Traveler Tuesday – Pilar & Jorge of El Antitour

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have a deep appreciation for travel couples who are out on the road together 24×7. Add to that trying to do some of it in an RV, which I myself have done, then I can tell you that I think Pilar & Jorge of El Antitour are a pretty cool couple!

Let’s meet Pilar & Jorge!

[1] When and how did you become a traveler?

Even though we took short trips in Argentina, our home country, in our childhood and twenties, it wasn't until 2015 when we quit our jobs to backpack together around Europe that we think we started calling ourselves “travelers”.

2014 was one of those years you don't like to remember: working long hours in insignificant jobs to pay the bills, the loss of a significant family member, we felt stuck and had no plans to buy a house or settle down at that point.

That is when we decided to pack things up and leave on a one-way ticket to Italy, which quickly turned to 4 years on the road – it was the best decision of our lives!

[2] What kind of traveler do you define yourself as?

We are slow, independent travelers. We like exploring places at our own pace, usually staying at least a couple of weeks, and sometimes even months, to get the feeling of what it is like to actually “live” there.

Our website is called el antitour not because we hate tours, just because we never do them! We feel it's much more fun and interesting to get lost and discover a city ourselves just the way we feel like it at that particular time.

We also work online which means we need to balance our jobs and sightseeing on any given trip. Fortunately, we discovered housesitting a few years ago and that has totally helped us achieve our dream way of traveling.

[3] Which country do you come from/call home?

We are both from Argentina, and actually grew up in the same hometown, where we are now based after being away for almost 4 years.

[4] What do you crave from home when you are traveling?

Definitely food! While we love trying new things and learning recipes everywhere we go, every now and then we get those mouth-watering moments while traveling thinking about Argentinian steak and wine!

[5] Tell us about your blog

el antitour is a Spanish-written blog we created to share our memories and lessons from the road.

It is a mixture of personal musings along with practical tips on various things like how we managed to backpack around Europe during 10 months on a low budget, our lives as expats in the UK and our American continent road trip in an RV from Canada to Panama.

We named it “el antitour” because we find lots of people still rely on travel agencies and multi-day tours, mainly out of fear of “making mistakes” when they travel. We want to show it's possible (and much more fun!) to create your very own personalized trip any way you want it.

And the mistakes you make will probably be the best anecdotes and lessons at the end of your adventure!

[6] What do you love most about traveling?

Being exposed to the new and the unpredictable. We are like two little children anytime we arrive at a place for the first time: everything excites us and we cannot stop taking pictures of every single thing around us – it's a feeling like no other!

[7] What do you dislike about traveling?

Hands down: living out of a suitcase. We are terrible at packing and could never adapt to the “minimalist traveler” mode. We always overpack and then we find ourselves carrying tons of things around that we never use! We SO need to get better at this…

[8] How do you prepare for a trip?

We do some research and write down locations we definitely want to visit (which are usually the landmarks that sparked our curiosity for the destination in the first place).

We generally book flights, transport, and accommodation beforehand to get good deals. If we are housesitting, we start looking for homes we are interested in and getting in touch with owners.

We hate waiting in line, so if we are doing something touristy we make sure to book tickets ahead as well.

We also leave a lot of room for just wandering aimlessly, stopping for coffee or just doing nothing: we love taking breaks from our itineraries and just soak in the ambiance of the place around us.

[9] You have won the lottery, now tell us where you want to live.

Ideally, we would love to split our time in half: probably 6 months home in Argentina during the summer months, and escaping to the northern hemisphere for the rest of the year.

That way, we could have it all: friends, family, and Argentinian food back home and the excitement of traveling at the same time! Oh, and an endless summer!

[10] Travel essentials – 3 things you always travel with.

We work online so we never leave home without our laptops. Also, we are both obsessed with photography so each of us travels with their own camera gear. Finally, there is no way we can get proper sleep without a good eye mask, so those go everywhere with us!

[11] What is your favorite article of clothing?

We do a lot of walking, so we feel there is nothing better for traveling than a good pair of comfortable shoes. Pilar loves Birkenstocks and firmly believes there is no other summer sandal that could ever replace them!

[12] Your single most treasured personal possession.

Probably our laptops and cameras! They are our most expensive gear and our working tools, so we take really good care of them everywhere we go!

[13] Do you have a piece of advice for bloggers starting out?

Create the best content there ever will be on any topic you choose to write about. When we first started out, we thought 200-word pieces on why we liked the Eiffel Tower would put us in Google's page 1 in no time. How cute and naive is that?!

It took us a long time to discover that to compete in the blogging world you have to create the best content out there and write comprehensive, meaningful and knowledgeable guides with practical information for your readers. If you want to make money blogging, you have to always remember it's about helping them out.

And also, don't give up. It will take a lot of effort, time and money to get to where you want with your blog, but if this is what you really dream of, it will be worth it in the end.

[14] What are three other blogs that inspire you?

There are a lot of blogs we love, but our favorites probably are Along Dusty Roads (amazing photography and storytelling) and The Blog Abroad (great pictures and really funny and relatable stuff). In Spanish, we love Viajando por Ahi (insightful travel stories from an Argentinian-Hungarian girl on the road).

[15] Your favorite travel resource on the web?

Pinterest. It's super inspiring to research new destinations and even though it is really visual like Instagram, it has the advantage of linking directly to articles so you can get a bunch of info to prepare your next trip. We use it for both promoting our blog and planning our travels and we absolutely love it!

Pilar & Jorge's Lightning Round of Favorites

Airport:
Pilar: Heathrow Airport [big, fancy and modern – it's got everything you need!]
Jorge: Ezeiza Airport [Argentina's main airport – where we left from 4 years ago, and where we came back now]

Mode of Transportation:
Pilar: train [comfortable, quick and picturesque]
Jorge: train [nothing better than enjoying great views with a snack and drink]

Window or aisle:
Pilar: window [love watching the city from above]
Jorge: aisle [love being able to go to the toilet mid-flight!]

City:
Pilar: Berlin [hip, modern, and full of art and history. Would go back a 100 times]
Jorge: Buenos Aires [to me, one of the most fun and interesting capitals of the world]

Country:
Pilar: Italy [great food, landscapes, cities, what else do you need? Also, our families are Italian so we have a strong bond to it]
Jorge: Italy [same, but the food, the food! OMG]

Travel Gear:
Pilar: Osprey Shuttle 100L [told you we weren't great at packing light!]
Jorge: Thule Aspect DSLR Backpack [best gear to carry my camera and lenses]

Travel snack:
Pilar: dried mango slices [sweet and healthy!]
Jorge: potato chips [best if it comes with a beer!]

Book:
Pilar: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez [read it last year, completely won me over]
Jorge: Cronopios and Famas, by Julio Cortázar [my all time favorite for years now]

Movie:
Pilar: Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight trilogy [amazing, real couple having meaningful conversations in Europe's greatest destinations – love them!]
Jorge: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [experimental, visual and insightful – a great movie]

Song:
Pilar: Africa, by Toto [best 80s tune ever, no question about it!]
Jorge: Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, by The Ramones [my favorite song by my favorite band]

Quote:
Pilar: “it takes a lot of courage to grow up and be who you really are” [E.E. Cummings]
Jorge: “You are only poor if your heart's coffers are empty” [Miguel Abuelo]

Thanks Pilar & Jorge!

You can keep up with Pilar & Jorge on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and of course on their blog, El Antitour. Wherever you catch them, I am sure you will enjoy their adventures!

Like it? PIN it!