Hi Karma Panorama
I definitely share your love for traveling!
I've mostly traveled to countries where English is generally spoken.
However, when visiting Uruguay I got to know enough Spanish to manage. Like you say, if you learn the basics you can get by. Even so, my sister and I had a lot of laughs, because we also had to rely heavily on miming. That was part of the fun though!
Enjoy your travels and thanks for the links to your travel blog.
English is spoken almost everywhere, especially when your visit big cities. As soon as you leave the usual touristic path, it become harder to find somebody that speaks English. But those are the best places to explore.
The miming and drawing part are always fun !