A Year - Long Honeymoon Around the World – Part 3

Where in your experience is the worst situation for women and children? Is there anything the country is doing to improve this?

Hmm, that is also conditioned by the economic state of the country. You could probably say Guatemala, El Salvador, Bolivia and Peru. These are countries where the role of woman is still extremely traditional, especially in rural areas (exceptions also exist, of course) – the man is the head of the family and the woman has no say and children are an auxiliary workforce – as it used to be in our country.

More than the efforts of institutions or the state, we have noticed initiatives that are trying to change the position of women in society. For example, in Bolivia, we found a museum of traditional clothing where you can also buy clothes and most of the profits go to the community involved in women's education. Similarly, at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, we saw an intiative that connects women weavers and helps them find work, educates them and encourages women to earn their own living and become financially independent.

A moment during travelling that has driven you to cry out of sadness?

We have seen many things on our travels, but perhaps more than being sad, we are moved to tears by something else – in spite of severe poverty (by our standards) people will be extremely kind and happy to share what they have. Slovenians are, on average (already in comparison with the Balkans), a somewhat closed and cold nation and we miss this attitude at home.

In addition, it always reminds us that we should not be happy to judge by "our standards" – the inhabitants of more developed countries may look at children who are shepherds of llamas in meadows as dirty (if at least not hungry). Still, who says these children are less fortunate than those on the couch with a tablet in one hand and potato chips in the other?

Which indigenous people do you like the most and why?

Cubans! They are such a happy nation and despite their situation, they take life in a kind of light and positive way. Do you imagine that the tomato sauce may or may not come to the store next week? Or would you like to buy a car and you can't buy one because they just aren't there and you can only buy the ancient Lada Nivo for $30,000? Um, with this quarantine, we can identify with them a bit, but assuming they take 95% of our money out of bank accounts and mostly empty the stores.

Many say that when they visited Cuba, they felt that the locals only wanted to take their money – the latter is no wonder, given that the €30 you pay for the night, they earn throughout the whole month. Still we didn't have that feeling and spending the night with the locals was our favorite thing in Cuba – it's true, though, that the situation may be a little different if you speak Spanish, because then you can talk to them and they can get to know you better.

What did you do on the trip if you made locals angry? How did the situation resolve?

This has never happened to us – whenever we are in contact with the locals, we have a great time and this is also one of the nicer parts of our trips.

What did you wish you could take with you on your travels but that was not possible?

Hm – Nano! Well, yes, or we thought it was not possible because we hadn't explored things well before. So with a little bit of adjustment, he could travel with us. We are right then that we might not be home yet. We will definitely better arrange our next longer trips (three weeks of vacation on the other continent is not counted here because, for example, there are too many quarantine complications), so we will also take our dog with us.

Which vaccines did you receive before you started your year-long honeymoon around Earth?

Sandra wrote a long article about it, which then "miraculously" disappeared from her computer before she could post it (lesson: save what you write!). So, we were vaccinated against some illnesses before our previous trips, some vaccinations had to be renewed and some injections were new. Prior to the trip, our vaccination booklet contained vaccination certificates for Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, yellow fever and rabies.

Mobile travel apps that you use?

It depends where and how we travel! Some of the most useful ones are: Google Maps and Maps.me for route maps, iOverlander (a really top notch overland travel app), Xe Currency for currencies, Trip Advisor for attractions/restaurants, Spotify for music, Lightroom for fast photo editing, Recorder for quick notes for our blog, flashlight (that really comes in handy!), translation apps, apps for step counts, exercise/yoga on the go, podcasts for boredom, etc. We really have our phones full of them.

What are your top three summer destinations?

Hmmm, probably a combination of tropical destinations and hills! Let's put it this way: Bali, the French Alps and New Zealand.

I see that you are quite well equipped with mobile travel apps. I sincerely hope that the next time you find the opportunity to take Nano with you. Above all, I hope you make your travel plans come true when travelling is possible again. Let's keep our fingers crossed! To see what they are up to, follow them on their blog BlueMarble vagabonds/Potepuha na frnikoli, Facebook and Instagram!