There’s the famous quote that says “travel is the only thing that you can buy that makes you richer.” The fact that nobody seems to know who actually said it doesn’t make it any less true.  It’s a philosophy that we live our life by. Why stay staring at the same metaphorical walls of one country when there’s so many other experiences to be had?

In the (almost) nine years that we’ve been together our lives have changed dramatically.  We’ve changed jobs, moved cities, had a long-distance relationship then moved in together.  We’ve had good times, bad times, partied and fought. Split up (briefly), got engaged in Santorini earlier this year, cried and laughed. Well mostly laughed. There have been two things though that have remained constant: our love for each other and our love of travel. 

There is no greater gift that you can give another person, or yourself, than that of new experiences. The most valued birthday and Christmas presents we have gotten for each other aren’t physical possessions, they are flights. Flights to India to explore the beaches and rainforests of Kerala. Flights to Ibiza to dance until the sun comes up and watch the sunset on a boat out at sea. Flights to Mexico to swim with whale sharks. Flights to Thailand to hop the islands or to Costa Rica to swim in waterfalls.

Over the years we’ve managed to explore a whole host of places. We both work full time jobs - Doug works in hospitality and Sanjay works for a charity. But every chance we get to go away or to grab a weekend in Europe we take it. It helps that we live in London with a whole host of places just a short plane ride or train away and a melting pot of culture on our doorstep.

Our love for exploring has helped us to finely hone our research skills when we visit a new place. We do our best to experience wherever we go from a number of lenses. When you go to Paris of course you have to do the tourist thing and visit the Eiffel Tower. But we also hunt out the places to go to experience it like a local, hunt out the little gems of restaurants that aren’t necessarily in the top ten on tripadvisor (though these are often great too!) and the cool little boutique hotels.

We’re firm believers that the most important thing when we visit somewhere is to experience it properly, to really take in the feeling and the sounds and the smells and the sights. A close second though is to capture that feeling as best you can in a photograph. We want to document what we’ve seen to look back on with our grandchildren in years to come. So rest assured we will always be on the hunt for the best spots to get a great snap that sums up the magic of a place.

We’re super excited that we will be collaborating with Men’s Vows over the coming months and sharing our travel knowledge to help you find the best spots, places to stay, eat and, of course, get the best photographs in a variety of places.  Keep an eye out for future posts and do give us a follow on social media we’d love to hear from you!

Doug & Sanj
@thetravellinggays