FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I don't wanna brag, but I get a ton of emails. With a lot of questions. So hopefully this page will cut down the number of emails I receive every day. Please check if your question is here, if not... well... then maybe it's not an important question. Just kidding!! 

 

If more questions come up in the future I might update this page.

 

 

01 | WHERE YOU'RE FROM?

 

I'm a half German, half Italian, born in Germany, without any Italian language skills. I blame my dad. He never taught me his mother language. He talked with me though. Just not in Italian.

 

02 | WHEN DID YOU START THIS BLOG AND WHY?

 

I hit the publish button in December 2012. At that point I was already on the road for 4 years. I got stuck in Istanbul for a few months and by chance I was reading about other travel bloggers making money with their blogs. I was kinda hooked and thought, well, maybe someone would be interested in my stories. My first blog post 10 Reasons why you should travel to the Philippines went viral and suddenly I knew, I had just created a new job for me. Without knowing anything about blogging, I became a travel blogger.

 

 

03 | WHAT'S YOUR THREE FAVORITE COUNTRIES?

 

Philippines, Japan and the third one changes all the time. For now I'd say Colombia. Hold on, Mexico was also awesome. Hard to decide. There are too many great places in the world!

 

 

04 | ARE YOU A HUMAN?

 

Yes.

 

 

Maybe. As long as we get along, I have no problems. But please don't get hurt if I wanna continue the trip without you.

No. But iVisa will answer your questions.

Of course. As soon as I can live rent free and eat for free, I will be happy to promote your business for free! No seriously, in 99% of all cases I won't do that. If you want to promote your company website on my blog, please head over to my Work With Me page or send me an email and I will send you my rates.

 

I actually do. After one year of blogging I was making enough to give up my freelance jobs and just live off from the earnings from this blog. 

Most of my income comes from Google Adsense and my Affiliate programs that I include in my blog posts. You want to support me? Check out my Stuff I love page. If you make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.

Bottom line: It's hard (but not impossible) to make a living from a blog. If you're able to live on a tight budget (like me), it can work out for you. 

I get every day at least 10 friend requests from strangers. Sometimes I take the time and write them an email which is like this:

 

"Hi, thank you for your friend request, but I'm not sure if I was drunk when we met because I totally don't remember you. Where and when did we meet? And if not, why did you add me?"

 

99% never responds. And that makes me REALLY ANGRY. I DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH YOU IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK TO ME!!! So, be cool and just like my Facebook page. Or follow my personal Facebook. Following is the new adding.

Oh Oh... That's a long answer and I will most probably sound like a show-off... I gave up counting after 50 countries. Let's be honest, nobody really cares about that. Nowadays I travel much slower than I used to be...

But let's see if I remember them all... I've been to Australia, Austria, Belize, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, England, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States and Vatican.

14 | HAVE YOU PAID ALL YOUR TRIPS BY YOURSELF?

 

Most of them. I traveled over 50 countries before I even started that blog. These trips were all paid from my own cash. Work, save, travel, rinse, repeat. 

Since I started this blog, I'm receiving offers from companies and tourism boards who are willing to invite me in exchange for some online exposure. If I get a free trip, I will let you know.

 

 

I have no idea. People were sharing my stuff for no reasons. Well, I also spammed some groups. The point is, if your post is epic, it's not considered as spam anymore. So try that. 

16 | WHERE IS YOUR BLOG ARCHIVE?

 

You can find all my blog posts here.

 

 

17 | WHY DO YOU POST SO INFREQUENTLY?

 

Because I'm not only a terrible writer, I'm also a very lazy one. I can't keep up blogging every week. Sorry. Working on that.

 

 

18 | I'M SCARED OF FLYING... DO YOU HAVE TIPS FOR ME?

 

Absolutely. Don't be scared.

OK, more tips? Not sure if that will minimize your anxiety, but I tell you here my typical flight behavior: Enter the plane as the last person. Let everyone else go ahead. If you enter as the last person you might be able to score an empty row for yourself. Just look around, they're mostly in the back of the plane. So get that, order a drink that calms you down, stretch yourself and sleep.

 

 

19 | WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH ADVERTISING ON YOUR BLOG?

 

Because I think it looks pretty. And the supermarket next to my house still wants me to pay with money for my stuff. No, seriously. Blogging is a shitty paid job. Actually nobody pays me for blogging. I don't like to admit it, but yes, sometimes I need some food. And food cost money. And advertising on my blog makes money. So I apologize for the distractions, just ignore them :)

 

 

20 | I HAVE A BUSINESS. CAN YOU WRITE ABOUT IT ON YOUR BLOG?

 

Absolutely. I'm sure we can find a deal that makes us both happy. Contact me!

 

 

21 | I LOVE YOUR BLOG! CAN I REPOST YOUR STUFF?

 

Thank you and no. Please, feel free to share the links to my blog posts on your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. But please don't copy my entire post and paste it into your blog or a forum or anywhere else. That's absolutely not OK! You can write a short blurb and link back. But never share my entire post! Please ask for permission before using my content. Thank you.

 

 

22 | YOU MAKE SO MANY TYPOS! CAN I EDIT YOUR POSTS?

 

Sure, that would be awesome. If you're a fellow travel blogger, I gladly link back to your page. Just get in touch with me.

 

 

23 | YOU REALLY INSPIRED ME. CAN I SEND YOU A DONATION?

 

That's my favorite question. Unfortunately that has never been asked yet. But I do think it's a very important question that's why I included it to the FAQ section. You really wanna make a donation? Picture myself how I'm jumping right now on my bed when I get the confirmation mail.

 

 

24 | WHAT CAMERA DO YOU USE?

 

A Canon EOS Rebel T3 (a.k.a 1100D) and a GoPro Hero 4 Silver. We also have a drone, DJI Phantom 3-4K and the DJI Osmo.

 

 

25 | DO YOU TRAVEL SOLO?

 

For most of the times, my partner travels with me. I'm going on solo trips from time to time and enjoy solo travel, however, I also enjoy having my boyfriend beside me when I travel, especially because he carries my bags.

 

 

26 | I WANT TO BECOME A TRAVEL BLOGGER LIKE YOU. CAN YOU HELP ME?

 

Yes I can, but this is not something that I can just do within a few minutes. If you have travel blogging related questions and you want some expert advice, you might consider to schedule a Skype session with me and we can talk a full hour or more. Contact me!

 

 

27 | CAN YOU PROMOTE MY KICKSTARTER / BLOG / VIDEO / BOOK FOR FREE?

 

Uhm no. You can imagine, I get emails like this every day. Now go figure how my blog would look like if I promote every day all the stuff people wants me to promote. My blog would turn into a spam hole.

 

 

28 | MY QUESTION HAS NOT BEEN ANSWERED. CAN I WRITE YOU AN EMAIL?

 

I'm afraid, you can. Damn it. Or... wait... Is the answer to your question maybe interesting for anyone else? So please go ahead and post it below in the comments. I might even answer it.

 

 

29 | I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND I NEED YOUR ADVICE, CAN I CALL YOU?

 

Yes, you can. Actually I offer consulting in coaching for travelers and bloggers. Unfortunately I'm not able to give you my time for free (Otherwise I would be on the phone nonstop). We can talk 1 full hour and you can ask me everything you want to know. If you want to schedule a call, I'm happy to talk with you! 

Contact me!

 

Thank you for reading all of these. I appreciate. Seriously :)