About Reeves Roam

Hi, we’re Ben and Becca, the founders of Reeves Roam.

That’s us in South Africa back in 2017.

And yes, they are owls on our heads…

…and yes, they are real!

We started this site in 2023, as an offshoot of Ben’s first travel site – The Sabbatical Guide. We decided we wanted somewhere separate to talk about our love of travel and build out our destination guides and stories together, so start this site.

As a couple we have travelled a lot together, and we have lived in the UK and Australia, and Ben also grew up spending lots of time in South Africa, so we are experts on travel in these two countries. We have also written at length about Southeast Asia, Malta and Seychelles.

Travel

Travel became a central part of my world as a kid. My dad’s job took him away from home a lot, to Bangladesh, India and Indonesia to name a few. He would come back with incredible gifts of far-flung places that didn’t seem quite real.

When I was about ten, he made a permanent move out to South Africa. My sister and I joined him in all the major school holidays to go on adventures that were almost unimaginable before. Road trips up to Vic Falls, long dark evenings playing cards in Kruger National Park or driving the Garden Route down to Cape Town. 

My dad was a brave man taking young kids on journeys like this, and I think it was these experiences that led to my deep-rooted need to travel. 

When you combine this with my mum’s skills as a teacher, you start to get a picture of why I became who I am.

Someone who craves travel, but also loves to learn and write about my experiences.

Someone who wants to have experiences that you can’t get at home, but also create a trail behind me reminding me of where I’ve been. Photographs do this, as do memories, but writing has always been my first love – whether it be music, poetry, or now, sharing my stories through travel writing.

My career has helped me to do this. Giving me the money and annual leave to travel and more recently using sabbatical leave to see even more of the world.

Travelling As A Couple

My companion through the last ten years of travel has been my wife Becca. When we first met, she hadn’t done much travelling, but now she’s the one pushing us on! We’ve seen so much of the world together, and I’ve loved every moment of it. 

Time on the road would definitely be boring without her there. I’d be rattling through temples, museums and churches, but with her, we’re paragliding, visiting zoos and getting every fun/train or tour bus she can find! 

Travelling as a couple is not always easy, being in such close company can push people to their limits, but somehow we’ve found a way. We’re both pretty easy going, which helps, but normally a quick sugar fix picks up whoever is the most grumpy! 

All I know is that I wouldn’t have seen half of what I have without her by my side. We’re not the bravest travellers in the world, and we like our home comforts, but we are the living proof that if you put your mind to it, you can find a way to incorporate travel into your life.

And that the world doubles in excitement when you share it with someone.

Countries Visited

I love a list, and I love a map, which is why things like this are dangerous for me! Travel is not all about ticking things off, but it is interesting to see where I’ve been in the world, and I love setting myself targets.

Here is my current list of countries visited:

The list below may look a bit different from the normal list of 195 countries that are currently in the world. I use a list from a book called ‘The World‘ by Lonely Planet. It has a list of 231 countries and territories.

If you want to see how and why I came to the decision to use this list, then have a read of my post ‘How Many Countries are There to Visit?‘.

To count as an official visit in my book, two things need to have happened:

• Leaving the airport.
• Staying overnight.

And if I haven’t been there, you won’t find it on the list. I’m not one of those travel blogs that just collates information, I have to have been there for it to make it on here.

<<< My Current Total 29/231 >>>

Some Non-Travel Things We Love

• Ryan Adams
• Marzipan
• Rugby union (and rugby league – yes, both!)
• Snake documentaries (but not snakes!)
• Lifting weights
• Blues guitar
• Maps
• The Simpsons
• Running
• Cats
• The War On Drugs
• Everything French
• The Dolphins
• Pinotage, Malbec, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc wines
• Steve Irwin