Blogger Interview: Andrea Neeranjan

Posted by 5thingstodotoday on 02/02/2015 in 5 Things To Do Today | 5 Comments

Blog Address: abroadandlocal.com

What is your blog about? Abroad and local is a travel blog that consists of travel tips and stories about the places I have gone around the world and in my area of Northern New Jersey.

What inspired you to start your blog? I think my last trip to India really inspired me to spread the word about its beauty. Prior to going, I read stories that made me apprehensive about going, but my experience proved them all wrong! I encountered so many beautiful and heart-warming people, so it was really important to me that people understand how amazing this country is – even if you don’t see it in the scenery! I realized that blogging is one step I can take to share my experience for India, Portugal, Barbados, and the rest of the 13 countries I have visited!

When did you start your blog? I just started my blog two weeks ago! I’m slowing posting and figuring out the correct ways to theme certain countries, so I have only documented my trips to India and Portugal and am working on posting my trip to Madrid, Spain. I still have plenty more to add to establish my ethos as a traveler!

How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running? I did not realize how big of an addiction blogging will be! At first my mentality began as “I hope someone sees it!” and now my thoughts have turned to, “I want everyone to see it!” The idea of inspiring someone to go somewhere they’ve never gone, or to take a risk on a certain place really motivates me to work every day (and night!) on my blog.

What do you find the most frustrating aspect of blogging? The coding! I thought I was pretty tech savvy when I made the switch to host my site through an independent server, but I have run into so many problems trying to make my site perfect! One time I accidentally deleted a part of my CSS code (without backing it up) and my site was down for hours. I had no idea what I was doing, but at least now I know to back everything up daily!

In the future where do you hope you blog will take you? Honestly – to different countries! I am having as much fun looking other people’s blogs as I am on my own. I have discovered the hidden treasures of Taiwan, the beauty of Iceland, and the delicacies of the Philippines. I really just hope blogging will continue to inspire me to go everywhere!

Have you met anyone interesting/famous on your blogging journey? As a new blogger, I have not! I am still hoping I can run into Johnny Depp one day! J

If you could do only ‘one thing’ today the n what would it be? One thing? That’s hard. It’s winter, so I’m torn between sitting on a beach in Aruba or heading to Canada to go skiing. Can I do both? Oh yeah, I’ll also be blogging in either location!