Last week we spent a few days in Austin, TX for a little gathering called TravelCon. To be honest, we were pretty overwhelmed going into the whole experience, being conference newbies and all, but the crowd couldn’t have been better.

On the second day, we were introduced to a couple who called themselves The Tipsy Gypsies. Nate and Marta Connella describe themselves as “a married couple who quit everything to go see and experience the world.” They also like to chronicle their adventures through film, photography, and adult beverages.

Nate is a pretty fantastic filmmaker and has had a few of his travel films featured on Lonely Planet, National Geographic, BBC World News and Travel+Leisure. I really love his style because you can see that he likes to get up close and personal with the culture and people. So many travel filmmakers today rely too much on cinematic drone shots and in Nate’s films you can really feel the atmosphere on the street.

Take the example below, a one and a half minute look at their time in Hong Kong. You can feel the hustle and bustle in the streets in a city that houses some 7.4 million people.

Travel and Food and Drink

There’s not much that will get you closer to a culture than by enjoying local cuisine and drinks. For a lot of people that means venturing out a little farther than most tourists and seeing the soul of the locals in their own districts. I love Paris, but if you never leave the touristy center, you probably haven’t experienced the real grittiness of the city and the people that walk its streets.

In 2016, Nate and Marta traveled through Portugal for a month, starting in the north at Porto and heading down south to Lisboa. “If a country's wealth were based solely on the kindness and character of its people, Portugal would be one of the richest countries in the world,” said The Tipsy Gypsies about their film The Spirit of Portugal.

Check it out below and experience Portugal through the eyes of The Tipsy Gypsies, then plan a trip for yourself. After all, this is a site for inspiration. Now get out and travel! And thanks to Nate and Marta for hanging out and talking travel. Y’all are the best!

Cover Photo by The Tipsy Gypsies.