‘ About Us ’
Hello there and welcome to the place we call home, we’ve got to have somewhere with an address and this blog is it. The rest of us, well it’s rather nomadic. We welcome you warmly to our world travel blog, Straight On Detour.
What is Straight On Detour
A play on words, a pun and really, a name just as confused as we are.
First, are foremost ‘straight on detour’ describes our traveling style; An outward determination to deviate from a set path. Something that we both consider ourselves good at either because of our short attention spans, disgust for crowds or our complete inability to stick to a plan or schedule.
Not only that but we’re travel partners, business partners, and partner partners, so we are anything but straight.
I know, I know bad huh?! But it stuck… so we are now anything but straight, straight on detour-ers… Confused?! Us too. Let’s move on.
What is this website about?
The word ‘inspire’ bugs me. I hear too often from travel bloggers that they want to ‘inspire’ their readers. I’ll leave that to them. Instead, we will give you the tools to do something in your two week holiday that sparks your interests and blows you away.
Rant ended…so what are we actually about?
Straight On Detour originated as a collection of travel memories, ramblings, lessons learned on the road and a creative outlet for everything we experience day by day. In one sense we hoped to show you that long-term travel is sustainable. We’ve been living on the road as partners and as solo girls for over 12 years, in fact, travel has essentially become our 9-5.
As our audience has developed, so has our focus. Our greatest aim now is to make the inaccessible or ‘near impossible’, accessible. We want to encourage our readers to delve into the heart of their bucket list and go out there to find it. One thing we’ve learnt from travelling is that nothing is impossible and if you leave us by taking onboard only that message (and not even finding us amusing along the way), we’ll be very happy bunnies.
If you are planning a 2 week, 2 month or 2 year holiday, we provide the tools, insights and ideas to create a trip that sparks your innate interest. Whether it be wild animals, scuba diving, landscapes, hiking, volcanoes, adventure, beaches or food, we have budget breakdowns and independent travel guides to make even the most remote accessible to any budget, any age and anyone. If something catches your eye ask us about it, we’re keen to help you get there! If you’re looking for somewhere to start head to our World Travel Adventures page and go from there, you might just find the adventure you’ve be searching for.
So who are we…
If you’re still with us up until now, then I’m guessing you’re thinking “who are you anyway?”
Thanks for asking.
We are Prue and Becky, from Australia and Britain and we’d been country hopping solo until meeting in Thailand in 2012. We were scuba dive instructors back then but when the season dried up we decided to continue on the adventure as a duo.
Uhuh, you betcha… this is the part where I tell you that we fell madly in love.
At the time Becks was completing an overland (no flights) expedition from Australia to Egypt and I hopped on board until my money ran out 3 months later.
Her route would take us through China and that is where Straight On Detour began to develop. It was one hell of a country to test a relationship, our guide books were outdated, we could hardly communicate and online resources were minimal. We were destined to fill that gap.
But things took a long time, Becks firstly had to finish her crazy overland and then we had to reunite before we could begin to create an online masterpiece. Ha! Are you kidding me? We are practically inept at this website malarky and are constantly learning how to make it more beautiful and more articulate every single day. It’s been a long learning curve but one thing is for sure, we are happy to have embarked on this adventure, travel just wouldn’t feel the same without our website, like I introduced it to you- it’s home!
It’s been a few years since then and our travels and lives are no less hectic than they were. From 8 months exploring the remote regions of Indonesia, to a 1 year around-the-world trip, a 5 month road trip in Canada and now we’ve just embarked on a 5 month British road trip, we are insatiable.
Want to get a little more personal, wow you’re insatiable too ?
About Becks (as written by Prue):
Outlandish travel, remote tribes, culture and adventure is the way Becks like to keep her travels fresh. Born and raised in the ‘grey’ part of England, she planned a trip to Africa behind her parents back when she was 19 and virtually never came home. With over a decade on the road, her list of countries is longer than anyones I’ve ever met but will she tell you that… NO. Actually dragging anything of self-importance out of Becks is well, a drag and that’s one of the reasons her writing and story telling is so popular. Don’t get me wrong, this humble girl loves a rant and will blow some fuzz out of any travel topic. Please don’t get her started on country-counting, spiteful bloggers or guide books not coming with a warning because she WILL hold you in her tight little grasp until the end and have you convinced. Catch her sought after ramblings in the ‘quirky articles’ section or in some popular online magazines.
Read more about Rebecca Mayoll here.
About Prue (as written by Rebecca):
Behind every great writer is a bossy editor demanding more, no no I’m kidding. Prue’s determination to learn everything that she didn’t know about creating an online business is an absolute inspiration and the only reason Straight On Detour exists today. She caught the travel bug at a young age, leaving Australia and finding home in the most remote corners of Southeast Asia for 5 years. Nowadays she is no longer the traveller who is happy to carry her dive gear on her back, she wants a canoe, tent and crampons as well. She’ll tell you I’m the author of S-O-D but there’s actually two of us and by writing from the heart no-one manages to hold you in the moment like she can. Against her will she’s developed a passion for photography and a keen eye for making videos. She loves nothing more than laughing at her own jokes and declaring “I’m really funny”… watch out youtube!
All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.Earl Nightingale
This is a simple map of the places we have been over the past 10 years. In no way does it represent the connections we have to a place nor the journeys we have taken. It is simply a map of footsteps past; a never-ending project and an itchy reminder of how much more there is to see.