Meet our “Facebook Fans of the Month” the Globetrottergirls…

Every Month we choose our “Facebook Fan of the Month” from our fanpage. This is the person who has been contributing the most on discussions, posting relevant questions, sharing travel tips and photos etc. And in appreciation, we feature them in a blog post through an interview type format, with promotion to their own travel blog if they have one.

So, who are the Globetrottergirls?…

The Globetrottergirls are Dani, a 29-year old German from a small town called Erfurt, and Jess, a 30-year old who grew up in Chicago. We met in 2006 in Germany where Jess was teaching English and moved to England together where Dani did her BA in Business and Jess finished her MA in Media & Culture. We then worked in London for 3 years, Dani in an office job and Jess in tourism. By 2010, we had both become freelancers and decided to take the chance to get finally on the road.

Dani & Jess in England

Tell us about your travel blog and its purpose?…

Initially we created Globetrottergirls as an online space to pursue our interests in travel writing and travel photography. However, since setting off on our trip, the site has developed into a space to share our travel experiences with like-minded people around the world, whether they are already travellers, planning a rtw trip or people interested in travel in general.

We tend to cover as many off-the-beaten-path spots as well-worn paths, travel tips, product reviews and on-a-shoestring roundups. Globetrottergirls has also given us the opportunity to interact in the travel blogger community and even to meet up with some great bloggers offline, too.

At Oktoberfest

Let us know about your travel history so far?

We left London at the end of April 2010 and spent the first two months of our trip in the United States, roadtripping through California, Arizona and Nevada. During this time we did two housesits, one for a week in an L.A. apartment watching seven (yes, seven) cats, the second a three-week dog-sit in a house in Tucson.

In July we flew to Mexico City (loved it!) and continued on to Playa del Carmen via Puebla, Oaxaca, Mazunte, Zipolite, San Cristobal de las Casas, Palenque, Merida and Valladolid. Belize is next on the list at the end of September when we (somewhat reluctantly) finally leave Mexico.

Although this is technically our first long-term trip, Dani lived in Spain, Austria and England, Jess spent three years in Central America, three in Germany and nearly four in England and in our four years together have travelled as often as possible throughout Europe.

Jess in the Redwoods

Favorite place to date?

We went back and forth a lot on this question – we’ve just been to so many amazing places. We chose San Francisco as our favorite city in our 100 Days on the Road post, but Mexico City was just as cool, and more recently we fell in love with Valladolid on the Yucatan peninsula.

What place has surprised you the most?

We had no expectations of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, and were pleasantly surprised by the city. The combination of San Cristobal’s beauty and the lively atmosphere created by the mixture of indigenous locals and happy backpackers made for a really relaxing five days.

Dani at Ventanilla Beach

Your scariest travel moment?

So far, our scariest moment was luckily only a near miss. While waiting for a camioneta to take us from Zipolite to a nearby beach, a taxi came by and offered us an exceptionally low rate to share with a woman also headed in our direction. We jumped in, and as the driver began to drive off, a man appeared, got in the back seat with us and said nothing. We had read a blog post about taxi robberies in Nicaragua not longa ago, and with this still in mind, we were sure that the man (and possibly the driver in cahoots) was going to rob us.

We sat in an intense silence, passing glances between each other, just waiting for the robbery to begin. Suddenly, the woman got out and the man got out and went into the front seat. The pressure was immediately relieved, and he had had no intention of robbing us. In hindsight, it sounds tame, but in the moment our hearts were pounding.

Globetrottergirls in Paris

Which country has the friendliest locals?

Mexico – nicest people on the planet. Well, so far!

What are your future travel plans?

Next we will travel through all of Central America and then on to South America at the start of next year. Eventually we will make it to New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia, but are in no rush. We believe in travelling slowly, taking our time and living as much like locals in the places we visit. We work as we go too and rent apartments and do housesits for a month or so at a time in order to get our work done too.

How Can We Learn More About the Globetrottergirls?…

To learn more about us start by visiting our Globetrottergirls blog. You can also become our Facebook fans and follow us on Twitter.

We are always happy to hear from other travelers!