Travel Backpacks and the Most Underrated Countries in the World

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests. 

Kristin Wilson, Host:    00:00:20    Hello. Hello. Good day to you today, wherever you find yourself in the world. Kristin Wilson, here from Traveling with Kristin, coming at you today with episode 132 of Badass Digital Nomads on six of the most underrated countries in the world for you to check out and potentially add to your bucket list. But before I tell you what mine are, I have a quick exercise for you. Just think, what are three countries that you've always wanted to visit but never thought that you would ever travel to? So this could be countries that you thought, yeah, I'd like to go there someday, but it's too dangerous, or it's too far away, or it's too expensive to get there. Or, I don't have anyone to go with me. Just three countries. Write 'em down on a piece of paper. Type them into your phone. Three places you've always wanted to go to that have always intrigued you, but you thought it would be too unrealistic.  

Kristin:    00:01:29    I'll wait. You can press pause for a second and now just choose one country from that list and write down something that you can do today to learn a little bit more about that place or experience something from that country. Maybe you have time to do it today, maybe you can do it tomorrow or later this week. But put something on your to-do list. Buy a guidebook on Amazon and, um, receive it today or tomorrow and start browsing through. Start highlighting some places that look interesting to you. Maybe you can watch a documentary or a travel show about it, or Google a YouTube video about that place. Um, maybe you can visit a local restaurant in your town that sells food from that country, kind of like experience the flavors and the culture of that country. Um, you could even do something really easy like following the local tourism board on Instagram, or even just doing a quick Google flight search and seeing what the prices are to go there.  

Kristin:    00:02:37    You could even sign up for a flight alert for one of those destinations. So just think what's one thing that you can do to experience a little piece of a country from your bucket list wherever you are today. And the reason I thought of this is because if you're on my email list, I have this weekly travel newsletter that you can sign up for at travelingwithkristin.com/subscribe. You'll know that I was really sick with the flu this week. I actually ended up canceling my talk at UCF last week. I'm still recovering, and um, I've just had a lot of downtime this week, just resting, sleeping a lot, watching Netflix. My screen time went up significantly. Thanks for letting me know, Apple. But I also did some things I haven't had time to do in a while, like cleaning out my closet. I, I went through a bunch of mail and like old notes and papers that were just kind of in a pile.  

Kristin:    00:03:40    And when I was looking at these old notes, I found like all these miscellaneous ideas and to-do lists and things from the past few years. And it just kind of reminded me of how everything starts with just a thought. Like Napoleon Hill says, I think thoughts are things, just an idea. And then when you take that idea, maybe in the back of your head you thought like, ah, someday I'd really like to visit the Seychelles, but like, there's no way. It's too far away. It's so expensive, blah, blah, blah. We have an idea for something and then we have our ego come in with, but, but, but you can't do that because, and it's like the negative Nancy coming in buzzkill, but really big things in life are just a result of having that idea and then writing it down and then maybe setting a goal around it.  

Kristin:    00:04:36    And then just lots of tiny steps, one after another strung together that result in you lying on the beach in the Seychelles. You know, visiting a country you've never been to could just be the result of exploring that possibility. Looking at some flights, buying a book about it, learning about it, saving a hundred dollars a month towards your travel fund. I don't know, talking to some people that live there joining a Facebook group. And so I just wanted to prompt you and inspire you to take one tiny step today towards visiting an underrated or bucket list destination that seems out of reach for you and that seems unrealistic for you. It's also something that's been on my mind a lot in, um, my relocation course. So my new group coaching program, Ready to Relocate. I'll also leave a link to the waiting list in the show notes. 

Kristin:    00:05:30    But the process of relocating to a country is just a lot of little steps in a row. And so any big thing that you do, whether it's moving to a country or visiting a country, accomplishing another big goal like starting a business, just lots of little steps together. So today, just take a minute to take one tiny step towards something that you want to do in other news. This week is the first week of a new month. And spoiler alert, there's only eight weeks left in the year. I don't know about you, but this year has just flown by for me, especially compared with how slow and painful it felt like last year was. There's been a lot going on behind the scenes over here at Traveling with Kristin, too, and I can't wait to share some pretty big announcements with you soon. Uh, unfortunately, the last two months of live streams were canceled due to travel and my being sick.  

Kristin:    00:06:35    If you're new here, I usually do a live stream on the last Sunday of every month. So I feel like I haven't really connected with you in live streams lately, but, um, I hope to share some news with you later this month, both on the podcast and in the next YouTube live. So stay tuned for that. Also, although this podcast isn't sponsored, the holiday season is right around the corner. I'm sure you've noticed. So I wanted to offer you a little gift today. I actually have a 10% off for any Nordace bags or travel accessories on the Nordace website. And you can get this discount using the link in the podcast show notes or at travelingwithKristin.com/Nordace, n o r d, like dog, a c e. The reason I have this discount code is because I did a review on the Nordace Sienna backpack last year on YouTube.  

Kristin:    00:07:39    I'll drop a link to that video. It's like Honest backpack review. And I did that review during the pandemic, and at the time my review was neutral, not especially positive and glowing about the bag. I highlight the pros and cons of this bag, but it was a bag that I couldn't really use at the time because no one was going anywhere back then. But since I did that video over a year ago, I have been using that bag every single day, and I like it so much more now. And I feel bad that my review wasn't that positive because I hadn't really used the bag yet. It was just an unboxing video. But this is a backpack that it's, it's actually a women's backpack, but it's kind of gender neutral. It comes in six colors and you can check it out and get 10% off using my link in the show notes.  

Kristin:    00:08:31    But this company has all different types of backpacks. They have smart backpacks, travel backpacks, business backpacks, laptop bags, duffle bags, cross body bags, tons of accessories from travel towels to wallets and packing cubes, one of my personal favorites, and they even have a clothing line. So this is a company that I have learned to love over the past year and a half, and you can check them out using the link in the show notes or at travelingwithKristin.com/nordace, n o r d, like dog, a c e. I also wanna thank my newest patrons of the month, Paulo, Jeffrey, Steven and Michelle, welcome to Patreon and you can join too at patreon.com/travelingwithKristin. And also thank you to Sophie from the United Kingdom for her recent Apple Podcast review. She said this podcast is filled with so much value for anyone interested in the world of remote work.  

Kristin:    00:09:40    Kristin has some amazing guests and asks meaningful and engaging questions from them. The conversations are so insightful and inspiring. I highly recommend it. Thank you again, Sophie, for your very kind and thoughtful review. I'm so glad you've been enjoying the podcast, and I hope you all have been loving the new interviews we've had lately. Many more to come and lots of really cool guests planned for 2022. But without further ado, here are six of the most underrated countries in the world, in my opinion. And you can also catch the video version of this podcast on my YouTube channel Traveling with Kristin. And before you go, remember to do your homework, choose one thing you can do today to learn more about one of your bucket list destinations. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos like me, then you've probably seen a lot of videos on the most popular destinations in the world, maybe lots of videos about Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and many more.  

Kristin:    00:10:51    But there are also a few countries that don't get talked about enough. And so in this video, I'm going to share with you the most underrated travel and living abroad destinations in the world. Let's go. The first country on my list is Poland, and it's right there in the middle of Europe. Yet somehow for some reason, it typically goes overlooked. Poland has everything that you could want in a European destination, but at a lower price. In fact, the cost of living in Poland is only half of what it is in the United States. But even if you aren't moving abroad to Poland, if you're just going there for a vacation or some slow travel, you can still benefit from the low housing, food, and prices of sightseeing and attractions. It's really easy to get around Poland. You can take high speed trains and hit all of the major cities and also check out some of the mountains, the countryside and nature and some of the smaller medieval towns and villages.  

Kristin:    00:11:53    I really liked Kraków. And then another place that is a must-see destination is called Wrocław. Next on my list is Peru. This is another country that gets some attention because of Machu Picchu, but I think it's really underrated when you consider all of the things that there are to see and do in Peru and at such an affordable price. Peru is one of the most diverse countries in the world. You have mountains, you have the beaches, you have rainforest deserts, and of course all of the ruins and sites to see around Cusco and Machu Picchu. Peru is also really easy to get around. You can fly or you can take surprisingly comfortable overnight buses, which actually have more comfortable seats than a first class plane seat. In my opinion, Peru is also a culinary paradise, and if you've never had Peruvian food, you definitely have to try it.  

Kristin:    00:12:53    And next on my list is Serbia. Serbia is one of those countries that is always off the beaten path, but is definitely worth going out of your way for. It has a low cost of living, a super high quality of life, low taxes if you're going there to live. It also doesn't use the Euro, and it's not in the Schengen, so it has everything that you could want, and it's not so touristy and crowded compared to the more popular European destinations. You have the city of Belgrade, you have some of the smaller towns like Novi Sad. You have beautiful views of the Danube River. There are castles, fortresses, medieval towns. So many things to see and do, and people don't talk about it enough. It also has a really great music and nightlife scene, lots of music festivals, really friendly people, and also very fresh and underrated food.

Kristin:    00:13:49    For more about what it's like in Serbia, check out my travel vlog here. If you've ever wanted to go somewhere in the Mediterranean or the Adriatic like Italy, Greece, Malta, Montenegro, Croatia, Cyprus, then definitely give Albania a look. You can get everything that those countries have to offer at a much lower price and less crowds. Albania is also open for travel and tourism to travelers of and country and no quarantine or vaccine required. It's really a hidden gem. If you wanna go somewhere that is relaxing, affordable, and laid back, it's even a great place to live abroad, especially if you're looking to save money, because the cost of housing in Albania is up to 78% lower than the United States. Another country on my underrated list is also in the Balkans, and it's Bosnia and Herzegovina. When I first traveled there I was, was a little bit nervous just because the Bosnian war doesn't feel like it was that long ago.  

Kristin:    00:14:56    But once I got there, all of my concerns and uncertainties disappeared, and I was met with the beautiful scenic backdrop in most star. Bosnia is a very beautiful, picturesque, peaceful country, and it's also important to travel there and to go to Sarajevo to understand more of the history of the Bosnian war, and really learned what happened there in the 1990s. And the last country on my list, which might surprise you even if you're from there, is Canada. Now, Canada gets overlooked when it comes to like the top 10 travel destinations because maybe it's not as exotic as some of the other places in the world, but it really has a lot to offer. Whatever your interests are, it's safe, it's well-developed, it has a great culinary scene, cosmopolitan cities, but then you're also very close to nature. So if you like hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, or you just wanna go golfing, visit the lakes, relax. Canada has it all. So even if Canadians might wonder why I have it on my list, it is a country that I continue to go back to for working remotely or for vacation, and I highly recommend it. Now, I've been a lot of places, but I haven't been everywhere. So which countries do you think are the most underrated, or are any of these going to make it on your bucket list?  

Kristin:    00:16:30    I hope that this list of underrated countries gave you some inspiration and ideas for your next trip. Remember to do your travel homework for the week and to head over to travelingwithkristin.com/nordace or use the link in the show notes for 10% off any of their travel bags and accessories. Ciao for now and see you next week.