Meet Victoria who’s blog is called Guide your Travel. Victoria writes mostly about South East Asia and Australia although recently she has expanded towards photography and social media as well.
“I write mostly destination-based travel guides to give people who want to visit these places realistic expectations about what they’re going to experience. My posts are usually quite specific to a location and tell you all you need to know before you go”.
Victoria has always loved writing and was lucky enough to get the chance to travel a lot. It was clear to her that eventually she would combine the two passions of writing and travelling in the form of a travel blog.
“I have always been interested in the digital nomad life and working while travelling. To me it represents the ultimate freedom and the ideal lifestyle”.
In the beginning, Victoria wrote for other blogs because she was afraid to take the step of actually starting her own but in the end it was the best decision she ever made to actually start Guide your Travel.
“I set up Guide your Travel almost 1.5 years ago and posted my first post in June 2019. I always read travel blogs to do some research when I visit a new destination. But often I can’t find the information I’m looking for or am not happy with how blogs write about certain destinations”.
Victoria thought she could do it better and that is where Guide your Travel came to life. Her aim is to help travellers find the information they’re actually looking for so their trip is perfect. As well as to try to find unusual destinations that might inspire others to explore more.
“That way I can enjoy writing and others benefit from the knowledge I collected over the years”.
During COVID-19 Victoria was originally living in Perth, Western Australia for a few months before the situation began to escalate. She had to make the decision to go home to Germany and stay with family until everything calmed down. Finding herself putting all travels to a halt since April which gave her a lot of time to work on new projects.
“In the last few months I completely redesigned my website and managed to put a lot of extra effort into social media, especially Instagram. I saw a huge growth in followers which was a great way to confirm that my efforts were effective”.
Although COVID ruined a lot of travel plans it also finally gave Victoria the time to concentrate fully on Guide your Travel and give it the attention it deserves.
We spoke to Victoria about Eco tourism, an important topic when it comes to travel and it’s impacts right now and she agrees that it is “an important trend that we all need to support more”.
Adding that it is an unfortunate truth that a lot of the digital nomad lifestyle is often associated with long haul flights and cheap destinations which are far from eco-friendly.
“As travel influencers it’s important to highlight alternatives and support the sustainable travel industry so that it can grow in the future. We are not at all where we should be yet but can hopefully get there over time”.
She thinks that one good thing from these times and due to the COVID pandemic people are starting to travel more regionally which is great for the environment. However, it is disastrous for countries like Thailand and Indonesia which depend on international tourism. “Therefore
we need to find middle ground and somehow combine the two to guarantee the future of tourism”.
Like many others, Victoria finds it difficult to travel sustainably although she tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible during travels by implementing small measures.
“I try to do my best by eliminating plastic from my travel routine and using reusable water bottles. I also try to rely on public transport when I visit a new place and choose eco-friendly hotels whenever possible. However, the selection of hotels in this niche is still way too small so that’s not always possible”.
In the last few years Victoria has lived in Malaysia, Australia and Scotland for extended periods of time which she found to be a great experience.
“Living in a new place is always an adventure and I love really getting to immerse myself in other cultures. It’s a very different experience compared to just visiting a country and the places where I lived abroad will always hold a special place in my heart”.
Malaysia is where she found she barely spent any money living in, however, Australia was obviously quite expensive in comparison.
“It’s not always easy to make the switch to a new location and it takes quite a lot of time to prepare and set up everything”.
Victoria thinks it’s important to never stay still for too long and move on to new and exciting places instead of getting too settled somewhere.
Advice she would give to others is to never get too comfortable. Nothing changes quicker than the travel industry and if you don’t adapt you’ll get left behind.
“Knowing how to use social media and the internet is a huge advantage and will set you apart. At the moment it’s difficult to say where the travel industry is headed but in the end those who used this crisis to their advantage will come out on top”.
We write to Victoria from our base on Koh Phangan which she has visited and thankfully loves. She has been here multiple times, most recently in 2017.
“I, of course, went to the famous Full Moon Party which was an incredible experience. But I also really enjoyed the island and how beautiful it is. It has the perfect size and so much to do. You’ll never get bored in Koh Phangan and especially the northern side has amazing beaches. I hope I get to go back next year”. - We couldn’t agree more!
South East Asia is her favourite area of the world and Victoria’s top tip is definitely Gili Trawangan in Indonesia “where you can swim with green sea turtles right at the beach. It’s incredible”.
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