Hippie and Corporate: the vegan eco-friendly backpacker couple

They are not only backpackers, they are also vegan, eco-friendly and extremely nice couple!

1 - Hi Hippie and Corporate! Tell us a bit about yourselves.

Hi HostelsClub! We are João (the Hippie) and Rita (the Corporate), a vegan and eco-friendly travel couple from Portugal. We also have two other team members that work with us on special projects: Judith Pressler (photographer) and Diogo Candelot (videographer).

We started recording our travels when we decided to live full-time in a van in London. It was very raw (our blog, photos,...) at first but recently we started to take things more seriously since we realised this is a way of living that is exciting and doable at the same time.

We also think it is important to show other people different lifestyles and hope to create a positive impact in people's hearts.

2 - What is the vegan/ eco project?

Ah, such an exciting project for us! As vegan we believe that there is a responsibility to take care of the environment when traveling. To respect the concept of eco-tourism. Our objective is to do a Eco Vegan City Guide of all the cities we visit. So that other eco tourists can have a "green" database of info.

3 - You lived 7 months in a van in the UK, would you like to tell us more about your adventure?

It was one of the most intense adventures of our lives so far. We had to choose at a certain point to continue to live inside 4 walls or to buy a van and live full time traveling the UK. We choose the later. Our van was fully self contained allowing us to be anywhere and still have a place we can call home with us.

It was exciting, scary, and 7 months full of emotions that we will cherish forever. And by the way, we want to buy another van!! The adventure will continue!!

4 - You wrote a really interesting article in your blog (hippieandcorporate.com) about tips on how to hitchike Europa but you don't tell much about your own adventure...

We did a trip to Hungary to attend Ozora, and returned to London hitchhiking. Wow, it was something. We travelled mostly in the south of Europe and met the most interesting people. It was super challenging. The heat was unbearable, and that meant passing out a few times, feeling sick by the side of the road and also have enormous faith in strangers. Even the ones that we might not had a connection with. It made us grow and accept the present moment, no matter what.

5 - Is it always easy to travel with your partner?

It is way easier than difficult. We love to spend time together, sharing adventures, going to festivals, meeting new people. It's a 14 year old relationship, meaning we really like each other!! But of course bad things happen sometimes.

Lack of sleep tends to affect us. We get moody and cranky! This has happened in several trips. Our way to deal with it was loving each other so much that we recognise that a storm is coming in. So we communicate immediately instead of bottling all in and exploding after making everything worse. Communication is indeed key!

6 - Can you give us a preview of the project H and C Travel Items?

It is still being developed but we are trying and experimenting with new vegan and eco products in the market for travel. We think it is important to promote brands that value the environment and the animals. This project is the place on our website for this new adventure.

7 - We heard you've been participating in the Boom Festival! How was it?

8 - I read in one of your posts you LOVE hostels, why is that?

When João started working for a Hostels company we were able to travel and understand what it is the Hostel lifestyle. And yes, it is a lifestyle! A hostel is not just a place for you to sleep and leave in the morning. A hostel is a place to meet the backpackers from all over the World. A place that everyday has different activities like PubCrawls or Yoga workshops,... It is a tiny world of cool people all around. Need I say more?!

We personally prefer Hostels to Hotels. It matches with our personality.

We think hostels are the best too!

...but do you know how to choose the best hostel for you? Check our guide on our to choose the perfect hostel for you here.