A big hello from In Search of Everywhere
Hi! I’m Anna, the voice behind In Search of Everywhere. Welcome to our first ever post!
Before we get going with the actual content, I wanted to introduce myself and the blog so you have an idea of what to expect from us. That way, we’re all on the same page.
Who am I?
To begin with, I’ll talk about myself. So a big hi from me!
I’m a 23-year-old now-blogger (how exciting) from Cheshire in the UK. Some things that interest me include pineapple, cats, cake in all its forms, and visiting new areas of the globe. I’ve always enjoyed travel and felt a need to see more of the world. The problem is that there’s so much to see, but so little time and money…
To give you a run up of how In Search of Everywhere was born, I’ll tell you the story of how my travelling days began.
2019: the year of exciting travel
In 2019, whilst at university, some exciting opportunities came my way. I went on rowing camp to Italy; went on a cultural exchange to Guangzhou, China (my first time leaving Europe!); spent six weeks creating a geological map in Sardinia; and took part in a university programme in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Experiencing all these countries really made me want to keep travelling and seeing what other cultures and landscapes were around the globe. All the things I could do, all the things I could see – and then…
2020: locked down
Covid-19 ruined everything, for all of us.
I’m grateful that none of my family or friends’ health was severely impacted. Still, like everyone else, Covid-19 brought plans rapidly to a halt. No more travelling for me!
Which brings us to:
2022: I quit my job to travel
In 2022, I was working. But I didn’t really feel fulfilled: I was living at home and felt like I was still waiting for my life to start.
I’ve always wanted to see more of the world. Twenty days of annual leave felt so small when the world is so big. How could any full-time worker possibly see anything with so little time to play with?
So I began to think about taking some time out to go travelling, non-seriously at first. I thought about backpacking my dream continent – South America.
My sister, Lou, was my biggest encouraging force. One day, she jokingly said she would come, and only later realised what she’d said! However, that was the point where we decided to make it happen – she got a sabbatical from her job, we booked our flight and began to plan in earnest.
We set off in January 2023 and haven’t looked back!
The birth of In Search of Everywhere
I’ve always enjoyed writing, so during our trip I began to think of starting my own travel blog. I wrote some articles whilst we were backpacking (some of which you’ll see in the next few weeks!) and, once we got back, I was ready to begin.
Why a travel blog? There were a few things that motivated me to get writing:
- I couldn’t find answers to all my questions about each place we visited online. I wanted to provide some of this information using my first-hand experience of each place.
- A lot of the blogs out there are very aspirational and don’t focus on the nitty-gritty of the destination. I wanted to add a big dose of realism to complement the existing glossy information online.
- Also, I wanted to brush up on my creative writing skills – in hopes of one day writing a beautiful and wildly successful novel! (A girl can dream…)
Therefore, in July 2023, In Search of Everywhere was launched. It’s a travel blog which covers the locations I’ve visited whilst backpacking – South America and the Philippines, so far – and will also include advice, inspiration and tips to help others with their own journeys.
The focus will firmly be on the budget side, but I’m a traveller who will spend a bit more to fully experience a destination (a $10 a day budget does not work for me!), so there will be a dash of luxury every now and then.
How is this blog different to all the other ones?
I realise that budget travel blogs are numerous and competition is high.
What I hope sets me apart is the use of realistic information. If I didn’t like a place (and, let’s be honest, there were a few), I will let you know.
I’m going to do this by using a rating system which will highlight pretty simply how much I would recommend a city or area to future visitors. Think Tripadvisor, if one girl was in control and was rating each location based on a set of factors. You can read a summary of the criteria here.
The future of In Search of Everywhere
So, what are the long term goals of this blog?
My primary goal is to grow my audience base. After all, what’s the point in writing all this information if no one will ever read this? To do this, I’ll soon be launching a mail list and will utilise Pinterest and social media.
Over time, I’ll be adding more countries and more articles, covering other destinations in South America, the Philippines and the UK. My future travel plans are completely unknown but will reflect wherever life takes me – inevitably you’ll be seeing more UK content as I’m likely to have less time for foreign travel!
A big thank you!
Phew – I’ve shared all the information I wanted!
A big thank you for reading this post and beginning this journey with me. I am so excited to start sharing content and hope it helps you with your own travels.
Stay tuned for more articles; the best place to hear about new ones for now is to follow us on social media. And let me know if there’s any content you want to see in the comments!
