Welcome to Thoroughly Travel
Who are we?
Hi! We’re Lucy and Dan, travel writers, photographers, content creators, and the owners of Thoroughly Travel. Our aim is to help you travel for less money, with less environmental impact. With a particular passion for all things ocean-related, we are advocates for ethical animal encounters, which our travels centre around, as well as sustainable and authentic travel experiences. We share useful guides and recommendations to inspire and equip you with the knowledge and resources to choose responsible tourism without upping your budget.
We are proud ambassadors for World Animal Protection UK, striving to improve animal welfare standards globally.
Our journey
Originally from Yorkshire and Wales respectively, we caught the travel bug when we began exploring Europe on city breaks together over 10 years ago. In 2022 we took the leap and quit our 9 to 5 day jobs to travel the world full-time. We started with an epic backpacking trip through Mexico and Central America. Following that, we spent over a year living, working and travelling in New Zealand on a working holiday. Now, we’re digital nomad-ing our way around the world with some exciting destinations in the pipeline.
A bit about Lucy
Lucy is a freelance travel writer and has written for publications including Get Your Guide and American Express Essentials. She is the main writer for Thoroughly Travel and has enjoyed developing her photography skills, especially wildlife photography – many of the photos on this site were taken by her.
Lucy is a thorough researcher and meticulous planner. She makes lists and lists for new destinations and doesn’t like to miss out on a thing. This is why we’re confident we provide the most thoroughly researched information on the internet.
Lucy’s interest in marine ecotourism began when she became PADI certified on the Great Barrier Reef on a worldwide solo trip in 2018.
A bit about Dan
Dan has a background in science and looks after many of the technical sides of Thoroughly Travel. He also greatly enjoys photography, especially wildlife, landscape, and astrophotography, and many of the photos you see on this site were taken by him.
Dan is a more spontaneous traveller and many of our best travel experiences have come because his laid-back attitude has created a space for us to get off the beaten path, discover hidden gems, and follow local recommendations.
Dan is a firm believer in the importance of having a positive impact on the places we travel to and is dedicated to spreading awareness of environmental issues.
Why Thoroughly Travel
Our goal is for you to leave our site equipped with the knowledge and resources you need to thoroughly and authentically experience a destination.
Thorough research – It’s in the name, but we do the most thorough research wherever we go. After years of getting tired of opening 25 articles in individual tabs to find out all the answers we were seeking, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to amalgamate all our knowledge and research into a one-stop shop to save you time when planning your next trip.
First-hand experience – We write about the places we’ve travelled to and use the research for our own travels as the foundations of the guides and articles we publish on Thoroughly Travel.
Honest opinions – We’ll always give our honest thoughts about a place, activity, or product and would never recommend something that we wouldn’t personally experience, use, or go back to.
Real recommendations – We’d never recommend anything to you that we wouldn’t recommend to our friends and families.
Created by us – We do all our writing and photography. All the words you read on Thoroughly Travel have been written by us and almost every photo you see was taken by us too.
Our values
Ethical animal encounters – Encountering animals how you’ve only seen them in nature documentaries is our number one interest when travelling. But it’s important to us that the experience is not only educational but beneficial to the animal involved and the survival of the species too. That’s why we’re so vocal about the importance of ethical animal encounters and write up thorough reviews and informational guides about the experiences we have (and those we choose to skip!).
Budget – As budget travellers ourselves, we want travel to be accessible for everyone and recognise the importance of catering to different budgets. We aim to share how you can manage your budget to cover the experiences that are really important to you, and how to find good travel deals to save in the area you’re less fussed about.
Sustainability – It’s really important to us that we have a positive impact on the places we visit. We not only want to learn and spread awareness of the social, environmental, and economic challenges that travel sometimes creates, but also share actionable ways you can travel more sustainably, without having to up your budget.
Our travel style
We have quite varied interests and enjoy a mix of culture, history, wildlife, food, scenery and spontaneity. Our travel style varies depending on where we are in the world and how long we have to explore, but here are a few key themes we keep coming back to:
The ocean – You might’ve already guessed, but we’re big cetacean geeks. You can more often than not find us with binoculars-in-hand by the sea, on the lookout for whales and dolphins.
Road trips – We love the freedom that driving yourself around a new country provides and always try to hire a car and explore when we can. We’re particularly fond of camper-cars (cars kitted out like campervans) and have travelled in this style of vehicle in several countries including Costa Rica, Australia, and New Zealand.
City breaks – In some places, hiring a car isn’t always necessary. We’ve found public transport to be fast, affordable, and reliable in many of the countries we’ve visited. We’ve explored all over Europe on many long weekend breaks since it’s so accessible from the UK where we grew up.
Backpacking – While we’ve enjoyed our fair share of short-term amazing vacations, we’ve also found slow, long-term travel to be a rewarding experience. Living out of a backpack and immersing ourselves in a destination has allowed us to truly leave the tourist trail and find the best and most authentic spots and experiences – which we can then share with you!
