About Us

We are Qiao-An and Oleg, living in The Hague (The Netherlands) and this is our first experience with having our own travel blog.

 

Our shared love of travel and adventure means that we’ve accumulated years of useful tips, itineraries and recommendations that so far we’ve only shared with our friends and family. We found ourselves often being contacted for a list of helpful information and we thought, why not share it with more like minded people!

 

Now for some facts about us:

 

We first met at work in an oil & gas company in 2015 and by then both of us had done quite some travelling around the world. It was a combination of both interest and luck as we both were being sent to other countries for work assignments. Some of the best assignments Oleg had were in Australia and Thailand. In 2017 we decided to take a trip to Nepal together and since then we officially started dating.

 

Our journey together started through our love for exploring new places and not being able to sit still. From meeting up in coffee shops (the ones that serve coffee!) talking about our next trips, to actually deciding to explore the world together, we have grown together so much through highs and lows. Literal highs such as Everest Base Camp, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus and Mont Blanc. Literal lows: 60% of the Netherlands is below sea level and the Dead Sea in Israel.

 

Apart from travel we share hobbies such as CrossFit and mountaineering.

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Qiao-An is a chemical engineer by background and has spent the last 5 years in operational excellence management roles. Bonus! Qiao-An will provide all the foodie additions to the blog as she loves to cook, bake and go out for dinner.

Oleg is a petroleum engineer by background and has recently obtained his private pilot license (helicopter). He’s currently building hours for his commercial pilot license, any interest in flying with him? Please drop us a message! Oleg will provide the travel itineraries and checklists, his incredible attention to detail will ensure you won’t have any FOMO on your trips!

 

In 2019 we got engaged in Cappadocia, Turkey. We decided to elope and exchange our vows in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by an alpine lake and waterfalls in 2021. Traditional weddings are beautiful but nothing beats going on an adventure with your soulmate with nature as your backdrop!

 

We have been blessed to have the incredible opportunity to visit the following countries together: Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Russia, Japan, Finland, South Korea, Latvia, Colombia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Israel, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Monaco, Maldives, Seychelles, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Canada, and Lithuania. By the end of the 2022 Oleg has visited 83 countries and Qiao-An has visited 65 countries.

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In 2023 we both put our corporate jobs on pause and went on sabbatical and travelled around the world for 6 months, visited 26 destinations and can finally say that we have been to all 7 continents. You can read more about our sabbatical bucket list here.

 

We would like this blog to be a source of valuable travel information and full of travel inspiration (where we will share both highs and lows). We hope this is the place you come to when you enjoy exploring the road less travelled.

 

On a final note, we would like to mention a quote that fuels our adventurous spirit - "for every minute the future is becoming the past". 

 

We are so excited to share our journey with you. So let's go and explore the world in all of its beauty!

 

Qiao-An and Oleg (Q&O)

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P.S. This photo was made by the most amazing elopement photographer Maddie from AdventureInstead.

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