We Planned Another Exciting Trip to Peru— and This Time We're Actually Going

Plus everything you should know about visiting Lisbon

It’s hard to believe that just a month ago we moved into a cold, empty house and -- after not a small amount of work -- it’s now a mostly furnished place we can call our own.

If you’re familiar with the earliest days of our nomadic journey, you’ll know that we sold, donated or gave away almost everything we owned in order to hit the road with no strings attached. We kept a storage locker during our first year of travel but that too was quickly downsized to just a few boxes stored with family. 

It felt very liberating and helped us re-evaluate the role that things play in our lives versus experiences. 

Now that we’re in a stage of reacquisition, we’re trying to do it more thoughtfully this time round. We haunted the Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace listings for second-hand finds, pilfered from family as needed, and bought new whenever absolutely necessary.

Of course, we still had a few items leftover from our former lives in Canada. Our cross-country skis were tucked in the rafters of Gillian’s parent’s garage 10 years later. Not exactly an essential for a new home but certainly welcome during snowy February. 

Testing out the old cross-country skis after a decade in storage

Experiencing Lisbon without the crowds 

We’re still playing catch up with our glorious three months in Portugal and, this time, the spotlight is on Lisbon. We’ve finally brought together all the details of our trip in a comprehensive blog post that focuses on how to maximise your time while minimising the crowds.

Some of the highlights include:

• How to have the whole city to yourself (spoiler: it involves getting up really, really early)

• Why you should avoid Pena Palace and where to go instead

• Our favourite Portuguese restaurant that hasn’t yet been discovered by the tourists

• All our other top picks for restaurants—none of which serve any Portuguese food 😂

• Our best Airbnb Experience ever (it was totally worth the splurge)

Like always, we’ve included the full run-down of all our costs for the month. It turns out that, despite all the inflation of the past year and despite soaring Airbnb prices in Lisbon, there are still great deals to be found.

Feeling at home in Alfama

Counting down the days until Peru

We’re finally having our redemption trip to Peru. This time last year we had to abandon our plans at the last minute due to political unrest. Cancelling travel plans is never enjoyable, especially when it involves multiple Airbnbs, hotels, flights and months of careful research -- this is exactly what leads to a powerful case of travel burnout.

When we realised that we would have a travel window this March, we didn’t hesitate. In just a few days, we'll be hopping on a flight to Peru -- except, of course, that there is no direct flight from Toronto to Cusco. 

Instead, we’ll be flying to Miami, then to Panama City and then to Lima (yup, that’s three flights already). We’re overnighting in a transit hotel and then winging our way to Cusco first thing in the morning. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. 😅

However, our reward will be a couple weeks in a country with a fascinating history and culture. Naturally the experience will be capped with a challenging trek to Machu Picchu via the Salkantay route. 

Unlike the Inca Trail, the Salkantay route doesn’t finish right at the gates of Machu Picchu. However, it does offer something that isn’t available on any other route: the opportunity to sleep in a very comfortable lodge every single night. I don’t mind roughing it in a tent every so often but I’m happy to take a glass of wine, a hot tub, and a proper bed instead. 

Join us on Instagram for more from Peru as it happens (plus we’ve been sharing all the details about our new home). 

See you on the road,

Stephanie & Gillian