How do you prepare for a cycling trip around the world? Freelance writer and cycling enthusiast Zoe Ashbridge shares how she transitioned from an office job to a freelance writer during a mega cycling trip around the world. We chat about how travel by bike is different from regular travel, what are challenges along the way and tips to take note when planning for such a trip. We also discuss how to kickstart your freelance journey on Upwork and the mentality to go after the life you want. 

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The following is an extremely summarized version extracted from the transcript of the full conversation. I strongly recommend listening to the podcast for all the valuable insights. You will also hear more detailed and contextualized stories from the guest(s), as well as pointers from me in a two-way conversation.

Please give an introduction of yourself.

My name is Zoe, and I am a freelance writer. Last year, or even the year before, I left my house in England, and I cycled to Vietnam with my boyfriend. We rode about 13,000 miles over a year, roughly 20,000 kilometers. We were planning to cycle around the world, but the pandemic stopped that from happening. I think we were nine days over a year on the road; we got the next plane home. I had started to explore remote working and dabbling in writing blog posts for people. I had never really felt like remoting working was accessible to me. Still, I have learned since that it was, and it’s accessible to a lot of other people as well.

What was the initial route planned?

The initial route was to leave England and then cycle a complete circumnavigation around the world, and then come back to England, all by bicycle. It was a mega trip, but I hardly did any planning because my work was fantastic, and they did the whole lot. I followed obediently. The plan was to go south to Singapore, Australia, South Australia, and New Zealand from Vietnam. Then the goal was to go across the USA, Portugal, Spain, France and then back home to England.

What got you into cycling, and why did you choose cycling as a way to travel the world?

I always cycled before I met my boyfriend, Stewart. I would go out on my own. I have a terrible sense of direction; the fact that I’ve cycled to Vietnam is quite laughable if you know me very well. I would never be able to do anything like that on my own. I was a reasonably keen road cyclist, wasn’t particularly fast, but enjoyed getting on my bike and outdoors. Maybe a few years after cycling on my own, I was just at work, and the people I worked for employed a new developer. I met him, and we ended up getting involved romantically, and he cycled too. A month into our relationship, he said he was planning on quitting his job, and he asked me to leave mine and cycle around the world. I said, let’s do it, and then six months later, we both quit our jobs. They were terrific about it, supportive, and we are still on excellent terms. I never went back to freelancing.

What is your mindset when taking the leap of faith to quit your job and go cycle around the world?

I think I’m just not scared about taking risks. I think about calculated risks. I’m willing to think about what is the worst that could happen? I knew I would probably come back alive. If we broke up, I could get a plane home. Quitting your job can feel quite scary, but there are other jobs out there, especially if you’re willing to do anything. When I came back from the trip, I didn’t have a job, but I was happy to work in a supermarket and earn minimum wage for a while. I enjoyed it. So although it feels risky, I think it will just alter my life course for a little bit, but I don’t see anything wrong happening.

Did you have to plan a detailed cycling route, or did you just go with the flow?

A mix of the two. When my boyfriend planned the route, he planned the whole route strategically, turn by turn, the entire 24,000 miles, which took a long time. I have prepared a 100-mile walk previously, and it took me 10 hours. He wanted to have that management of the trip. When we got over there, we found that you don’t have to plan. The exceptions would be places like Kazakhstan and a little bit of Azerbaijan. We would have to prepare parts of that trip because we needed to know how much water we needed to carry and how much food we needed to take on our bikes. We had to have enough water on our bicycles to last for two days so that we could cycle through the desert.

Do you carry around camping equipment?

We have pannier bags on our bicycles, and they hold camping equipment and first aid. We had our laptops; we had enough room for food and sleeping bags to be ultimately self-sufficient on the bikes. In the built-up areas, like England and France, most of Europe, my bike was approximately 35 kilos and Stuart’s probably 40. Then when we went to the desert, we carried water and extra food; my bike was 40 kilos, and Stuart’s was pushing towards 50 kilos. By the time you get to Kazakhstan, you’re fit; you’ve been cycling a hefty bike for six, seven months. So you don’t have to worry about that extra weight because you can do it.

How long was the whole journey supposed to be when you planned it?

I think we said 18 months. When we went from England to Italy, we knew it would take longer than 18 months. Even within those two countries, we knew that was a bit ambitious. So we added six months on and then reduced our daily budget to ensure that we could do that.

Was the delay due to the route or because you spontaneously decided to spend longer time in certain places?

It was a mixture of the two, to be honest. We weren’t quite making our goal of 65 miles a day, 100 kilometers a day, so that was one reason. The second reason was, we booked our accommodation for the first eight days in advance, and Stuart got injured on the way because we were too ambitious with the miles. We had to take a day off to rest his ankles, and then sometimes, when you’re in a charming place, we wanted to stay for two days. You never know where you’re going to end up when you’re traveling, especially like this.

Are there specific continents that you found to be tougher to cycle?

In terms of food or somewhere to stay, you can always get to something. You’re never that far away from buying food or a town person, which makes it easier but of course more expensive. You’ll probably exceed your daily budget in Europe, compared to Asia. Central Asia was complex; you can’t get any break from the sun, you need to carry all your food in your bike, so your bikes heavy. But then, it is boiling and humid in South Asia, which I was not used to and I’m dreading going back into that.

Are you planning on continuing where you left off when travel recovers?

I don’t know when it will be because we need countries to be open and need many to open. We don’t want to fly out to have to come back. I’m more a little bit worried about winter and how we can handle the winter. We’re just taking it day by day and enjoying what we’ve got now; building careers and stuff.

Did you plan your trip based on the seasons?

Yeah, we had a plan, and it didn’t work out. We were so excited that we were never going to see winter again. It didn’t happen. We hit China in October, which was the start of their winter. In winter, when the roads are icy, they don’t grit them like in England. It was like an ice rink, there were times where we would be walking or skidding, and we were so cold. I was wearing five layers of my clothing, including an oversized fat jacket, and we were still cold. The snow made parts of the trip hard to enjoy because we were so cold.

Do you cycle through bad weather?

It’s up to you if you want to cycle through the rain. In Slovenia, it was rainy, which is unusual for their season. People would make about us bring the British weather with us. It’s usually beautiful and hot. It rained for days on end, but we cycled through it. The only time that weather caused a real problem in the desert because it’s so flat. If you’ve got a headwind when it’s flat, you’ve just got a headwind all day because you’re moving in one direction. There was an excellent app called Windy, which I think is for surfers initially to gauge waves; we use this Windy app, and if there was a headwind, we didn’t go on the bike. Instead, we got a hotel to wait for the wind to get better because it’s just exhausting to push your bike into a headwind all day.

Did you have to do any specific training before the trip?

We are pretty fit anyway, so our fitness was good enough. I could have cycled 100 miles, 100 kilometers in a day without any problems. Cycling with weight was utterly new. I didn’t do much weight training at all before the trip. You don’t have to be that fit because you only have to be able to get somewhere. All you’ve got to do is move forward every single day. It’s a question of time as opposed to fitness.

Where did you sleep during your travels?

We stayed in accommodation quite a lot; we did some camping. We meet some tourists who were riding on a $5 a day budget. They would eat whatever they could find and camp every night. They smelt terrible. We would joke that we are pretty posh cycle tourists. We probably did 70% hotels and 30% camping, something like that, maybe less camping, that’s how I enjoyed it.

When you travel the world by cycling, is there a specific goal or certain things you want to see?

I think it’s a balance of both. We wanted to cycle around the world; that didn’t happen, but it was important. It probably was a priority over everything else; we’re going to cycle an unbroken circle around the world within two years. But I think when you cycle tour, your perception of travel changes because you’re not hitting up the big cities, all the places where everyone goes. I’m not throwing shade at other travelers, but when you cycle, the journey of getting from A to B is what you’re doing, opposed to the destination of the place. You see places in a way that you wouldn’t see them if you flew out somewhere and landed in the city center, which has had all the money poured into it. You can see all the bits around that and village life. We cycled through Georgia one day, and we started in someone’s house because there wasn’t a hotel available. We had these minor interactions with the owners that were special. The people make it, opposed to the places. There’s so much to see on a bike, and you’re immersed in nature.  

Did you find the rural communities more hospitable and friendly?

I find that city people tend to be busier and don’t have the time; I think they’re rude. There’s so much hustle and bustle, and they’re going somewhere themselves. The hospitality in smaller towns and villages is just excellent. I always joke that if we hadn’t said no to people in Turkey, we would still be in Turkey now; people are incredibly hospitable there.

Did you have any concerns about the dangers of cycling or camping?

When we left, I wasn’t that worried about people, but I’m also not naive enough to think there would be no danger. We didn’t experience a single negative interaction with anyone in a year. When you’re cycling, you pass a lot of people as well. I think it’s nice to travel in that way because you are pretty vulnerable. At one point, we nearly ran out of water, but someone happened to be driving that same road in a van, and they stopped and gave us some. We were in the middle of the desert in Uzbekistan, and we couldn’t find anywhere suitable to put a tent up. We stopped at a random café and asked for a hotel, but there wasn’t one; he invited us to stay in a room for free, and he fed us.

When you’re so vulnerable, you have to reach out to people for help, and people do deliver when you need them. I think it restores a lot of faith in humanity. People can be pretty quick to see the world as an evil place, but actually, the world’s a great place. At some point, we are going to get stung by someone, but that’s fine. I’ll take that one in 50 interactions because the other 49 are great.

What do you wish you had known before your trip that you would like to share with new travelers planning their first trip?

We planned pretty well, to be fair, and we were ridiculous about it. I weighed everything, all my clothes. I wouldn’t do that again. I would say to people; you’ve got to live in these clothes, or whatever it is for a year. So take it if you want it because you’ll be OK with them. People carry hefty bikes, and they’re fine; they take them up mountains and get fit. You’re not racing either. When your day job is to cycle, it’s all you’ve got to do. It doesn’t matter if it takes you 12 hours.

I would say I wish I would have relaxed about wait just a little bit and take more time. The second thing would be, don’t panic about how far you can travel or will you do it in time because you well. On a good day, on a flat road with a tailwind, you’ll do those miles to catch up with the days where you had a tough day, and you couldn’t do it. It just works out. It’s fine. Once you start, you embrace the adventurous nature of any given day. It might not go to plan, but we certainly scrapped the plan over time and just went with it. Go with someone you can spend 24/7 with, and don’t overcomplicate it. It’s not that difficult. You need to eat, need somewhere to sleep, and fix your bike if it goes wrong. Thank goodness Stewart can do that because I can’t. But that’s it, eat, sleep and a bike that you can repair.

What is the most memorable story from your trip?

It’s not the most upbeat story, it has a cheerful ending, but it was pretty scary at the time. In Azerbaijan, British citizens with a British passport have eight days completely free. You can enter the country and leave in eight days. We had a plan to cycle through Azerbaijan in five days. If you’re going to be there between eight days to 1830 days, you can still stay, but you have to register your hotels. We thought we were going to be there for five days. Two weeks later, we were still there; we were both unwell. We were so sick we were we might have to go home and go to the hospital. It was just a nightmare. We got better, and we got to the Caspian seas; we’re going across it by ferry from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, and we met some other tourists at the ferry port. We had our passports taken off us by immigration, and they couldn’t speak English. We stood watching the ferry, knowing that iut only comes every four days and doesn’t follow a schedule. To cut a long story short, we were left waiting for a long time; then, a friendly border guard helped us. He brought the passports back, and we had to sign a contract in Azerbaijani; I couldn’t read it. Everyone on the ferry had to wait for us. It was so embarrassing. We were fortunate that the border guard helped us out and solved our problem. We went to Kazakhstan.

Was there a target savings amount that you set before you travel?

I think we just saved what we did; we saved so hard, we saved every penny we possibly could, I didn’t buy anything. We didn’t buy new clothes for anything, but it completely changed my mentality on things like fashion. We ate the cheapest food we could find in the supermarket; we would buy all the reduced stuff, even if we hated the meal. We looked at the amount of money that we had, minus the expenses of the bikes, and then divided money by days. When we realize it’s going to take longer, we looked at the budget again and divided it by 18 months to see how much our daily rate was, and we tried to stick with it, so that’s how we managed.

It was about Forty pounds a day on average, which is quite a lot for some travelers. To be honest, it was a high budget; actually, people do it a lot cheaper than what we did.

Which side hustles did you find takes little time or goes well with your job or your travels?

I’ve got a job, and I’m saving more money by freelancing. Before the trip, I didn’t even know about freelancing; I didn’t know it was a thing. I didn’t think it was lucrative. I didn’t think I could do it. I figured only the luckiest people in the world get to do; that’s honestly what I thought. So alongside my full-time job, I did food delivery on a bicycle. It was good training because I was carrying something on my back cycling, and it tends to be quite an intense cycling because you’ve got someone’s hot food; you want to get out there pretty fast. It’s like interval training. I think one of the quickest ways to save money is to cut back on your expenditure, rather than trying to work yourself into the ground because if you cut back on your bills, cut back on your food, cut back on luxury items, you’ll be surprised.

While we were on the trip, the plan was not to work. Maybe it was nine months in, and we didn’t need money, but I wondered if I could write blogs and make money. I decided to sign up for Upwork; I wasn’t expecting to do anything particularly lucrative with it. I just thought, wouldn’t it be nice to earn some money while I write a blog, and that’s all I wanted. Traveling allowed me to do something with no pressure to start writing blogs at $10.

How did you incorporate writing into your cycling days?

It was hard, to be honest, it was difficult as well because it wasn’t part of the plan. I was adding in another layer of something to do. Cycling is an eight to 10 hour work day. Then when you get back to the hotel, you eat and go to sleep. Whereas now I was getting back late eating and then working. It wasn’t hard work. It wasn’t overly strenuous. But some nights I would be typing blogs being super, super tired, thinking I don’t know if this is a good idea. Stuart stuck to the plan, but I’m glad I did it. I did find I can love sales as well, so when I knew that I had a blog to write, I would write with so much power because I was excited to get back to that hotel and make $10.

Did you experience internet issues?

In Vietnam, the internet is incredible, but the internet and websites aren’t as available in China. We did some hotels with Wi-Fi, and it’s not that difficult to plan around that.

Did you have to book your accommodation in advance, or did you walk in?

It was always on the day; you never really know what will happen on a bike ride. We would usually turn up in the city or town village and look at booking.com. We would go directly to the hotel rather than bool it with booking.com. Sometimes you can save a little bit doing that. If we went into cities, we would plan because we want to be near the tourist attractions.

Are you exploring any further freelancing options?

I have my accounts making about $10 on Upwork per blog, which sometimes will take me two hours. I felt empowered being freelance, and I loved it. I’m involved with making sales as well; I find that gives me a real boost. It didn’t take long for it to kick off for me. When I got home, I asked for my old job back, but I didn’t get a job there because of the pandemic. I went to work in the local supermarket, and I was doing online shopping for deliveries; I did that for 12 weeks. Then I quit as I was comfortably making money on Upwork. It’s all about reviews on Upwork, start cheap and get five-star reviews, get happy clients. It’s amazing. I think there’s a lot of work out there if you’re willing to put the hours in and build up your portfolio. I started in a pandemic and rocketed in my career.

I think quality is the key; that’s why I did well as well. Provide your client with something a little bit extra, so they’re pleased because they’ve just had something for free effectively. When you’ve been freelancing a while, you can factor that into your price and do it for a rate you’re happy with; then, they’ve had this added value. It’s not that difficult to be part of the top 10% of freelancers.

How do you find the competition of freelancing from developing countries who will work for less?

I think there’s enough space for everyone and I think it’s about your target client. My target client wants to work with a native English speaker, so I’m not worried because they can share the clients that I didn’t want to work with. I don’t want to be paid $10 for a blog anymore; I like the ones that will pay me $70 for the blog. I’m completely unfazed by it. I’m happy to see anyone go freelancing.

What tips do you have for someone who wants to start freelancing?

I would say, have a low rate, and niching out is good. When you are on a freelancing platform, you need to make sure you can provide the best piece of work. I would never apply for technical writing or medical writing because I know out there there is someone better than me at that. But if it was travel writing, I think I could stand out against the people who apply. It doesn’t mean I’ll get it. Still, I’ve probably got a good chance if it’s writing about bicycles; that was my first ever blog riding bikes to Vietnam. Unleashing is essential; some people do freelancing platforms, and they apply for everything. I think it’s a fair argument; as a freelancer, you will attract a low-quality client if you set a low budget. That hasn’t been my experience. You can look at the client’s profile and see the types of reviews that people have left them, and they’ve left the freelancer. If all of those reviews are respectable, the chances are you’re going to have a good experience. I would say to try a few different platforms. I started on Upwork, it went well, but it didn’t deter me from making a Fiverr account. Don’t get demoralized and roll with the punches.

How much time do you spend between your workload and finding new clients?

I’m not sure how much time I spend, but I probably do look at the job board every day. I’m a little bit lucky, and I’ve got four long-term clients. It takes a while to get to that point, especially for blog writers; generally, I’ll write a blog, and the contract ends. I wouldn’t spend ages on that; just look in the morning, look in the afternoon, then only apply when it’s relevant. So maybe an hour a day if you’ve got a contract that moves quite fast, and it’s going to be over soon.

How do you determine when to raise your prices?

I think I’m pretty intuitive; I used to work in sales, I’m pretty good at sales. If you need a guide, I think, as I said, go low. If you get to a point where you’re busy higher your prices; the minute I’m busy, my prices go up. And then I can always bring them down again if I lose those clients and need to get work fast. You can get the top-rated status as well; I can’t remember how you get that. Once you’ve got that top-rated Upwork, start recommending you to jobs, so you come with a bit more gravatar, you look like you’re a seasoned freelancer.

What preparations are you taking so you can continue writing when cycling? (e.g. Are you tweaking your journey in terms of your travel speed or time to factoring in remote working?)

I love freelancing too much not to do it now. I genuinely love it; I find it fulfilling and motivating; it makes me happy. I’m not looking to quit my job again and be unemployed. So the very open plan will be to fit it into my travels somehow. It may well be pretty tricky because we had fewer visa restrictions during the first half of the trip. And the second half of the trip, we’ve got visa restrictions. Australia, for example, is a vast country. We’ve got to get through it in three months, and I’m not expecting great Wi-Fi, so there are going to be areas that might be pretty tricky to work on. But I’ll figure it out; I’ll be open and honest with my clients and explain my situation. I see it more as a lifestyle thing, the second trip, and maybe we will stop in a country sometimes and have a few months there, which we didn’t do on the first trip.

What services are you offering current?

I have scaled from content writing because I had a digital marketing background. I find it quite hard just to write content without that kind of SEO slant. So I developed pretty quickly into SEO consultancies. I work with VC and b2b businesses and help them create content and a content architecture strategy that will rank on Google. That’s what I’m doing these days.

There’s often a stigma that comes along with mental health illness. However, this doesn’t have to stop one from exploring the world. In this episode, Meggie shares her experiences traveling with Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety. We chat about how she opened up to it due missing out on awesome scenery, some tips to deal with mental health conditions, and ways to prepare yourself for a travel trip even when you have mental health issues.

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The following is an extremely summarized version extracted from the transcript of the full conversation. I strongly recommend listening to the podcast for all the valuable insights. You will also hear more detailed and contextualized stories from the guest(s), as well as pointers from me in a two-way conversation.

As a traveler who wants to raise awareness of mental health issues, is it easy to identify someone who is suffering?

You can’t see that stuff; mental health problems are hidden disabilities. You don’t even know if you’re suffering from anything or not. I admit that I hid my mental health problems for many years as a teenager and everybody thought I was a neurotypical person. The longer I hid my symptoms, the longer I suffered because I didn’t know what I had. I didn’t think I had OCD. I felt pressure to hide it from everybody, which was easy to do. But at the same time, it wasted so much of my time and energy. Eventually, I had an epiphany traveling through Western Canada, British Columbia, and Alberta. I realized I needed to get help from the mental health services because I didn’t particularly appreciate hiding it anymore. I haven’t done extensive traveling around the world yet. Still, I think the most beautiful drive I’ve ever been on, so far, is the Trans Canada highway. It stretches from Western to Eastern Canada; I only traveled the western part. It was beautiful because of the massive towering mountains and the turquoise lakes; it felt like a whole other world. I come from the desert in Arizona. So it was a wow moment for me. But I had OCD thoughts, and they kept distracting me from the scenery. I was so worried about all kinds of things. The thing about OCD is that it makes you worry about stuff that isn’t real. It’s illogical stuff. It’s called obsessive-compulsive disorder. Think of it like a broken record. These irrational thoughts keep coming up in your consciousness and making you worry so much about it.

Can you explain OCD a bit more?

A common myth about OCD is that when people see something on the table that’s not aligned, they have to align it. The thing about OCD is that there are so many kinds of obsessive thoughts and compulsions. Some people might have the aligning OCD, and some people don’t. I don’t, my desk is always a mess, and I have OCD; I don’t care. Every person who has OCD has different OCD thoughts, and the desk alignment thing is not the only one. But I do have other OCD thoughts, and some are better known. For example, one of my main OCD thoughts is the kitchen stove. Even though the kitchen stove is off, my OCD wants me to feel confident the kitchen stove is off. Even if I checked and all the switches were off, my OCD is unconvinced that it is off. The thing with OCD is feeling certain is impossible, but you want to feel sure. That’s why I would check the burner repeatedly.

I might look at the stove forever, but my OCD still doesn’t think it’s entirely off. Behind each OCD thought is usually fear. In that case, the fear is the house burning down and losing all my possessions, and being held responsible. That’s the fear that’s driving me to check the stove; it gives me so much anxiety, that fear. I learned through therapy how to cope with these thoughts and relabel them. It’s hard because OCD wants you to believe that you’re not checking carefully enough, but if you relabel the ideas, you can move on with your life. I have to feel the anxiety and accept it. I also have to accept uncertainty; that is probably the heart of OCD therapy. You have to embrace uncertainty, and that’s what I love about travel. I’m not using travel for treatment, but it teaches me to accept fate because we all know that travel is an uncertain activity. Things don’t always go according to plan. We have to adjust things and solve problems on our own. So, in a sense, trouble also builds my resilience against OCD. It’s not therapy, but it teaches me to be more accepting of uncertainty.

Can people without OCD suffer from these thoughts?

Yeah, that’s a good point you raised there. Many people don’t have OCD, but plenty of people have these thoughts that come to your mind out of nowhere. Like locking the door and checking the stove. Even though you don’t have OCD, the brain can still hang on to something. The difference between you and me is that you won’t stress out about these scenarios when you think about them. It won’t take up as much time and energy as it’s not a big deal. But for me, I would keep coming back to check. The more I check more anxious I would feel; my OCD is unconvinced. That is the difference. We spend at least an hour of their day thinking compulsively and obsessively. You feel so stuck on that one thing. It like your whole life depends on that one thing.

What was the trigger that got you to open up about your OCD?

So, the main trigger was my rental car. I was traveling with my dad, and we rented this car.  OCD can come up with the weirdest stuff. One of those triggers was me writing things on the roof. My OCD was worried that I’d write bad words on the car’s interior even though I would never do something like that. I would never write nasty comments on the roof. I would never do something like that. Why would I do that? But my OCD was worried that I would do it; it comes up with the strangest things. The actual fear behind that weird thought was being afraid that I would get arrested. It comes up with all kinds of stupid narratives. The fear drove me to compulsively checking the roof while we were going through Canada. I saw some incredible scenery, but I also missed out on some novel views because these thoughts controlled my life, and that hurt me.

Once a road trip ended in Calgary, Alberta, I met a lovely friend. I noticed that Canadians are so polite and friendly, I have never met an exception, but I’m sure there are. Anyway, I made a new friend, and she noticed one of my OCD symptoms. I couldn’t believe it. This friend I just met indirectly told me that they saw I had some strange behavior. I couldn’t take it anymore; I was so tired of hiding it. I didn’t know what mental health problem I had, so after the Canada trip, I told my parents about my symptoms. They were very accepting of me. They were scared, but they were so loving. They wanted to support me in going to professional mental health services. I learned I had OCD, and from there on, I went through therapy and learned how to deal with these OCD thoughts. It’s a work in progress because it’s a chronic mental illness. It’s something I will live with for the rest of my life.

Was your OCD diagnosis an easy journey?

It has been quite a journey, and I survived. Now I’m happy to tell my stories. I can’t believe that I used to be so scared, but now I’m so willing to share my stories because I know there are folks out there who might be having mental health problems. It might be OCD; it might be something else. But it just warms my heart to see people thanking me for sharing my story. I love embracing this vulnerability of sharing my stories because it inspires people to come out. Then maybe they’ll even reach out to their families and seek professional health services. I’m so glad I get to influence people’s lives in such a beautiful way because mental health is hard to talk about. I love seeing people who need mental health services get help. It makes me so happy to see them doing that.

What common challenges do you face when you are traveling around different places?

I have to remember that I have OCD because sometimes, when I’m traveling and having so much fun, I can forget I have OCD. After all, it differs because some people who have OCD might be having more OCD symptoms. Some travelers have fewer OCD symptoms while they’re traveling, especially if it’s fast-paced travel. I noticed that if I’m traveling fast-paced, I have fewer OCD symptoms because my OCD doesn’t find the same triggers. But I have to be careful with that because if I get complacent, it can sneak up to me at any moment. Whether I’m traveling fast, traveling slow, it doesn’t matter what pace; I made the mistake of trying to distract myself by traveling fast. I had these OCD thoughts, and it was too much for me. I was eventually able to get back into travel and improve my mental health again. But you have to be careful about these things because an OCD thought can come out of nowhere, and you may not seem prepared for it. It would be best if you keep your mental health as a priority. You might be having so much fun keeping yourself busy, meeting new people, going to so many places. However, remember your therapeutic techniques. You always have them with you and never lose them, even if you have a setback. Setbacks happen; they happen quite a lot.

Sometimes relapses can occur too, be aware of those things and catch them early. I need to practice mindfulness work even with mental health problems. I read books about mindfulness in general, but there are also books about being mindful with OCD. It’s a lifelong process, whether I’m traveling or at home.

So, is it about positively channeling those OCD thoughts?

Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head. It’s about catching those OCD thoughts. Even people without OCD might be having negative thoughts that come out of nowhere. In some ways, that’s a lot like dealing with OCD, catching those thoughts quickly, and trying to move on from them. Admittedly, it’s tough because OCD is almost like a glue trap because it wants you to hang on to it because it’s so repetitive in my mind. Sometimes it’s tough for me to tear away from it. There’s mindfulness with OCD, too, but it’s slightly different because I understand that OCD thoughts are a lot stickier than other thoughts.

I have read some of your guest posts, and they read like you’re talking through your thoughts. Do you write a lot of content about your OCD?

I wrote a blog about the three most common OCD triggers during my travels. One of them is airport security. It’s that fear of being imprisoned in another country and my records getting tainted. There’s different OCD content, but the fears are the same. I’m going to get detained in another country. Because there’s so much surveillance at the airports, it scares not only my OCD but also my social anxiety. I feel so self-conscious at the airport. Writing that article was a healing process because I got to put everything down on paper, expressing it differently and sharing it with the travel audience.

Once I had just landed in San Jose International, Costa Rica. I was waiting for my hostel taxi driver, but I couldn’t find him. I asked an airport worker where the bathroom was, and it was over in the diner. I didn’t want to go over there because I was afraid of missing my taxi. That wasn’t an OCD thought; I didn’t want to lose my driver. So I stuck around where my anxiety started to kick in. The airport worker kept pointing over to the toilets and trying to get me to go and use them, even though I clearly said I didn’t need to use the bathroom. Eventually, I just gave up and went to the bathroom so she would keep quiet. But my anxiety, in that case, was, why are people targeting me? Why is this lady drilling me to use the bathroom? I feel that way at other airports now too.

In a sense, because the social anxiety makes me feel self-conscious, and then the OCD worsens the fear. So those two disorders can work together well, especially at the airport. I was once at this airport, and there was a security emergency. I was able to see the security guards for who they were; everybody was so scared. I could see them as human beings and not as people trying to get to me. I was able to unpeel their macho image and see them for who they are. I might still have OCD thoughts about airport security. Still, I think about that experience, and it helps me to embrace the truth about humanity.

What practices do you find helpful when you’re traveling and feel your OCD coming on?

I learned from an OCD mindfulness book to picture the OCD thought. I might imagine that thought on my desk or in the palm of my hand and see that it’s not a part of me. It’s just something I deal with, but it’s not a part of me. If I can get out of my head and look at it as separate from me, that helps a lot. It’s also about tolerating uncertainty. I have to feel the uncertainty, even though it feels terrible. I have to feel the anxious thoughts and move through them. When I force myself to feel those feelings, it teaches my brain that I don’t have to check these things and survive. I can train my brain that I’m not going to die or get hurt. I’m teaching my brain to lean into these therapeutic practices, even though they can be challenging because I’m going against my brain’s default. My brain is defaulted to keep checking. I’m teaching my brain that I’m not going to check or will check once or twice.

Does it get easier to do with practice?

I’d say it gets easier. I’m better off than before therapy but sometimes relapses happen. It happens to people with mental health problems because the brain is a malleable organ. It can make new pathways over time, new environments, and experiences. When I’m using the therapeutic practices, I’m able to use these new neural pathways that I made for myself, but the old ways will be programmed in my brain for the rest of my life. It’s easier in the sense that I know I have OCD, and I know how to deal with it. I was diagnosed with severe OCD, and it is a lifelong thing.

Are there other ways that you try to reduce stress while you’re traveling?

My favorite part and this is relevant for every traveler. Still, especially travelers who have OCD are not to make a lot of plans. A significant symptom of OCD that a lot of people with OCD have is perfectionism. That’s because OCD wants to correct this and make everything perfect. I know better than that, but I used to let my perfectionism and OCD craft such meticulous plans, and it was so tiring. So, to answer your question, I try not to make too many plans; I might visit a few places, but I try not to book the entire day because I need some time to chill out. Writing in my journal helps because it helps process what’s been going on through my day.  Whether I’m talking about the travel experiences I’ve had or my mental health symptoms, whatever, I’m able to put it down in my journal.

How would you describe your travel style?

I want to experiment with this after the pandemic. I had a revelation during the pandemic after that European trip. I wanted to backpack through South America and Asia last year, and I didn’t get a chance to experiment with slow travel as much as I wanted to. But I’m trying to do that with day trips around Southern California. I think the great thing, the fantastic thing I learned from travel blogging and travel writing, is how I look at travel differently to writing. I’m trying to travel with a purpose. I’m glad that I started my blog last year because it made me more aware of why I am there and what I want to do, and how to make a story out of this. Being a travel writer has opened my eyes to a more fulfilling way to travel. I think traveling at a slower pace helps with that because it helps you understand the place better. You can create great stories out of getting to know one place better than going to 15 locations in 15 days. I’ve been practicing on my blog, even just going to the next county to go grocery shopping with my mom. That’s a travel experience in itself because I’m going to a different neighborhood. We’re grocery shopping in the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam; I could explore my heritage there and write a travel story out of that. I learned all these little things for my travel writing; it also helped me embrace that slower pace.

Does writing help you reflect on your thoughts?

Yeah, my travel journal is not limited to just travel; it is also about my mental health.  I write about my thoughts and what is bothering me; I write it down, and it’s free. Once you write it down, it doesn’t linger in your brain as often it’s trying to find a way out. Writing is a beautiful way to process that; I learned this from my therapy and a writer’s conference. I attended a virtual writers conference, and they had workshops for writing about mental health. I also learned that writing helps process thoughts differently. It enables you to step back from them once you put them down in a physical place. I love it because then I get to go home and see what I wrote down, and then maybe I’ll write something public about it in my blog. I’m in a travel writing course with David Farley’s. I asked him how I could put down my experience immediately. He keeps this flippable notepad, and he writes down, what he sees, what he feels, etc. That way, he can capture the senses and what he’s experiencing at that moment, so he doesn’t lose them. When I’m writing travel books, I wonder how these writers can put so much vivid detail? They write down quick observations about what they see and feel, so they’re able to put them into their story.

How do you choose your travel destinations?

I haven’t thought about picking the destination because I think it’s better for my mental health. I go to a destination that I want to visit. Some people with mental health problems may pick a specific destination based on their difficulties with their medications or whether it’s a stressful city with all the hustle-bustle. I don’t know; maybe other travelers have those considerations, but I don’t, mainly because I don’t take mental health medication. I do like nature destinations better than city destinations. I don’t think that’s because of my OCD. I think that’s just because I love nature. I love hiking. I love looking at the scenery around me. I like nature and city travel, but I like nature travel better.

What advice would you give to people with mental health conditions that are considering travel?

Do not travel unless you have sought mental health services. There’s a misconception that you can escape your life problems and mental health problems if you travel. Even I thought travel could alleviate my mental health conditions, but it turned out it didn’t. So please go see actual therapy; travel is not your doctor. Learn from me; I went through a lot of these mistakes. Before you hit the road, find a therapist or a psychiatrist and get treatment for your mental health condition. After some time undergoing therapy, if you think you’re fit to travel, ask your mental health professionals for their recommendation. Once you do that, you need to check what countries list your mental health medications as controlled substances. Some have regulations, and you can only bring a certain amount into the country. If you have a mental health problem while traveling, there are ways to get mental health services, even if you’re in a foreign country. One of those options is online therapy services. Some websites offer therapy services online, and you can message them or them and face to face. So, it’s flexible, and I hear it’s cheaper than the standard therapy services. These are licensed professionals, too, so you can get help even when you’re on the road. You can even schedule a virtual check-in appointment with your mental health professional at home. There are options, but you have to be more mindful of your mental health. You need to make sure that you know how to seek help.

So do your research and be prepared before you venture out into the world?.

Yeah, and there are ways to get prepared for travel and accommodate your mental health condition. One of them is time zone changes because they can be stressful even for people who don’t have mental health problems. If you’re new to traveling, you could try to visit somewhere nearby and get used to it. You don’t have to fly halfway across the world to get accustomed to life on the road. If you enjoy these trips, you could take trips further away and visit destinations in the same time zone or nearby. For example, if you live in North America, you could go to South America, and that’s the same time zone. Be sure you feel comfortable with that, and then you can take the next step.

Are you open to travelers contacting you for advice and support with travel and mental health problems?

Yeah, please start by emailing me; I’m incredibly open about this stuff. So, any curious questions you have or want to say hi, I love getting to meet people. When I came into the travel blogging business, I didn’t expect to meet many other bloggers, content creators, or readers. But it’s such a privilege for me to get to know so many people. It is something I didn’t expect, but I’ve enjoyed it. It’s my favorite way to connect with people. I love getting emails and reading the things you share with me.

Most people dream of traveling to all the countries, how does it feel to have actually done it? We speak with Carlos Useros Moyano who is in the UN Master List of Individuals who have visited all 193 countries. He shares what it takes to accomplish this feat, the frustrating challenges and the crazy adventures involved.  In this episode, we talk about changing perspectives and personal growth from traveling.

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The following is an extremely summarized version extracted from the transcript of the full conversation. I strongly recommend listening to the podcast for all the valuable insights. You will also hear more detailed and contextualized stories from the guest(s), as well as pointers from me in a two-way conversation.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background?

My name is Carlos, and I was born in a village called Heras, Spain, and I’ve lived most of my life in Roses, a fisherman village in the northeast part of Spain. We have the Mediterranean seas that we can swim in. I can ski in the mountains on the same day. Also, the gastronomy; is fantastic—the Mediterranean gastronomy. We have a very fabulous bay, the Bay of Roses, in my area. When I’ve been traveling for a few months, I always come back feeling good with my family and friends. Talking about my childhood, I was a crazy guy in school. I wasn’t the best student, but I loved atlases, geography books. But with my personality, when I feel a bit tired, I move to another place; I have to do it. I can go on a Bay tour or go to the National Park it’s less than half an hour from where I’m living. I’m glad to be here.

You live near the French border, so do you get many French tourists?

Yes, we are 45 minutes driving from the border; I am living it’s around 60/70 kilometers. The French are the most common tourist because we are neighbors. We also receive a lot of tourism from Europe because of the sun. Also, it is cheaper than other places, that’s why it is a perfect place to come for gastronomy and other activities.

The winters are so light; they are not winters like many years ago. I can hike and swim in the Mediterranean Sea every day. It’s not very cold weather. So, you can stay here and have no problem.

How did you feel immediately after completing the feat of visiting every country in the world?

It was a relief, a significant relief, not going to a dangerous country or difficult situations. Also, the bureaucracy, so not having to do more paperwork, and having to wait and be patient for the visas. When I finished, I was pleased to have completed something in my life. I knew that it would be something extraordinary if I could finish it. To visit all the countries, you need time and to stay focused. Sometimes there are challenging moments where you think about giving up. In my case, it was best not to plan because, for me, it took me more than 20 years. People who complete this challenge all move at different speeds because of their passions. It was a little bit rough because I worked during the summer to save enough money for me to accomplish the journey. I would carry a backpack, take some euros, but not many plans. You get one visa, one guidebook, and then decide to go. The most powerful thing is your feelings and your thoughts. You want to go, and you want to do it.

Does your first experience of countries differ from what the media portrays them to be?

Absolutely. Usually, when you go to places, they are better than you were expecting because people were talking about that place badly. Sometimes, you hear about money getting stolen and people getting robbed, but it can happen in any country; people like that are everywhere. It’s true that the first impression count, but you have to be there, take some time, and see what happens. It’s better when you are in the place, and you get the feeling, it’s not as bad as what you see in the movies. When we go to different countries with different cultures, it is not that bad.

Talk to us about the real challenge of traveling to other countries?

People don’t realize the challenges of visiting some of the countries. People who have finished or seen all the countries are a small family of around 300. The challenge is enormous, and I was not thinking about finishing. Still, when you have fewer countries, you say why not continue. Also, the countries you are leaving in the list are countries that have something adverse going on, that’s why you keep those countries to the last, it is the worst thing. Sometimes you have to wait. You may not go to certain countries because they don’t want any tourists or want you to pay money, so you cannot go with an economic visa; you need to pay a business visa or possess an invitation letter. So that’s a problem. It’s not easy and takes time. Another thing right now is it’s easier than before because of the local’s reliance. If you are an influencer, they pay you in sponsorship, hotels, flights, insurance, and even visas. It’s like marketing; traveling is a business. If you are good, you can make money. You can sell yourself to companies because you are everywhere. I know people that have been to Antarctica, but the journey is expensive. Many people that go there have gone for free, but I’ve not. I’m not complaining; it’s a different way of traveling. Many people are traveling fast, and they use that to make money. But for me, it’s essential to stay in the places for a bit; then you can feel that you have got something from the area.

What do you think is a reasonable period to stay in a particular place to better understand the culture?

To understand the culture and get a taste, you should live there. But if you don’t live there, I rent a motorcycle and go around the islands taking pictures and visiting different places to eat. Also, see the main attraction like the beaches or mountains, or go on a hike or, swimming or snorkeling. It depends on the size of the country or island. A normal-sized island would take one to two weeks. In countries the size of China, or Russia, you need lots of time. I’ve been to China three times and Russia a couple of times, crossing the Trans-Siberian and not just doing the Trans-Siberian in three to four days. I did the Trans-Siberian for a month, and then I get a minibus. I would go three or 400 kilometers north, or west, or east.

I like to go to remote places. But of course, you need to visit the capitals, and you sometimes need to visit museums; I’m not a big museum person. But I like the national history museum or the museum from that country to see the history. I keep maintaining; I want to go to places where I can enjoy myself more because everything’s the same when you are in the big cities. When you go to remote locations, you get the best days because you see how people behave and live. I think it’s essential. So, to your question, I did the islands in the Pacific Ocean or the Caribbean, under two weeks. I take three months in the countries, the duration of the passport issue they give.

Tell us about one of the most exciting stories from your travels? 

I try not to go when there is a war or when something is going on. When I was in Afghanistan, there was a terrorist attack that killed 18 United National soldiers. They didn’t tell me anything when I was crossing the border. I sensed something was going on because the police were in a bad mood. I saw people with guns and thought there was a civil war going on. I tried to get someone to drive me to Mazar-i-Sharif it was 10  kilometers from the border. It said you should pay 10 USD in my guidebook, and I was like complaining with a driver thinking he wanted to rob me because he thought I was a tourist. So, I have to go with this man as there was nothing else around. And when he was driving around, I saw that it was like a war. When I arrived at the hotel, he told me that I was lucky because nobody was there around, and it would be dangerous for me if I were staying there for a while. When I got to the hotel, they tried to charge me more money.

On TV, I saw a big explosion that had happened in Kabul three or four hours ago. I realized I wasn’t safe there and I have to leave as soon as possible. I met a businessman trying to get to Kabul, so I joined him. Unfortunately, we didn’t get far as we crashed the car into a donkey. We took it to a garage to repair it; it took 18 hours. The next day there was a curfew. We had to sleep in a tunnel one night. The following day, we arrived in Kabul. I stayed there for ten days, hiding in an office building with this man. Two days later, I could leave the country.

We needed to get to Kabul, so I was driving kilometers every day, and we weren’t stopping for dinner or lunch. Then in Kabul, a friend of this guy took care of me. The main point of visiting Afghanistan was going to see the Bamiyan area, but I couldn’t stay there. It is better to leave and go another time.

How do you gauge who to trust and who to take precautions from in situations?

What works for me, it’s my view; I have something in my brain where I can notice things that are not working. For example, I’ve had a few taxi drivers asking me many questions. I see something in their eyes, and I will stop and take other transport. There are scams where they want to get more money. I will often take the bus.

What are other precautions that you generally take while you’re traveling?

I carry money in a money belt, and I try to always have it with me. You can leave everything in a safety box in your room, but the boxes can be broken into. Don’t take a lot of cash with you; consider credit cards or debit cards. Many years ago, when I was traveling with a lot of money, plenty of people wanted to rob me of my belongings, so it is a handicap. It can be a local or another traveler. You can be sleeping in your dorm, and they take all your money from your locker.

How has travel changed your perspective? How do you see the world differently now you have been to many countries and experienced many different and exciting things?

When I started traveling, I was 23 years old. I was very different; I was younger with plenty of energy. I was looking at a world map choosing my start and endpoints. I needed to get a passport and a little bit of money. I knew I wasn’t bad in English and French, so I thought I would try it. I was not scared, but I was inquisitive. But once I started, I don’t want to go back; I want to discover. When you go somewhere different, you’re challenging yourself. You have to maintain your itinerary. Your goal is to see the world and find rich things to do.

Because you are speaking a different language, you are meeting other people. You want to keep going with that for the rest of your life. That’s the feeling at the beginning. You want to earn more money and go again; it is always the same. It is like addiction, but when you are older, you go slower.

What are you looking to do these days when you’re traveling?

Right now, what I’m doing is going to the countries I’ve been to but the areas I missed. So, what I’m doing is visiting people and staying longer. All the islands are the same, but they have different names. We see the places we go to because of UNESCO, or because they’re tourist points, we have to visit them because they are the main things to do. I enjoy being with the people more than the places; if you have seen one island, you have seen all of them. But the people on the island are what makes it different. You have a different experience because of the people, not because of the place. Many old travelers don’t like these kinds of paradises, like, India, Goa, Indonesia, the Georgian islands in Thailand. For many years they picked these places to skip the winter; they have been going there for a long time. In the beginning, I think I was traveling because I was not very stable. I was escaping from my family situation; this is the same story for many travelers.

You could talk to each other because you trust them; it’s like going to a psychologist. If you say you go to a psychologist, they think you’re mad in my country. So that’s what we do when we are traveling, and that’s why when we come home, we feel better. When you are traveling, you are in a bubble and think things will be better because you left the lousy situation behind. That’s why people stay in many places and try to restart and have a new life or think of their next move.

Which is your favorite country?

If we talked about countries and had to choose one, it would be Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific Ocean. I choose two countries per continent; they would be Spain in Europe. Spain mainly because I am from there and I like gastronomy; then I would also pick Iceland; it’s a fantastic place. In Asia, I choose Yemen; it’s a great country, and the island of Socotra is paradise; it has one of the best beaches. India, you either love or hate, I think it is fantastic, and the shock of seeing people traveling by train which is a whole experience. Then in America, I pick Alaska and Brazil because of the Amazon River, and it’s a vast country to explore and discover. That’s more or less the country, but if I had to pick one, it would be Papua New Guinea. People, there are still barefoot. There is 20 Bird of Paradise, they have giant clams, shipwrecks, and you can go diving. You can put your feet in places that have never been touched before. You can also explore and find new species of trees, insects, or animals that no one knows exist. You can put your name to it because many biologists and scientists can label new species.

Do you think that your experiences depend on the people you meet or travel with?

You go to the places because of what you think the area is like, but you discover something else when you’re there. Persian people are amazing. Muslims give you three days of food and accommodation; the Holy Book of the Quran says they have to do this. Iran is a beautiful country; the people are amazing, maybe not the government, but the people are amazing. In Saudi Arabia, there is no freedom, and you have to be careful what you do, where you go, and who you talk to. In Asia, people help you and make your journey better because if the people are friendly, you want to stay longer. It is more about the people than the countries because countries are countries, concrete jungles are concrete jungles, natural is natural. When you go to places overcrowded like cities, there are plenty of thieves. The children from these areas have nothing, so they steal to make money. It’s a universal problem across all countries. The primary key to feeling okay when you’re traveling the country and sightseeing are the people that make you feel safe or feel better.

What do you foresee as the future of travel based on the current situation with Covid?

We need the vaccination, but people will change their mentality and habits with the restrictions. The beginning will be a little bit hard because we will maintain the distance and not touch things. In the end, we’ll be okay, but we have to handle the changes. Also, I think they will increase the prices because they will not run at total capacity. Also, I see many companies are going to close. We have to do things because we want to explore and go to places. I believe that traveling will be different, but you cannot stop people from traveling; that’s impossible.

What is the one crucial tip that you will give to everyone traveling?

There is a saying; if you want to travel far, travel alone and travel light, you have to carry all your stuff with you. You can buy things when you arrive in a country. Focus on what you need because the main problem is bringing a lot of weight. If you are traveling to countries with changeable weather, pack a jacket that fits your luggage. Be strict with what you are carrying because you will suffer if you are going on long journeys. You have to organize all your documents. They have to be in a file in your email or cell phone in a place that you can access easily.

Another thing that happened to me was I lost my passport; if you already have a copy, it speeds up replacing it. The most important thing to take with you is your cell phone because of the camera. If you carry a camera with a big lens, the thieves will target you. Phones have the whole universe in them.

Our differences are what makes each of us special, and traveling allows us to gain exposure to differing and opposing perspectives. In this episode, Jazmin from Travel To Blank shares why it is important to represent, understand, and accept cultural diversity while traveling. We speak about consciousness of other cultures, empathy and respect towards different world views and sustainability in travel.

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The following is an extremely summarized version extracted from the transcript of the full conversation. I strongly recommend listening to the podcast for all the valuable insights. You will also hear more detailed and contextualized stories from the guest(s), as well as pointers from me in a two-way conversation.

Tell us more about yourself and and Steve.

Yeah, I apologize for that. Steve is working; he has a full-time job and just got called into a meeting. But I will tell you a bit about us. I’m Jasmine; I was born and raised in Ecuador. I have been traveling full-time since 2015. Before that, I traveled often, but not as a full-time job. I have visited about 70 countries worldwide and been to over 200 destinations. We currently live in Raleigh, North Carolina, where Steve works. I have two dogs and one hedgehog.

On the other hand, Steve was born and raised in Boston, we met in college, and we got married after a month of knowing each other. Well, we got engaged after a month of knowing each other and married after a year. He loves coming with me on trips, but unfortunately, he can only join me on vacations, holidays, or weekends.

You got engaged after knowing each other for a month?

Yeah, it was crazy. My whole family was freaking out. I remember calling my mom, dad, and my cousins. They thought I was crazy; the longest relationship I’d had was two months. I knew he was the one. But they’re thought, no, this is another one, don’t rush in. But when you know, you know, and we have been happily married for eight years. So it worked out for us.

How did you get started with traveling?

When I was two years old, I remember my first trip was to the United States. My parents took me to Disney. I was amazed by planes after that. I was always planning a trip and talking to my teddy bears in a backpack about where we would go. My mom and dad are not nature lovers in the same way that I am; their trips were more to cities. I love going to national parks, camping, enjoying the outdoors. I started doing that once I turned 18. I was exposed to more traveling experiences when I went to college. By the time I was 18, I had already been in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. So I always had a passion for traveling and discovering new cultures.

I went to China for three weeks. I barely spoke English at that time, and I don’t speak any Mandarin. We were in Shanghai, and my mom felt tired; it had been a long trip. She needed to sleep, but we were only there for two days. I was 16 years old; I left the hotel, took the first bus, and got lost in the middle of Shanghai, where I could barely understand anything going on. I took some photos, visited temples, and tried different foods. I got back to the hotel around midnight, and my mom was hysterical. We didn’t have cell phones as we do now. She was so worried, but I wasn’t. When I got back home, I took Mandarin classes. Unfortunately, I’m awful at languages. I remember always having that passion. My mom told me I couldn’t build my life around traveling. But I knew one day I was going to prove her wrong. And little by little, I think I am.

How do learning local languages help you connect better with the cultures and societies?

The best connection you can have in a city is by letting people express their emotions and language. You get a more authentic experience. They use words that mean something to them. It is more impactful when you use a word from their vocabulary. So my favorite way of learning a little bit of a new language is by watching TV shows in other languages. It helps you get used to different languages and rhythms in accents. So that’s a tip on how to be connected, watch tv shows in other languages with subtitles on. Language has a lot of power, and it’s more impactful when you get it from the locals in their language. One of my favorite things about speaking Spanish is that I can go to so many different countries and communicate and build a stronger relationship. It gives an added value. French is a language I’ve been trying to learn for a long time, and I cannot get the accents. My mom lived in France when she was little. She can speak French pretty well and would talk in French with my aunt, and I didn’t understand.

How does diversity play a part in what you see and do when you travel?

Diversity is a big, broad word that means so many things. I was invited to a conference that I’m going to give next week, to talk with the Tourism Board of North Carolina. It is a big conference, and I’m talking about diversity. One of the things that I always say about diversity is it’s not just about race; it’s not just about being white, black, Latino, or Asian. It’s also about being religious if you’re Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Mormon. It entitles so much; it’s such a powerful word that contains so much meaning. So for me, what I like doing when I’m traveling, is visiting memorials and Holocaust memorials. For me, as someone who’s married to a Jew, seeing things from a Jewish perspective changed my life. It made me see how important it is to embrace differences in us. Even though we might be different, we are all the same. We’re humans, and hate towards what you don’t know or someone that looks different from you can end in something as awful as the Holocaust. So I always try to visit memorials, museums, or statues just as a reminder that we need to embrace diversity when traveling. It’s something that speaks to me. One of the things that I have encountered as a Latina and Italian Arab when talking to people that look more stereotypical of those communities is that I am lucky not to look like that. I did not receive the same amount of racism towards me; it’s not about being lucky. I wish I could look more Latino because I’m proud of my heritage. I wish I could look more Arab or more Italian because that’s who I am; that’s part of who I am. It has helped me understand that it doesn’t mean it’s not happening if you don’t experience something. For the longest time, I thought there was no racism towards Latinas in the United States because I didn’t experience it myself. It was not until I moved to the South that when people heard my accent, I started seeing that they are racist towards me when they listen to me talk. Racism was there; it does exist. So it’s just making it more apparent that we have to fight these stereotypes.

We do need to say we are different, but at the same time, we are all the same. We’re humans, we all suffer, we all have joys, we’re healthy, we’re sick. Our appearances might look different, but in the end, we’re the same, and it needs to be respected and embraced. We can bring so much to the table, regardless of where we come from; coming from different places means we can bring more to the table. One of the things that we tried to do for my husband and me is he wears his Kippah. A Kippah is a little hat that Jews were above their head. In a lot of places, it’s not safe to do so.

We committed that my husband would start wearing it. It’s essential to show people that we are here and we won’t get bullied, and that’s the same thing with other diverse people. We need to have a presence. I know it’s hard because some people are afraid for their safety, and I understand where those fears come from. But it is essential to make a stand and to show that we are there, and for that, you need to represent yourself in those locations. Of course, we’re always aware. But people realize that racism is an issue that many people are getting hurt by it. With travel, it is essential because I have heard awful stories that have happened to some of my black friends in Europe. To started change, we all need to be part of it. We need to make people change. We need them to understand that we’re here, we’re not going away, and they need to respect us. We have the same amount of money to spend on travel; we have the same right to enjoy nature.

Put yourselves out there. It’s not easy, but it’s needed. I always say there are good people and bad people, regardless of their race, religion, country of origin, sex, sexual orientation, or gender. You cannot judge a whole community from one encounter you have had with someone who might not have been the nicest person. I invite people to be more open and learn from other people and show respect. The best way to start opening your mind is by not convincing them that their practices are wrong; your beliefs are correct. Try to understand why they think that way and show respect even if you disagree. Respect is the basis for a good relationship; it is the basis for success; it is the basis for becoming more humans.

I’m going to give you a quick example of something that happened to me. I remember talking to one of my friends; she’s black. It wasn’t until I moved to the United States, significantly North Carolina, did I had more contact with the black community. One of the things that she told me while talking is that she hated when people touch her hair. I could not understand why people would be feeling her hair; no one touches mine. She said people touch her hair because she is black and feels different. But I couldn’t understand why someone would reach out to your hair; it’s disrespectful, weird, odd, and awkward. I wanted to see if that was just her experience, so whenever I talked to someone of color, I asked her if she had experienced the same. I wanted to know if it was true or not, and that’s when you need to go out of your comfort zone. If you’re going to understand where someone’s coming from, put yourself in their shoes and try to find out their experiences. So every time I went out, and I saw someone of color and talked, I asked them the question. Is this true?

I kept getting yeses and yeses and yeses and yeses. I couldn’t believe it; this is something that everyone experiences. It often started when they were little until they got fed up as an adult and told people to respect their space. That was a wake-up call for me to realize that many things are going on. They aren’t overreacting. They aren’t exaggerating. It is essential to listen to people and their stories and see where they come from. It’s critical to show empathy and be nicer to people around you, even if they do not look like you.

How can people change their thinking and make an effort to listen and be non judgemental?

I feel like travel does that to you because you are the stranger wherever you go. When I went to China, I remember the first day people looked the same because I wasn’t accustomed to the location. But after I had been there ten days, I was more accustomed to seeing people and seeing differences. The same thing happened to me when I went to Norway for the first time. Everyone was so super white, and I wasn’t used to seeing lots of white people. The problem is people think that that’s racist, and that’s part of being racist. But the only way you can fight that is by acknowledging what happens and becoming aware. So get out of your community and try to interact with different people, expand your mind. That’s what I love about traveling, being out of your comfort zone, being aware of things that you say or do, and the way you behave. To me, that’s priceless. That’s an experience you can’t get from university or at home. You need to experience it by going out of your comfort zone.

When you travel with your husband, do you feel you learn more and see more than traveling alone?

I do, and it’s because we travel differently. When I travel alone, I do whatever I want. When I travel with him, there are things that we tried to keep, for instance, keeping kosher. It’s a different experience. We have other interests, and the best way to go on a trip with many people is to compromise. So it’s trying to be respectful to the other people you’re traveling with and trying to be open-minded. Not let your difference pull you apart, but get you together and enrich your travel experience.

What tips would you share for people worried about standing up for diversity?

I would say, be smart and be careful. It’s not easy to take a stand, and I don’t want anyone’s life to be in danger. Unfortunately, against racism, your life could be in danger. When we went to Norway, we always stayed in the Arab area because it was cheaper. We didn’t know that for a Jew, it could be dangerous. Steve was wearing his Kippah, and we were lucky enough not to encounter any ill-treatment or violence. But when we talked to a Rabbi from Oslo, Norway, he told us he had to dress differently to go to that area because it’s so dangerous.

Be smart, do your research. Avoid specific neighborhoods or sectors. Go where there’s a lot of people. I cannot tell you precisely what to do because it also depends on why you’re going there. Your experience in Norway will differ depending on whether you’re going for tourism, work, or visiting family. Your experiences with be different if you are black, Jewish, Arab, or Latino. It’s complex. Try to research a place where you want to go, and ask people questions representing your community. Speak to people on Instagram; it’s straightforward to connect with people and ask questions.

Ask how their experience was there? Would they recommend going there? Did you feel safe while you were in this particular destination? Once you’ve gained this information, you can make safe and intelligent decisions. Above everything, ask more than one person because someone might get lucky, so ask a bunch of people and always do research. I always say do not be afraid of visiting a place unless your life would be entirely in danger. But do not put your life at risk. It’s just not worth it.

Which areas do you focus on in terms of sustainable tourism ?

We started a travel blog, and we created walking guides because we think that the best way to explore is walking. Plus, you’re not contaminating the environment when you’re not using a car. One of the things that I recommend if you go to a big city, walk or take public transportation. It’s cheaper, and you don’t have to worry about parking. You’re helping have less traffic and emissions. That’s one of the ways that we tried to focus our sustainability. Another way that we tried to focus on neighborhood sustainability is by promoting destinations that are not well known. So I’ll give you an example. Nashville, Tennessee, is a beautiful city with lots to offer. But only 30 minutes away is Franklin, Tennessee, another great city with a lot of history. It is one of the most pet-friendly cities in the world. We try to highlight those secondary cities. We’re trying to give you options to go to more beautiful towns that still have a lot of history and unique experiences without overpopulating or overcrowding. You can help the local communities in the other cities.

Do you find there is a tricky balance between discovering new places and keeping destinations as hidden gems?

Finding new places is one of our missions. I’m always looking for new places to visit, not only cities but also nature. We adore national parks; they’re gorgeous. We also like going to State Parks which aren’t as visited and famous as National Parks. Many people don’t know they exist, but they are beautiful. By creating more impulse tourism, you need to be on the lookout for new destinations to write about and take photos of. If you go to my Instagram, you will see a mixture of images. So looking beautiful with a gorgeous background, and others are thrown together.

We want to remind people that traveling is about the experience; it’s about enjoying the moment and not so much about the photos. We try to remind people that traveling is not just Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. It’s about getting to know the culture, enjoying delicious food, and relaxing; that’s what travel is about. It’s about enjoying the free time and making it a moment for you to grow as a person. So try to find those spots that aren’t overcrowded; it takes time and effort, but it’s worth doing it if traveling is your passion and committed to it.

Tell me about your travel blog and the story behind Travel to Blank?

Honestly, it was the only name we found available with the travel blog. There’s no specific reason for it. The thing with Travel to Blank is when we got engaged by the end of that year, my visa had expired, and it was a student visa for the United States. We decided to go on a road trip around the United States for three months. We didn’t kill each other by camping and not showering every day and not having the food we wanted each day. We thought if we can overcome these, we can overcome marriage, so we did it. We ended a road trip by getting married in Florida. The next day, we flew back to Ecuador, where we were supposed to settle, but we had difficulty finding a job for Steve because he didn’t speak Spanish. It was even harder to find a job because I got used to making money in America. You make a lot of money compared to Ecuador. It was hard for me to adjust. Steve wrote about his experience living in Ecuador as an American. Then he started generating traffic to his website. Then he got the idea to start writing a guide of our journey, kind of a diary.

We struggled to find a username. We realized that the way we traveled depended on the availability, prices, and mode of transportation. So we traveled to, I don’t know, blank. We look it up, and it was available. And that’s how the name came. Then we just started working on it. When we move to Europe for a Master’s degree, we start traveling more around Europe and creating more content. That’s when we started developing the walking guides. In Ecuador, we mostly made road trips, but in Europe, we walked all the cities. It all adds up together. It wasn’t that we were planning on it, and we weren’t looking for a niche.

What is your blog audience demographic? Why did you decide to write in both English and Spanish?

The demographics of our readers are predominantly the United States, Ecuador, Colombia, the UK, and Canada. We started writing in English because Steve was the one who was writing it and editing it. I would do a draft, and then he would make sure it was in proper English. We wrote in Spanish because I wanted to share the blogs with my people, with my community. I wanted to share it with Latinos, Hispanics in general, encourage them to travel more, and go to all these places they might not know. It became more of a personal thing for me. I’m not going to say that I’m the only one writing in Spanish. It takes a little more time to translate the content, but it’s not twice the work because the contents are already there.

Do you do anything differently in terms of SEO?

It is like writing a new post but with a draft in English if that makes sense. What is fantastic for me is that I rank higher in my Spanish posts than in English posts.

How did the pandemic affect you guys and blog?

The pandemic pretty much destroyed us. Our income decreased, our traffic went down by 60%. It was awful. But at the same time, I was grateful that Steve had a different job. We weren’t struggling like other people were in the tourism industry. Even though it was harder for us to got by, sharing our content was still doable. I didn’t focus on how much money I was making but more about bringing people to these places. At the beginning of the pandemic, no one was thinking about traveling. People were at home, with their kids, and working a lot. There was a lot of stress in the environment, so I shared my videos, trying to take people out of their homes for one minute and to a new place. I tried doing that on Twitter, posting something every day; a video of a new destination I was going and people appreciated it a lot on my Twitter. People thanked me for reminding them that there are cool things out there that they will get back to it at some point. It was a tough time; it is still challenging. But we’re just leaving that behind, and with the vaccines coming and more available to everyone.

I think that it brought us together more as humans. It made us realize that it doesn’t matter where you are from; we were all facing one significant threat together. So my intake from the pandemic was more of a humble one; it was more about being thankful that no one directly from my family died. It was more about valuing what I have; my husband, dogs, family, and not being between suitcases, even though I love it. I would not trade it for anything in the world. It made me realize the importance of having a home; I don’t mean a house, I mean having that support system. When you are traveling because there are so many exciting things going on, you take for granted that sometimes you even forget about calling home. It was a year that I learned a lot as a human. I’m not thankful for the pandemic, but I’m grateful for being alive. I’m thankful for making the best from the worst of the pandemic because I feel like there was more worse than good. But there was some good out of it. Seeing that and not losing anyone makes me appreciate life more and be thankful to God for my opportunities. The blessing of opportunity, but the gift of not losing.

Do you have any new directions or new ideas from the pandemic?

I have always tried to do different projects; now, I’m selling some of my photos on Etsy. I’m writing a book, and we’re in the crowdfunding stage. If you go to my Instagram, you can see the link there for my book. In that book, I share my experiences and ten different trips that I did, and ten different lessons that I learned on the trips. I’m not thinking much about my blog, I don’t see me switching to lifestyle, but I want to share what I have learned from my travels through my lens, photos, or book. I’m looking into the extremes to diversify my business, but not the focus of my brand.