Bienvenidos! We're Sindhya and Matt, the nomadic couple from Colorado who started this travel blog.
What is Why We Seek about?
Why We Seek is a travel and lifestyle blog for seekers, wild-eyed wanderers, adventurers, photographers, and food lovers. We're here to help you travel cheap, get more out of life, and find some sanity in a world gone mad.
We seek to...
- live a simpler life with fewer possessions and more experiences.
- break the cycle of routine and comfort we all get so easily stuck in.
- debunk myths and cultural stereotypes.
- show that you don't have to be rich to travel.
- question mainstream culture and encourage criticial thinking.
- prove that the world isn’t as scary as we’re led to believe.
- travel slowly and consciously.
- be aware of the impact our travels have on communities.
- examine our whiteness and what it means to be privileged travelers.
- transcend borders and be location independent.
- have more fun and work to live not live to work.
- gain financial freedom in a way we can respect and enjoy.
- fall in love over and over with each other and this beautiful planet.
The random fateful story of how we first met...
We met the old school way, in person, on a cold winter night in downtown Denver. My best friend was doing a photo project and was carrying around a camera. Matt noticed the camera and asked if I was her model, what a line right?
He asked for my number, my friend found a pen buried in her purse, and I wrote it down on an old crumpled up bank receipt he dug out of his jeans (his phone was dead).
Matt called me a few days later and we went out on our first date. As we sat around a fire pit, sipping our beers, I asked Matt what he’d like to do with his life. He said, “I want to travel the world and take photos while I do it.” Wanting to travel more myself, I replied, “Sounds good to me!”
Not long after our first kiss, we went camping in Moab, Utah. We ate mushrooms together and wandered through a canyon laughing, questioning everything, and gazing up at petroglyphs. That set the tone for the relationship. Let's get weird!
We planned another road trip soon after, this time to New Mexico. Somewhere between Taos and Roswell, we made a toast to escapism, knowing we had to go bigger and do something truly life-changing. We both knew there was more to life than comfort in America.
The BIG move
We stopped going out, moved in with roommates, worked long hours, and saved any way that we could. After ridding ourselves of any possessions we didn't consider essential, we had enough money and decided it was now or never! So, we bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok in the hopes of traveling for at least six months.
Ten months and seven countries later we arrived in Vietnam. Funds were low and it was either make something happen or go home. Being insanely privileged to be native English speakers and have American passports, we found jobs teaching English in Hanoi. We spent the next six months working, eating bun cha, and saving up to travel again.
Although we adored our French apartment, drinking copious amounts of Bia Hoi, and having pho every other day, the pollution and drab cloudy weather got to us. We decided to leave Hanoi after six months and head towards sunnier weather in Bangkok.
Bangkok, on the other hand, was hot as balls. Luckily, we had a swimming pool to keep us cool and delicious food on every corner to keep us fat and happy. We continued to teach and save while living in an affordable apartment and maximizing our time off with trips to white sand beaches and ancient kingdoms.
Although we enjoyed our year living and teaching in Bangkok, eventually the bug bit again and we had our fill of chaotic city life. It was time to move on, after all, an addict needs their fix!
We revisited some of our favorite places again, Angkor Wat, Bali, and India, before deciding to return home for the first time in several years.
Back to the USA
Returning to America was weird. Reverse culture shock is real! Our perspectives had changed with every journey and it was obvious we weren't cut to fit anymore. Seeing no other alternatives, we knew we had to create a lifestyle that better aligned with who we are.
That's ultimately why we made this blog. We see ourselves traveling for the foreseeable future and we're determined to do just that. Follow our journey as we attempt to make a living doing what we love without selling our souls (or teaching English forever)...
Our travel style
We prefer to travel at a slower pace, it might not be as sexy, but it works for us. Slow travel is cheaper, better for the environment, and far less exhausting. We're currently living on the fun side of Trump's wall in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Immersing ourselves in foreign cultures has taught us to familiarize ourselves with what it means to be "the other". In our eyes, this experience is at the core of inspiring empathy. Which if you've been paying any attention, the world could use a lot more of...
Hope to see you out on the road somewhere!
Sindhya
Co-founder & editor
Favorite country: India
Favorite food: Tom Kha Gai
Favorite adventure: Trekking Markha Valley
Hi, I'm Sindhya (pronounced like India with an 'S'). Just a twenty-something girl doing her best to enjoy her days on this most exquisite planet.
I have a constant urge to simultaneously go on an adventure, take a nap, and eat delicious food. I’m a former med student and science nerd at heart, which probably explains my compulsion to treat life as an experiment. A devoted lover of all things spicy and chubby!
For me, it all began when my dad got a job in Saudi Arabia when I was young. My family and I lived there for six years and we had the opportunity to travel frequently, including to my mom's home country of India.
I was fortunate to grow up with friends and family from all over the world, but it wasn’t until I studied abroad in Barcelona that I realized traveling made me super happy.
My predictable path to financial success and prestige just wasn't going to work anymore. I craved a romantic life full of wild and crazy stories to tell when I'm old. Luckily, I was living out of my car, yet to put down roots, and contemplating my next move when Matt walked up to me…
Matt
Co-founder & photographer
Favorite country: Mexico
Favorite food: Bun Cha
Favorite adventure: Vietnam Motorcycle Trip
A thirty-something creative entrepreneur and photographer who loves to travel, shoot, and eat. Teacher, budding historian, sociologist, writer, all things I consider myself, although I have absolutely no official qualifications in any of those fields.
I grew up listening to hip hop mixtapes and going to punk rock shows. The DIY mindset I discovered in those was the main motivator for creating and sharing my passions on my own terms!
I’m currently on a mission to fulfill my childhood dream of traveling the globe while trying to convince my family that I’m not a total loser. After I took my first big trip to South America in 2009 my interest in travel has only continued to grow. Just going for a week or two was never enough, I wanted to delve deeper and experience more.
Luckily, I met Sindhya to share the journeys with and the rest is history. My current goals are to improve my Spanish, pour energy into this blog and offer something useful to our readers, expand my photo collection, and suck less at surfing.
"What you seek is seeking you" - Rumi
So, why do you seek?