travel insurance masterGet to know one of our Travel Insurance Master affiliates, Joanne of Backpacker Flip Flops. Based in Long Island, NY, she is on a quest to visit 100 countries and all 50 states in flip flops!
Website: BackpackerFlipFlops.com
Blog: BackpackerFlipFlops.com/Blog
Social: Instagram.com/backpackerflipflops
Joanne, when did you start your blog?
At the start of Covid, but more seriously starting in September.
Walk me through how or why you started?
Initially I had no desire to start a blog, but I had set up a GoDaddy website for a podcast I released in February 2020 and it had a complimentary blog feature. I decided to use it originally as a place to upload videos and pictures for each state and country I went to.
Do you feature a specific type of travel or area?
What sets me apart from other travel bloggers is I’m on a quest to visit 100 countries and all 50 states wearing flip flops. I try to visit popular locations and also hidden gems, and because I see them in flip flops, I show destinations that are accessible locations to everyone.
What is your favorite part about being a blogger?
I love that I am able to provide the type of travel articles that as a traveler I would want. A lot of travel articles tell you what to see, but in my articles, I often include a map showing where the location is as well as addresses so travelers don’t have to do two searches and try to match up and map out the information.
What is your favorite or dream destination?
Antarctica is my big dream bucket list trip!
What is your favorite travel tip?
When booking airfare, also look at first class - sometimes those flights are cheaper! That tip is doubled when booking with airline miles. I was able to travel from NYC to Beijing in first class for a $2.50 service fee and about 40% of the airline miles than an economy ticket would have cost!
What other suggestions do you have for travelers?
I would recommend developing a dream list of anywhere and everywhere you want to go and what to see as you learn about it, and have it sorted. You never know when or where you may end up somewhere. For example, I missed a flight connection in London and had a few things on my ‘next time in London’ list I was able to visit during my long layover, making it a much more positive experience.
What suggestions do you have for bloggers or what has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome with your blog?
The best thing someone told me is ‘done is better than perfect’ and that really helped me put things like blogging into perspective. If you try to do ‘perfect’ you won’t get anything done because you’ll always want to change something. It is more important to put something good up than wait for perfect. I’ll go back and edit things after - but if it’s ‘good enough’ that is good enough!
Be sure to follow Backpacker Flip Flops on Instagram and subscribe to the travel podcast 'Backpacker Flip Flops.'
