So, I’ve been very quiet on TravMonkey for a while now. I’ve had press trip offers and requests landing in my inbox… reminding me that I’ve been neglecting the blog. Opportunities that I’ve had to say “no” to even if some were pretty alluring.
The truth is, I’ve been taking a bit of break… and that’s fine. It’s good for your own sanity to take a break sometimes. I’ve been busy, still doing some travel, but I’ve mostly been pretty hard at work on some of my other projects.
Where have I been?
So why haven’t I posted for a while?
Well in all honesty I felt like I’d lost my way a little with this blog. I originally started the it as an experiment whilst traveling way back in 2006 (see the photos below). I gathered as much useful information as I could find scattered around forums and websites, to put in one place… to help anyone looking to backpack around the world for themselves. It was a pretty useful resource at the time, but over the years topics such as “How to travel light” or “The best things to do in…” have been done to death as more and more bloggers came online looking to make money, get sponsored trips or even just to do it for a hobby.
After a couple of years being away from home traveling, I landed in London where I transitioned the blog into a magazine type format with some talented guest writers. For all the years being in London I’ve found it more difficult to write about travel from various trips away during the year. I guess the blog lost a focus, it was no longer about backpacking but more about solo adventure travel… the problem was I was only experiencing the adventure on random occasions throughout the year, I felt a bit like a fraud… writing about it without a real mission or overarching purpose.
So, after a bit of a break. I’m back, blogging about travel because I’m actually going to be traveling. Maybe not as far or as fast as previously but with more focus. After years of slowly putting a plan into action I’m finally joining the digital nomad/remote working crowd. I won’t be swapping countries every other week, but slow traveling, getting to know places better, learning to surf and hopefully experiencing a much more healthy lifestyle than that of the this crazy capital. You could say we’re escaping the city.
New Projects
So I’ve had a good think about what I want to write about and be focused on. Whilst I’ll still be writing about general independent travel here on TravMonkey I’ve also started a new project that will be focus on what I’m actually doing in life. I’ve challenged myself to learn to surf properly at 40 (yes I’m nearly 40) as well as experiencing more of healthy lifestyle. I’m hoping to improve my flexibility in trying more yoga and finding more calm in meditation. I’m basically escaping the city to find a more healthy lifestyle along with my extremely tolerant girlfriend, Milene. I’ll be writing about all the great surf spots, cool littles towns and villages with yoga, meditation and healthy eating… it’ll all be on our new website Surf & Unwind.
So I know what you’re thinking, “how you gonna go surfing in the UK?” Well, we’re heading to Portugal as a base for some of the year, with trips to other far flung destinations as well as spending some time in the UK. We’ve just booked some flights to the Philippines (with a couple days in Hong Kong) to seek out the beaches for relaxation and surfing, if you have any recommendations or tips we’d love to hear them as we’ve never been!
The press trip that broke me
With the new direction and new project I’m really looking to travel on my own terms. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not longer taking generic press trips paid or unpaid. I’ve been turning down extremely good opportunities because I know that some of the trips aren’t a fit for the blog, there are too many places and activities on these trips that I’m not interested in writing about. That’s not to say if an opportunity came along that was a really good fit I wouldn’t take it but for now most press trips just aren’t covering the type of travel I want to write about.
If there is anyone out there looking for someone to cover surf retreats, camps, yoga, meditation or healthy eating whilst traveling I’d be more than interested, because my new website focus specifically on those subjects (drop us a line at info@surfandunwind.com).
I’m not even quite sure where this change of heart came from, maybe I’ve just had my quota of press trips. I found my last campaign quite stressful. On paper it looked fantastic but there was so much squeezed into so little time that I just could appreciate or enjoy it. I realise that it’s time to travel, experience and write about things in-depth and on my on terms.
What have I been busy with?
I’ve not just been building Surf & Unwind, those of you who know me will know I’m also the co-founder of Traverse. We run a epic events for learning digital content creation skills, think of it as more of a festival than a stuffy conference. Our main event has been hosted in some awesome venues such as football stadiums, universities, quirky warehouses to mention a few… going forward we’re always looking to innovate and surprise. Check out our Facebook group for updates and announcements. On top of our main conference we host events all over London for destinations and brands such as The Philippines, Madeira, Samsung & Three and Grenada to mention a few. Throughout the year we also create some epic events both in the uK and abroad including our inspiring and productive Elite Conference in Antigua.
So as you can see, I’ve got a fair bit on my plate… but it’s also empowering to be able to make your own decisions and put your own ideas into practice. Traverse is a great believer in encouraging people to develop their craft and enable a lifestyle that gives people more freedom and independence. It’s only right that we eat our own dog food, right?
So, going forward I’m going to be remote working whilst slow traveling, if there are any other remote workers (digital nomads, yeh I hate that term too) out there do get in touch it’d be great to find a community. I’m looking forward to taking a break from the rush and stress of London after around ten years here. We’ve just had all our booster jabs and finally booked some flights.
The countdown to the next chapter begins…
