Have questions? My about page not enough for ya?! Read on – I tried to answer all the most common questions I get, which is quite frequently from all you lovely readers. Your question’s not answered? Leave a comment below and I’ll get to it there!
Blog + Biz
[toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Is blogging your full time job?”]No- but sometimes I secretly wish it was! I actually have another full time job (yes, I’m a self-proclaimed workaholic, but I’ve gotten reallllly good at perfecting my work-life balance over the years). And oh yea, I’m a school-based speech language pathologist (SLP)![/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”When did you start the blog? and WHY?”]My first post went out in 2010, but I kinda dropped the ball and didn’t post again until 2013. Blogging was relatively new-ish back then, and I had no clue what this little baby of mine would turn into! I’m scared to go back and look at my old posts – don’t search for them please (they’re guaranteed to be absolutely horrendous….)And the why? I’ve always loved taking photos and documenting my trips, so I started this site (which looked WAY different back then) as a public diary of sorts. Once I realized people were actually reading it and blogging was a real-life thing with the potential to gain popularity and work with sponsors, I started to treat it more like a business.[/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”What advice would you give someone who wants to start a blog?”]A few pieces of advice, actually:
- Be prepared for a biiiiig time suck, with little to no return the first year or so. You gotta put in your time!
- Do it because you genuinely enjoy the topic, writing, building a community, all that jazz. If you’re only in it for the “freebies” (which you’ll quickly realize aren’t actually “free” at all) or potential money, you’ll be wildly disappointed.
- You gotta love your side hustle like it’s the best thing since sliced bread (or boba in my case). As I’ve alluded here, blogging is a shiiiiit ton of work.
- It’s easy to get caught up in all of it, but be sure you don’t forget about making a LIFE when you’re busy writing about your past life experiences. Make plans (that don’t involve your blog) and don’t spend alll day everyyday behind your computer. Way more advice over here and here’s how to start a blog of your own. [/toggle][/toggles]
Traveling
[toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”You seem to travel A LOT! How much time off do you get?”]Since I follow the school calendar, I get a winter break, spring break, random holidays off, and yup, I’m able to take a 2 ½ month summer hiatus every year (I don’t have a choice- school is closed). :-p I realize I’m extremely lucky to get more PTO than most in your typical 9-5, at around 14 weeks off or so. And don’t worry- I travel every chance I get in order to continuously bring fresh new content to the site! [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”How can you afford to travel so much?”]My TWO jobs, ya’ll! I work as an SLP during the week, and work on this blog every other chance I get. That sometimes means on my lunch breaks, after school for a few hours, or until the wee hours of the night on the weekend. I’m lucky to partner with some awesome brands and sponsors, which helps reduce the cost of traveling at times. However, I typically pay for my travels myself out of pocket. [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”I work full time. Any tips on how to travel more this year?”]I wrote a whole entire post about it! Check that out here for tons of tips. 🙂 [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Who do you usually travel with?”]I travel with a whole slew of different travel companions throughout the year. My husband tags along on a bunch of trips, but I also enjoy traveling with my sister and friends, and occasionally my parents as well! And believe it or not, I actually travel solo on more than half my trips! [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Isn’t traveling solo super scary? Do you have any tips to get over my fear?”]I’m in the middle of a bangin’ new post alllll about this subject, so watch this space. A few quick tips though:- Keep your drinking to a minimum (know your limit and don’t go past it- no matter what). I have a hard limit of 2 drinks whenever I’m traveling solo.
- Always stay with a buddy at night (so important- you’ll most likely meet someone at your hostel – but still, don’t drink a lot, you just met them)
- Know where you’re traveling, and I don’t just mean the name of the country. Read up on safety, transportation, modesty, etc. Come prepared and you’ll feel much more at ease.
- Trust your gut. Always. If you don’t feel comfortable in a particular situation, get yourself out of there. Lie if you need to, it’s ok. Your safety always comes first. [/toggle][/toggles]
I’ve been to Aruba, Austria, Barbados, Belize, Bosnia + Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Curacao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Finland, France, French Polynesia (Bora Bora), Hong Kong, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Singapore, Sweden, Spain, St. Martin, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and the good ol’ US of A.
Phew, that was a lot of alphabetizing. :-p Check out my destinations page for more.[/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Are you trying to visit every country in the world?”]Nope! I just travel to the places that interest me. And trust me, the more you travel, the longer your destination wish-list becomes. Here’s mine, which needs to be updated drastically! [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”What’s your favorite country?”]This is SUCH a hard question and one that SO many people ask me. I’ll give you my top 5 (as of today but it constantly changes): Japan, Guatemala, Canada (yup, didn’t expect that now did you), Greece, Croatia, and Portugal. Ok, you got 6. 😛 But it’ll probably change tomorrow. [/toggle][/toggles]
Other Stuff
[toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”I’m visiting San Francisco soon. Do you have any tips for me? What should I do? Where should I stay?”]Ohhhh you’ll LOVE SF! First things first, never ever call it ‘Frisco or San Fran. The rest is here. [/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”You’re a NY native, correct? Why the move to California?”]Why yes, yes I am. Born and raised riiiight outside the Big Apple, then moved into the city once I got engaged and started working in NYC. NYC life is overwhelming to say the least, and after a few too many horrifically freezing winters, I had to make a change. I never really felt like I was meant to end up on the East Coast anyways.So when my husband got offered a job in Silicon Valley, it didn’t take much convincing to make the move out west. Plus, I’ve always had a secret love affair for the #westcoastbestcoast. Check out our ridiculously quick cross country road trip from NYC to SF here. It was a doozy, and full of lots of sights and fast-food.[/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Other hobbies besides traveling?!”]I’m into semi-moderate hiking, playing around with my camera, cheesy rom-com movies (it’s a love/hate relationship), early 2000’s hip hop, walking around target for hours (true story), and puppies. Gimmmeeeee alllll the puppies.
I’ve dabbled into astronomy, Broadway shows, realistic sci-fi movies, crafting/scrapbooking, and running (hate it in the moment, love the high I feel once I’m done). And I recently began playing a bit of tennis, which is fun when I can get the ball over the net.[/toggle][/toggles] [toggles style=”toggles”][toggle title=”Are you really that obsessed with boba tea and avocado toast?”]Yup – no shame! What’s boba you ask? Check this out. [/toggle][/toggles]
