– Anais Nin
We travel to seek other lives; Travel bloggers travel to seek another work life. Bloggers are pioneers of both the digital age and the work less/live more lifestyle. They abandon the 9-5 to fill their days with
Globe Trotting + Adventures
So we caught up with Nicola Easterby to talk chasing down dreams and wifi connections. Nicola shares our fear of the 9-5 and divulged how her blog, Polkadot Passport, helped her to shrug off the world’s expectations of what work should look like. Hereafter, Nicola herself, on travel & entrepreneurship.
You clearly have a serious case of wanderlust – Where in the world do you feel most creative?
I feel my creativity truly thrived when I was in Barcelona.
The city itself is such an artistic hub. There is so much to be inspired by, from the uniqueness of the Gaudi architecture, the colorfulness of the markets, the warmth of the culture. It’s almost impossible to stop your creative juices (or the sangria) from flowing in Barcelona!
Can you paint for me your big vision – what do you seek to create in this lifetime?
Above everything, I want to live a life that reaches beyond myself. I feel my life would be a waste of all I do is have experiences and earn money to benefit myself. I want to inspire people to travel and see a world that is bigger then their own hometown. But over and above that, I want to inspire people to see that they can live a life reaching beyond themselves.
I am curious about how you draw from the people around you. Who lights you up? What is the best advice that you have received?
I’m constantly inspired by other travel bloggers who have shrugged off the the world’s expectations of what work should look like and who are now out traveling the world and pursuing their dreams.
I know it might be a simple piece of advice that we hear all the time, but I think there is nothing more important than living in the moment and stopping to appreciating the little things. I have to constantly remind myself to do this.
Do you have any advice for people who want to get into Travel Blogging?
Be patient, persistent and passionate. Travel blogs don’t gain success overnight.
They can take a lot of hard work, time, and money. But if you are passionate, all of it will be worth it, even if you aren’t getting thousands of hits a day to begin with. I think the other important thing is not compare your to others and get discouraged, everyone is on a unique journey.
What has been your most rewarding creation to date?
Seeing photos from my first trip to Europe published in Topdeck Tour Company’s brochures and plastered over travel agents windows has been surreal and very rewarding.
I think the most incredible part was the fact I didn’t create those photos for a brochure, I took them for myself. The fact someone would want to use my creations to represent their brand was pretty flattering!
On dreams and schemes. What’s next for you?
Is it too obvious to say a lot more travel? I’m really excited to keep growing Polkadot Passport and see where it takes me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit (9-5 jobs slightly scare me), so I’m starting to plot how I can make travel photography and writing in to a full-time profession.