Our 7 Questions with Fins to Spurs

What if you could try another career? Even for a short time, would you try a different job just to see what it could be like? We would like to introduce you to a traveling couple that not only tries a new job every few months, but does it in another part of the world! Please meet Christine and Adam of www.finstospurs.com.  We put our seven questions to these two wandering workers:

Blog:  www.Finstospurs.com

twitter:  @finstospurs

Instagram:  @finstospurs

 

First off, tell us a little about yourselves?  How long have you been a traveling couple?  How did you meet?

We have been together for about two years now, most of which has been on the road!  We are from completely different backgrounds, Adam from a rural community in Nebraska, Christine from just outside Seattle, Washington.  We both moved to Kona, Hawaii to work on scuba diving boats and met while working at the same dive shop!  Our passion for adventure and travel drove us together and we quickly teamed up to start our latest tour of the world in August 2014!

Christien West, Adam Maire, Fins to Spurs, Nicaragua

Christine West, Adam Maire of Fins to Spurs in Nicaragua

1)   You two are on such an amazing adventure!  Tell us about one of your best and worst experiences?

He Said: When Christine and I were working as ranch managers in Nicaragua, one of the local ranch hands was incredibly talented, wanted to help in every way, but was very young.  At 16, Ariel was trying to learn as much as possible, but we needed someone who could not only work at the ranch but travel to other parts of the community.  Ariel needed to learn how to drive.  One of my favorite experiences was teaching Ariel how to drive a manual–in my terrible Spanish!  He was hilarious and joking the whole the time (I think?!) and we had a blast together!  The worst experience?  A 12-hour bus ride in the same area with “travelers stomach” in the dark on a bumpy road with a bathroom that had no light and a broken door.

She Said: Just recently Adam and I went to Ubud, Bali and visited a monkey sanctuary.  We are incredibly lucky travelers sometimes, and we just happened to arrive at the sanctuary as a MASSIVE celebration of harmony with nature and animals was beginning!  Hundreds of locals in formal dress were giving offerings, music was playing, the monkeys were excited and seemed to be so interested—it was amazing.  We listened, watched, were so overtaken by the beauty…all because our yoga class was changed and we had extra time that day.  Which brings me to the worst experience of Bali: Adam and I are extremely new to yoga and were trying some different styles of yoga in Ubud…it just seemed like the fun thing to do!  The class that we really wanted to try was cancelled, so we signed up for Partner Acro Yoga.  When we arrived, things were fine for about two minutes and then the next moment I saw people around us getting ready for what looked like a collective wheel-barrel race – one that we were losing!  It was all too much FAST—our hung-over teacher was late, the space was small, every move seemed upside down and WAY beyond our skills in life…We slipped out of class on minute 9 and ended up going to the monkey sanctuary!  Worst experience is never that bad J

 

2) If you had to travel with someone else besides your travel partner, who would it be?  (this person can be living, historical or mythical?.)

He Said: Pretty much anyone who is hilarious!  Maybe Will Ferrell or Ryan Reynolds.  I just want to be able to laugh my though any mildly bad situation.  Will Ferrell is always so obscure that anything could be fun and I can really appreciate Ryan Reynolds sarcasm. If you know any other comedian that is usually pretty positive I am open to suggestions!

She Said: Oh I agree with Adam 100%. Being able to laugh is mandatory for me.  But my vote is more for Ryan!!

Adam from Fins to Spurs

Adam from Fins to Spurs

3)One of our fave posts is about your volcano hike.  Tell us, what it as exhausting as it looked?

He said: Oh my God YES!! I spent 6 years in the Infantry where we hiked EVERYWHERE with overloaded rucks.  I thought I was pretty tough but that hike nearly killed me.  Our guide was 7 feet tall and nearly ran up the mountain!  It is all straight up, very few switchbacks in the beginning and the first third is through loose, soft gravel.  We earned every foot of elevation we gained!

She said: First, the weather was everything! We were told it was going to pour rain all day so we thought we should bring double clothes. It never did rain, by the way.  We carried over 40 lbs. straight up that loose dirt and ash volcano!  I kept adjusting the straps on my backpack but I have so little experience, it was ALL so heavy!  It was insanely awesome, I would do it again, but way less in the pack.

traveling couple Guatemala

Acatenango, Guatemala

4)  If you had to eat one last meal, what/ where would you eat?

He said: I try to eat every meal like it is my last, I usually finish half of Christine’s food too!  I love Indian and Thai food so much but my favorite is Mexican.  When we lived in Guatemala, Christine made these killer smothered burritos that were the size of a small dog, all in our little apartment.  I would have to make that my last meal but I would eat it on any beach with a GREAT sunrise and a Black Butte Porter!

She said: You know, I spent two years teaching in Istanbul, and Turkish food was introduced to me by my students.  I liked it in the beginning, but then over two years I grew to LOVE IT!!! I would have an Istanbul street food feast with pide, doner, yogurt, lahmacun, sutlac and all with raki! Yum!!!

1000Fights:  YUM!

5)  What advice would you have for a couple that is considering following your path and working around the world?

He said: GO and DO IT!! We aren’t trying to sell quit the 9 to 5 or permanently abandon your current job, just take a little more time off, find a job or volunteer opportunity, and travel!!  This life isn’t easy.  We don’t have the stress of normal work but a job is a job.  Whatever the job is you still have co-workers you don’t love and long hours.  We just want everyone to know that you can stay longer in these locations and learn SO much more about them than just a few days here and then moving on to a new location.

She said: I think my advice would be to start slowly.  I started working abroad when I was 19 years old as a bartender in England.  Your first job abroad is rough, then you finish that one and you think, that was SIMPLE AND FANTASTIC, so you do it again.  You take more risks, you challenge yourself with more languages, locations and different types of jobs…it gets more and more adventurous.  As a couple, you will do this together!  Your experiences get more memorable, more life changing, more inspired.  Is you ease into this process with your partner, maybe starting with vacations combined with work/volunteer opportunities, your relationship has a chance to be EVEN CLOSER, with this completely different experience as something only the two of you really know about.

traveling couple

Fins to Spurs at Karon Beach, Thailand

6) If you could solve one problem in the world what would it be?

He said: Our lack of care for nature.  If humans don’t stop using up our resources we are going to wake up one day with no Earth to call home.  The shark finning and destruction of coral reefs is forever changing our oceans for the worse.  We recently hunted one of the species of rhinos into extinction just for its horn and another species only has four left… in the entire world!  Global warming is destroying our poles year after year and spreading FAST!  The human race is going to have to unite to conserve what little bit of nature we have left!

She said: If I could “solve” one thing, it would be living in extremes.  I wish people could live with more balance.  For example, the internet is great, it has the ability to forward education for people who would never otherwise have access. However, people can’t spend ALL DAY online.  Go outside!!  See other people in real life!! Eat, smell, and see other places!  Or food: I absolutely love amazing food, but you can’t eat everything and anything all the time.  The goal in my mind to live a balanced life, integrating more patience into every activity in your day.

 

7)You knew it was coming….What has been your greatest travel fight/disagreement?

She said: Travel is tough sometimes.  Adam is my favorite travel partner in the world.  No question.  However, our rare disagreements do happen.  I remember when we finished 9 months in Central America, our flight flew through Seattle, my hometown that I hadn’t been to in years.  And we only had two hours in Seattle before we flew to Alaska, but in this airport there is an Ivar’s, the BEST restaurant for clam chowder in the world.  I WANTED THIS CHOWDER!  I was dreaming about it for more than a few weeks.  So, when we arrived in Seattle, we bee-lined to Ivar’s.  But when we got there,  Adam wanted all this other stuff like fish and was spending WAY too much money and we had this tense moment over the food (it was stupid)…and because of the fight…I didn’t want my precious chowder anymore.  It was a fight over the bowl of soup…medium or large.  It was an argument over  $2.  It’s hard to understand, but after 9 months of spending, it seemed like too much.  I guess that’s travel for you, you sort of lose it all (your mind) and gain it all at the same time!

He said: In my defense, I wanted the large bowl of soup so she got enough, and I could finish what she didn’t want.  It was really more about 24 hours straight of flights, car rides, and fast food that really put the stress on the situation.  I still feel bad I ruined the soup for her.  We really do get along pretty well, but we both HATE being cold.  On the few occasions we have worked in the cold it has become the blame game and a small spat.  You know, the typical: “working in the snow was YOUR idea!” and “That’s it!! You NEVER get a say in the job choice again!!!”  A warm coffee and a heater and it all just goes back to normal!

Now those two know how to fight! We are very impressed. A huge thanks to our friends Christine and Adam for graciously answering our 7 questions.  Give their blog a follow!

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2 Responses to Our 7 Questions with Fins to Spurs

  1. De'Jav Speller December 2, 2015 at 11:13 am #

    Great story on how you guys meet. Definitely couldn’t agree more in regards to solving world problems.

  2. The Fighting Couple December 3, 2015 at 7:28 pm #

    Thanks De’jav! Happy travels!