Travel Like An @Alana_Morgan

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Hey travel junkies, want to know how to travel in style, just like the pros? We check in with favorite destinations and what they never leave home without.

So, check this out! travel like an Alana Morgan:

Name? Alana Morgan

Hometown? Seattle

Residence? Currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Travel Blog/website? Paper Planes at paperplanesblog.com

Twitter? @alana_morgan

Short Bio? I’ve always been fascinated by other cultures, places, traditions, languages and people. I love piecing a new place together, appreciating what makes it special and seeing how different people live their lives. I also don’t have the slightest clue of where I want to be or what I want to be doing, so am using this time to figure that out through continually traveling and living abroad.

How did you first get into travel blogging? My background is in public relations and communications, so I started writing for the women’s travel site, Wanderlust & Lipstick, while I was teaching English in Thailand to help keep up my writing and social media skills. After a little while I realized I wanted to work on building my own platform as well so Paper Planes was born.

What do you love most about being a travel blogger? I really enjoy creating things and like how blogging has made me more aware of little details since I know I’ll then be sharing them on my site.

What’s the secret to creating a successful travel blog? Depends on what your definition of success is, but I think ultimately it’s just creating something you’re proud of and would like to follow yourself.

How do you get your blog noticed amongst the millions of other blogs out there? There’s only so much you can really do or have control of, in the end it just comes down to time, constancy and patience.

What advice would you give to fledgling travel bloggers? While there are great, supportive blogging communities, most of blogging is actually done individually and can quickly become limiting. I usually learn a ton or think about things in a new way after talking shop with another blogger for a little while. Reaching out and connecting with people, whether it’s for help or just as an introduction, is key.

How do you make money out of travel blogging? –

How do you fit in blogging while on the road? Since I have a base in Chiang Mai I haven’t had to do too much balancing between blogging and travel yet, but whenever I’m get ready to go somewhere I spend days cramming work in trying to get ahead so I can enjoy my trip.

What’s your most epic travel story? I spent a whirlwind month in India which was completely unplanned and included probably around 250 hours of train travel…that took a little while to recover from. I think the craziest stories however involve meeting people who I have connections to in unexpected places. One of my close friends in Chiang Mai grew up about ten minutes away from me in Seattle and we just happened to meet because one day when I went to buy coffee (from a place I had never been to before) I recognized the girl he was with, who happened to work in a shop near my house. And it turns out that I know his cousin back in Seattle too. Small world.

What is your favourite destination so far? Overall, I have to say Thailand since I’ve keep continuing to stay here. I would love to spend more time in France however.

What’s been your biggest travel disaster? Luckily, I haven’t had any major disasters…yet. Though I definitely have messed up a couple times with tickets and dates.

What are your top gadgets that you always take traveling? I’m not a gadget fan and don’t even have a smartphone…I do travel with my laptop and Kindle though.

What’s your favourite phrase in a foreign language? Ooh good question! They’re not phrases, but in the Thai language there are a lot of words to describe feelings or behaviors that incorporate the word ?? (heart). The word for understand translates to ‘enter my heart’, kind translates to ‘good heart’  and confident translates to ‘secure or certain heart’. I think it’s a nice way to think of these words and states of being as so connected to your heart.

Would you ever do any other job? I’m hoping to do a variety of different jobs in my life!

What’s next on your bucket list? I think I’m one of the few travel bloggers without a bucket list…

Favorite travel blog/website(s) – besides Traveljunkieindonesia.com, of course!: I tend to read a lot of blogs written by other 20-something girls living abroad.

What has travel taught you? There are infinite ways of doing things. There is no set or ‘normal’ way to do anything.

Best travel tip? Don’t have any expectations – it’s SO HARD not too, but limiting your expectations for a trip will help reduce stress or disappointments and probably leave you more pleasantly surprised by how everything ends up.

xxx

Happy Sustainable Travels!

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