Study hard, find a well paid job as a lawyer/doctor, get married and have kids… Sounds familiar? This traditional definition of a successful life progression is applicable worldwide, and especially prevalent in Asia. The region is home to many digital nomad hubs, but the lifestyle is not as common among Asians. In this episode, Kach from the Philippines shares how she broke free from this traditional mindset to find her own success and happiness while traveling around the world.  We discuss family communications, building remote income sources, creating a successful travel blog , yacht life and Montenegro as a home base.

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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 a bit about yourself and how you started from your journey of a corporate job to basically travelling around the world and meeting the love of your life and then to where you are today?

My name is Kach, and I am from the Philippines – in 2013, I quit my job. I worked in Kuwait and Iraq for almost four years – my last job was for an oil company. Before I know it, it was like a quarter-life crisis. I was 24 and earning decent money for my age and my nationality. I decided to quit my job and then go travelling for six months, like just a sabbatical using my savings.

But unexpectedly, I met my husband, Jonathan, who is four years older than me. He had left his architectural job to go backpacking and go on a motorbike trip around Southeast Asia. But his plan was not like six months and going back to the UK. He planned to retrain and become an English teacher. He knew that teaching English abroad as a British citizen would make good money. So, he was on a motorbike trip around Southeast Asia and ended up living in Hanoi, Vietnam. I was only backpacking, and I decided to travel for two, three months. After meeting Jonathan in Laos, Luang Prabang, I realized I liked this guy and wanted to meet up again. So, I visited him in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he started teaching English and ended up not leaving. I ended up teaching English there. And we live in Vietnam together for almost nine months.

Then we decided to travel the world. We booked our flight tickets to India, where we live and travel for three months. That’s where we trained to become yoga teachers and massage therapists because we knew we wanted to keep travelling, but we needed to fund our travels. We didn’t have that much money, just some savings from teaching English in Vietnam. After that, we flew to South America, where we lived in Peru. We volunteered in exchange for accommodation and breakfast. At this point, we decided to start a travel blog, and that’s where it all started. A few years later, I’ve travelled to 144 countries. My husband and I’ve travelled to around 80 countries together. I’ve travelled solo more than him especially when we lived on a sailboat for two years. During this time, I would go out and travel solo for two to three months per year.

How did you go from the Philippines to working in Kuwait and Iraq? Why did you choose these countries?

Filipinos usually go abroad to work and most probably to the Middle East. The reason why I chose Kuwait is that my father had been living there for ten years. He works for the Ministry of Dental Administration. I planned to work for the Philippine embassy because I planned to take up law. But then I found a job in the private sector, earning good money for a 20-year-old Filipina. Why would they go back to the Philippines? Then I learned about Couch Surfing, backpacking, because in the Philippines when you travel, you stay in hotels because that’s the only vacation. But when I learned about these platforms, I realized I would never go back to the Philippines. I would not become a diplomat, so I could have a diplomatic passport that would allow me to travel to other countries. I didn’t need it. I could couch surf.

How did your parents feel about your desire to travel and changing your plans?

My parents separated when I was seven. I was raised by my mom. I didn’t have a close relationship with my father until I was in university and needed to ask him for an allowance. When I finished university, he offered to send me to law school. For Asians, our parents pay for our tuition fees. But in university, I was a scholar. So, they didn’t pay anything at all, except for miscellaneous fees. I ended up not doing law. When I arrived in Kuwait, my father helped me get there. I never really grew up with him. I don’t really know him that much. I lived with him for a year. I brought my mother from the Philippines to Kuwait. She’s also a dentist, and she left everything to come with me. My mom is pretty cool. I moved out of my father’s house and moved in with my mom. I was exposed to the international scene, meet new people who liked travelling – it was just like my dream. I left my current boyfriend – we separated because we had a different mindset. He wanted to have a family and to buy a house in the Philippines. I never really imagined myself having children anytime soon.

My mom raised me to be independent, so when I told her I was moving to Iraq to work and then started backpacking, she never really questioned my decision making. She knew me – she raised me how I am. When I left my job to go backpacking, my father had many comments. He thought if this guy’s living with you but isn’t going to marry you, he had an old mindset. He didn’t talk to me for years. When my blog started to have more attention in some newspapers and had more followers, he started talking to me and thought I wasn’t a failure. He accepted what I wanted to do. But he didn’t communicate with me for three or four years. But that was quite normal because I didn’t talk to him from elementary into college.

Is there anything that you do during your travels that relieves your parents concern?

The good thing is that at the beginning of my travels, I met Jonathan. We’ve been together since 2013, so my mom was not worried. We have travel insurance, and they are aware of our itinerary – they know our schedule. I don’t call them because they know everything from our travel blog on Facebook, so everything is heavily documented. But if I don’t post, I inform my mum why. The only time she has been worried was when I had a car accident in Pakistan in 2019. I make sure that every year I bring my mom to a new country with me. We always have a catch-up. She knows that I can handle things, and she says that she always prays the rosary because she’s very religious. She says “God is guiding you, so I’m not worried about you.”

Tell us more about the challenges that you faced travelling as a Filipino? I know you address visa issues a lot. What are other challenges?

Having a Philippines passport, it’s always hard to get a visa – thankfully, I’ve passed those hurdles. If you’re a first time traveller, the impression is that you are going there to look for work and not go back to the Philippines, that you want to work illegally with a tourist visa. That was the historical perception. I passed that hurdle. The hard part now is getting a visa to visit some African countries.

In some of these countries, for example, in South Sudan, or Sudan, the closest embassy is in London or France. For me to go there, I have to get a visa to enter France or the UK to get a visa to enter South Sudan. That is the reason why my husband and I decided to sell our sailboat and move back to the Caribbean to live there. It’s not easy travelling to other places – that is why we decided to move to Montenegro. We’re able to get residency, making it easier for me to apply for visas to these countries that we planned to visit next. The other issue we had was our Filipino currency – it is not high and getting visas for a passport is difficult and expensive. Aside from all the requirements that you have to submit, you have to show three to six months of bank statements, proof of your income, the reason you’re going there, and have a guarantor or an invitation. For African countries, the complicated part is where you will apply and how long before you could apply.

Can you debunk some of the myths that Filipinos often have about long-term travel?

They ask about safety and how safe it is. I couldn’t answer it, because it depends on the location and the situation. You could avoid going out at night, those kinds of things. Of course, you cannot control accidents – you never know what will happen next. Another thing is how expensive it is. One thing I want to debunk is that if you quit your job to go travelling your career or your life will end. However, you could build a career from travelling and doing something. That’s the big trend of digital nomads – why work from home if you can work anywhere. I don’t consider myself a digital nomad anymore – I have a permanent base and still travel. I will never lose that part of the adventure.  

On social media, I post personal things as well as reality. That’s why we have two pages. One is two monkeys, where I’ll post the best things in life or guides and how to teach people. Then we have a page, where I post everything that I do in a day, even if I’m complaining, my health issues, just the reality. People need to see that this is the reality of life. It’s not just like super nice unicorns all the time. If they compare it to life on Instagram, it’s different because that is just the highlight of your life. 

Travel blogging is another thing that is very often misunderstood by people. Can you tell me about your journey shifting from backpacking to teaching English and then writing a blog?

We got into the travel blogging world in 2014. I’m not saying it’s saturated now – everyone has different personalities, different journeys, different style. If you decide to start a travel blog, do it, it’s not too late. When we started in 2014, not many people were doing it. We had a niche and was able to get into that market. People don’t know we worked 18 hours per day because you had to write content, do SEO, keyword searches, photos, and we spent a lot more time promoting it. If you have no readers, then there’s no profit. You have to learn about affiliate marketing and how to get sponsorships. Sponsors will only come to you if you have enough readers and analytics to promote and prove it. You need people who follow your blog, and they have click-throughs and a good return on your investment – my ROI is high.

Some people write travel blogs as a hobby to share them with family and friends. Some people do it for a business. It helped pay for our trips, with buying our house and paying our bills. Before travel blogging, we tried teaching English, doing yoga and massages and e-commerce.  We then started to do lifestyle blogs, that kind of thing, you end up making money from your commissions, and you have to think of products and services that you could sell to support your experience. If you have a good readership or following, they will buy your products and services.

Eventually, with our travel blog, we got sponsored by Turkish Airlines, and then hotels and tourism boards. That’s why we’re able to stay in nice hotels and get proper tours – otherwise, we would still be in the backpackers’ hostel. If you go to our two monkeys page and look at our first photos, one with a brown and a white monkey with backpacks. You will see that we didn’t expect it to go so big. It was just for fun – we call each other monkeys. It’s a good brand, Two Monkeys Travel. Our goal was to go from monkey backpackers to luxury travellers. Law of attraction works dreams do come true.

How long did it take for the blog to become sustainable full time?

We started the blog in 2014, and it took off in 2015. We purchased the domain name in 2014. Our first writing income came from Rappler, a publication in the Philippines. They paid us $50, and they agreed to give a link back to our brand-new website. We wrote an article that went crazy viral – it’s on social media, on that website. We got immediate clicks on our page, so that was a good thing.

Then we partnered with the TEFL company because we were writing about funding this travel. We told them that we were ditching English to make money to travel. We started the Blogspot in March when we were still in India. We started content and promoted it as Blogspot by June. We bought the domain in October, and by January, we made $1,000 because we were promoting a TEFL course. Then we signed up for Agoda, booking.com, Skype – where you can make money from affiliate marketing. Once we graduate and got more followers on social media, we got more sponsored posts. We had 10,000 followers, so we asked for free night stays in five-star hotels, in exchange for working together. It was like a snowstorm. Once we had a higher domain authority and more readers, we could get more sponsorship and advertising.

We were making money by January 2015. But you need to maintain the momentum. It’s not like you just made money, and then you’re done. You need to make sure that you are consistent, and you have to be diverse. In the beginning, we had some volunteer writers because we couldn’t afford to pay for them. But they got a free trip to places in exchange for content.

Now we have six full-time staff working with us, who manage some of our websites and help us with our social media and editing.

Tell me about life on a sailboat because that was in the last few years of your life?

After we got married in 2016, my husband wanted to have a boat, but we’re broke. In 2017 we were able to buy a sailboat because he was semi-retired, and we’re making passive income. You know passive income is not passive – you need to work to make money from it. So, we bought that boat in the Florida Keys in May 2017. Jonathan has an RIAA certificate. He figured out the boat, and I went to Africa. I travelled to 17 countries in Africa for almost three months, and then I went on a Caribbean sailing cruise with my mother. When the boat was ready, we went to the Bahamas. But two weeks after we arrived, the Florida case was hit by Hurricane Irma. In the marina where we were, there were 300 boats, but only 50 survived. Thankfully, our boat was still there in the morning. It had minor damage. I believe in miracles. My husband had been visualizing it was protected by a bubble. We were so worried because the boat wasn’t insured. It took us two months to fix it.

By February, we took off with a cat, Captain Ahab, that we adopted in the Florida Keys who survived the hurricane.  We didn’t know how to sail – we just followed the cruise ships. Later, we sailed around from the Bahamas until we decided we sell the boat and move back to Europe. It was amazing, and that’s the reason why we started Mr and Mrs Howe sailing blog. The Two Monkeys travel took a hit as it couldn’t be related to living on a sailboat. Not everyone wants to live on a boat or buy a boat. Our followers were affected, but we had a different kind of following.

What was the pros and cons of live on a sailboat?

People assume we left the boat because I didn’t enjoy it. But it was my husband who stopped it. I loved the sailing life. In the beginning, I didn’t because we didn’t have a proper shower on the boat. Before we sold the boat we realised that we had a hidden shower – the space is tiny.  If you want to go to land, you must get there in a dinghy. We mostly stayed in the Marina, staying on a boat with a shared bathroom, just like backpacking, but we have our house that we’re dragging along with us. You have the freedom to go to islands when no one is there. The sailing community is amazing. Most of them are retired, and they are chasing freedom. We’ve met wonderful friends through sailing, and of course, it’s just adventure – you never know what’s going to happen. Jonathan is the skipper. He’s always under pressure making sure the boat doesn’t sink. My only worry was, what are we going to eat tonight?

Why did you guys decide to settle down in Montenegro?

When we sold our boat, we planned to move to Europe, but not the UK. We wanted a lifestyle, and we couldn’t afford that in the UK. We wanted to eat out. We wanted to go sailing. We wanted to go travelling. We wanted a luxury lifestyle on a budget. We thought of moving to Portugal or Spain, which was feasible because there wasn’t Brexit, and we could get residency, but then we got invited to go back to Montenegro. I had visited Montenegro twice before moving in 2019. We loved it because we love sailing, and we wanted to buy another boat. We could go sailing in Boca. Jonathan loves motorbikes, and modern Agra is known for the motorbike routes and cycling routes.  I got my residency before Jonathan. He was stuck in the UK because of COVID.  

The country is tiny and still cheap -the lifestyle is so laid back. It feels like you’re in the Caribbean because the people are so chilled, super-nice, super approachable. You can find fresh food everywhere. Everyone has a garden, fresh veggies, and fresh meat. You could have alcohol and eat steak or eat seafood with every meal. We live in Herceg Novi, and we are close to three different airports. We could cross the border to Dubrovnik, we could fly anywhere, and we travel a lot. Buying a house was not our plan. Our plan was just to rent for a year. We ended up buying a house because I had a car accident and couldn’t walk for a few months. We were renting in a penthouse without an elevator. Even if I went to therapy, I couldn’t go up and down all the stairs. We had enough savings to buy a house, and then COVID happened. We couldn’t renovate our house.

If I showed you around, you might end up buying a small house with land to grow all your vegetables. For someone like – my husband and I, we really couldn’t live in cities anymore. We preferred to live near the city but still be up in the hills surrounded by mountains. We have cats, and they are happy to run around the village. We don’t have neighbours that live here – it is just their summer home. The city is tiny, and people talk. They think we are weird until they met us.

What are your plans after COVID? Are you looking to go to other countries?

The reason why I wanted to move to Montenegro was, so I could easily bring my family here. If I immigrated to the UK, it would not be easy to bring family or friends who want to emigrate. We started the company, and we are the only licensed company in Montenegro – that caters to Filipinos and other Asian nationalities who need a visa to emigrate to Montenegro. It’s promoting to immigrate, but we’re targeting more business investors because job opportunities here are not high. The country’s population is 600,000 with not many businesses, but it’s going to boom when it becomes part of the EU. So, we plan to settle down, get our company sorted, bring our stuff here and my brother. We have just come back from Moldova, where we spent the week for work, and my brother looked after our cats. We have a big plan to go to Africa – it is a continent that I haven’t visited. We’re travelling on a truck, and that’s our big goal. I still aim to travel to every country in the world in the next two or three years. And then maybe after that, adopt more cats.

Do you think this is the best time to go to Montenegro, before the boom?

Imagine Croatia years ago – people were buying properties there, it was easy because Croatia was not EU. Now it’s not easy to get into Croatia, even for tourism. It’s not easy for Asian people to buy properties there or get a residency visa. Montenegro is trying to be like Croatia. Montenegro has just passed a law for any start-up companies to be tax-free for your income and corporate for five years. Now is the best time to get into it because they’re trying to make it like a hub. They are trying to bring more digital nomads to Montenegro. Not just to invest in properties, but this is where they could have their start-up company.

How easy is it to buy property in Montenegro as a foreigner?

Unlike in other countries, you own your property 100%. For foreigners in the Philippines, you can only buy a condominium, and you cannot buy land. We have a house in law that is shared, 50/50, between my husband and me.  There is no standard rate for properties in Montenegro. They don’t have a systematised real estate. It all depends on how much people want to pay. There was a property boom in 2016 when all the Russians arrived here. They paid cash to buy everything because nobody was checking where the cash was coming from. Now it is a little bit stricter. Now, because they know that Montenegro will be in the EU, there is no rush to sell. They will have more value. Now, because of COVID, a lot of Russians who bought the properties – are selling them cheaper because they wanted cash. We paid half of what the Russian guy was asking because we had the cash. It’s cheaper to buy in Montenegro, but there are no mortgages. You pay for everything in cash. You must have a lawyer and a court-appointed translator. You cannot do anything, document wise, without a court-appointed translator. It’s for your protection, and it’s a requirement by law that you have that. We saw the house on Monday, and we put an offer in on Tuesday. The Russian guy flew from Moscow by Thursday. We checked everything in the house on Friday. Then we signed a contract and transferred the money from the UK to Montenegro. We couldn’t send it directly to Russia because there’s a blockage. On Saturday, we met the previous owner, we flew to the same airport because we were going to Bhutan, and he was going back to Moscow. When we got back from Bhutan, the house in our name.

Is the process always that fast?

It is not easy for others – you must do your due diligence. You must make sure the title is clear, that there’s only one owner, because sometimes there are multiple owners. Buying from another foreigner makes sure that the title is clean. We’ve seen more and more on the market because my husband has been getting into it. We’re not into real estate, but we’re just helping some people get permission from the owner and connecting them. There are now so many Russians trying to sell properties, it’s just getting cheaper.

What would be your best advice for Filipinos or Asians who want to get into long term travel?

Just get out there, get out of your comfort zone. People, your parents will worry about you. Because if they don’t, are they psychopaths – they should worry. The best rebuttal is, you raised me. You raised me to be independent. Before you get into long term travel, you need to make sure you’re quitting your job, which is easy. The hard part is sustaining it. How can you sustain a lifestyle like this? My tip for you is to learn new skills to work online, then work as a virtual assistant. Do anything that would make money and the lifestyle sustainable. You don’t want to get exposed to this world and run out of money, then go back home, get back to your old job and do your old thing. Because you’re no longer going to be your old self.  Quit with a plan of how you could sustain the lifestyle. I always say to our readers, YOLO – You Only Live Once, but you need to think long term. Always think about what’s next but enjoy the moment.

The gig economy is growing faster than ever, and freelancing is one of the best ways to take your career on the road. In this episode, serial entrepreneur Alex Fasulo, shares how she made over a million dollars as a freelance writer on Fiverr. We discuss strategies to succeed on freelance platforms, lifestyle tips to get into the right hustle mindset, and how to branch out into more businesses from a successful foundation.

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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.

Hi Alex! Although most people know you as the Fiverr girl, you’re actually a very self driven entrepreneur that is running multiple different businesses. Tell us about that, and also about yourself.

I guess I’m what you would call a serial entrepreneur, because I am always working on 10, 12 different projects at the same time beyond just doing Fiverr. And I obsessed over Fiverr the last five, six years, it’s obviously paid off for me. I get bored very easily, so I ended up doing all of these different crazy things. I run a business with my mom called campfire trailers where we take horse trailers and flip them into mobile bars. I have my own mobile app called IPOP, which is a trending photo map app. I have my own personal brand. I have my bookstore online courses.

I’m always exploring different businesses, and actually recently very much looking into residual income that can kind of generate a certain base of income each month for me, not so that I could retire because I never really actually want to retire. That’s definitely at the top of my list.

I think I think that’s where the Internet has changed everything because one person now can run five different internet businesses. Whereas in the past, you know, you would just have your one business, that’s all you could do.

What do you think are the pros and cons of using Fiverr versus building a website and trying to do sales and source clients?

Fiverr gets me more leads than I could ever get on my own. So when I log onto Fiverr, every day about 20 people have messaged me that night seeking out my services. But I haven’t been able to replicate that on my own, with my own LinkedIn or email.  I’m trying to match it but I just can’t. The leads that Fiverr gives me, you can’t compare to it. So Fiverr takes 20% and Fiverr, in a way is the boss of you still, which any classic type A entrepreneur person doesn’t like having a boss. Which is why I am actually exploring getting my own leads. I don’t want to forever be the Fiverr girl, even though I am the Fiverr girl, and I’m proud of it. But I don’t want to forever be that. I’m putting in a lot of work right now to actually find my own leads.

The differences on Fiverr, it’s easier in the way you sign up. The leads can start coming in immediately. To go find the leads on your own, you have to put in time, you have to set up systems, you have to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. But in the end, you’re not losing 20%. So that’s kind of the trade off. I think it’s a fair one. I think it’s fair that Fiverr takes 20% because they do get you your leads. They’re working as your marketing department. That’s just the trade off with it.

What are you doing to put your eggs into more baskets in terms of your writing business?

I’m actually freelance on Shopify, they have a closed marketplace. And actually, Wednesday this week, I’m speaking to a guy who does email automation. And I’m going to sign up with him and have him start reaching out to email lists to get me my own personal clients. And I’m also going to start doing it on LinkedIn and through Instagram DM. So I’m going to have email, LinkedIn, and Instagram, hopefully bringing me high paying leads. I don’t want to have to go for the volume where I need 10 a day. I’d rather find three of them that need 100 blogs a month or something like a big order.

I’m starting doing that because Fiverr again, it’s been great, but I want to start branching out and maybe grow my own personal business that’s not necessarily affiliated with Fiverr. It’s just smart to not be reliant on one thing you know, that’s a scary place to be in. And I always tell people starting out freelancing, “Don’t just do one site. Try Upwork try Fiverr try Freelancer try a bunch.”

When is a good time to raise your prices?

I always tell the people I help that there’s two times, two signs, you should do it. Fiverr has a ranking system. When you advance a rank, like if you go from level one to level two or level two to top level, you can justify a price increase because Fiverr has promoted you, in essence. And the other time is I’ll have people say to me, you know, I’m working 16 hours a day, I’m turning work away, you know, my profile has blown up so big, I don’t know what to do, I’m turning work away. And I always say to people never turn work away.

So if that is happening, I’ll say to people raise your prices, but not dramatically. you don’t want to startle your people, I say if anything, do very subtle price raises like $5 at a time, nobody will notice. And next thing you know, you do at $5, six months later, $5, you know, six months later, next thing, you know, you’re making, you know, double what you were making, and the client doesn’t even really notice. Obviously, it is a case by case basis. I don’t want people to come and say, “Oh, I raised my prices, and I lost all my business.” That’s why I say raise them very gradually and small, like small raise amounts, because you don’t want to send all your returning clients out the door. Some of them might drop off, but you’ll get new ones, it’s all part of the process.

I had a big jump in my pricing, because I went from level two to Fiverr Pro, top 1% of the platform. And I went from charging $25 for something to $100, which is insane. I got a lot of angry messages from buyers, when they saw that their $25 package is now $100. They were like, “who do you think you are? Are you kidding me?” And I was like, Listen, I don’t know what to tell you Fiverr pro starts at 100. But since then I’ve gotten all brand new clients that come in on a $100 price point. So I understand that fear. But if your quality work is increasing, then you’re always going to have a buyer who’s willing to pay for it. But don’t scare your buyers if you don’t have to, don’t do a massive increase for no reason.

Talk to us about your mindset and how that transition went for you.

It was funny because I didn’t really have a choice of how it went because Fiverr said hey, if you’re gonna be part of this program, you’re gonna have to increase your prices a lot . It goes into the marketing, if you’re the top 1% of our platform, we want your price to reflect that. It’s like, if you go into a store and you see a $10 lamp and an $85 lamp, you’re just gonna assume the $85 lamp is higher quality. It might not actually always be the case, but you’re gonna assume it.

I just went in full steam ahead. I lost most of my older clients. But the people who are on the platform looking for that top 1%, they’re out of a really rich Corporation, or they have a ton of money. They then see me and buy from me.  They want to tell their friends, “Oh, I used Fiverr Pro.” It’s all that same buying psychology. So if you have a fear that you’ll never have new clients. I get that fear. But don’t let it stop you because it didn’t stop me. And now I’m at a point where I’m obviously making way more money than if I had hung around $25.

What’s your secret to time management?

It’s waking up early everyday, no matter what, even if you’re out late the night before. Duty calls. It’s following the same schedule, even if you’re travelling, like it’s no days off, it’s actually quite boring stuff.

It’s being a very disciplined and focused person, and actually realizing that there’s nothing sexy about time management at all. And there’s nothing sexy really about being an entrepreneur or freelancer. You’re still at your computer busting your ass like the same way you would be in an office place.

So it’s just classic stuff, like I’ll turn my phone over, or I’ll take a break around noon. I make sure I eat fruits and vegetables, things that are will help me stay alert. When it comes to time management, there’s no time to make up a reason why you’re not focused one day. It’s waking up and committing yourself to being focused no matter what.

How do you stay focused when you’re writing, and then switch your mind to other tasks in other businesses?

It’s a good question. I segment my day out where first thing when I wake up until about right now actually is writing business time and nothing else. So it’s all about Fiverr, getting my own leads, growing my writing team every day. And then lunchtime hits, I’ll eat some lunch, maybe workout a little go for a walk. And then in the afternoon, I’ll segue from writer- writer to photography, videography, filming Tick Tock social media.

So let’s jump into the media side of my brain from like two to five. And then at five, I’ll go back to the writer brain for like another hour or two to close up the day. I’m my most focused, my most intensely focused in the morning, which is why I do my hardest work, my writing in the morning. So like by now I’m done with my writing for the day. And my brain isn’t as focused in the afternoon, but it’s still able to do creative stuff, like film or take pictures, because that’s not as taxing on my brain as writing. So I’ll kind of my natural focus, because I think some people are more focused at night.

Are you still doing all the writing yourself?

So starting, last year, like 2018 was when my work started to become too much for just me. So in 2019, I started working with one other writer. And then 2020 I actually brought on one more, so it’s me and two other writers. I actually think I need a third now. I have my app guy, two writers, two virtual assistants and my guy who edits my podcast, so the team is growing. I use them all in like an independent contractor arrangement. So they’re kind of like my freelancers that freelance for me, but it works out. And I’m sure I’ll add a few more this year even.

Looking at the people that I know, especially digital nomads entrepreneurs, we are working a lot more than the normal office hours sometimes. What’s your situation like?

I feel like what people don’t get from the digital nomad life is that yes, you are travelling, and yes, you are seeing really amazing things. But well, yeah, what you just said is, you’re often working overtime for it. Because if you’re not working, you know that work isn’t going anywhere. It’s still waiting for you. So if you decide to take a four hour break in the afternoon to go hike in the Rocky Mountains, that’s great, but you’re gonna have to do that four hours of work you miss when you get back to your room. But I think it blends work and play a lot. There’s not really a work life balance, and you have to be okay with that. Because, you know, you can play as you go, but you also need to work as you go. And you might have to work all day Sunday, you might have to work Saturday morning, because you want to take Monday off to go do something local.

Like if you’re on a hike. You know, you might have to answer an email while you’re on the hike. So, it’s like I think it’s romanticized and it is a great thing and a really cool thing and I think it’s awesome, you’re travelling all the time it is great but you’re working really hard too, really hard. Same thing with influencers I feel like influencers get a bad rep. And I think people think it’s, these girls sitting around doing nothing, you know, be like oh, bring me a fruit bowl, but it’s like I’ve seen the behind the scenes of it and those people are busting their asses still and they’re taking 5000 pictures before they get the one and it’s not glamorous, you’re sweating are yelling at each other like you know nothing is as it seems ever. It’s all marketing.

How do you balance between work and travel?

Well I have a hotspot on my phone that was huge. To be able to bring the internet with me, I think is really important. I mean, because I have a team now if I’m going to be flying all day, like I was last week, when I went to Utah, in advance, I’ll just outsource more of my work to my team. That’s kind of how I’ll handle travelling. I’ll just rely more on them than I normally do. And I’ll usually give them a heads up like, Hey, guys, you know, for four days, I’m going to be doing this. So I’m going to be outsourcing more work to you than normal. Is that okay with you?

So it’ll be kind of a system like that, where if one of them tells me like, hey, in June, I’m getting married. So for this whole week, like I can’t do anything, and I’ll be like, No problem. Thank you for telling me that. Because then I’ll know going into that week, I’ll have more work than normal. So it’s kind of just like an ecosystem where, if I know that I’m going to be, it’s an intense travel day, I’ll kind of hand more of it off than normal.

How’s your travel style? Where do you usually go? And what kind of things do you usually do?

Um, all of it? You know, I feel like I’m getting more anti city and more outside of city fun. I’ve lived in New York, I’ve been in Miami, I’ve been in LA I’ve been in all the big cities. So I feel like for right now in the US, I’m having fun exploring all it’s lesser travelled parts of the country. And that’s just kind of been my focus, because I’m 28 now, and I’m less into partying and drinking stuff than I was like six years ago, and I was 22. I was like, Oh, I want to go to Reykjavik and Tokyo and all these places, and I want to party and go to the clubs. And now I don’t really want to do that anymore as much. So I’m happier waking up early and like going to find a really cool hike with a waterfall. So right now, like yeah, nature and like less city focused.

You’re transiting from being a freelancer to building a personal brand. What are the challenges that you face along the way?

It’s funny, I was actually talking with some girls I have in a group on Instagram this morning. And the challenge I’m having right now is taking what I have, this brand and almost finding a way to make it even more universal. Because I want more people to want to join in on it naturally. All this time, I’ve been the Fiverr girl, the freelance Fiverr girl. And I’m kind of working to figure out a newer, more umbrella brand, which is like the remote work girl or like the girl helps you quit your job, like something that’s way more applicable to like everyone. So it’s kind of scary finding a new brand that includes that but other things too, and finding how to word it so that it resonates with people. I’m currently trying to figure that out right now.

Tell us more about the mindset to have when you want to put yourself out there as a content creator.

I guess I’m just at a place where I recognize that anytime you apply yourself at anything and put yourself out there, you’re going to get negative feedback. Because people are going to be jealous and they wish they could do it too, so they’re going to be triggered by it. And so be it, I’m going to just be authentic and be myself. And now I’m in a place when people write really mean things where I can actually just laugh because I recognize it really doesn’t have anything to do with me. It’s conjuring up something in them that they hate or that they’re sad that they can’t pursue their dreams or whatever it is. So I really just don’t take it personally anymore. And I have fun sometimes, in the comments. Sometimes I like to make jokes and have a sense of humor. So I’ll make a joke back to someone’s nasty comment.

How do you make yourself stand out as a freelancer or freelance writer?

I always say to people, the first thing I say to them is to get the idea of saturation out of their head, because there is no such thing if you wake up and bust your ass. You’re asked to commit yourself to being the best. There’s always room for you if you’re gonna work your ass off. So I’ll say to them first, you know, you have to have that conversation with yourself. Are you willing to tell yourself that saturation doesn’t exist and do your best? And then if they’re like, Yes, I am. I’m like, Okay, so now you’ll make it to the next step here, online on freelancing sites, you need to build trust with buyers.

So the quickest way to do that was to do I say things, have professional photos taken of you with eye contact, smiling, and plaster them all over your freelancing profile because that builds trust. That tells people you’re not lying or not saying you are someone you’re not. And it just helps us to see other human beings to connect with them. So plaster your image around everything, you don’t care if you’re shy, they’re not, you know, you’re not modelling here, you’re just showing people like I am who I say I am.

Now, to help with that trust, people want to see examples of your work. So if you don’t have a portfolio, do free work for people and make a portfolio, you know, you need to have examples of your work to show buyers. You can’t expect them to just go on a whim and go, this person’s never done an order in their life, let’s see how this goes. You’re gonna wait a lot longer to get your first line if you do that. And when that happens, when all those things come together, people will review you. And the third step, and they’re gonna leave you the best review that they can leave because you’ve gone above and beyond for them. You’ve won their trust, they like you, they’re gonna leave you a five star review.

That’s social proof. And then the next person who comes along, they’re gonna see that five star review, they might not even need a sample of your work anymore. They’re gonna trust you because the first person is vouching for you.

So it becomes this cycle that kind of speeds up more and more and more. And it all starts by understanding that these people need to trust you. So whatever questions they ask you answer them, be open, be honest, don’t lie about yourself. You don’t need to lie. No one’s asking you to say, Oh, I’m the CEO of this this and this, they know you’re not. And that’s okay. Be transparent. Show them examples. Be willing to work with them.

Just do it. You know, a lot of people talk about it for a year. I’m like, You wasted a year. Just do it. Don’t be scared. So many people are so scared today. I’m like, there’s nothing to be scared about. You’re not buying a house. Just do it. I give them the little path they need to get moving.

What’s the worst that could happen?

How do you run a successful Food and Travel YouTube Channel and still have time for your loved ones? In this episode, we talk about lifestyle balance, developing the right creator mindset, and tips & tricks to ace content creation on YouTube and social channels, with David Hoffman from the popular channel – DavidsBeenHere.

FIND DAVID HOFFMAN HERE:

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• Link

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, as well as pointers from me in a two-way conversation.

Hey David! Please give an introduction of yourself and a backstory.

My name is David Hoffman, world traveler entrepreneur from Miami, Florida. I started travelling at a young age. I did like a six week trip with my sister and brother-in-law to Spain back in 2000, and that’s sort of where my love for travel started.

From there, I took a trip every chance I got, either visiting friends or family. Whenever there was a break, I always try to travel. My main goal after that first trip was to see as much as I can. In 2007, I did a four month solo trip hopping around Europe, and I had an idea to create a YouTube channel/website where I produce videos about different destinations showcasing food travel, attractions, just different places that are off the beaten path.

I didn’t want to dive into the big cities like Paris, London, Madrid, that everybody does. I wanted to discover way deeper, and showcasing these more uncommon destinations so people can be inspired to go there.

I made a business plan and raised money back then. When I graduated, I took off and travelled for  around two years full time with a cameraman and assistant travelling the 22 countries. We created like 500 episodes, and I ran out of money.

I had to sort of figure out how to how to keep my my dream alive and make this actual profitable business. The hardest thing back then was how to monetize with YouTube. The monetization options were nothing compared to where it is today. Sponsorships were impossible. This way before influencers were a thing. I came home, and spent about a year trying to figure out different products and how to make this work.

Then in 2017, I started travel blogging with the filming technology we have today. 2017 is when you can actually start filming yourself, making a real movie without the boom mic, assistant, cameraman etc, You are able to do everything yourself and that changed everything for me. So from 2017 to now, I’ve been focused 100% on growing my YouTube audience, and just diving into more and more destinations.

How do you choose where to go? You seem to be visiting some unique destinations which are not as known for tourism or food.

Pre-COVID the way I did it was I have the map of the world. And I see where I’ve been and where I haven’t been. And then I strategize. What’s going to be the best in terms of food and travel content? I used to get the board and see what haven’t I done? Where haven’t I been?

My main thing is, I don’t usually repeat a country again; unless it’s India because every state is very different, and the market is huge. I really want to keep exploring more countries diversify my audience because obviously, the more countries you visit and produce content on, the more your audience grows in these different areas.

How difficult it is to plan your trips? Do you have detailed plans on the content, or do you take the risk and find stuff randomly?

No random, I’m very organized. I do have two kids at home and have limited time. My trips are usually 2 weeks. I lose 2 days travelling, so I have full 12 days where I have to produce the content.

I would take roughly about a day to plan a day of the trip. I look for breakfast, lunch, dinner spots, and then sort of organize my day around that because I do mix travel content. I’m not doing purely food. That’s one thing I always try to explain to people is the way I create my content, is the way I would travel myself.

If I wasn’t filming, I still want to go eat something traditional. That’s my thing. I don’t care what country I’m in the world. I want to eat their food for breakfast. And then, I’ll go and see attractions, discover the history of the place. I’m a big trip planner. That’s what I did before I had my company. Even though the internet was like primitive back then I would do my research thoroughly.

I film two videos minimum a day. Sometimes, three on the best days. A typical schedule like 7 to 11, I got a bunch of stuff, food, breakfast with other things included. And then from 11 to around 4, it could be either street route or one place with lots of food and, we hit up a few different, interesting attractions.

The third one is the bonus, depending on how lively the place is. Sometimes I’ll film at night, jumping around different spots to eat. I always like food places and try to do a tour. Sometimes we get to explore the kitchen. It’s an amazing place and I can do a whole video about the people – maybe preparing the food or if it’s a famous chef. It really depends on the destination, but always minimum two videos, three is great.

Talk to us about the “document, don’t create” content strategy. 

I’ve even done four videos in a day where I do like that haircut video, that straight up for the views. I’m going to film it and make some content out of it. And it works sometimes in places like India. I did a video here in Miami, getting a haircut from my Barber, and it has 50,000 views today. It’s not really the finances but rather getting more people to see my face. If it turns out great. If it goes viral, great. If not, it’s out there. And it’s my legacy. I don’t really worry too much. 

My main goal is to get a million views a day.

I never really get to up or down about videos. If it goes viral. I feel great. But at the same time, you got to create more content and can’t worry about that one video that maybe didn’t do well. Each video can change your life in different ways indirectly. For example, some people would say my Albania series didn’t do very well in terms of views. But at the end of the day, I now have many Albania and Kosovo audience, and they love me. With that, I have a dozen cities where I can easily do Albanian content, and get people from there, which is which is really cool.

Your family don’t come along for filming trips, so how do you balance between family and work?

It’s not easy. For me, it’s very strange. People don’t get it, but I live one life when I’m travelling where it’s 100% the camera. She is my girlfriend and doesn’t leave me.

When I’m home, I have the post production and my kids. I usually plan to be on a two week trip every other month. That’s sort of my thing.

My kids usually wake up around 6:30. I drop them off at school between 8, 8:30. Then I am at the  office until around noon, before picking my younger daughter up. We go home for lunch and then pick up my elder daughter later. Usually before 4:30pm I’m home.

The perception for an entrepreneur is to work like forever. I definitely try to but I also give time to my kids. They’re young, they need me and especially when I’m traveling, they don’t have me. Sometimes I take them to either my parents’ house or the park to do something. And then by eight, they’re usually in bed. On some nights I continue doing work stuff, answering emails, thumbnails, and metadata, etc. Or me and my wife will watch a movie or just relax. That’s sort of how I do it.

I try to give my kids as much time as possible because I never want to feel like I missed out on their life, especially vice versa. I see how it is for them when I’m gone for like 14 days. I’ve done a big trip before around 22 days, when my oldest daughter was 2. Halfway through the trip, I wanted to go home because I miss my kids. I’m always thinking about them.

Every night I dedicate time for them no matter what. Before I go to sleep, I’m on FaceTime with them for an hour at least. They can talk to me and know I’m alive. I want them to always know I’m here, I want to be really part of their lives.

One thing about young kids is that you have to be completely there. Even if they see you on the phone, they already feel like you’re not there. So when I’m with them, I’m with them. When I’m not with them, I’m working and building a future for them.

As a travel content creator, do you feel like you can’t really enjoy your travels because you always have to think about capturing the moment, or creating content?

I actually feel like I don’t know how I would do it without the camera. It’s just me, as a filmmaker, photographer, I really enjoyed capturing moments. I guess after doing it so long, I never had somebody asked me “how do you enjoy it?” I’m always filming anyway.

And without the filming, I don’t get the trip, so I never complain about that. Without I work, I don’t get to see this and experience this food and get to tell about it. I actually miss something when I don’t have the camera. I’m just very grateful that I can do it, that God gave me the ability to do it, and that I can keep doing it.

During these times, most people I know are not travelling. Some people can’t even move from their country. I’m very fortunate, we’re wide open here in Florida. I would never, ever complain about having to do more work. I always want to be the most hardworking person in any room. Wherever I am, I’m the one that’s grinding. People recognize that and they respect me more because of it.

You started YouTube many years ago, and your content has evolved along the way to the travel food niche today. Talk to us about this transformation.

With the evolution of technology, everything got a little easier. But I think the biggest thing for me was being able to do the filming yourself.

Once I started releasing more videos, where it was like titles about food or thumbnails about food, the viewership started skyrocketing. That was when I knew like food is an attractive topic. E.g. I can film an awesome day with richest man in the world but it will not do as well as eating food with the richest man in the world.

It just changes the way people think about it. And food has always been part of my experience of life. I used to separate videos way more, but now two videos a day, minimum , and food is always a part of it,

It’s always a mix of the destination with food. This is how I think about travel. That is always the first thing to have any conversation of travel destinations. Where and what should I eat? My niche is really independent travel. I’m a solo traveler. I organize it myself. But food obviously became bigger.

Are there any reasons that food worked for you but might not work for other content creators?

I think knowledge is a big thing. I was never a chef but I try so many different cuisines. I’ve tried over 1000 dishes because I eat like 10 or 15 a day. Besides being knowledgeable about food, it’s really about enjoying it. I’ve eaten better on the streets of freaking I don’t even know than in my own backyard. I’m a real foodie. I limit myself when I’m not filming to maintain my weight but I enjoy everything.

I have no limit with food, except I don’t eat anything that is still alive. I just want to try and see why, why is this thing famous here? There’s a reason for it.

Why do people like it? Let me try it.

Why not? And if I don’t like it, I say, it’s not for me. I would never bash something. That’s one thing I want to always say, you should never push negativity in any way.

What’s the weirdest food that you have ever eaten?

The recent weirdest when I was in Ghana. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Africa. The weirdest thing I ate on the trip, was when we went to a palm tree farm. They cut it down and they extract the sap. They distill it and then make gin.

When opening the tree to extract the sap, there are worms. They get it all out and put them on a stick, then they roast it under barbecue. It was weird because they look like super nasty, bad gooey worms. But once they’re cooked, it’s just crispy. If no one told me, I would have thought it was a crispy piece of like pork skin or something.

Besides that I’ve eaten a lot of bugs, crickets. I’ve eaten turtle before, unfortunately. because I’m a big turtle person. It was like a delicacy stew in Colombia.

How do you see the transition of YouTube from how it was 10 years ago to today?

Way more competition for sure. But again, I think we are just starting. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, are all still in the primitive stage. Although YouTube has been around for like 16 years, I still believe that it’s going to expand so much more.

Everyone I know watch YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ on their TV. If they don’t have TV anymore, they watch it on their phone. That is the biggest shift

People are just going on to the YouTube app, searching or getting recommendations. Then they let it run. I think there’s way more competition, but I still think it’s a lot of opportunity to grow, just depends on what your niche is.

I think the biggest thing is about personality, quantity of content. The more content, the better for you. The more you will grow the more eyeballs, more numbers, more finances, etc. You have to release as much quality content as possible. My current stage is that I release every other day. And my goal is that by the end of the year, I can get to a point where I can release something every day.

That having another full time guy just cranking out the content. Basically grind all day like I do to be able to release the stuff we’re releasing every day. I already had two channels, and looking to start a few more. It’s all repurposed material for more evergreen content.

Tell us more about your monetization model.

My main bread and butter used to be sponsorships, it was the one that would pay the most.

Two years ago, I know how much I spend a month between my rent and life insurance etc. I wanted to get to a point where I can make that much via video views. That was my main goal and I got there.

Once I got there, the next thing was how do I double or triple this? The only way to double or triple is to double down on the videos that make you the most money and already gained the most virality. I want the views to cover my life. Everything else is all extra.

I never want to depend solely on sponsors, coz they’re not always easy to work with. I know some YouTubers that only do sponsor stuff but it’s like, then why would anybody follow you? You’re not organic. 99.9% of my stuff is me. I wanted to film it, that’s why the content exists.

For me, the breakdown is like views and sponsorships. Sponsorship could be two forms, it could be the product or it could be production of content for a specific location. There is also affiliate links which are mainly on my website.

This is a long game. You need to release near 100 episodes straight before you make $1. Videos have to be of quality, but again also quantity. This channel that I just started, we’re at 700 subscribers and we still need like 3500 hours to get monetized. And I already know I’m not getting monetize my channel for at least 90 more days unless a few videos go viral.

Just keep putting it out there. A lot of people get confused with the monetization of YouTube, over how much it pays? I know people who have only about 1000 or 2000 subscribers, but they have an E book and all those people that are subscribed to them are actually buying that. For them the real money is through the product not the views, so it depends.

Apart from YouTube, how do you use social media and website to complement like your main YouTube channel?

For me, it’s like, what’s this trip about and what am I doing. With the video content, we also create articles. On my website, I usually create an article per destination, whatever I actually spent time doing there.  The videos is how my ghost writer puts together articles. I’m always looking at evergreen titles where people are still searching for in 10 years. And it’s never a list that’s completely copied from trip advisor because it’s really the stuff that I did when I was there.

And then Instagram, I post my life and random stuff. I play around with IG TV and reels, but I’m always there. I try never to like completely disappear. I need to talk to my audience daily, or they just forget about you.

What would be your best tip for YouTubers if they want to pursue like a long lasting career in filmmaking?

First thing is, no one should ever believe they can have online success overnight. You have to build this. Don’t worry what anybody else thinks. The hardest thing is the circle around you, your parents, brothers, sister, your friends, everybody who’s gonna tell you it can’t be done. It can always be done. It does not matter what they think, it can be done if you switch it in your head that it will be done.

For YouTube specifically. or anything you do, try to have a real focus. There’s niches in travel, what do you focus on, what are you’re going to be telling, what are you doing? Try to have a sort of a clear vision on what it is that you do. For me it’s independent travel with food.

And then know it’s a long game. This is not an overnight thing. A lot of patience is involved here. Things will happen as you keep creating. That’s how this works. The longer you do it, the more you grow, internally as a person, but also outside.

I don’t really care too much about numbers anymore. Obviously you want that million views, you want that next thing but it’s more about enjoying what you do.

One more thing. For people that want to get into YouTube and have a full time job or another business, the main thing is that you have to carve out the time to make this happen. You might have kids, you’ll have a full time job. At night, on the weekends, whenever you can, you have to make the extra effort to make these videos so you can actually move forward.

Videos are a lot of work to make, it’s like a motion picture. It’s not going to be as efficient. The efficiency is knocking it out five pieces a day, via documenting. It can be just you talking and recording. Any piece of content can blow up, you can’t really worry about every video getting a million views. You have to worry about just getting it out there. And hopefully it works. If it doesn’t work, next one.

Matt Kepnes runs the award-winning travel site nomadicmatt.com, which helps people travel the world on a budget. He’s the author of the NYT best-seller How to Travel the World on $50 a Day and the travel memoir Ten Years a Nomad. His writings and advice have been featured on CNN and the BBC and in the New York Times, The Guardian, Lifehacker, Budget Travel, Time, and countless other publications. You can follow him on Instagram at @nomadicmatt. When he’s not on the road, he lives in Austin.

Many people think of traveling the world but are hesitant about it. What drove you to quit your job and travel the world instead?

Originally, I started traveling sort of by accident. I was working in hospital administration and had a two-weeks holiday I needed to use.

I booked a tour to Costa Rica and ended up having an amazing time. That trip opened up a whole new world for me. For my next trip, I went further afield and visited Thailand with a friend. Thailand travel was a bit more challenging since we went by ourselves but it was there that I met “backpackers” for the first time.

While in Chiang Mai, we met some backpackers who were traveling the world full time. I didn’t even know that was something you could do! By the time I got back to the US, I had decided I wanted to do what they were doing: I wanted to travel the world.

So, I quit my job to take a gap year that never ended!

You started as a budget traveler, has your travel style changed since you are older now, and run a successful business that can be operated from anywhere?

Generally speaking, my travel style hasn’t changed much. I still backpack and I still travel on a budget. Here and there I’ll stay in hotels instead of hostels since I have lots of free points from travel hacking, but I still mostly prefer hostels, though I now book private rooms instead of dorms. Since my blog is about budget travel, it wouldn’t really fit if I suddenly only stayed in four-star hotels!

The best travel credit cards offer all kinds of perks like lounge access, free flight upgrades and free hotel stays. So, I’ll take advantage of those when I can but budget travel is still the core of how I explore.

That said, I do need to do more research when I travel since I write about saving money in each destination. That means talking to locals, visiting the tourism office, and comparing prices everywhere I go. I take a lot of notes and photographs of prices for blog posts, but otherwise, I still travel the way I used to. The only real change is that I tend to splurge on meals more often since I’m not working on a limited budget but I’d rather street food than a four-star meal any day!

Our perspectives change as we age, but also when we gain new experiences. How has travel changed your perspectives?

Travel never fails to remind me that we are all more alike than we think. Regardless of language or culture, people are people. We all want to be happy and loved and enjoy our life with friends and family.

The majority of people out there are good, decent people who are willing to help you if you need it. Travel is a constant reminder of that.

What is the best and worst experience you have had throughout all your travels? 

I can’t say there is just one single “best experience” as I’ve had so many amazing experiences over the years, but one of my favorite memories was when I spent a month on Ko Lipe. It was a quiet island where I met some amazing travelers. We just chilled out for an entire month, enjoying the slow pace of island life. It was incredible.

As for my worst, well, I’d have to say getting stabbed in Colombia takes the cake. Which is a shame because it’s such a beautiful country and I really enjoyed my time there!

What are your best travel tips for new solo travelers?

1. Start travel hacking right away. You can earn free flights and free hotel stays relatively easily — saving you a ton of money in the process.

2. Embrace the sharing economy. Airbnb, Couchsurfing, BlaBlaCar, EatWith — these platforms can connect you directly with locals, who have all kinds of insider tips and advice. Ditch the guidebook and go straight to the source. You’ll have deeper travel experiences and learn way more.

3. Take a free walking tour on arrival. Most cities offer free walking tours. They’re a great budget-friendly way to see the main sights, meet other travelers, and talk with an expert local guide who can answer your questions. Just make sure to tip your guide!

4. Visit the local tourism office. These offices have the most up-to-date information on discounts and deals, making them an amazing resource for finding out the best ways to save during your trip.

How do you balance between work and travel?

I don’t! I learned a long time ago that balancing long-term travel and working full time is a hassle — so I stopped.

These days, I usually don’t do much work when I’m abroad. I’ll do emails and maybe a bit of writing but that’s it. I save everything else for when I’m at home. That way, when I’m abroad I can focus on the experience itself, which then gives me better content for when I get home and start writing.

I’ve found that to be a much better system than trying to juggle both at the same time.

How has the travel blogging industry changed since you started and what will you do differently if you are starting today?

When I first started blogging, there wasn’t a “blogging industry.” There were a handful of blogs and only a handful of travel blogs. That was it. It was the wild west of blogging, which means you could get away with writing anything you wanted. You didn’t need to worry about SEO; you just had to write and share and be genuine.

However, there were virtually no resources out there for support so if you didn’t have the technical skills it could be a huge hassle (I broke my website numerous times).

These days, pretty much everything has changed. There are more blogs, lots of competition, tons of ways to monetize, and every niche imaginable is covered. There is a low bar to entry which means we have more diverse and interesting voices in the business now as well. Starting a blog has never been easier.

What do you think the biggest challenges are for new travel bloggers?

As in any industry, standing out can be a challenge. It requires planning, consistency, the ability to learn new skills, and a narrow niche.

But that has almost always been the case. There may be a lot of travel blogs, but there are not a lot of amazing travel blogs. There is always room for more amazing, talented creators so aim high. Don’t just settle for being another average blog — learn the skills you need to stand out and get noticed. Go narrow and deep with your niche so you can really highlight your expertise. There is plenty of room in the industry for more creators. You just have to find ways to really add value to your audience.

Nomadic Matt is still linked strongly to you as a person. How do you maintain your personal brand and remain authentic after growing from an individual operation to a team?

While I do have a small team helping me behind the scenes, at the end of the day, it’s still me writing the blog posts and newsletters. It’s still me posting on social media. While I have help with editing, scheduling events, and the tech side of things, I’m still involved in the day-to-day operations of everything and all the tips and advice are still based off my own travel experiences. I also don’t do any sponsored content, which keeps the blog firmly rooted in my own experiences and opinions.

You have tried branching into certain extension areas that did not work out ultimately, could you share more about them and the lessons learnt.

Years ago, I tried to sell t-shirts. There seemed to be a lot of demand but when I followed through it turned out there wasn’t as much demand as I thought. I ended up having boxes of shirts in my office for years to come.

I also created a budgeting app to help travelers stay on budget while abroad. It had a successful Kickstarter campaign and, while the app was well received, it turned out it costs a ton of money to keep an app updated. I ended up losing money and shutting the app down.

While these failures were frustrating and disheartening, they were also great teachers. They taught me about the importance of planning and research, about connecting directly with my audience to learn what they are willing to buy — and what they aren’t. Since those failures, I’ve made sure to survey my audience every year to learn what problems they have and where I can help. That way, any financial decisions I make are based on hard data. So far, it seems to be working!

What is your vision for the Nomadic Matt brand?

Before COVID, the team and I were transitioning to a more community-based platform. We were hosting in-person travel events all around the world as a way to connect travelers offline and build a close-knit community.

When COVID hit, we moved those events online. Over the past year, we’ve been hosting several events each week as part of The Nomadic Network. We also launched a Patreon community where members can get all kinds of awesome perks like exclusive photos and stories, free books and guides, and more.

The future of Nomadic Matt is community. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today so I want to do whatever I can to connect people and help them make their travel dreams a reality. If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that community matters more than ever. We’re embracing that fact as we move forward.