redeemer, Pantanal, do we need to say more?

You two lovebirds are traveling together. Do you ever have fights/arguments?

Haha yes of course, just as most couples we have our fights and arguments too! Luckily not so many, but yes we have them. And we don’t mind. A fight now and then is completely normal in a healthy relationship. We’re human after all. As long as there are more happy moments than sad ones you’re still doing fine!

How do you cope with fights/arguments?

We lace up our gloves, find the nearest boxing ring and go at it. Just kidding! Communication is key. We often just give each other some space and when emotions have calmed down a bit, we try to talk and work things out.

Do you have some tips for couples that want to travel the world together?

Our best tip for other traveling couples is to make sure you still have enough time for yourself. You’re spending so much time together (24/7), which can be overwhelming sometimes. No doubt that you love each other, but you also need to invest some time in yourself. An hour of training, shopping, taking a massage, listening to music or just reading a book are good examples of spending some time alone. 

How did you two meet?
We’ve met each other through friends. We just talked, spent some time together and went out. There was a spark, it clicked and 7 years later we’re still in love.

Before your world trip together, did you already take on other shorter trips together?
Before this trip we’ve been to several places already. A couple of highlights are definitely our round trip through Indonesia, a crazy week in Las Vegas, wandering through Rome, floating along the canals of Venice, shopping and dining in Paris and exploring the pyramids of Egypt.

Our least favorite part about traveling is leaving a place you just got to know. While traveling you visit so many places, constantly meeting new people and discovering the best spots in town. Then, after a few days or even weeks, you already have to leave that place you just got to know. It sometimes feels like leaving home over and over again. But then again, there is always a new adventure awaiting.

What is your favorite photo you have shared on your Instagram? Tell us something about this photo.
We’ve got two favorite photos on Instagram. The first is one is taken at the Great Wall of China. This place is just so magical because of its enormous size and its beautiful surroundings. We walked up one part of the wall until the end. It was extremely warm that day and climbing all those stairs was quite exhausting. However, the view afterwards was worth all the effort! Our second favorite photo was taken at the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, Japan. What we like about this photo is that you can see that we’re having fun. Happy moments all the time :).

 
Do you have something else to share with us? This can be anything!

If we have something else to share? Hmm..that’s a good one. It might sound a bit cliché, but we think that some people should travel more. There is no better education than traveling. It just opens up your mind, changes your worldview and benefits your personal development. While traveling, you can spark on new interests; you’ll explore beautiful countries, make new friends, create the best memories and enjoy everyday.

Thanks for having us and sharing our story. We think it’s a great initiative and look forward to the other interviews of fellow travellers.

No problem! Thank you for participating in our Interview of the Month. Keep up the great work. Happy travels!

You can find Travelhype on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.