About US
Hey, and welcome to our travel blog!
We’re Livia & Sam. A Swede and a Brit travelling around the world and trying to make it work. We met at work in Amsterdam, and have been together since 2016 and got engaged two years later. This year we sold all our things and ended the contract on our apartment in Amsterdam to go travelling around the world. This has been a dream for the both of us for a long time, and we finally decided to make it a reality.
Read more about our individual stories below. You can also read more about why we decided to go travelling indefinitely in this blog post
- We also have our own traveling companion – the now instafamous @abearcalledpaddington
A wannabe Disney princess by day and ninja by night.
I was born in Stockholm, Sweden, but I never really felt at home there. When I moved away to study, I chose Malmö in the south of Sweden, and after five years there I decided it was time for another change. That decision eventually took me to Amsterdam, where I lived for three years and met Sam.
I think I’ve always had itchy feet. Travel has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, probably thanks to my dad, who was backpacking around Thailand already in the 1960s.
There’s a saying in Sweden: “Borta bra, men hemma bäst” which roughly translates to “Away is good, but home is best.” My dad always joked that for me it was the other way around. Looking back, he was probably right.
When my dad passed away in March 2018, it completely shook my world and forced me to reevaluate what really mattered in life. Around the same time, Sam and I realised we were both living lives that no longer made us happy.
So we made a drastic decision… We sold almost everything we owned, packed what was left into backpacks, and set off to travel the world indefinitely. 🌍
Hi, my name is Sam, I grew up in Bradford in the UK and later moved to the Netherlands, where I lived for about 15 years before setting off into full-time travel.
Over the years I’ve worked across two very different worlds: food and IT. I’ve worked with website design, coding, server support, graphic design, and digital projects, but before moving into tech I worked in a butcher’s shop, a wine merchant, and later as a chef in several five-star hotels and restaurants.
Food has always been a huge part of my life. My mum always used to say, “Cook with love,” and it’s something I still believe in today.
One of my favourite things about travelling is discovering street food. Seeing, smelling, and tasting new dishes around the world is a passion of mine, and I’ve found that some of the best conversations happen while eating alongside locals.
I’m also a huge fan of graffiti and street art. It can completely transform a place and often leads to some of the best walks through a city. And wherever we go, I’m always searching for great independent coffee spots.
Travel had always been a dream of mine, but for a long time it just never felt realistic. That changed when Livia and I started travelling together, along the way we discovered a shared love for photography, storytelling, blogging, and life on the road.
Eventually we stopped waiting for “someday”. We sold everything, packed our lives into backpacks, and took a leap into full-time travel and exploring the world together.
What started as a lighthearted joke in 2016, when Livia and Sam “borrowed” the family teddy bear for a trip around Europe, soon became something much bigger. After sharing playful postcard-style photos on Instagram, they launched @abearcalledpaddington in 2018 while travelling full-time around the world.
More than seven years later, after visiting over 40 countries across six continents, abearcalledpaddington is still exploring the world one tiny adventure at a time. Through Paddington’s perspective, the account shares famous landmarks, hidden corners, local food, and everyday moments from around the globe.
Inspired by the quote, “If we are kind and polite, the world will be right,” the account remains positive, respectful, and open-minded. It’s a space focused on travel, culture, curiosity, and human connection.
Every photo is taken from Paddington’s perspective, often attracting smiles and confused looks from passersby wondering why a small bear is having his photo taken. The answer is always the same: “It’s for Instagram.”
With an adventurous spirit and open heart, abearcalledpaddington continues to discover the world one pawprint at a time.
- the now instafamous @abearcalledpaddington
