Again with The Wander Lover Series: Worry. Glory. Story!
Creating a post for the series has been one of my favorite time of the week, because I think it’s great to actually have some time alone checking out other bloggers’ stories.
From the three friends like Brokelings to The Uniqorns, a lesbian couple who’s aiming the world tour to seek more about LGBTQ in more and more countries outside Germany, it’s fair to say that I’ve gained a lot of exposure on so many variations of travel bloggers out there on the internet! 🙂
So this time, I’m gonna introduce you to yet another couple travelers behind their blog International Hotdish: Scott and Hayley.
International Hotdish: A Stepping Stone To Mark Two Minnesotans Going International
When I first got connected with Scott through e-mail and checked out their blog, at first I thought their blog would have a lot of contents about food and recipes.
As it turned out, Scott and Hayley named their blog International Hotdish because they wanted a name that represents their desire for travel, as well as their love for their home state in the United States, Minnesota.
Hotdish itself is a popular cultural meal in Minnesota, hence the name to get a fun combination of local and international.
So, here’s the thing… Despite I regularly watch American TV series and sitcoms, there are a lot of things that I am curious about American. A few things are always something to do with their food. Like corn dog, what is it actually? Is it like sausage and corn combined? Why?
And when Scott and Hayley mentioned the reason behind their blog’s name, I directly got to Google to find out what this hotdish is all about. That, only to find out that hotdish is actually closely related to casserole. And that brings back some memories of my youth watching That 70s Show and simply craving for Kitty Forman’s casserole because it looked yum.
Okay, back to International Hotdish… They have started blogging recently, less than a year as their first post was publish in April this year. 🙂
Through their homepage, I know that they’re currently in New Zealand with 2 countries traveled to note. They started their traveling journey a couple of months ago in September as they’re planning to travel abroad for a year in total.
And by creating this blog, they want to share their adventures with others and create a lasting memory for them to reflect on when they get older as well.
I mean, they’re married so I’m pretty sure somewhere along the way it’s just nice to see what they’ve been through together. 🙂
One word that sums up what travel means to Scott and Hayley: RECREATION (literally, as in creating again)
The Essential: Budget!
When I asked them the specific topic that they want their readers to associate with their blog, their answer is short and clear: budgeting.
They have classified themselves as a budget traveler, and when I checked out their blog on money section, I’m surprised that they actually work on the budgeting content very well. From how they saved up to $60,000 for a year to their monthly budgeting while traveling.
Even better, because they present it so clearly that we can actually refer to their post next time we’re planning on a trip. I think, this is especially effective for those who are planning for a long-term trip.
Finance is not my strength because I like to eat and just can’t help myself from buying some random food during my travel, but I’m really inspired by their post on budgeting.
I’ve never been on a long-term trip myself, so although I always travel in budget, I usually just do it in 2 weeks at the longest because once the period is over, I always know that I’ll be home and saving up for yet another trip. I’ve never been in the situation where I had to struggle for a year without going back home for a full-time job.
The International Hotdish’s Experience
Surprisingly, when I asked the shortcoming they have experienced while traveling, the biggest culture shock for them is… Driving on the left side of the road for the first time. 😀
Well, I think I could understand the shockingly excitement when it comes to driving from the other side of the wheel.
As I’m from Indonesia, I get used to drive on the left side like the Kiwis but I can’t really imagine having to drive on the right side. I mean, I’ve been to some countries with the left hand ones, but I never really had a chance to drive the car there. But now that I think about it, I’m intrigued.
So far, their most memorable experience is when they went kayaking in the Golden Bay, New Zealand.
What’s Next?
Soon, Scott and Hayley will be going to Australia, South East Asia and then Eastern Europe. The reason why they chose those destinations was simply because they’ve never been to any of these places.
Australia, because it has great beaches and friendly people while South East Asia for their wonderful history and food. As for Eastern Europe, they chose it for their affordable prices, great history and great food.
The BeauTraveler on International Hotdish
The first time I landed on their homepage, I got a hard time as it took some time to fully load. But once it’s fully load, they actually present their overview on the homepage to show us their brief story: how many countries they’ve been, what they’ve written on their blog, etc.
And they’ve got Spanish-translated introduction as well. Since I don’t speak Spanish, I’m not sure whether they are also planning to post Spanish content in the future.
While checking out their blog, I found out that not only they run the blog, they also have their Youtube page where you can subscribe here. Yup, they vlog as well! 😀
As usual, the first thing I checked out before reading more posts on the blog is their ‘Our Story‘ section. And in that part, I totally got the part where Scott telling the story about how his mom has always been a traveler, while his father does not particularly enjoy traveling as he has found everything he needs at home.
I’m 100% sure that we’re not talking about the same parents, but then I know that we’ve got something in common. I don’t know about Scott, but my Dad always gets cranky when we go to way too many places while my Mom wants to explore more and more.
And I particularly love how Scott and Hayley attached their childhood pictures on the intro, because not only that they introduced themselves as one persona, but also as an item as well. Like through reading their intro, I know Scott and Hayley’s background before I get to know more about them as a couple. That’s quite great! 😀
If you want to know more about International Hotdish, I think it’d be best to check out their blog because I suppose it’s the platform for you to know almost everything about them. Not only what they have posted on the blog, it has also an access to their other platforms like Youtube or their other ventures: King Lincoln Studio and Nice Minnesota.
As for their content, I personally love What to Pack: For Her because… I’m amazed on how Hayley could actually put everything in one carry on luggage for the whole trip they’ve planned!
I’m a sucker when it comes to packing, so it’s just amazing knowing someone out there could fly the whole world for a year with just a carry on luggage. Wow!
But then I finally understand that most of their destinations are where no winter clothes needed. So I think I could try to practice for my next ASEAN trip. Who knows maybe next time I can pack less things into my luggage? 😛
Are you looking for more inspiration to travel and want to find out more about how to maintain your budget while traveling? Please do check out International Hotdish right here for more details about these couple travelers!
So, I think that’s a wrap for today… I hope you have enjoyed my weekly post on this Wander Lover series. See you on the next one! 😉
Marya, this is amazing. So glad we could be part of this feature. THANK YOU and Happy New Year!
thank you so much, hayley.. such a fun opportunity to collaborate with you in the series, safe travel always and keep up the budgeting part so i can learn more about it! 😀
Cool that you are helping support other bloggers by sharing their stories. There is a lot one can learn by checking other’s out – including budgeting.
yup, that’s the advantage of checking out other blogs. they always have their own sub-niche if you will, you know… something that they’re good at that makes them different than others. and it’s always great to get more insights for that matter. 🙂
Interesting read and I always say budgeting is very important whilst on the road. Right now I am in Northern Norway, one of the most expensive countries to be in, and I nearly ran out of money. Oppsie! Learn from my mistakes.
yup, i think that’s the case.. budgeting is vital, especially when you’re planning to travel for a long time. i suppose the reason why budgeting is not my strength (yet) is simply because i’m an occasional traveler, so budgeting for me is only like 2 weeks max away from home. 😀
If you eat 60k in food in a year, you will not have to worry about budgeting for long. Heart attack – yes. Getting off the couch – yes. Budgeting for long term travel – nope, never going to happen.
Seriously though, saving 60K a year is pretty impressive. You figure that taxes take out about a third of that so you would have had to have made at least 100K to begin with assuming they eat and sleep for free and don’t spend any additional money. The average household income for Minnesota is 70K. So we can assume that Scott and Haylee have seriously good jobs that they are willing to walk away from for a year of travel. Kudos for their bravery.
Thanks for the compliments, Jenn and Ed. You’re right…saving $60,000 is no easy feat. We actually scrimped a lot and found ways to make extra cash too (in addition to our traditional 9-5s). If you want all the detail, feel free to check out our full post here: http://internationalhotdish.com/how-we-saved-60000-in-12-months/
It is always great to share experiences of our fellow bloggers and i like the way you chose this topic to share some great stories. well done.
exactly, it’s always good to learn from other’s experience, especially when that’s your weakness. budgeting has never been my strength, so it’s good to learn about it for a bit when i scrolled down the international hotdish’s content. 😀
This blog sounds pretty cool, I have to check them out as soon as possible! Thanks for the great recommendation guys
Have a nice day and safe travels
Martina
Thank you for supporting other travel bloggers and their stories. Yes, budgeting is such an important art of travel and life in general. Good budgeting helps with both short-term and long-term travel.
I’ve read a bunch of great tips here, thank you so much for sharing! I’m afraid we’re a bit like you, we like to eat and experience new foods when traveling so budgeting on that might be a bit too hard!
yeah, i know right? especially when you find some random food that you haven’t seen back home.. maybe not all the food, but definitely some that look yum for eyes (and hopefully taste the same way as it looks too). 😀
Wow, saving $60,000 in a year is a mean feat. I definitely wouldn’t call that budget travelling though. I struggled to save $6,000 in a year! I need some tips from them (or some money). Real cool that you’re partnering up with other blogs too!
Wow, saving $60K in over a year. That is amazing. I’m pretty good with a budget and plan but not that good! I can’t wait to hear how everything is going!
Saving 60K in a year is a true performance! I agree about driving on the left, it’s REALLY confusing when you are not used to it. I have even driven in Indonesia, and in all honesty it was pretty scary lol. Thanks for introducing this cool bloggers for us to follow!
you had me at ‘have even driven in indonesia’. where did you drive? don’t tell me you drove in jakarta, because if that’s the case, i could assure you… once you could manage to drive a car in jakarta, you’d probably be able to drive anywhere in the world! 😛
I absolutely love the concept of this post. It’s so nice to be able to collaborate with other bloggers. Plus, who doesn’t love following new bloggers!
I love that you are sharing other bloggers stories on your page. The true meaning of collaboration. Cheers
thank you for reading, alice! 😀