Eating breakfast with giraffes in Nairobi, scooting around the Amalfi coast on Vespa's and doing yoga with pink flamingos in Aruda's crystal clear ocean -- Nanda Hampe's life is one worth killing for.
We've all had dreams to drop everything, travel the world, run a travel blog and live a glorious life of endless adventures. Though some have actually succeeded with envy-inducing success, most have to return to their obligations and routine life back home.
Nanda Hampe chilling out in the Flamingo Beach, Aruba. Photos: 100 Grams of Sun
Nanda Hampe and her husband Bartolomeo Toto, however, finds balance in both work and travel, and is looking to inspire people to do the same with their blog, 100 Grams of Sun.
Nanda Hampe at the lake of red water lilies in Udon Thani.
Their recently launched travel blog consists of stunning photographs of even more stunning locations, flanked by a small paragraph of tips, tricks and personal thoughts, leaving people itching to book their next flight out of the country as soon as they can.
Calling from their apartment in New York City one morning (their night-time), Nanda, the Thai-German freelance event organiser and part-time model, and Barto, her Italian accountant husband, reveal the muddled origins and how-to's of their travels and travel blog.
"I don't actually know how we started," she said with a subtle hint of a German accent. "Our first trip together was road-tripping in Italy for almost six weeks. We started jumping and taking pictures in front of every monument and people started commenting on how it was amazing and how it made them smile. I think from that, we realised that we can share ideas. The pictures are more ideas and inspiration rather than a static picture."
The couple in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil.
This realisation, in addition to the hordes of friends asking the couple to make itineraries and maps for their own trips, further pushed Nanda to execute the travel blog.
"We told them we're not travel agents. We can give them some advice, but we also wanted them to be creative as well. So we decided that we wanted to share our lifestyle with them. The blog was born out of our friend's curiosity to walk in our footsteps and to follow us in another way."
Nanda and Barto, both third-culture kids, run the blog as a two-man show -- holding meetings when they commute to and from work, creating their travel itineraries themselves, taking the photos themselves using only an iPhone or a GoPro (they said "it keeps us very spontaneous"), and writing their blog entries in English, German, Italian and Thai.
Nanda Hampe and her husband Bartolomeo Toto.
"If we could just travel and take pictures that would be amazing, but that's not happening," said Nanda. "Everything requires a lot of dedication." The big question that's probably floating in everyone's minds though, is where do they find the time and money to do all this?
"It gets tricky," said Nanda. With both of them working full-time jobs they usually take a day or two off in conjunction with their US public holidays. "We're very adventurous and happy to jump on a plane and go," explained Nanda. "Four days isn't too short for us. We're active. We get up early. We don't sleep much, and we do what we need to do to have fun. I believe that we don't have to go far to see far. But you actually have to make that effort."
In addition to that, the couple normally takes two weeks off in summer to hit Europe, and two weeks during Christmas to visit Nanda's parents in Thailand -- taking four to five days (if her parents allow) to visit another Asian country.
All their travels are completely self-funded, with every single cent they make going toward their travel plans because "we don't spend much on material things". Nanda advises that Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3am US time, 3pm Thai time, are when airlines sell their cheapest tickets. Eating locally, and accommodations with Airbnb also saves a bit of cash as well.
"Every place gives you options. I feel like if you do your research for what you like, all doors are opened for you. We totally believe that we're rich in experiences and memories, and nobody can take that away from us. We're continuously honoured, and we're very lucky to be able to live this dream together."
Some of Nanda and Barto's travel destinations though, may seem a bit too far-fetched and expensive for many. But with the hope to encourage travelling, Nanda is still convinced that anyone can travel and gain new experiences with the right amount of effort.
"A lot of people would ask where I took certain pictures, and I'd tell them Thailand. Thai people say they want to travel, and travelling to Udon Thani is merely 1,000 baht by plane," she said.
"It's really not much more than that. It's an hour away. We really believe that you can find beauty in every corner that you go to. We've managed to take beautiful pictures of the most ordinary places. You don't have to go far, and you don't have to be a photographer [to take beautiful pictures], because we're not. It's as simple as studying the people, shapes and environment around you to capture the best photo."
But travelling so often can't all be roses and sunshine like they present in the blog.
"My least favourite part is the jet lag," said Nanda. "I have everything planned out -- much to Barto's dismay. And when I get to the location I'm too tired. Jet lag is my biggest problem. Also, when I plan things out, I don't plan with traffic. If there's traffic, then we're only able to do one out of five things that I've planned to do -- and sometimes the weather isn't co-operating. There's a lot of small little details, but all in all we'll always work it out."
The goal for their blog is simple -- to simply share a lifestyle and wake the wanderlust in people, and to introduce people to places that they have never seen or heard about before.
"I don't want to be a book where you get facts," she said. "I want you to feel like you got this information from a friend that you trust, with a lifestyle that you want. We just want you to be as curious as we are," said Nanda. "Travelling to us is being with the locals, getting to know the history, getting to know their dreams. To us, getting to know a culture is travelling more than the place itself."
Their goals for the blog as a company though is quite bigger. Nanda and Barto plan to have a bigger reach and create collaborations with other publications and magazines, as Nanda, apart from her mentioned jobs, also acts as a contributing editor for a fashion magazine in Thailand and a number of German companies. "We're planning to post a new place every two to three weeks. Having to keep that up in all four languages, and for the quality of the pictures that we have now will be quite challenging."
Their next dream destination? "We don't really have a dream destination," she said after a long pause. "There's so many. The list would be endless. We'd always call it 'our current flavour of the day' -- Galapagos, Pulao, Egypt or Russia. Our dreams will change every day. Hopefully we'll get to see everything!"
Website: http://100gramsofsun.com, Instagram: @100gramsofsun
