Dalene and Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels
TRAVEL INTERVIEW: Dalene and Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels
Canadians Dalene and Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels gave up their careers, home and possessions back in 2008 to set out and travel the world. They prefer quite slow-paced travels, often taking on multiple-month-long volunteer or house-sitting stints and really immersing themselves in the places they visit.
In this interview we find out how they got started on their nomadic lifestyle, views on how Hecktic Travels has become so successful, how they manage to travel together 24/7, favorite places, and other perspectives on traveling the world.
Without further ado, here are Dalene and Pete Heck:
Q1. When you packed up your former lives in Canada and set out to travel the world, did you have some idea in mind of how long you’d travel? Did you ever imagine you’d make nomadic travels a life-long pursuit like it is now?
When we left we knew only one thing – that we wouldn’t return to the life we once had. No more house that was too big for us, no more soul-sucking corporate jobs, nothing like that. Whether that meant settling down in a new country, or roaming the world indefinitely, we didn’t know.
We mostly expected to settle in South or Central America and wile away our days in a beach bungalow somewhere. Little did we know that the insatiable travel bug would dig itself so deeply into us – such that settling down was no longer an immediate option!
Dalene and Pete working with kids to improve their English in Bolivia
Q2. Most people who set out to travel the world begin by actually traveling – ie. Moving from place to place, seeing the sites, and exploring. But you guys started with a 2-month volunteer project, essentially re-locating to a different ‘temporarily permanent’ location. Didn’t you have the urge to travel? Why did you choose to start your trip as you did?
We started our travels in South America with barely any knowledge of Spanish. So we knew that we wanted to be slightly settled in a temporary place while we picked up the language and gained our ‘traveling feet’. It really was our first attempt at backpacking ever, and we knew we should take it slow at the start. We had actually thought that we might stay three months, but after two, the urge to roam was too strong so we headed to our next country.
Also, we had a strong urge to volunteer. We had just gone through a very difficult time where my sister and Pete’s mother passed away within a few months of each other. I subsequently went through a deep depression, and one of the things that snapped me out of it was a book I read that suggested helping others as a way to get through your own pain.
That really spoke to me, and we spent our first two months volunteering in Sucre, Bolivia (and several times since). It felt really good to give back when we have been so fortunate in our lives. I think I got more out of it than those kids did.
Pete and Dalene at Johnston Canyon near Banff – Canada
Q3. I always like to ask traveling couples how they cope with being together 24/7 for months or years on end. You are now living, traveling and working together more or less constantly. That’s not how couples live in the ‘normal’ world, where each person has work, separate hobbies and friends, etc. which create time apart.
How do you manage the 24/7 together lifestyle? Do you have some strategies for difficult times? Do you schedule in solo time? Travel separately at times? Or?
This was a real struggle for us in the first few months of travel. We discovered the hard way that solo time is absolutely necessary. The tough part was recognizing that just a few hours apart would make a big difference!
We had to learn to ask each other for time, and to not judge each other for it, or take it personally. That was a hard realization, but valuable. We still have our tiffs, like any normal married couple, but we’ve pretty much become each other’s right arm.
We have talked about doing solo travel just to get a different perspective and gain a little independence back, but neither of us really wants to. We like each other a lot.
Q4. Is there anything you miss about your former lives in Canada?
There are a few things we miss, sure, like the proximity to family and friends, or the “comforts” of home when either of us are sick or just having a bad day. But that sort of yearning is rare. We are, without question, living the life of our dreams and have no desire to return to our former lives.
Q5. Why do you love nomadic long-term travels so much?
It is the ongoing education that is just so addicting. We love waking up in a new country every couple of months, fumbling through the language and trying to find our way. We love meeting new people, trying new foods, and really getting an understanding for what it’s like on the other side of the world.
Our preference is to travel slow and dive into local culture as much as possible. There is just no better way to learn then to be out in the world and constantly challenging ourselves.
Q6. You just traveled through Europe for several months. What were your favorite 3 places and why?
Oooh – tough question!
Even though Turkey is technically only 3% in Europe (and the rest in Asia), we’re going to include it anyway and say that we love, love, love everything about that country. We dream about it often, and can’t wait to return. And it is all because of the people – the most generous and hospitable people we have ever met in the world.
We also fell a little in love with Slovenia. It’s such a beautiful mountainous country and we love to spend time tramping around in the wilderness. We also made some very dear friends there and are excited to return someday.
Finally, how can a top three list of Europe NOT include Italy? And for one main reason: food, food, food!
Pete and Dalene spending an afternoon in Turkey with a grade 11 English class
Q7. Were there any places in Europe you didn’t like? If so, where and what was the turn off?
We both really didn’t care for London (and we still take a lot of flack for writing about that).
We spent three weeks house-sitting there, and just didn’t get what the big deal is. It felt too much like being back in corporate Canada perhaps, where the Tube was filled with people running to/from their jobs, looking miserable. Nothing felt unique about the city or culture – unless you count the hoopla around the royal family I suppose, which as Commonwealth-tax-paying Canadians, is more annoying than anything.
Q8. Americans, at least, have an image that South America is dangerous and that developed, 1st-world Europe is safe. Since you’ve spent quite a lot of time in both regions, what did you find in terms of safety, danger and crime?
Each continent has areas to be avoided, and others that feel very free and safe. We have no incidents to report in either place as we generally are pretty careful.
In South America, we did hear about more unfortunate events, but they were most often preceded with statements like: “I was walking through a park alone at 5 am, drunk, and carrying my camera”, or “I just left my wallet on the table for a minute.”
There is no doubt that you have to be a bit more on guard as ‘crimes of opportunity’ are more common, but it is fairly easy to stay out of trouble. We never once felt threatened there and actually had two instances of people returning items that we accidentally left behind (including our passports in Chile and my iPod in the Galapagos Islands)!
Hecktic Travels at the Empire State Building – NYC
Q9. You’ve been running your travel blog, Hecktic Travels, for about 1 ½ years now and it has grown phenomenally in that time. Congratulations! What do you think are the main reasons for your popularity?
Thanks so much Lash! I wish we knew for sure, then we’d do more of it.
I think some of our success has come from just being completely honest. We’ve borne a large part of our souls on our blog – we’ve written about the troubles in our past that led us to travel. We are honest when we don’t like places or about the times when we are just tired of traveling.
We do treat it like an online journal and a chronological narration of our travels and thus we keep it very personal. I highly believe that people follow blogs because they can make a real connection with the authors, and it actually has less to do with the places visited or things done.
We also work really, really, hard at it, and are always trying to increase our skills to do even more. Pete is very dedicated to becoming a better photographer and I am getting more invested in video, and I think our efforts are beginning to show.
Pete and Dalene enjoying mud baths at the Dead Sea
Q10. Since you’re running Hecktic Travels together, do you each have specific roles, jobs and duties? Who does what?
It was quite a struggle in the beginning to figure this out, but now we’ve fallen into natural roles and it seems to work well for both of us.
I do 95% of the writing, all the video, handle the business side of things plus our facebook page and twitter account.
Pete takes 95% of all the photos and does all the photo editing, which is the major part of his time. He also handles StumbleUpon and Pinterest, and cleans up all the technical type things that I mess up (which happens a lot).
Q11. Are there any places in the world you’re just dying to visit? If so where and why?
Pete’s first answer to that is Antarctica, and my answer is Everywhere. I can’t just pick any particular places – I want to see them all! Why? Because we haven’t been there yet.
Q12. What’s up for you and Hecktic Travels in 2013?
Oh, if only we knew, I would tell you!
Our next house-sitting gig in Wisconsin will see us through until mid-January, and as of right now, we have no clue where we are going next. We stay true to the “No Plans” part of our tagline pretty closely, and so are open for any opportunities that may arise! You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.
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Thanks very much, Dalene and Pete, for telling us all about your travels, volunteering and travel blog. Hope to meet you out on the road one day soon! cheers, Lash
Follow Pete and Dalene:
FB: hecktictravels
Twitter: @hecktictravels
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How to House Sit – ebook by Dalene and Pete of Hecktic Travels
Pete and Dalene have become somewhat of experts on House Sitting around the globe!
They’ve written an excellent guidebook on how to get house sitting gigs. If you’re interested in finding great homes to stay in and lovely pets to take care of, for FREE, check out their guidebook to get started!
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
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