Hey lovely people!

You may have seen an article that came out on the Daily Mail last night in which I featured. And even better… you may be new here because of it?

If so… YAY + welcome 🙂

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Following the article, I thought i’d post the full interview on here for anyone interested in reading more.

It’s healthy to know that things aren’t always as perfect as they may seem and with the online influence that I have, I will always do my best to reduce that ridiculous illusion.

I love my life, but it is far from easy or perfect.

The Downsides to life as a Digital Nomad…

An Interview with The Daily Mail Online.

How often do you travel?

For the past 12 months I have actually been out of the country more than I have been in it, and in doing so I have touched down in 27 different countries.

Is it mainly alone?

Whilst I may feature in many photos alone, I’ve actually only done one solo trip this year and that was to Belgium where I collaborated with a hotel company to create some city guides.

See my Belgium Articles here

What is your paid work that allows you to work on the road?

Making a living from travel blogging comes from a variety of revenue streams and a diverse variety of clients. Anything from social media campaigns and sponsored content / reviews to affiliate commissions and selling photo / video rights. It’s a graft and it can be very unreliable at times but after 18 months of hard work, it’s now become consistent enough to let me maintain a life on the road.

Do you ever get lonely?

I wouldn’t say I get lonely, no. I was brought up with a very independant nature and I have been lucky enough to meet incredible humans and share experiences on the majority of my trips. If i’m on a press trip, i will be accompanied by other press. If i’m on an influencer trip, i’ll be with other influencers. And if i’m on a individually curated trip, i usually have the option to bring someone with me. Trips are usually so full on and when I arrive home I have so many people and meetings to catch up on, that I actually find myself craving alone time!

This is one of the many motives behind the solo adventure I have planned for 4 months as of 23rd October 2016.

What would you say the best perks are of being a digital nomad?

The flexibility to be wherever i want, whenever i want.

For example I was recently flown out to North California by GoPro for the launch event of their brand new cameras and technology. Having never been to North California, I was given the opportunity to extend my stay in San Francisco to explore it and i did exactly that. I already had projects active that i needed to complete, but I had my laptop with me and in between dedicated work hours I got to explore the city. I can work from wherever I am and doing so in new surroundings means I have endless opportunity for new content and adventures.

Obviously another major perk to being a travel blogger is obviously the TRAVEL.

It’s madness just how much ground I have covered and how many incredible things i’ve been able to experience within the last year. Sometimes i forget just how lucky I am, because like with anything, when it becomes normality, you sometimes forget to appreciate it. Articles like these actually give me a chance to reflect throughout the year.

In the 27 countries through which i’ve adventured, I have also had the perk of meeting some of the most beautiful souls in the world.

I have best friends dotted over the entire world and homes with beds that, i’m reminded, are constantly warm and awaiting my arrival.

Another reason why I don’t get that lonely – I have friendly faces {usually} wherever my plane lands.

What are the cons?

There are many negative areas in my life beyond the instagram worthy beach images that may spill onto your newsfeed. I wrote an article about them in more detail here – ‘The Downsides to a life filled with Travel‘.

The con’s certainly don’t outweigh the pro’s of the career i’ve chosen, but i never want to pretend it’s an easy going lifestyle, and a lot of people find it hard believing that. See an in depth analysis of my job here – ‘What Do Travel Bloggers Actually Do?‘.

Before getting to a position where I could delegate work to someone else and sign to an agency {about a month ago}, I would very frequently find myself burn out. As soon as the adventure adrenalin died down for just a moment, I’d fall ill and find myself needing time out that i didn’t have, to recover. A big wake up call was when I fell asleep at the wheel in the desert in Arizona {Read the blog post here}, which led to the realisation that I wasn’t even registering my level of tiredness anymore… and that was pretty scary.

Blogging is a freelance career which means when you pursue it, you lose the financial stability and the familiarity of work colleagues that one may love about a 9-5. Blogging is also a business and one which needs money to start up and has no guarantee of success, future or pension.

You need a resilient nature, a patience and a strong determination to succeed.

Does it have an effect on your friendships and love life?

100% YES. This is something that has actually gotten to me recently.

When one is continually seeking new adventures, new challenges and surges of adrenalin within both, one’s personality and life experience develops ridiculously. When experiencing life at such a fast pace it can, not only be impossible for a friend or lover to keep up with you, but it can simply put you in different head spaces and compatibility one month can change dramatically compared to the next.

My life doesn’t really allow for a relationship right now, not a conventional one anyway. But i’m okay with that – this the life I have chosen and I know my life won’t be this crazy forever – just for as long as i let it be.

As for friendships, naturally a lot of my friends are in a similar profession to me and just ‘get it’. I have understandably drifted from some people but I still have a solid support system. We see each other when we can and make the most of it when we do. Sometimes, spending less time together makes the time together of better quality.

Do you plan on settling down and having a ‘home’ at any point?

No matter what circumstances you are blessed with or given in life, it does all comes down to one thing. The people you love and the people who love you.

I definitely feel very loved, but my lifestyle often leaves me feeling without a home.

Home isn’t a particular place, a person or a partner to me at the moment – it can’t be. I see my suitcase and airport security gates more than I see any one of the above. The ocean is actually the most consistent visual in my life and is somewhere i always go to to clear my head and have time out. The ocean, as weird as it may sound, feels like home to me.

I have recently started thinking that I’d like to get a solid base within the next year or two but i’m in no rush. I guess it will take for it to mean enough to me, for me to do it. But for now, i’ve still got a lot of energy and enthusiasm to turn the world upside down.