Meet the Nomads: Poi and Kirsty

A young English couple captured my attention as they blog their travel adventures in Asia. Poi and Kirsty’s narratives about their trips are hip, fun and I’m sure a lot of young travellers can relate to.

Get to know more about Poi and Kirsty and visit thei blog at No Place to Be.

Here’s Flip’s short interview with Poi and Kirsty.

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“It wasn’t really a case of discovering a passion but more just knowing it was there, I’ve always wanted to go backpacking and it didn’t take long to convince Kirsty to join me, so there must have been some desire deep down within her to.

We’d both been on plenty of ‘normal holidays’ before and this was just the next step. After 5 months on the road I can definitely say it was a good decision. We’re hooked and we’re not gonna be stopping anytime soon.”

What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?

“Ugh, it’s even painful for me to talk about this but when we were in Xiamen, China a had an allergic reaction to something in a hotel room, it affected my whole body and was easily the worst night of my life. I don’t want to ruin the story which you can see here but ouch!

What’s the best travel experience that you’ve ever had?

“Ooo this is a hard one, I’m not sure if this counts as an experience but arriving in Chiang Mai to a ready-made group of friends that keeps getting bigger and bigger who couldn’t be more welcoming. It’s definitely become a home from home here, I just need a few more English folk around to watch football (soccer) with and I’d be set for life!”

What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?

“The usual answer, it sounds so obvious and it pains me to say it but… there is far more to life than getting a good job and a big house. Everything about our trip so far has been amazing and I can’t imagine doing anything else. If you’ve got the means, you should be doing this if only for a little while!

We’ve also realised if you want to extend your trip for longer it is possible, it’s easy to say you want to but if you are serious about it there is ways and means to make it happen, it’s just a case of being pro-active.”

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“I don’t want to go back to work? It never gets boring, the reason ‘normal life’ is boring is because of routines, work Monday to Friday and have fun for two days at the weekend. There is none of that on the road, every day is different, and even if you’re in the same place for a while, new backpackers pass through and make the place completely differed to the day before. Nothing is ever the same and it makes going out every day so much more exciting.”

This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“I would go with Katy Perry or that one who looks a bit like her (research tells me zooey deschannel) just so I could look at her all the time. Other than looks I would go with Micky Flannigan simply because of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqpfT7YMDtM”

Where’s your favourite place in this planet and why?

“As we said above Chiang Mai feels like a new home to us, another place I really felt like I could stay for a lot longer was Hangzhou in China, it just had a great feel to the place, all the locals dancing in the parks together at night and sitting around eating in the street at the night market. Plus the lake and surrounding scenery is stunning!

Of course I would have to say Lincoln, England as well, not so much for the actual place but because it’s home to most of my close friends and family.”

What do you think about yourself?

“Well I’m handsome, witty and liked by everyone, Kirsty on the other hand, she just feeds off me and that tends to get her by in social occasions.

In fact I think it’s probably the other way round, Kirsty is more outspoken than me and I often go a bit quiet for a while, mainly because I’ve got a weird sense of humour and half the stuff that comes in my head shouldn’t be said out loud. ”

“Our blog was originally to keep friends and family updated on what we were up to but we slowly started to take it more and more serious. You won’t find many serious posts tackling world issues or soul searching deep thoughts but hopefully you’ll have a laugh instead and leave smiling.’ – Poi and Kirsty

Next: Sherry Ott of Ottsworld. Previously: James Clark of Nomadic Notes. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.