Tag: stories

Globetrotters- Lost Not Found

Candiss from Lost Not Found and I have two things in common, probably more things but two for certain, and that is we both love to travel and we both love photography. Her blog is full of wonderful stories and pictures from her adventures and her Instagram account has photographs that share her experiences more than words ever could. It’s a match made in heaven.

The best part of reading other travel blogs is finding new destinations to visit and seeing places you’ve always wanted to visit come to life. I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans. The music, the buildings, the smells, the sounds and the southern charm. This post from Candiss literally makes me want to book up a flight right now and go get absorbed in the atmosphere that you can see without even being there http://www.lost-not-found.com/french-quarter-festival-2017/ It just looks like SOOO much fun! I love that you can be an armchair traveller just by reading someone else’s words and seeing the world through their eyes.

You need to check out Candiss’s blog but you also need to make sure you check out her portfolio tab as the photographs are STUNNING. I am a huge sucker for beautiful photographs and these are next level. I’ve included all links to Candiss’s blog and social channels so you keep up to date with her stories, tips and some serious travel inspo.

Handing over to Candiss…


Hi, I am a native Californian and ex-fashion industry professional, I decided a year ago to ditch the high-stress life I was living for 6 1/2 years in NYC and return home to focus on photography and travel my two true loves. I have been to 21 countries in the 5 years I have seriously been travelling (most of those while still working full time) and I hope to add plenty more in this new chapter of my life.

What do you enjoy most about travelling?

I enjoy experiencing cultures that are different than mine and growing and learning about our world and myself through these experiences. I also enjoy catching up with my lovely friends that are scattered around the world as well 🙂

Why do you think travelling is important?

I think travel is important because it takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to reconsider your preconceived notions. The more people you meet and listen to the more you realise how similar we all are throughout this wide world of ours.

What is your favourite photograph from your travels?

My current favourite is one of the first shots I took in Cuba. It is from the inside of a restaurant and all you can really see is through the window with the pale coloured walls on the opposing side of the street and a blur of an old American car driving by.

Which is your favourite type of travel/holiday- sun, snow, sea, city, mountains, country?

My favourite type of travel isn’t so much type of place as experience when there. I love travelling anywhere where I am privy to a local perspective of the place.

Who do you usually travel with?

I have generally travel by myself between destinations but meet up with friends along the way as I am lucky to know people all over or have friends that want to meet up! More and more though I am travelling purely solo and enjoying that perspective as well.

If you were to give one piece of travel advice what would it be?

Just go, there will always be reasons that now is not the best time but just do it because you never know what life may throw at you in the future.

Tell us the funniest story or a mishap from one of your adventures?

Oh, there are quite a few haha, but one of the most annoying mishaps was in Morocco. I let my friend buy our return train tickets from Tangier to Marrakech for what I thought was the right day but it turned out they were purchased for the wrong day. Instead of riding the overnight train in a relatively comfortable sleeper car we were stuck in an 8 seat compartment. After much confusion with where our seats actually were, there was thankfully only us and one other girl but it was an uncomfortable ride, to say the least!

Where is your favourite place that you’ve been to?

This is a hard one but it would have to be the island of Kyushu of Japan. I went to a few different cities and the countryside and everything about it was magical. It doesn’t hurt that almost everything I ate on that trip was AMAZING!!

Where was one place that didn’t live up to the hype?

For me, this will always be Paris. Maybe my first experience there being a really really stressful work experience spoiled the whole place but I’ve been back 3 times since and I still just don’t get the attraction to it. Sure it’s pretty but Paris just has never had a hold on me…

 Tell us one place/experience on your bucket list?

There are so many! The ultimate would probably be visiting Bhutan but the next one I plan on checking off the list is a month in Vietnam (hopefully in October!)

What is the one thing you wouldn’t travel without.

My camera equipment! As a photographer, I would forgo most things to make sure my gear is with me to document my travels.

What can readers find on your blog?

Lost Not Found is a focused on telling stories of travel through narrative essays, high-quality imagery, and practical destination guides.

Follow Candiss here
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Globetrotter- Hallo Barbara 

Firstly you are probably thinking I’ve spelt Hello incorrect in the title but alas I have just learnt that is how you say hello in German.  This weeks Globetrotter is the lovely Barbara from Barbaralicious.

What I love about Barbara is that she has been on the road since late 2014! I would love to be spending my days travelling the world seeing new places, writing about new places and all the experiences that go along with it.  I was really excited to ask her some of these questions to find out more about what she gets up to.  I’ve included her blog link and social details at the bottom and make sure you do check them out. Her blog has lots of great travel information on destinations from her travels but how to work and travel to fund your adventures.

So let me hand you over to Barbara ..


My name is Barbara and I’m a digital nomad. I’ve been on the road since November 2014, telling my followers about my life of travels around the world: I’m writing on my blog Barbaralicious and in my books about my experiences as a location-independent online-entrepreneur.

What do you enjoy most about travelling?
I love that I can work from wherever I want to – which is mostly close to the sea. At the same time, I meet so many people with a similar way of life.

Why do you think travelling is important?
Travelling makes people grow. You learn a lot about the world AND about yourself.

What is your favourite photograph from your travels?



I don’t really have ONE favourite photo. But I really like this one taken last week in Amman. It’s an old palace in the sunset.

Which is your favourite – sun, snow, sea, city, mountains, country?
I love the sun and the sea! I always try to choose a warm country with a coast. I loved Brasil for example and I had a great time in Thailand. But every country is special in its own way. My favourite cities are NYC and Rio de Janeiro

Who do you usually travel with?

I usually hit the road by myself. I even wrote a book about solo travelling called TRAVEL SOLO (you can find it under “my books” on my blog or on Amazon).

If you were to give one piece of travel advice what would it be?
Travel alone at least once in your life. Get out of your comfort zone and learn as much as you can about yourself. You will be surprised 🙂

Tell us the funniest story or a mishap from one of your adventures?

Ok, well… I never told this to anybody until I wrote it in my first book about my trip around the world. I was in El Calafate, a village in south Patagonia, Argentina. I was walking behind some small houses where the dormitories of my hostel were. Suddenly I fell in a cesspit. Yes, I fell in a hole filled with nothing else than shit. It wasn’t funny at all… I was super embarrassed, but everybody loves this story in my book and thinks it’s super funny.

Where is your favourite place that you’ve been to?
I don’t have one. But I enjoyed Koh Lanta, Thailand, and Jericoacoara, Brasil, a lot! At the same time, I’m totally in love with Rio and New York.

Tell us one place/experience on your bucket list?
I want to see all 7 New Wonders of the World. Now that I’ve been to Petra last week, there are only two left: the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall.


To find more from Barbara you can find her here

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Globetrotters – Housesitter Suzanne

This weeks Globetrotter is Suzanne from the blog Global Housesitter x2.

As her blog name would suggest she has the amazing job of Housesitting all over the world.  I honestly think this would be an amazing way to discover new places and just think of all the stories the places she stays have to tell.

Thankfully she blogs so that we can all see and hear these adventures with her. Links to blog and social channels will be below so you can see more from Suzanne.

I met Suzanne in a blogging facebook group and she has been a huge support with my blog and social channels. I love that I was able to find someone who loves travelling as much as I do but gets to do it in a way that isn’t often publicised. That’s one of the best things about blogging you get to meet kindred spirits that you can learn from and most importantly take inspiration from.  Suzanne will certainly do that so …

Without further ado let me hand you over to Suzanne

suzanne

Why do you enjoy travelling?
We love to travel to broaden our minds on how people around the world live and experience their slice of heaven.  I enjoy eating 100’s of varieties of cheese and a few of ice-cream.

How did you get into housesitting?
We have always enjoyed slow travelling, and, when returning from spending three months in Europe and the UK, we wanted to go back and experience this part of the world more in depth.  In December 2015, we accepted for our first house sit in Cornwall which began in February 2016.  From then we have been full-time housesitters.

What is the best part of housesitting in your travels?
The best part of housesitting is: we engage with the locals and become, for a little while, part of that community. It’s very enjoyable to spend more time in one place than we otherwise would do when “tourists” – plus it keeps us busy and active, provides added focus and more interest in our travels. We stay focused on the area of our housesit and come away with a more in-depth knowledge of the history, the people and overall life in that area.

The funniest story from one of your travels?
While in Tokyo, we asked a girl walking her bike where was a specific computer shop.  Well, that was it we had the complete rundown on how to get to it within minutes. With the directions lodged in our memory bank, we headed off.  Then we got diverted by an interesting building to the right instead of the left.  Big mistake.  The girl was on her bike and by our side before we knew it and herded towards the correct place.  We were acting like a sheep herded into a pen, and we didn’t want to go in straight away.

Favourite photo from your travels?

globetrotter Suz
It is hard to choose as I have thousands of pictures, with most back in New Zealand in storage!  I think one photo that represent’s our adventures now, would be of two dogs Dotty and Jake, and the dirt path we walked numerous times while caring for them last year in Brittany, France. A focus on caring for animals, their home and exploring where the locals go.

Favourite place?
Seriously, we don’t have a favourite one as all the places we have visited have been incredible to explore. All locations have good and bad parts to their stories.  So what is one place that has been slightly more memorable than the rest?  It would have to be Tokyo, Japan with Oporto, Portugal a close second.  See, it is very hard just to mention one place!

Best piece of travel advice you could give?
Just get out there and do it.  Take in the most valuable information while doing it, listen to your gut instinct, have travel insurance, small suitcase and patience.

You can find Suzanne here and do check out her blog and social channels

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Globetrotters – Hiya Jack 👋

This weeks Globetrotter is Jack  or as I know him on Instagram Jackthetrendytraveler- Hiya Jack.

From his Instagram feed and answers below you’ll see that Jack is someone who wants to see and experience as much as he can on not only his travels but in every day life. From absailing down mountains, crazy mountain biking or even paragliding  Jack shows that if you just sit at home wishing to do these things you will miss out on experiences that will change and enrich your life.

Jack is also a pro with his photography.  Very jealous of his drone and and also loving one of his recent 360 degress shot -so much so that you’ll be able to see a repost of this shot on my instagram from his recent trip to Amsterdam.

So without further ado let me hand you over to Jack-


Why do you enjoy travelling?
Travelling allows me to explore not just new cultures and people, but also to discover who I truly am. Meeting new people and experiencing new things changes you and changes how you see the world. You can’t broaden your mind like you can through travelling. You don’t want to just stare at pictures and listen to other people’s stories. You need to experience it.

Tell us the funniest story from one of your adventures?

Now I didn’t find it funny myself but whoever I tell this story to seems to have a grin on their face… I went to Morzine in the French Alps close to the border of Switzerland with my good mate Joe. We were off on a mountain biking holiday and riding some decent tracks. For those of you that are not too savvy about mountain bike routes, they’re similar to ski runs. Green runs are for families, blue are challenging for a beginner rider and then it steps up to a red route. These runs have jumps with ‘chicken runs’ meaning you can bail the jump and ride around it if you aren’t feeling brave. These were the routes Joe and I were riding. After the red routes, it steps up to black routes. These routes are for the gods of mountain biking. We actually saw a few riders sponsored by red bull riding these tracks. No doubt neither of us have the skill level for these huge jumps.

Anyway, as I was happily riding a red down the mountain, it was crisscrossing routes with a black one. Oh dear. Racing down pushing 40mph at some points there’s little room for error and there I am seeing black signs everywhere. Slightly concerned I think, no problem I’ll just get back onto the red route at the next junction. Meanwhile, Joe who’s riding behind me is laughing as he sees me take the wrong turn. (Caring friend I know…) First jumps coming up, sweats beading down my face dripping from my full face helmet. Up I go fully committed get some amazing air time. I eye up the landing and boom, through some miracle I land perfectly bystanders are watching this jump with heavy camera gear, the red bulls guys I assume. Phew, I’m feeling pretty good about myself but I see the next one not too far away. No worries, it doesn’t look as big as the last. I prepare myself and just as I hit the bottom of the jump some sort of squirrel thing runs out in front of me causing me to swerve. There’s no going back now and no way to correct myself. As I fly off the jump in completely the wrong direction that’s the last thing I remember. I woke up a few moments later. A circle of helmets haloed my vision looking just as confused as I was. Turns out I’d managed to go head to trunk as it were with a huge pine tree in an attempt to avoid the rodent. I managed to gingerly ride the rest of the route meeting Joe at the bottom who just started laughing once he’d seen my the grass and earth wedged in my full face helmet. So not the funniest of stories but definitely one  I won’t forget anytime soon!

What is your favourite photograph from your travels?


This photo was my first time at a Major League Baseball game where the Yankees beat the Bluejays (I forget the score). We’d just walked into the stadium as we were a little late, just in time for the Yankees to get a home run. Everyone stood up and went crazy. I stood there taking in the awesome sight whilst Connor my amazing friend from my American camp Wah-nee managed to grab this shot. Since then I’ve had it blown up onto a canvas which now hangs proudly on my wall. The sky was just as dramatic as the crowd, we didn’t know it then but the biggest rainstorm I’d ever witnessed was to happen halfway through the game!

If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would it be?

I’d love to visit the Thailand! The geography there looks absolutely stunning. The culture there seems so interesting and the stories I’ve heard about the country sound so inspiring. I have to visit – it’s just a case of when!

What do you never travel without?

CAMERA!! The one thing I take everywhere is some form of camera. Whether it be simply my iPhone 6 Plus – cred to that camera, it’s a decent quality! I’ll always have my GoPro on me just because it’s so small and takes awesome photos! I’ll have my DSLR if I know there are some decent photos to be taken and I love taking my drone out. My phantom 3 has a brilliant 4K camera attached to a 3 axis gimbal that shoots amazing and I mean stunning videos and photos! Deffo recommend if you’ve got the cash, it’s well worth it!

What is the best piece of travel advice you could give?

This advice goes wider than just travel but applies all the same – take every opportunity! I live by this and it’s done me pretty well so far. Whatever comes your way, go for it! You never know where it might lead. If you get the opportunity to go scuba diving, for example, do it! You might end up finding a real passion for it and even end up getting a few qualifications. The before you know it you’re living the dream taking people scuba-diving in the Philippines or here there and everywhere! Just go for it!

To see more from Jack do check out his Instagram here