Tomy and Marina are a Slovak-American digital nomad couple, thirsty for adventure. They kicked off their journey with 5 weeks at the Surf Office Gran Canaria.
What do you do? Where are you from?
Tomy: I'm a freelance product designer, with a Digital Agency background. I now focus my work on products and helping startups build things that matter. Originally from Eastern Slovakia with one suitcase ready to travel.
Marina: And I'm a copywriter, blogger, singer, you name it! My background is a little more complicated than Tomy's, but I guess it's easier to say I'm a Californian Slovak-Latino. This is my first time traveling without check-in luggage!
When did you start your digital nomad journey and why?
Our blog is still pretty new, but the idea has been in the works for over a year now.
Tomy: I spent the past year interviewing for American dream-jobs. It was so time consuming that I almost forgot to notice the opportunity of a lifetime: to work remotely and travel the world with someone I love and want to share with. Through MadeInMoments, I hope to inspire other people with the story of a powerful designer & copywriter couple working and traveling around the world :)
Marina: Growing up, I had many opportunities to travel around Europe with my family. We also moved around quite often between California and Slovakia, so I guess you could say I've been a nomad all my life. For me, MadeInMoments is an opportunity to share new memories with more than just a family photo album. It's an opportunity to help other true nomads get off their "couches of convenience," and on to the road the way it was meant to be.
What was the biggest challenge?
Convenience is a black hole for anyone who's ever wanted more out of life. It takes a very strong minded person or team to take the first plunge into the unknown.
Tomy: Going out of our comfort zones. New cultures, languages and basically having no one else to rely on in everyday situations but ourselves.
Marina: As I mentioned before, I moved around quite a bit growing up. But even so, throughout all of my adventures there was always some way of communicating with locals. Either I spoke the language enough to get by or someone in my family did. Going to places like Asia, where I have only my hands and a set of sound effects to explain what I want for lunch or how to get to the bus station is terrifying. So far the Canary Islands have been a good warm up, since I understand Spanish, but there are many countries where English is not common. That will definitely be a challenge for me.
What are your next destinations?
So far we've got our destinations mapped out until the winter holidays, but we're still open to ideas for 2015. Right now it's a decision of either SE Asia or an American roadtrip.
Tomy: I'm taking Marina home for Christmas with my family. They've never met her before, so it should be a pretty interesting experience. Until then we will be "island hopping" (as Marina's dad likes to call it) from Gran Canaria to Tenerife, from Tenerife to Malta, and a short detour to Bath, UK, before picking up a flight to Slovakia. We were going to stop off at the InterContinental Hotel Edinburgh The George but our trip was so jam-packed that we decided to visit Edinburgh properly next year. And as mentioned from January we're trying to figure out if American road trip, or the other direction to Australia, Indonesia, ... we'll see.
Marina: It's kind of funny, now that you ask. We're basically going from super nice summer climates to unbearable levels of snow. I'm still not sure of how we're going to do it, since we've only got beach clothes in our carry-ons. But that's the fun part of being a nomad, right? Problem solving!
Do you have some long-term plans?
Both of us are in our early twenties and just want to live life to the fullest.
Marina: I'm happy to have such a great partner to explore with, especially since we are both able to appreciate different things about each destination. Tomy's all about exploring culture and nature, while I'm more comfortable in the historical centers and an urban setting.
In the long run, this is a sort of world-tour of potential places we'd like to settle. And if it ends up not being just one place, but a few that we want to route back to, that's fine too! Just as long as our puppy, Ruby, can come along too.
Tomy: What she said :)
