Welcome to peak travel season! We’re here to help you on your next trip–

Since we started our channel, we’ve visited 38 states around the U.S. in our van and traveled to 10 countries. We documented all of our experiences, mistakes, secret finds, and more, in all those places! If you’re planning to go somewhere this summer, perhaps we can help you out through our video series. Click on a National Park in the U.S. or a country to start watching:

U.S. National Parks: Smoky Mountains - Shenandoah - Big Bend - White Sands - Saguaro - Sedona (not a NP) - Death Valley - Joshua Tree - Pinnacles - Big Sur (not a NP) - Yosemite - Zion - Grand Canyon - Arches - Great Sand Dunes - Grand Tetons - Yellowstone - Crater Lake - Olympic - Mount Rainier - Glacier - Badlands

U.S. Domestic: East Coast - West Coast - Southwest - Northwest - Midwest

International: Peru - Colombia - Ecuador - Costa Rica - Portugal - Spain - Finland - Egypt - Turkey - Greece

This past month began at the world-famous destination of Cappadocia, where we enjoyed the best hot air balloon ride of our entire lives (10x better than Egypt’s hot air balloon ride haha). After a dreamy stay amongst the fairy chimneys, we hopped on a yacht to give “boat life” a try on the Mediterranean Sea.

Everything was beautiful and swell until the final day, when we had to sail through the aftermath of some bad weather, which left us looking rather green in the face hahaha. The experience, overall, reminded us much of our year in the van– waking up to stunning views, traveling based off of nature’s mercy, looking and feeling just a bit dirty, etc.

Once we made it back to solid grounds, we suffered from a bad case of sea legs for three days, and during one of those three days, we decided to go run off a cliff and paraglide in Oludeniz. With sea legs and air legs, we wobbled our way over to Pamukkale, where we ended our adventure around Turkey with dazzling blue springs and puppies!

We are now in Greece, and of course, we had to start our time here with an epic Greek food tour around Athens. We had maybe too much fun while filming and editing that video, but I do think it’s a great launch for our Greece series, coming out (now) every five days!

For those traveling or building a van this summer–

If you’ve been wondering what items we live by for domestic and international travel, or what materials we used to build out our van two summers ago– check out our Amazon Storefront. We have different categories listing out all the gear we film and edit with, all our travel essentials, and all our van necessities. I also included the books we keep in our home library, the products we use for skincare and self-care, and the clothes we wear on a weekly basis. (If you do decide to purchase any of our recommended items using our link, we will earn a small commission from Amazon, and we thank you in advance for that.)

Travel hack of the month—

Enjoy more comfort and convenience while traveling with a well-designed, lightweight blanket! Before flying out to Turkey and Greece, we were gifted a travel blanket from a small business called Gravel, and this product has been one of the most useful things we’ve ever put in our carry-ons. We only ever make space for something if we know we will use it on a day-to-day basis, and after traveling around with it for nearly six weeks, we are convinced that this is a must-have for all travelers and outdoor lovers:

1. Built in pockets for both hands and feet. Well-designed to keep every part of the body warm.

2. Packs down to 7 inches by 5 inches. Perfect for hikes, camping trips, and adventures abroad.

3. Lightweight and quick-drying material. Far easier to wash and dry than the average blanket or towel.

4. Handy clips to keep it around the body. Incredibly convenient for when you’re sleeping upright and don’t want to blanket to slide off your body.

5. Doubles as a pillow. Great for providing neck and back support on uncomfortable transportation seating.

We have used this blanket on every single overnight bus, plane, ferry, train, and car ride we’ve taken this past trip overseas. We have even used them to sit on the sand at beaches, as they are far lighter and quicker to dry than towels!

If you’re interesting in this blanket, or any other Gravel products, consider using our referral link as well as our coupon code “chadandclaire” to receive 10% off at checkout!

Our exact route for the month—

Demre, Turkey: May 1-3

Mediterranean Sea, Turkey: May 3-6

Kayakoy, Turkey: May 6-9

Pamukkale, Turkey: May 9-11

Istanbul, Turkey: May 11 (layover)

Athens, Greece: May 11-17

Meteora, Greece: May 17-20

Crete, Greece: May 20-24

Santorini, Greece: May 24-27

Milos, Greece: May 27-31

Some “foods-to-try” (Greece edition)—

Gyro: Handheld pita sandwich.

Horiatiki: Lettuce-free salad of chopped veggies and feta.

Souvlaki: Thick chunks of meat grilled on a skewer.

Tzatziki: Yogurt-based sauce with cucumbers and dill.

Loukoumades: Little fried donuts with honey and cinnamon.

Saganaki: Fried cheese.

Dolmades: Vine leaves stuffed with herbed rice.

Gemista: Baked stuffed vegetables.

Moussaka: Eggplant and ground meat casserole.

Greek Yogurt: Stained yogurt.

Raki: Alcoholic drink made from grapes and anise.

Taramasalata: Creamy fish roe dip.

BEST of CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY in 24 HOURS (still a dream in 2022?)

Cappadocia, Turkey, is said to be one of the most famous destinations in the world, and we wanted to see if it was still a place of paradise in 2022. Join us as we discover the land of magic that is Cappadocia. Here is a link to the video.

BOAT LIFE on TURKEY’S MEDITERRANEAN (rough ending)

We decided that the Mediterranean would be the perfect place to get our very first taste of boat life out on the sea. Four days of gorgeous sailing unfortunately ended with some bad weather. Watch us experience boat life, both the good and the bad. Here is a link to the video.

SHOCKING TURN in OLUDENIZ, TURKEY (world famous paragliding)

We decided to put faith over fear and paraglide high in the sky at one of the most famous paragliding destinations in the world. To get our full money’s worth, we said “yes” to all the “action” and found ourselves taking on a more extreme experience than we’d expected. Here is a link to the video.

TURKEY’S COTTON CASTLE PARADISE (Pamukkale in 2022)

Pamukkale is perfectly named “cotton castle,” as the world-famous destination does indeed feel like heaven on earth. We share our truthful experience at Pamukkale and wrap up our journey around the country of Turkey. Here is a link to the video.

GREEK STREET FOOD TOUR in ATHENS (the ultimate guide)

Most people immediately think of the gyro when the Greek cuisine is mentioned, but there are so many other traditional foods worth trying when visiting Greece. Here is our ultimate Greek food guide covering most of the basics in the cuisine! Here is a link to the video.

If you’re interested—

Join our community on Patreon, where we post exclusive monthly videos and weekly updates on where we are and what we’re doing.

Support Claire’s art studio, and cheer on her small business dreams by bringing home some handmade goods.

Check out our website shop for self-designed stickers, postcards, t-shirts, photography prints, and digital downloads (including Claire’s cookbook)!

After much encouragement, we have made a little Amazon wishlist, which will allow you to choose exactly what you gift us and our home. You may also buy us coffee and experiences here.

Interested to know what equipment we use to film, what items we always travel with, or what tools we used to build out our van? See our detailed Amazon Storefront.

If you haven’t yet, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow our Instagram to keep up with all that we’re doing. We’d love to have you along on the adventure.

Claire (and Chad)