Hey, thanks for stopping 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 document and share our adventures with you on a personal level, and hopefully inspire you to do the same.
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 capturing moments in time through our photography, we also try to educate ourselves and learn from the different cultures and people we meet along the way.
Be sure to follow our socials to keep up to date with what’s going on, and thanks for the support! Hopefully we’ll catch you out there on the road.
Charlie & Lauren x
Keep scrolling to get to know us a little more personally and to find out how Wanderers & Warriors began…
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 parents 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 met Lauren…
Hi, I’m Lauren…
For 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 spoken to each other. Our paths crossed one day in our local shopping centre, having both returned home from our solo ventures, 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 more of the world.
Naturally we arranged to hang out, and found random things to do in our area. 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 perfectly matched. And within a couple of weeks of getting to know each other, it was inevitable that neither of us were going to leave the UK without one another.
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. We accepted that bumping into each other at home wasn’t in fact too good to be true.
The Clothing Brand
What a lot of people don’t know, is that Wanderers & Warriors originally 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 marketing our brand through Instagram. We taught ourselves everything we needed to know – from screen printing tees 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 that we were receiving so many messages of support from the travel community and opening up our Instagram account to see photos of our clothing in all sorts of iconic and exotic 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 Instagram page to our own personal documentation of our travels and that’s where it really gets interesting…
The Instagram
At the time we didn’t know anything about ‘influencers’, ‘content creators’ or ‘travel bloggers’. We were simply using the page to keep a visual diary like everyone else on the app. Something to look back on, and a way of sharing our moments/memories with friends and family back home.
We had a following of around 20,000 people from the clothing brand and everything we saw, we documented and we shared. Not necessarily for everyone else. But for us.
It wasn’t until around two months into our travels, at the end of our visit to India, that we were contacted by a local 5-star hotel. Bearing in mind at this stage we were staying in backpacker hostels for around $1 a night, when they invited us to stay with them for a couple of nights in return for some exposure on our Instagram account, of course we were blown away!
A lot of excitement and a well deserved rest later, it was then that the penny dropped. We had a niche audience and we held value! Not just value to hotels but to anyone that wanted marketing.
Almost overnight the Instagram turned from a hobby into a business venture. We looked into what was going well on Instagram, embraced our passion and our story, and learnt about colours and editing.
We became self promoters in what we believe in. Spreading love, positivity and happiness everywhere we go!
And long may the journey continue…
Awesome guys ? Keep it up! Love from Malaysia
Thanks so much! 🙂
Great to read all that ? I love a how we met story!! ❤️❤️
Ah awesome. Glad you enjoyed it 😀
You guys have an amazing story together.
Keep on working hard and posting the greatest content ???
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.
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❤️
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 ??
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?
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!!! ???
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!! ?
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 ♥️♥️
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.
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!
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! ?❤
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 ??
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?
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!
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??
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
Aww thanks so much Emily ??
Greetings from Poland
Thanks Michal 🙂
Amazing positive inspiration! Wish you all the best from NZ??
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..
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:)
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 ?
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!
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! 🙂
Really appreciate your blog about India. Being an Indian I could say it’s true to every point mentioned.
Great storie! Keep it up!! Love your content, got all the tips from Bali and I enjoyed it all! Love from Brazil ?
Hey thanks so much Aline! Sending love back to Brazil! 🙂
Great story guys… I watch your stories everyday. It’s as if you were friends of mine, and I’m catching up on what your up 2… haha
Wish you both the best of luck in the world!!!!
Aww Laura! Haha we ARE your friends. Hey thanks so much for always supporting us it means a lot and says a lot about your character! 🙂
WOw! i am up way past 2 AM in New Zealand and my mentor was teaching us about branding and brand story and your site was mentioned. WOW! I have been to Bali and will return to open up my first Art Gallery in Seminyak and your story encouraged me! Thank you for sharing!
Author
Aww what a lovely message! Thank you. That’s so crazy to think we were mentioned in your session haha. Have an awesome trip and maybe see you there! 🙂
Never thought I’d have any desire to be a traveler. Watching you guys has made me look at life through s different lens. I’ve always felt there’s more to my life than what it’s become. At this point in my life, I’m far from having the resources to travel. However… I’m going to make it happen. This isn’t a dream. It’s a vision. There!! I spoke it into existence. Now through hard work, the universe will support me. See you soon.
Wow, guys, we’re sitting in a cafe in Hoi An, Vietnam and just came across this post. I just burst into tears. Thanks for making me look like an utter weirdo. What a beautiful story, and so similar to our own story. Great work, keep it up!
Author
Aww guys! This melts our heart. Thanks for taking the time to read our story and best of luck with all the travels!! 🙂
I really like your story.You people are inspiration to me.Currently am pursuing post graduation.I would like to explore new places and cultures.Once I complete my studies, I will start travelling.I’m from India,the first country you both travelled together.I was amazed that you people used public transportation and through this I came to know how you guys stayed.its really amazing.In future, I hope you will give me good travel guidance.
Thank you in advance.
Love you.
Love your story and the fact that you guys spread positivity and happiness! That’s amazing !
Olivia & Alvaro
Author
Thanks so much guys! Love the support!
Amazing story and so glad a few days off work and I’ve found your channel and story . Thankyou
Author
Ah thanks so much Kieron! Glad to have you on board!
Love your story so much! Have only come across you recently because of the van but now am all into your YT channel and story.
Author
Aw thanks so much Angela! Really appreciate the support on everything.