From the exotic jungles of Vietnam and the desert of Namibia to the green oasis of Costa Rica and the otherworldly landscape of Socotra in Yemen, the travel duo Farawayfarers explore and photograph the most remote, and not just remote, places on the planet. Maritina and Konstantinos believe that no destination is too far, as long as you truly want to visit it.
Their stunning photographs on Instagram take you on a journey. Exotic destinations, jungles, deserts, glaciers, and mountains, all captured in their unique way, make the popular Farawayfarers account dreamlike. You briefly think how wonderful it would be to travel to one of these places, but quickly dismiss the idea as too distant and expensive. Perhaps that’s what Maritina Laskaridou and Konstantinos Pappas thought when they discovered as colleagues that they shared a common spark for searching and exploring new places. However, they set the goal, and in 2016, they took their first trip to Vietnam. Since then, they have not stopped traveling, and today they can’t even imagine living any differently. And if their magical photos aren’t enough to convince you to take the plunge for a big trip, their adventures will do so themselves.
It all started in 2015, when they met under the same professional roof as designers. Without having traveled outside of Greece, they both shared a strong desire to discover the different, the unusual, and the unknown. They would steal time from their work and spend hours scrolling through maps, travel articles, and photographic material, sending them to each other. This is how their first trip to Vietnam came about, a year later. For their standards at the time, they organized a trip they never imagined they could undertake. They snuck onto a train, slept in the third-largest cave in the world, and walked through a jungle where landmines from the war still existed. It was there that the spark ignited within them. The spark of their love for photography and nature. A spark that was followed by many more.
At first, as employees in a private company, this lifestyle wasn’t easy. With only 22 days of vacation, they could only take one big trip a year. Both self-taught in photography and filmmaking, they spent endless hours after the office and on weekends reading, watching tutorials, and doing editing and practice.
In the last year and a half, the creation of their own advertising, photography, and production company has allowed them to combine travel with work. Now, organizing a trip abroad is more flexible in terms of time, but there is still the stress of organizing and coordinating projects before being away for such a long period, as well as gathering the required budget.
Regarding the difficulties one encounters when staying in nature for an extended period, for them, it’s a matter of perspective: On their last trip to Socotra, Yemen, they camped for 8 days, as there were no traveler facilities there. “The idea of spending so many days outdoors in a country where war is very close by can be quite frightening.” However, the reality shattered any thoughts or doubts. They woke up to the most otherworldly landscapes, cooked and ate on the shores of the Indian Ocean and on high plateaus under endemic plants, danced, and shared stories with the locals all night. Although the lack of basic comforts like toilets and electricity was part of their daily life, the experience was so intense that they never felt the need for anything more. They connected with nature, experienced the simplicity of happiness, and felt complete fulfillment.
The journey that will remain etched in their memories is the road trip they took through Namibia, Africa, where they connected with the grandeur of nature, felt emotions, shivered, and even cried. There, the car’s odometer broke all records as they covered approximately 5,000 km of endless dirt roads in 18 days. They marveled at the Atlantic Ocean meeting the world’s oldest desert. They saw buried Bavarian cities deep in Africa and wild animals crossing their path. They encountered tribes living in harmony with the modern world. Every night, they camped on the roof of their car, in the middle of nowhere, under the clearest sky they had ever seen. This is true freedom: Being in nature, in absolute tranquility. Where body and mind harmonize with the natural environment.
One of the biggest challenges they faced was during their trip to Costa Rica in 2021. They had been planning it for a long time, as it had already been canceled once due to the pandemic and was supposed to last a month. After a severe accident on the seventh day of the trip, they ended up returning to Greece in a wheelchair. It was there that they realized nothing is more important than health. Through unimaginably difficult situations, they became even stronger, more experienced, and more determined to keep going. To never give up. To never stop living.
If all that you’ve read has made you think about adopting this lifestyle, the Farawayfarers can guide you. First and foremost, you need an outlet, a reason. For them, it was photography, but everyone is different and has their own ideals. “If you love nature and travel, there’s a way to make it happen. You have to want it badly and set the right priorities to achieve it. If we can do it, anyone can.”
Now, they can’t imagine their life any other way. Travel and landscape photography have changed their mindset and brought them closer to nature in a much more meaningful way. They appreciate more and more what it has to offer. They feel more aware and more complete than ever.
The goal of the farawayfarers is to share their travel experiences through their photographs. They want to inspire and give ideas to people, encouraging them to travel more. They firmly believe that it’s not necessary to take expensive or distant trips to live a special experience and connect with nature. Beautiful landscapes can be found anywhere in the world, which is why they aim to highlight parts of Greece that many people may not even know exist. Their purpose is to transport you mentally to the places they visit through images, films, and stories. In their future plans, they hope to shoot a documentary series featuring landscapes from all over Greece, and their long-anticipated website showcasing their experiences will soon be live.
When asked about their dream trip that they haven’t yet undertaken, their answer was anything but predictable: the Kuril Islands, an archipelago located in northeastern Asia, stretching from northeastern Japan to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. Belonging to Russia, the islands are almost inaccessible, with only oceanographers and National Geographic photographers typically venturing there.
Another destination that fascinates them is the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean, which are almost invisible on the map, as well as Antarctica. The only certainty is that these choices require a large budget and a lot of time, but the journey never ends.
