FAQ
Just some questions I’ve been asked a lot over the years.
Blog & Business
Yes and no. Travel blogging makes roughly half of my full time income depending on the month while the other half I work for marketing agency, Brave World Media handling content strategy and creation.
Yes, I do. I’d rather not disclose my personal finances on the internet, but I’m an open book to friends and colleagues in person. If you google the ways bloggers make money, that’s pretty much how I do as well – ads, affiliates, and occasional campaigns.
Pre-2021, photos are taken with a Canon EOS 5D with either a 24-105mm lens or 35mm lens. Post-2022, I use a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and primarily a 35mm lens. I shoot in RAW and edit everything in Lightroom with customized personal presets.
If it’s a phone shot, it’s shot from an iPhone 12 mini or a Google Pixel 7.
I have a lot and I could talk for hours lol. Not only do I run my blog, I worked for years behind the scenes on a number of popular websites.
Maybe I’ll write a post one day besides this one, but from 8 years of doing this here’s are some quick tips:
- Actually develop your writing skills. I always think it’s funny when people start blogs and… hate writing. Blogs are mostly words??
- Social media can be profitable but it’s not necessarily stable, and you constantly have to pitch yourself and make deals. Blog post creation should take up more of your day than Tiktoks and Instagrams.
- Don’t forget to be personal – if people wanted professional travel advice they’d go to agents or more established websites. What makes you unique is that your experiences are yours.
- Never be too big for your britches. Humility goes a long way. Be proud of your accomplishments, but don’t act like you’re a hotshot or reinventing the wheel.
Travel
Truthfully, I don’t know off the top of my head. I counted for a friend recently and immediately forgot. My travel timeline page is coming, so I’ll update this question then! I just know it’s a lot less than you’d think because I return to countries a lot.
My beautiful Instagram boyfriend, of course!
KIDDING; I WISH! Usually my trips are solo but I meet-up with friends along the way or I travel with a friend or two!
I have a very long answer, but I essentially got interested at some point high school when I discovered the candy colored world of Korean Dramas and K-pop. In 2011, I studied in Seoul over the summer and then returned to teach English in the fall of 2014. I taught for 2 years in a tiny town called Namwon, took a year off, and then taught in a slightly larger city called Suncheon. Much of my early twenties were spent traveling around Korea, and it’s here where I grew up a lot and made some of my lifelong friends.
I still have many friends in Korea, and I return 1-2 times a year to visit them as well as explore new regions. I consider Korea like my second home, and I always foresee myself making time to go back even if I stopped blogging altogether.
I first traveled to Vietnam with a Vietnamese-American friend in 2016 for 2 1/2 weeks. We started in HCMC and ended in Hanoi.
Four years later, I decided to spend a month in HCMC to get to know the city better. Well, that month happened on March 2020, and we all know how that particular month faired for the world.
Because Vietnam was one of the few countries who closed borders immediately and had control of COVID pretty quickly, things opened up internally by the end of April 2020. I wound up staying far beyond my month and left in July 2021, meaning I spent 16 months living in HCMC and traveling around the country.
I don’t mean this lightly, but this year+ absolutely changed everything about my life for the better, and Vietnam quickly has also become a second home. I’ve already been back for a month and intend to return at least every other year if not more.
Define speak lol. I studied Spanish all the way through college (it was one of my majors), but I haven’t lived anywhere I could speak it regularly. I’m fairly fluent but it still takes me a minute to get back into and I fatigue easily if I’m thinking and speaking it all day, everyday.
I tried to self-study Korean for a long time and used it a lot living in the countryside and blogging. At my best, I’m beginner-intermediate and can hold a basic conversation. Currently, I’ve forgotten a lot since, again, not a lot of opportunity to use it.
Otherwise, I did take Vietnamese classes while in Saigon, so I’m fairly beginner (I can do tones a lot better than I did before) and I’m currently trying to pick up some Dutch in preparation for my move.
I self-fund most of my travels and if I work with a tourism board, it’s stated. If you’re wondering I can self-fund so much travel, know that I spent much of my 20s in severe credit card debt, and I’ve been very lucky that my rent is either free or extremely low. Do with the info what you will.
PERSONAL
I’m currently 31, babyyyyy. Born August 17, 1992 so, yes, I am a Leo.
It’s complicated. Whenever I say I’m home in America, it means I’m staying with my parents in the good, ole Pennsylvania suburbs (hence the free rent). I like my parents and this is a good way of spending time with them without making it a whole event.
I consider Philly my home city, and when I’m abroad I’ll just say I’m from Philly (if you travel, you get it). Ideally, I’d like to own an apartment here someday since my family will always live in the area, and I’d like a home base here without paying rent but that’s a long way off financially.
Also, obviously, GO BIRDS!
I’m Chinese. I was born somewhere around Guangzhou, China and my parents adopted me when I was three months old.
Yes, but probably not in the way you think. I was raised Catholic (with a smattering of Jewish culture), and I have a strong faith in God and Jesus Christ. However, I do not think I need to blindly go to church or take the bible as fact to keep said faith.
My main belief is that Jesus taught us to love thy neighbor and to approach everything with kindness (read: kindness, NOT niceness). Many, many modern Christians forget this message and instead choose to nitpick over minute details in order to tell others how they should live and love.
Alcohol, no. It’s a long story but I essentially do not have the protein to digest it; I don’t like the taste of most alcohols, and it makes me feel like an exhausted pile of crap.
I wish I liked alcohol and I have no moral issues with it. I love a cute bar or winery and will never say no to a fun mocktail. The only issue I have is with people who drink and for some reason leave me out because I don’t.