Editor’s Note:
Christina Guan from @happytowander is one of my top fave people on Instagram, hands down. Her humorous travel tales, gorgeous photos, distinct editing style, and amazingly helpful and inspiring blog are just some of the reasons I love her. (Yeah, this just turned into a public declaration of a girl crush, HI CHRISTINA!) She recently moved from Canada to Munich, Germany to live there for a year (how cool is that?!)
Side note: I am currently working my way through her and Lia Garcia’s Blogtoberfest series from their new site, Slaying Social, which is full of no BS social media guides. Every time I open one of their emails, I am blown away by how helpful and thorough all of the information they’re sharing is (and even more blown away that they’re giving it away fo’ free). While registration for the Blogtoberfest email course is now closed, a bunch of the awesome resources they have on Slaying Social are still up and available to everyone, so I highly recommend checking those out!
All in all, Christina is basically just a super badass lady traveler (and writer and photographer!), and I think you’re about to love her just as much as I do. Read on to learn more about her, get some bonus tips for new bloggers, and find out her favorite place(s) in the whole world!
Q & A
The world is such a big, beautiful place and really, the idea of having regrets is what motivates me to keep traveling. I’m not going to be young forever, and eventually I’ll want to settle down and have a more stable homebase. Until then, I want to make sure I make the most of my time and milk the most out of my days!
What are you currently reading/watching?
I’ve been binging a lot on Netflix recently since I’ve been reunited with good WiFi. I’ve just discovered the glory of Black Mirror (SO SO good and relevant, a must watch) and on a lighter note, I recently polished off a few angsty teen dramas like Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why haha. OH, and I’ve been rewatching Arrested Development too – one of my favourite shows of all time.
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What equipment do you use for capturing your travels?
I keep it really basic! My DSLR is the camera I use for everything and it’s just a beginner level one, a Nikon D3200. I also use my iPhone 7+ for videos sometimes but that’s really it!
What inspired you to start your blog?
Like most 20-somethings who backpacked for the first time, I suffered from seeerious ‘special snowflake syndrome’ after I came home from 6 weeks in Europe. I thought I had so much unique, powerful advice to share, so my silly blog was born. I didn’t take it seriously for a very long time, but after I scored a sweet internship as a cruise blogger/photographer, I realized travelling for a living was possible, and that’s how this crazy blog monster (meee!) was born.
What is the soundtrack to your travels?
I’m such a Spotify girl now. I usually just choose a random playlist (it’s basic, but I love Top 40 and Tropical House) then go to Groovetown. *lame dance moves*
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Who are your favorite Instagrammers at the moment?
So tough to choose! After having the awesome chance to meet many blogging friends in real life, I now mostly use Instagram to keep up with what ‘my friends’ are up to. That said, I think if I was looking at purely visual inspiration, @taramilktea is still one of my favourites.
Can you name one place you’ve traveled that surprised you the most, and tell us why?
There have been a ton, but I would say Bosnia & Herzegovina really blew me away, from its unspoiled natural beauty to its brutally sad history that I knew nothing about. Travelling here really hit me hard, and I can’t wait to go back sometime to see more of it.
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Do you have any trip planning tools or packing tips?
Tons! Now sounds like a good time to shamelessly link drop, but I’ll refrain, haha. (Editor’s Note: Inserting shameless link drop here to a recent packing post since Christina won’t!) I’m not an amazing planner when it comes to trips as I like being flexible and spontaneous, but I think the #1 packing tip I have is to buy packing cubes. Seriously, they’re life changing. Oh, and roll your clothes!
Here’s my own beginner’s guide to efficient packing – and my FAVE packing cubes ever!
What is your favorite quote about traveling?
After a few years of being in the online travel world, I’ve become a mean, jaded person and now have a serious haaaate for cheesy travel quotes. That said, the classic “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” is the one that makes me the least nauseous haha.
One piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring traveler. Go!
Don’t be afraid to go alone. If you spend forever waiting for others to be available, you’ll never go. Solo travel is amazing, and speaking from experience, you WILL meet amazing people along the way, and you’ll get all sorts of challenges thrown at you but you’ll come out stronger because of it. Stop waiting for others – give solo travel a try!
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Where to next?
I’ve just recently moved to Munich, Germany, so I’ll be based here, developing my beer belly for the next year! I just went to Slovenia last weekend, but will be in England next week for a family thing, then Austria for a hiking weekend after that. I feel so spoiled being close to all these places again!
You’ve recently had some great success on Facebook with video! (Woohoo!) Can you tell us more about what you’ve learned from that experience?
If you’re not using Facebook video, you’re missing out! I started doing them about two months ago and my organic reach, likes and engagement have really skyrocketed. The thing about Facebook video is that there’s just so much viral potential. As soon as people start liking, tagging friends, commenting, etc., everything begins to snowball. Plus, most of my target audience uses Facebook on a daily basis, so this is my best way to reach them. I highly recommend jumping on the bandwagon because this is really the new “big thing.” Editor’s Note: since Christina won’t toot her own horn here, I’ll do it for her! Check out her super helpful tutorial on how to create square Facebook videos.
How do you maintain a consistent blogging and Instagram posting schedule? Any favorite tools or tricks to keeping on top of everything?
Hahah I wouldn’t exactly call my schedule consistent, but I’m slowly working at it. For me, one tool that has really saved me so much grief is Trello. I use it to organize all my crazy scatterbrained ideas, and make lists of different deadlines, posts and to-do items. I then categorize them into “TO DO RIGHT NOW” “TO DO THIS WEEK”, etc. and drag/drop them as I move through each item. This has helped me so much in terms of staying organized!
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If you could give a new blogger 3 tips to growing a successful blog, what would they be?
1. Be different. In order to stand out, you need to hook onto what makes you unique. There are way too many bland bloggers out there… don’t be one of them!
2. Know your goals. In blogging, it’s too easy to get distracted by all the things you’re meant to do – social media, writing, SEO, etc. It’s impossible to make big things happen unless you have a sharp focus on what it is you want to achieve. So, I say pick one goal, whether that’s pageviews, monetization, popularity or whatever, and then reverse engineer your action items from there.
3. Learn to see your blog as a business! If your blog is just a hobby, that’s fine, but if you intend to grow it as a business, be sure to treat it like one. Create a business plan, write down your action items, invest money in your growth and outsource the tasks that you don’t personally need to do. Doing all this will allow you to speed up your progress like a superhuman 🙂 I promise!
What keeps you sharing when you’re tired and feel like quitting?
This is a little lame, but I have a warm fuzzies folder on my phone and in my Inbox of all the lovely comments/emails I’ve gotten from others. They really help me remember why I do what I do and lift me up when I’m feeling down! My personal favourite is a message I got from a reader telling me that my blog inspired her to get a passport. That had me smiling for days!
What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Impossible question! I have a few: Iceland is just impossibly beautiful, but Cinque Terre is up there too for the fresh seafood, gorgeous views and all the great memories I’ve made there.
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Thank you for sharing this week, Christina!
Follow along on her adventures:
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For more interviews like this one, check out the archives, featuring Q & A’s with travel blogging pros like Helene Sula and well-known Instagrammers like Leah Shoup! If you’re interested in being featured, get in touch!
