La Mode: Let’s meet you
Hi we’re Dave and Deb of ThePlanetD.com
Dave and Deb: Tell us about you background
After working freelance in the Toronto film and TV industry for more than a decade, we decided to pursue a career in travel. Coming from film, we initially set our sites on having our own travel show. We wanted to cover stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. So we signed up for the World’s longest cycling race from Cairo to Cape Town and cycled down the continent of Africa. The TV show didn’t pan out, but people started following our journey through Africa on our travel blog ThePlanetD.com and we’ve been blogging and traveling full time ever since. We’ve been on the road since 2009 and have visited about 100 countries on all seven continents. We live by the motto adventure is for everyone.
La Mode: What inspired your career?
Dave and Deb : It was working freelance in film and TV that gave us the freedom to travel between projects. Each year we’d escape the cold Canadian winters to explore places like Central America and South East Asia, We found that whenever we travelled, we were inspired and excited about life. It strengthened our relationship and made us more interesting people. Whenever we came back from our travels, we were immediately planning the next trip. We found that we were more comfortable on the road than at home and decided to search for ways to make travel a permanent part of our lives.
Instead of dreaming about what movie we’d work on next, we dreamed of what place we’d visit next. So we looked into becoming diving instructors and even wen to Honduras to complete our Dive Masters. We considered running cycling tours and even thought of buying a bar in Belize. But then we realized that buying a bar would not give us travel freedom, we’d simply be living and working in another place.
Through our travels we were inspired by adventure. We were avid mountain bikers and rock climbers, we loved snowboarding and scuba diving and we were always game to try new things. We found that we were Jack-of-All-Trades masters of none. But instead of looking at that as a negative, we decided to show people that anyone can do an adventure if they had the desire and we drew from all our skills to start doing adventures around the world and sharing them with our readers.
La Mode: Tell us about your love for travelling?
Dave and Deb : Travel is something that changed our lives. We had been together for nine years before our first real travel experience. Before traveling we were stuck in a rut. We didn’t’ realize that there was life outside building a career and living for our house and saving for retirement. When we went to Thailand in 2000, we saw that people were traveling for months at a time and seeing the world. Our eyes were opened up to new cultures and new adventures and we were never the same.
After that trip, we no longer focused on just making money and living for the next project. Weekends were spent outdoors camping and kayaking or climbing and evenings were spent cycling around the city’s hidden pathways or meeting up at the climbing gym. We found that the more interesting things we did outside of work, the more opportunities came out way. It’s like we opened ourselves up to all possibilities. It was the love of travel that gave us the courage to take chances and follow our dreams. Whenever we followed our dream, something wonderful always happened and we’ve been living that way ever since.
We don’t say just give up everything without a plan, but we do encourage people to never give up on your dreams and to never settle.
La Mode: How many continents have you been travelled to and which is your favourite
Dave and Deb : We’ve been to seven continents. It’s difficult to choose a favourite but for sheer wow factor Antarctica is up there. It’s the final frontier. We had the chance to kayak around the Antarctic peninsula and to have whales surface right beside us and to float past leopard and Wedell seals sleeping on ice flows was something we’ll never forget. The landscape is enormous and breath-taking (and we never use that phrase lightly) and penguins are just the cutest creatures. We also had the opportunity to do the polar plunge of our ship the Sea Spirit into the icy waters and we camped in bivy sacs on the continent. Antarctica was one of our greatest adventures.
La Mode: What is you view about adventure?
Dave and Deb : Well, we live by the motto “Adventure is for Everyone” When we first started traveling, we felt that we could never be adventurers because we didn’t have an unlimited trust fund and we weren’t a super athlete like the people who were climbing the seven summits. We really didn’t have a role model. But then we realized that adventure is what you make it. It is all about taking baby steps. That first trip to the Medina in Marrakech can be overwhelming and is a great adventure. Your first jungle walk is an adventure and for some people, just stepping on a plane and taking the chance on a new destination is a great adventure. Eventually you step out of your comfort zone enough and you will find that you have become an adventurer. That first trek through the jungle will lead to climbing mountains. That aventure through the markets may lead to a solo adventure around the world. All you have to do is start somewhere and the possibilities are endless.
La Mode: What makes you unique?
Dave and Deb : Being a couple that travels full time together, works together and takes on exciting adventures together helps us stand out from the crowd. We are unique because we aren’t trained athletes or come from a rich background. We share our fears and frustrations, triumphs and failures. People see that ordinary people like us are living a fulfilled life. We used to think that if you were born into middle class you were stuck there. Dreams were meant for other people to have and we were destined to live ordinary lives. But we show people that no matter how old you are, it’s never to late to follow your heart. If we can do it, anyone can.
La Mode: What challenge are you currently facing?
Dave and Deb : Currently we’re facing living a life of balance. It’s been an on going struggle. The problem with finding something that you are passionate about and making it your career is that you end up putting every once of energy into your business. We’re working on making sure we take care of our health and to make time for friends and family. We’ve been so micro focused on our business, we’ve let other things fall by the wayside and we are working to correct that.
La Mode: How do you manage travelling with your family
Dave and Deb : Dave and I don’t have children so it is just the two of us. It’s easy since we went into this business together and we fell in love with travel together. It’s important for us to always keep communication open and honest and to never hold a grudge. We lose our tempers and have arguments but we let things go quickly. If we didn’t it would be impossible to do what we do.
La Mode: What is your advice to people who loves to travel?
Dave and Deb : Just do it. You don’t have to go far and you don’t have to go for a long time. If money is a set back, try adventures in your own backyard. We did a lot of travels in our home province of Ontario Canada before we made travel our career. We explored every corner of the province and camped our way around the area. It felt like an adventure every weekend. We went hiking, rock climbing, scuba diving and cycling. Cycling cost the least amount of money and it was an amazing way to explore. We’d put our bikes on the roof rack of our car, pack our camping gear and head up north to escape the city. Start close by and then when you save up enough funds, you can go somewhere exotic.
It doesn’t matter how you travel, where you travel or who you travel with. Just go for it.
La Mode: What are your social media handles and website?
Dave and Deb : We are theplanetd on everything. Instagram,Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
Our website is ThePlanetD.com
Website – http://theplanetd.com/
Instagram, – http://instagram.com/theplanetd/
Twitter, – http://twitter.com/theplanetd
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/ThePlanetD
YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVBD2a1uUkhX18B1WVcddzQ
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