Recently I put out my very aptly named blog post “This is a Blog Post” and the response was incredible. It was so nice to hear how well received it was.

It meant a lot to me as the whole point was to show that I want to write more with you and I in focus as opposed to anybody else. So to hear that you like it just as much as I hoped made me very happy.

Before that, I had a fairly long hiatus from writing personal because to be honest, I didn’t see the point. I didn’t fit in a box.

I thought if I didn’t come up on google and I wouldn’t be pleasing brands. I thought if it didn’t have a snazzy title with appropriate tags it wasn’t worth putting out.

I thought I needed to measure my blog post worth and success in figures and stats, not content.

I’m doing myself a slight disservice, I know I am. My posts were good and they still are good. But, I felt restrained. Like I should hold back my own thoughts and make sure it was factual.

It got me thinking about my own theoretical creative box. Should I have to fit into a box? Should I have to identify as a “lifestyle” blogger? Should I have to identify as a “travel” blogger? Why can’t my blog just be my blog? Do I even fit into a category?

I didn’t feel like I felt like I belonged in any “blogger” cliche. People would call me a travel blogger, but I didn’t think I warranted as travelling, I’d see my timeline of people travelling the world and they to me were a real travel blogger.

Then I thought I was a lifestyle blogger. But what really is a lifestyle blogger? I wasn’t really writing much about my life. So, where did I fit?

I felt like I needed a label.

I love that my blog can help and even inspire and I love that I’m able to put some information up on my blog that helps both locals and tourists and I’ll never get rid of them. Although, I might add more of my own voice on it. What kind of blogger does that make me? I’m still not sure.

I’ve been working harder on finding collaborations that fit and align with me and now that I’m established, I’m having more success than in the past.

The more brands I worked with the more brands wanted to work with me. The longer my site was running, the better it performed. It’s like when you first start a job and you start on the lowest and then you build your way up.

My experience writing is growing and the brands that are wanting to collaborate with me seems to surprise me everyday.

I love to travel. I love to find beautiful places in Spain. I love to visit different places along the Costa Blanca. I love my morning coffee and tostada con tomate overlooking the sea. I deserve to use the platform I’ve built to share my story too.

Recently, we headed to Cala de Portixol and it was so disheartening to see people take photos just for Instagram. They pulled up, took the photo with the door and left. Even though, the entire beach is beautiful.

This will never be us.

I couldn’t drag Alex to drive us half way across the Costa Blanca just to take a photo and then leave. What’s the point? Just to add a photo to the gram and then tell you to go? It doesn’t seem ethical. Or right.

It’s almost at though sometimes Instagram is catastrophic to sensible tourism, as opposed to the reverse.

If you come across a beautiful bar, like The Beach House, make sure you go in and buy a drink. Take in the surroundings. Contribute to the business. The amount of people that took a photo and then left. They weren’t able to appreciate it and I felt cheated for the business. Using their backdrop, things they have to pay to continue to offer and somebody manipulates that. It feels wrong.

That will never be us.

I want to be as honest and open as I can. Share with you the beautiful places and give a real idea about them. Not just a here’s a pretty photo but I have no idea what the food is like or how pricey it is here.

I’ll never photoshop my body to make me somebody that I’m not. I’ll never go somewhere and take the photo and then leave. I will make sure that I have always thoroughly used something or visited somewhere before recommending it.

I hope my story is one that you can come on with and feel like you’re on the journeys with us.

I am a travel lover. I am a blogger. I am me.

I don’t fit into a creative box. But that’s okay.

Hasta luego,