TRAVELLER: Dariece Swift of “Goats on the Road” travel blog

Posted on November 5, 2018

A Globerovers Q&A with an adventure traveller from the popular blog: Goats On The Road. Dariece Swift is a co-founder of Goats On The Road, and together with her best friend, travel partner and love of her life, Nick, she’s been travelling the world since 2008…experiencing some of the least visited corners of our planet. She loves meeting new people and learning about the unique cultures of our world. Her advice has been featured on the Lonely Planet, CNN Money, Business Insider and Forbes.

A Globerovers Q&A with an adventure traveller from the popular blog: Goats On The Road. Dariece Swift is a co-founder of Goats On The Road, and together with her best friend, travel partner and love of her life, Nick, she’s been travelling the world since 2008…experiencing some of the least visited corners of our planet. She loves meeting new people and learning about the unique cultures of our world. Her advice has been featured on the Lonely Planet, CNN Money, Business Insider and Forbes.

Globerovers (GR): We talked with Dariece about her travels with Nick and started by asking how many countries they have visited.

Dariece Swift (DS): We’ve travelled to over 65 countries, and have lived in 8. We’ve been on the road since 2008, and travel quite slowly.

GR: What are your top 5 most preferred countries for leisure travel?

DS: Italy, Thailand, Mexico, Greece and Canada. The reason being that many people speak English in these countries, the people are warm and friendly and amenities and tourism infrastructure are established.

GR: Which is your most preferred country for travel and why?

DS: The point of travel is to experience a new culture, meet new people and learn about other ways of life. For that reason, I prefer to travel to places that are more “offtrack” such as India, Mongolia, the ‘Stans, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. However, if I’m looking for an “easy” travel destination, but one that still offers culture and history, then Greece is always a top choice.

GR: Where do you wish you were right now?

DS: Right now I wish I were exactly where I am. Thankfully, since learning how to start a blog, we have the freedom to travel and live wherever we want. Once we are bored with a place, we can move on. Or, if we’re loving it, we can stay. For now, we’re quite content where we are in the Caribbean.

On the train from Beijing to
Ulanbaatar, Mongolia.

GR: Among those countries you have not yet visited, which ones are at the top of your “must do” list?

DS: There are numerous countries I want to visit and the travel “to-do” list is constantly growing. For now, I’m interested in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Madagascar and the South Pacific islands.

GR: If you could spend the rest of your life somewhere other than your current home country, which country would that be?

DS: It would be somewhere with friendly people, tasty food, lots of natural beauty and a slow-paced way of life. Somewhere in the Caribbean, SE Asia or Mexico most likely.

GR: Please tell us about the most incredible and memorable experience you have ever had while travelling?

DS: One of my most memorable experiences is when we were travelling in Iran. The people there are very hospitable to foreigners and the couple we met went above and beyond. We were at a waterfall and they came up to us to say hi. We chatted for no more than 10 minutes and they had invited us to their house in Esfahan. This sort of thing was normal in Iran. But, what was unexpected was that they invited us to stay with them for a week! They cooked traditional foods, had their friends over for parties, and showed us around their city – local style. We tried to leave numerous times so we wouldn’t overstay our welcome and they were genuinely hurt that we wanted to leave. So, we stayed for a week and had the best time ever.

Zakynthos, Greece.

GR: Based on your travel experiences, if you were to recommend the one most amazing destination for intrepid travellers, which place would that be, and why?

DS: Many destinations around the world are becoming overrun with tourists, though I can highly recommend Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Russia, Albania, numerous places in Africa…etc. etc.! Any of the Central Asian countries offer incredible hiking, history and culture. Mongolia is a camper / hiker / fisherman’s playground with an amazing nomadic lifestyle.

GR: Which people by nationality or subgroup would you say have been the most hospitable during your travels and why do you say so?

DS: There are numerous nationalities / countries that have treated us like family and been incredibly hospitable. But, most notably are probably the Greeks, Chinese, Iranians, Mexicans, English and Canadians.

GR: How do you think travelling around the world for independent travellers has changed over the past 20 years?

DS: Ever since 2008 (when we first started backpacking), travel has changed a lot. Back then, there weren’t smartphones, and hardly any guesthouses or hotels had wifi – we always had to go to an internet cafe for a spotty connection. We relied on our paperback guidebooks, and advice of locals for how to get around and where to eat / stay. This was adventurous and fun for sure… but, these days, due to online websites, it’s kind of nice to be able to read reviews of accommodations before deciding where to stay. It also makes companies have to better themselves if they want to continue to be #1 on TripAdvisor, etc.

GR: Let’s get a bit more personal. Do you have any “must take” items when you travel that you think most travellers don’t think of?

DS: Yes. This didn’t use to be in our bags, but since about 2014, we’ve had a handheld espresso machine by Handpresso! Yep, we love our coffee. For something a bit more sensible, I recommend (and travel with) reusable straws and cutlery, and a waterbottle with filter.

Union Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

GR: What is your favourite travel resource on the Internet?

DS: We always Google “travel to ___, travel blog”. We prefer to read travel blogs when researching a destination. When it comes to reviews about a company or tour, we use TripAdvisor and reviews on Google Maps.

GR: Let’s talk about food. Which one country that you visited has the best food in the world?

DS: I can’t choose just one, that’s impossible! I’ll choose three. Indian, Italian and Mexican food.

GR: Where was the best meal you have ever had during your travels?

DS: During a recent trip to Karakol, Kyrgyzstan we met with a Dungan family (Muslim Chinese) and had a feast on their living room floor. All sorts of vegetables, meats and dumplings were served.

GR: And where was the worst food during your travels?

DS: The worst food was in Malawi. Nothing had any flavour.

GR: What is the weirdest place you have ever spent a night?

DS: We’ve slept basically everywhere you can imagine, but spending the night on a deserted island in the Philippines under nothing more than a mosquito net comes to mind.