Why We Travel: More Than Just Destinations!

Living on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean means travel is never simple. From Mauritius, every trip is a long-haul one: Europe is at least a 12-hour flight away, Asia takes about 8 hours, and Africa varies from 4 to 6 hours depending on the region. Add expensive tickets and a weakening currency, and every journey becomes an investment. That’s exactly why, when we do travel, we make it count.

For us, travel is not only about the destinations we see, but also about the family we share it with, the lifestyle we’ve built, and the memories we create along the way.

Our Strategy: Three Countries, One Trip

When you live far away, efficiency is key. Over the years, Nim and I have adopted a simple travel strategy: if we’re flying out, we make sure to cover at least three destinations per trip.

• In 2022, we started with Portugal, crossed into Spain, and ended in France.

• In 2023-2024, we explored the UK, traveling beyond London to different parts of the country.

• In 2024-2025, we headed north, landing in London once again before making our way through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. A winter adventure we’ll never forget.

London has become our anchor point, the hub we return to before branching off to nearby countries. The trick? Choosing countries that are either neighbors or close enough for easy connections, like Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, which are high on our list for the future.

The Why Behind It All

Our Couple and sometimes family Getaway

Travel is our way of bringing our couple and family together. From small group trips (six of us wandering Lisbon’s streets) to the chaos of planning a December trip for 18 family members, each adventure becomes a chance to deepen bonds across generations.

More Than Culture, It’s Lifestyle

Every new country is a classroom. We learn from different cuisines, traditions, languages, and ways of living. It’s not just about seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Northern Lights. It’s about tasting Portugal’s pastel de nata, feeling the quiet beauty of Sweden’s frozen lakes, or sharing laughter during a ferry crossing to Finland.

Maximizing Opportunities

Because travel is expensive for us, we’ve learned to be strategic. Multi-country trips allow us to stretch our budget further while building a richer experience. Instead of rushing through one place, we collect diverse stories, each one shaping our perspective on the world.

The Ups and Downs of Our Approach

Like every style of travel, ours has its challenges:

Pros

• Multiple countries in one trip → more cultures, more experiences

• Efficient use of long-haul flights

• Builds a rhythm and sense of anticipation for the next “set of three”

Cons

• More logistics to plan (flights, trains, hotels)

• Risk of spreading ourselves thin if not balanced properly

• Budget pressure when covering several countries at once

But we’ve found a way to balance it, slowing down in each place for at least five nights per country. Enough to see beyond the tourist spots, but short enough to keep the energy of discovery alive.

Travel Is More Than a Map

For us, travel isn’t a checklist of countries. It’s:

• Family dinners that turn into stories retold for years

• Crossing cultures and seeing the world through different eyes

• Living a lifestyle that embraces both our Mauritian roots and global curiosity

  
  

Every trip starts with a long flight out of Mauritius, but it always ends with something far more meaningful: memories that tie us together, lessons we carry back home, and the excitement of planning the next adventure.

Because in the end, why we travel is not just about where we go, but about who we are becoming along the way.