Featured Travel Blogger: Will Peach
It’s another in our series of travel blogger profiles. In the spotlight today is Will Peach, currently traveling around Spain.
Will, what’s your travel background?
Howdy! I’m a travel blogger and editor who’s spent the last six months living and travelling in different parts of Spain. I’m now on the verge of living in my third city in six months!
Before Spain I was living in London where I worked as a site editor at gap year travel site Gap Daemon. My travel experiences up to then included two years living in Saigon, Vietnam (where I got to travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia), a year living in Miami (as an exchange student) and forays into Italy, Russia, France and Australia along the way. I guess I was pretty well qualified!
Now I’m all set up as a true location independent worker and run a string of travel blogs and edit over on the digital travel magazine Vagabundo. My two main blogs are MySpanishAdventure (where I record my travel and learning experiences in Spain) and TravelSexLife, a site dedicated to love and romance on the road. I also run the busy travel blogger interview site TraveLinkSites!
What’s different about your blogs?
I think all my blogs are a really strong extension of my personality. I like to court controversy in some ways and that’s why I take a no-holds-barred approach to discussing and opening up subjects that others daren’t talk about.
TravelSexLife is the epitome of that. The site is a positive and non-glorifying examination into how sex is viewed by travelers in their adventures around the world. Instead of denying the fact that people engage in such activities abroad, the site discusses it in a fun way without casting judgment.
My other blogs are just focused on specific travel interests. MySpanishAdventure is a very personal look into my quest to get fluent in another language (a lifelong desire) and TraveLinkSites is a bit different in the fact that it spotlights other travel bloggers and not just me!
I guess what lies beneath all these blogs is my desire to open up travel blogging as a shared experience rather than a personal one. I’m not into narcissistic personal-inflections on what I did and ate in X and so forth. That bores the extra-small pants off me!
What’s the best or worst thing that has ever happened to you when you traveled and how did you handle it?
Nothing devastatingly bad has happened to me yet so touch wood that continues. I guess I could count mugging in the list but it didn’t happen to me but rather my girlfriend at the time. Those bag thief’s in Vietnam can be quite a nuisance in case you haven’t heard!
Other bad times? Missing flights, getting horrendously sunburned, the usual.
I’d say the best thing that’s ever happened to me traveling is discovering a love for working with young people. I volunteered in Russia one summer during the holidays between University and found it to be completely life-changing. It wasn’t easy by any stretch (the place was remote and the language barrier was extreme) but I learned a lot about just how much satisfaction there is to be gained when you see kids picking up on things you’ve taught them.
I never travel without … because …
In the past I would have said ‘without a book’ but my Kindle replaced that – and gave me lots of extra packing space also.
Now as I travel I’ve become gradually more and more minimalist, almost to the point where I have less than 10 items of clothes. Yet my Macbook and iPhone are still the most fundamental parts of my travel armory. I can’t travel without them because I wouldn’t have the money to do so!
When it comes to travel and travel blogging, who is your mentor/hero and why?
The more my profile has increased over the last year the more people have inspired me and become my heroes. I’d say that up at the top you’ve got the really high-level yet really social bloggers like James of Nomadic Notes and Brendan of Brendan’s Adventures. Those guys have had a lot of patience with me and my incessant questions and are both quality bloggers in their own right.
Others that inspire me include Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle, who writes amazing travelogues and travels to live in a new place every four months. Then there’s Nerdy Nomad and Woman Seeks World, who are very transparent with their earnings and how you can support yourself in this world.
In short there are too many bloggers to mention. Each one inspires me in a different way and gives me lots of fresh ideas.
What place is on your travel bucket list? Why?
Brazil or South America is firmly on my bucket list. I’ve never been to the continent but am absolutely captivated by it. That’s actually why I’m kind of learning Spanish, so I can go there and seamlessly fit into the culture ha!
I’d also to love to go to the Pacific Islands. The idea of hanging out in a hammock on golden white sand beaches is pretty appealing. As long as I have my MacBook though!
What is your favorite travel planning tool?
To be honest I don’t do a heck of a lot of planning. Aside from using Skyscanner to hunt down cheap flight deals there really isn’t a great deal more things I use.
I like to keep things spontaneous and loose and get my information from the first-hand accounts of people rather than do deep research. Ah, I do love Wikitravel though! I always use that to find cool places to see. The Spotted by Locals app, who I use to work for in London, is also great for finding great cafes and eateries too!
Anything to add?
Any last things?! Well as someone who’s faced a lot of downs when traveling I’d say be sure of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Travel as an escape doesn’t really work out in my experience, you have to want to live your life this way and commit everything to it.
I’ve sacrificed jobs, relationships and family for it – none of which I particularly wanted to escape. For me this life and this journey is the road for me at this present moment.
If you’re sure of yours, go for it!
Tags: Destinations, travel bloggers, Travel Blogs
