What’s up guys, and thanks for passing by!
We’re Charlie Pauly & Lauren Cliffe, a free spirited travel couple originally from the UK.
This is our little corner of the internet where we get to share our adventures with you on a personal level and hopefully inspire you to do the same. So if you’re new to the journey, then welcome aboard!
After growing up in a small town, we soon came to realise that we were not made to stay in one place. We were made to wander! So now, we combine our sense of humour, love of travel and passion for life to explore the world.
As well as taking cool photos, we also try to educate ourselves and learn from the different cultures and people we meet along the way.
We’re a small team with big dreams and on a constant pursuit of happiness. So keep on following the journey and who knows, hopefully we’ll catch you out there on the road someday.
See you soon,
Charlie & Lauren x
Keep scrolling to get to know us a little more personally and to find out how Wanderers & Warriors all began…
Video shot & edited by @lifeofjira
Our Personal Stories
Hi, I’m Charlie…
After spending my younger years growing up in a boxing gym, travel was not always going to be my first choice of career.
Born into a fighting family, my parents ran a professional boxing gym in Peterborough for over 30 years. So from as soon as I could make a fist, I was always going to be a boxer. I grew up addicted to the sport and after many years competing, was finally offered a professional contract at the age of 20. Ironically it was my dad who convinced me to ‘take a break’ before settling down to focus on my career.
So off I went, on a three month planned trip up the East Coast of Australia. Not knowing this trip would change my life.
Three months turned into one year and one year turned into New Zealand, South East Asia and beyond. I had become addicted to travel. Nothing else mattered but to see as much of the world as possible. Three and a half years later I visited home in the UK and that was when I found Lauren…
Hi, I’m Lauren…
As long as I can remember I’d always been a little tom boy. I was the girl with the dungarees and the muddy knees. I think I was just born to explore.
After growing up around a loving family, there was really no need for me to ever leave. I worked odd jobs and did the usual things a teenager does. I was fortunate enough to have beautiful friends but I always longed for something more. From a young age I’d always been sure that no amount of money could ever match love or happiness. My ultimate goal in life was to be happy.
So as soon as I was old enough I’d jump in my car and drive. I’d road trip to random places, a lot of the time alone, just to be free. Being free made me happy. It’s funny I was always known as the child that never sat still and now I’m the adult that still can’t.
It wasn’t until a spontaneous decision made me book a flight to Australia that I first caught the travel bug. I travelled the East Coast and knew my ‘desire to explore’ had finally found a purpose. There were hundreds of countries out there, cultures, foods, people to meet.
I only spent 4 months in Australia before my money ran out and I had to head home to save for my next trip but I was content. I was going to head home, get some more money together and go again! And that’s when I met Charlie…
Where It All Began
It’s funny, we actually went to the same school, lived in the same town and had many mutual friends, but had never once spoken to each other. Our paths crossed one day in our local shopping centre, having both returned home from solo travel, and of course we got straight onto the topic of travel.
What were the chances; we were in the same place, at the same time and on the same mission…to get back out and see the world.
Naturally we arranged to hang out and find random, adventurous things to do. We’d speak openly about how we never believed we’d find someone suited for us in our hometown, but sure enough one date led to another and so the story began.
Our personalities were identical. Our morals, values and the amount of love we had to give were obvious! That, matched with our sense of humours and positive mentalities just made us inseparable. Within a couple of weeks it was undeniable, neither of us were leaving the UK without each other.
Who knows if fate brought us together or not? All we knew was that we’d found our soulmate and travel buddy all in one and we planned on conquering the world together. The amount of laughter we had in those first few weeks shaped us into the relationship we cherish now.
One thing led to another – flights got cancelled, homes got moved and on 24th October 2016 two became one and we accepted that bumping into each other at home wasn’t too good to be true.
The Clothing Brand
What a lot of people don’t know, is that Wanderers & Warriors actually began as a clothing brand…
After arriving home from our separate travels, we found ourselves brainstorming ideas of how we could create something of our own. Something that we’d be both proud of and passionate about…oh, and of course it had to be travel related. So after a lot of late nights and screwed up pieces of paper, Wanderers & Warriors was born. A global online destination for fashion-forward, free-spirited travellers.
We began building our online profile and taught ourselves everything we needed to know from screen printing to how to run an E-commerce store. After months of trial and error and DIY photo shoots, the hard work eventually began to pay off. We were fulfilling orders all over the world and running to the post office everyday with different country codes on our packages. The best part of it all, was receiving messages of support from the travel community and opening up our Instagram to see photos tagged in all sorts of iconic places around the world.
Our platform grew and our sales increased and before we knew it, it was time for us to pack back up and head out again. As much as it was exciting to be getting back on the road, it was a bittersweet feeling knowing we’d have to close the store temporarily.
So on 1st June 2017 we switched the store to our own personal adventures and the rest is history…
Click HERE to read more about our alternative life in UK before we hit the road.
Awesome guys 😊 Keep it up! Love from Malaysia
Author
Thanks so much! 🙂
Great to read all that 😊 I love a how we met story!! ❤️❤️
Author
Ah awesome. Glad you enjoyed it 😀
You guys have an amazing story together.
Keep on working hard and posting the greatest content 💪💪💛
Author
Thanks so much guys! The hustle never stops but it’s so worth it when we receive feedback like this 🙂
Just love your story. Waiting for a partner of mine to travel since I am a writer.
Author
Aw thank you so much!
Your part of my daily routine, 😊 reading and checking your stories in ig everyday. Happy to read this ❤️ Enjoy traveling i love your blog❤️
Author
This comment has made our day 😀 to know there are people out there that smile because of us is such a great feeling! Thank you for always supporting us 😀
I love ur life style, one day I want to have the same project as u two !! Travel the world with someone that complete u !!
U should come in my country one day, there are plenty of places to visit.
Bye
From Brazil 🇧🇷
Author
Thanks so much!! We will definitely get to Brazil and spread some love over there one day 😁🙌🏼
Wanderers & Warriors & Wonderfull ♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️ No more words to say😊
Author
Aww Nirua! What a beautiful comment 💜 thank you!
your story is so beautiful ❤️ thanks for sharing, I think I now believe more in fate and soulmates 😌😂😍 Im always watching and waiting for your ig posts and ig stories, and everyday you always make us laugh with your adventures.. love you guys!!! 🌹🌹🌹
Author
Angellll 😍 what a lovely comment! Thank you so much for always supporting us, really it means a lot 💜 hope to meet you one day!
I also hope to meet you someday, then im gonna go fan girling when I see youuuu both 😍😅😊 hope you’ll be back in the philippines!! 💛
Author
Haha amazingggg! As soon as we book a flight you will be the first to know 🙌🏼✈️
I already love how you two give positive vibes but your story just made me love you more! ♥️ I hope one day I can find someone who would explore the world with me and just live life! You two are such an inspiration ♥️♥️
Author
Aww Nella! 😍 glad you love us for who we are haha! You will definitely find someone with such a beautiful mentality 💜
Thank you guys for inspiring so much of our travels.
Author
Thank you for always supporting us!
Hi guys! I really enjoy your content. My big Trip is 5 months ago now and ofcourse your trips are making me a little bit jelous. I think what makes you special, compared to All the other travel bloggers is your authenticy (spelled right?). You Show behindert the scenes and always show your Fans and followers a different view of things. I would love to see more critical content, even If it would cause some negative vibes, i am super interested in your thoughts and experience. I would love to learn more about your travel and See some deeper content ones in a while.
Stay as you are and always share love!
PROST from germany!
Author
Hey aliceee! Wow what an awesome comment thank you so much! We definitely take pride in being authentic and just being ourselves so we’re so glad you appreciate that 😁🙌🏼 thanks for the support and we’ll keep on hustling!
Love your story. And I love checking out your insta posts and stories everyday. Those photos on your instafeed are soo amazing. You guys are just awesome, would love to meet you guys someday! Keep travelling and uploading! 😉❤
Author
Yessss. If we are ever near you please just message. We love meeting up with everyone. And thank you so much for the kind word and following our journey 😁🧡
Love your story & cant wait to reach Bali 😊🌿
Author
Yesss. You will love Bali! 😍
It was amazing reading about you guys. And I never knew before that it all started with the clothing brand. Interesting! You both are super cute and keep up the super cool work. Also, how do you manage the finances?? And how did you guys finance your initial trips?
Author
Thanks so much! Yes it’s good to share about the clothing brand as a lot of our followers don’t know that! We will write a blog soon explaining how we manage money of the road 😁🧡
Loved this fairytale of a story! Checking out your instagram stories and posts everyday makes me more excited to start travelling more and more! My friend and I are just beginning our own travel instagram and blog, to document our travels and try to allow us to keep exploring new places – how did you build your initial following to keep being able to live this dreamy adventure?? Hope you’re enjoying Singapore atm – we’ll be following in your footsteps in June!
Author
Hey Rachael, thanks so much for following! We started with the clothing brand which built us a fairly good Instagram following. Then when we were ready to take off again we already had a base and just had to learn the blogging side of things. Best of luck with it all, we’re just uploading our Singapore blogs now 🙂
You both are great Travel soul Respect to you sir and mam. I being a travel maniac see you as my inspiration.See you sometime hopefully Love from India🤗🤗
Author
Thank you so much! That means a lot. Hopefully we’ll return to India some day 🙂
I loved reading this. You have a gift for writing! So beautifully put. X
Author
Aww thanks so much Emily 😍💜
Greetings from Poland
Author
Thanks Michal 🙂
Amazing positive inspiration! Wish you all the best from NZ👋🤗
Author
Aww thank you so much! Kia Ora 🙂
So sweet, very inspiring, I hope to have a fun love story just like you guys .. God bless your relationship Charlie and Lauren..
Author
Thanks so much! What a lovely comment 😀
Just found you on IG recently and I’m so pumped of your content! Your sense of humor is just so coool! Happy travels and greetings from Lisbon:)
Author
Aww what a lovely comment! Thank you so much for the kind words and for following us. 🙂
I loved reading this and learning more about you guys! If any two people were meant to meet each other, it’s you two! I look forward to your posts every day and can’t wait see the Philippines through your adventures. Until then, enjoy your well deserved family time at home!
Kate and Honey 🐾
Author
Kate Kate Kate, you’ve been there from almost the beginning and we’re blessed to have people like you supporting us! Thank you for always being there and hopefully we can catch you in that ‘UK time’ x
Your story is beautiful, thanks for sharing! We’re visiting Bali, Lombok and Gili T this December and your itineraries and blogs have been super useful – thanks!
Author
Aww thanks so much that’s literally the best thing you can tell us haha. Glad the blogs came in useful and your trip was a success! 🙂