Welcome to Off the Beaten Travel!
We’re Sasha and Megnote, authors of the book Travel More, Spend Less (forthcoming), have been to 50 countries across 5 continents and 48 U.S. states, and have been traveling full-time for nearly two years with our now 5-year-old son. We also love a good happy hour.
We love discovering hidden travel gems & want to share our best off the beaten path travel ideas with you. Have you ever thought…
I want to go somewhere beautiful but that isn’t touristy and crowded.
I’d love to do a trip that combines a great city, nature, and wine tasting.
I want to see national parks, but when is the best time to go?
I want to travel more, but I have kids.
I want to travel more, but it’s too expensive.
If so, this is the website for you. We want to give you ideas on hidden travel gem places to visit & unique, fun things do to when you get there.
We love exploring off the beaten path places, for example…
going on hikes that aren’t on AllTrails in Montana;
exploring countries like Kazakhstan;
discovering underrated cities like Durango, Colorado;
wine tasting in Umbria, Italy;
finding hidden gem national parks like Organ Pipe Cactus;
eating amazing local food like fresh shrimp off the boat in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico;
trying every cappuccino possible in Portland, Oregon.
We spent a year traveling across the U.S. in an RV (44 states), and another year living for a month each in some of our favorite travel destinations. We’re starting to plan more hidden gem travel: the Silk Road and all the way down Latin America…
Come explore our best destination recommendations, and even add your own!
More about us
Megnote is from originally from Ethiopia and came to the US for college. Sasha was born in Kentucky but was raised in the Washington, DC area — and that’s where we met.
We’ve lived in 5 countries on 3 continents — England/UK, Ethiopia, Germany, Uganda, and the United States.
Child soldiers: Sasha lived for 2 1/2 years in Uganda & started a nonprofit that helps rehabilitate former child soldiers, the Grassroots Reconciliation Group.
Photography: He’s also a photographer & has a photography website, Image Journeys.
Education in Africa: Megnote manages education projects in Africa & is passionate about empowering youth in sub-Saharan Africa.
Human rights: We’re both passionate human rights advocates. Sasha once presented to Steve Jobs at Apple HQ about conflict minerals!
Our offbeat travel journey. We…
🇧🇴 Got engaged in Bolivia on Lake Titicaca. What a magical place.
🇮🇹 Got married in Umbria, Italy in a crazy 4-day celebration that included taking our guests paragliding & visiting a waterfall that turns on and off.
🗻 Attempted to summit Cotopaxi in Ecuador, the 18,800 foot volcano. We got altitude sickness there but did summit a 17,500 foot mountain nearby!
🚐 Traveled across America in an RV (campervan) for 1 year with our then-3-year-old son. We hit 25 national parks & 44 states in a year. Chaco Canyon in New Mexico & North Cascades were our favorites.
🚐 Love slow travel. We loved the full-time travel life so much that we spent a second year living for 1-3 months each in some of our favorite spots: Seattle; Western Montana; Portland, Oregon; the San Diego area; Sonoma, California; & Santa Fe, New Mexico.
🏞️ Are outdoors as much as possible. Our little guy can now hike 7 miles at a time & he’s our really convenient excuse not to go much further 🤣
👩🏽💻👨🏻💻 Work remotely. We both work remotely, Megnote with a full-time job, & Sasha consulting, managing the child soldier nonprofit and renters back home. We homeschooled our son for the past 2 years.