Meet our Woman of the Week: Karem – a wanderlust soul who started traveling after a major life change. Karem has her own awesome travel blog (links below) that focuses on sustainability too! Though her expertise is more on the tech side, she shares her other gigs that have allowed her to travel, and her best tips for women wanting to do the same. Happy reading!
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Tell us about yourself?
I am a digital marketer and SEO writer passionate for sustainable travel giving advice and recommendations on my blog.
I started my Travel Vlog and blog because I am looking for meaningful experiences whilst travelling, I am not into typical luxury vacations but more into immersing myself as much as I can in the culture, trying out local experiences, and exploring least visited areas or accommodations sources.
Why do you travel?
Last year, I faced with extremely sadness that my best friend died only with 23 years old from Cancer and that made me change, it made me realize that life is more than just work and work, life is to be lived in the best way that makes you happy, and whatever that is only you who can go out and do it.
I was certainly living without purpose, unhappy and tired of just working in things that did not make me happy, so I realized that my inner soul craves for travelling and experiencing different cultures and different places. I am preparing currently for it and that is another reason I created Travel Hunky Dory as a way of giving out my experiences and becoming a Travel writer.
How do you balance work and travel?
I have been travelling quite a lot this year but I was not working all the time, in Summer I managed to find a English teaching job in Cornwall and that allow me to explore a new area of England so it is definitely worth it to have a certificate that allows you to teach English overseas, although is not my first language I have a high level and I encourage anyone that wants to travel to take it, it will be something on your back that you can use anywhere for sure.
Work and travel, in my opinion can be managed if we travel knowing what we are going to do once we arrive to the place, so for example If I am planning to go somewhere I will make sure the place has good WiFi and also will plan to work in the mornings and afternoons and then go out and explore. I think the key is to be organized which can be challenging, I am very bad at time management but I write down my to do list every day and try to stick to it.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned from your travels?
At the beginning of the year I went travelling with my ex-boyfriend and things turned out to be not the way we expected, the travel was stressful for both and even more for him as he had never travelled before so I learnt that not everyone can adapt easily to the challenges that travel entails, travelling is stressful especially if you haven’t researched very well the place you are going or you don’t have contacts there.
I think one of my favourite travel memories is when I saw the snow for the first time, it was magical I could not believe I was touching and feeling the snow, that was in France this year and it was beautiful, something simple but although unforgettable.
I can’t stress enough to advice other travel women to not be alone late at night, I have a rule myself and that is when I travel alone I arrive to the hostel at 8pm at the latest in whichever place I am. It is better to explore during the day, also you will be safer than at night where most people want to hang out and are not very much aware of what happens to others. Unless you meet a bunch of lovely people at your hostel and they invite you to go out or you are travelling with friends then try to be at the hostel by 8pm.
THANKS FOR READING KAREM’S STORY!
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Planning a trip, yourself? I’ve created three freebies to help you plan your next adventure:
- 50 Practical Travel Tips from Solo Lady Backpackers (a 6-page PDF)
- 20 Tips for Sustainable Travel (a checklist)
- and 30 Jobs to See the World.
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After you sign up, you’ll start receiving the following freebies: 50 Practical Travel Tips from Solo Lady Backpackers (a 6-page PDF), 20 Tips for Sustainable Travel (a checklist), and 30 Jobs to See the World.
Want more interviews? Head to our Woman of the Week archives for the full library.
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