9 Days, 9 Countries, 9 Christmas Markets (part 1)

Episode 912 | Filmed December 2023 | Brussels, Belgium | Salsberg, Austria | Nuremberg, Germany

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Who are Kara and Nate?!

Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, we got married 2013 and were super “normal.” I was a teacher and Nate started a small printing business from the spare bedroom of our apartment.

We discovered the world of “travel hacking” while planning our honeymoon & became addicted ;)

So after 2 years of obsessively saving $35k and over 2 million miles and points, we sold our cars and apartment and left home January 10, 2016 for a “one year” trip around the world.

Our goal was to see as many places as possible before we ran out of money and went back home to “normal life.” We started this channel to share our experiences with friends and family, but quickly fell in love with living on the road and found a new passion for capturing our travels through video. So we did everything we could to keep going.

4 years later, we achieved our new goal of visiting 100 countries and all 7 continents. We had no plans to slow down, until 2020 forced us to ;) Which is when we bought a converted van to start exploring our own country for the first time!

After ~2 years of van life, we are back to full time international traveling! And now we are finding the best adventures the world has to offer :)

We are incredibly grateful to be able to continue doing something we love every day. 😊🎥🌎 Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey!

0:00 9 countries 9 days
0:57 Day 1: Brussels, Belgium
9:07 Day 2: Salsberg, Austria
18:17 KRAMPUS RUN
21:14 Day 3: Nuremberg, Germany
30:57 Bloops

[doke]

Hey, I’m the Chris mentioned!! I’m so glad that you went!! And by the way, I commented before on one of their videos about how nice they were to me after my mother died, and how she was a big fan of them. Kara and Nate are legitimately every bit as nice as you’d expect. It’s great that with how the world is these days, that there’s such people out there making the world a better place.

[blondysoccergirl]

What you are describing as celebrating Christmas in Belgium on the 5th of December is actually called Sinterklaas. It's different than Christmas. It's also celebrated in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas is not how we celebrate Christmas. We have a Santa Claus too, called Kerstman and it's the same Santa Claus as in the USA. However in the Netherlands Sinterklaas is a bigger deal for kids than Christmas (but it is changing more and more)

[rooskragten]

Hi! A note from a dutchie here: what you describe as Santa for Belgium (and by extention the Netherlands too) is Sinterklaas. He's here from the 18th of november till 5 december. Santa and Christmas is celebrated just the same! So we actually have more holidays!

[miriamschaupp]

hey just a German trying to explain a few things you were wondering about: 1. there is no music on most christmas markets this in Germany this year because they just raised the royalties for the music like crazy high and the markets try to boycott that because its ridiculously high. 2. those little sausages are THE thing in Nürnberg and are known throughout Germany as Nürnberger. 3. May seem crazy but the apple sauce is the traditional topping for the fried potato things. You should try it, its amazing.
Loving this serious, cant wait for part 2 and 3. Have fun exploring!

[rebeccachristensen]

This has been my favorite video in a long time… like your old vids where you are just normal travelers (I.e., doing something that most of us can also do) and going places that we may also want to check out for ourselves. I’m really looking forward the next in the series!

[kelbexplorin]

This is old school Kara and Nate. I love it!

[Griffis-]

Nothing compares to a new Kara and Nate series!

[dragonmac]

The Krampus Run was hilarious. They all seemed to head for Kara, probably because she didn't have any idea what was going on 😄

[christophkrenkler]

as a german travelling regularly by train, I was kind of happy that you had the real Deutsche Bahn experience and show it to the world.

[kristyoomen]

17:00 what a sweet moment, the way Nate looks at Kara in that moment is so heart warming. You can tell he loves her so much and her happiness.

[LeahPuroff-buro]

This was like old times! I loved this video and how nostalgic it was for your earlier travels. There's something about watching the two of you sleep deprived, living off of coffee, junk food, and adrenaline, traveling around however you can to make it to the next great adventure. I still think Kinging It should've joined you for this epic journey. Trev would've thoroughly enjoyed it!

[jonsmith]

The short clip of younger Nate saying the farris wheel is to expensive made me smile so much. You to have come so far in your journey over the years and it makes me so happy for you!

[charleswoolsey]

One week you’re riding across the U.S. on a tandem bike with family and friends, the next you’re in Europe on a couple's Christmas tour, and this is how you keep us coming back for more. It's all about the journey, and as usual, thanks for bringing us along for the ride! 🥰✌

[travelertrome]

I am loving this Christmas Market series!! It is so refreshing to see Kara and Nate go back to sightseeing and enjoying international culture again, without strapping on some physical challenge. Series like this is why I subscribed many years ago during the early years of this channel.

[emilycalvanese]

I watch all of your videos and enjoy them, but I hadn't realized how much I have missed seeing you two going to places and experiencing them the way anyone would (ie not the super expensive gifts stays). Those attainable adventures are the ones that get my travel bug going and got me signed up for fare drop

[Aida-cn]

A 30 minute video of Kara and Nate is the best Christmas present that you can get!!❤

[kenfreeman]

I like the people you met along the way. From the Uber driver who went well out of his way to the friendly food vendors to the guy patiently teaching Kara how to pronounce a long German word, it's the people who make the moment special.

[mkschiavone]

Oh my goodness, I was laughing so hard at Kara during the Krampus event. I’m sure that was low key terrifying, but oh her reaction and screaming was priceless!

[funwithmusic-vmmq]

This feels like classic Kara and Nate and I love it so much!! Looking forward to the rest in the series for sure.

[littlejune]

Little note from someone living in Belgium! What you describe as Belgium's "Santa Claus" is actually Saint Nicolas, which is a completely different person. And celebrated by many (mostly) central-europe countries. There is a hole legend behind the reason as to why he became a Saint, and many traditions that come with him depending on which country he's celebrated in. He's believed to be the inspiration behind Santa Claus' looks, as you can see from their many similarities. Usually kids get small gifts such as books, socks, ... in addition to tangerines and chocolate/candy. We still have presents coming from Santa, which are usually bigger than St. Nicolas', on Christmas day and still celebrate him as well on the 25th! 😊