A married couple from Leeds who are travelling the world on just £60 a day says the experience has been a real "culture shock."
Becky Parks and her husband John, both left behind their home in Rawdon in Leeds, to go travelling, trying to see as many countries as they can. John managed to get his work to give him a career break but Becky took the plunge and sacrificed her 40k a year salary so they could both fulfil their dream.
Speaking to LeedsLive all the way from Vietnam, the couple spoke about the experience thus far, saying it has changed their outlook on life back home. Through their YouTube channel, they are hoping to show how good the experience of long-haul travelling is, though it's not without its scary moments.
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Becky said: "Since we started the channel, and when we last spoke to you we only had 300 subscribers, now we are nearly at 3000 in just over a year.
“For a small channel, it’s a massive achievement, I am almost 30, John is 36, we have a mortgage, and we thought it would only ever be a dream.
“It’s not like we are 18 and students, we thought we were too old."
However, John and Becky have been doing it, everyday they say is different, their series known as 'Destination Unknown' sees the couple pick flights and trips from day to day with no real idea of knowing where they will end up.
John spoke of a scary experience in the Phillipines in which the couple were evacuated after a typhoon swept across the area.
"It has been nice to see the sun, in the Phillipines we got caught in a typhoon.”
“The typhoon was scary, when the typhoon came, we had to be evacuated at midnight and with the language barrier, it was scary because we didn’t know where to go.
“We had to hike for a KM down the road, following this guy with a cow."
Despite this incident, the two say the experience has been amazing. Becky, who grew up in humble beginnings says she never realised how much she had until she spoke to some of the locals, including a family in Sri Lanka.
She said: "You have to travel with an open mind, your plans can change so much, the weather changes things.
“Sometimes it’s a bit scary and sometimes it goes wrong but we’re loving it, we are the happiest that we have ever been.
“I grew up in a council house, I am from humble beginnings, and when I am travelling, I cannot believe how fortunate I was to have the house I had.
“After spending time with that family it was a massive culture shock, they were literally cooking on hot coals, we spent an hour with them drinking tea and eating biscuits and we were helping the small boy with his english, that was the moment I realised just how fortunate we are.
John added: "His mum was carrying 25kg sacks of tealeaves for 25p a day, (Sri Lankans) they are doing their work with a smiling face, she gaves us the last of her tea."
The couple are soon to be setting off on another trip, this time to Thailand. On a budget of just £30 each per day, the trip has taught them the true value of money.
Becky added: “We are just so fortunate, we really are.”
“Thank you to everybody so far, who has supported us on our journey, we are just trying to build ourselves.
“We do quite often get messages come through on the best places to stay, we are always responding to people if anyone wants any help.
“We will happily help wherever we can." As part of their travels, they also helped a charity back home, in November of last year they donated their YouTube earnings to Cash for Kids to help local children.
To visit John and Becky's YouTube channel, click here. The couple are also active on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok under the username 'Parks Travel Guide'.
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