Each week we feature an interview with a member of the Superstar Blogging community. These interviews highlight the ups and downs faced on the road to success, illuminating helpful tips and tricks along the way. If you want to get inspired and succeed in the world of travel blogging, video, writing, or photography then consider these interviews must-read material! This week we are featuring Jeremy and Joanna from the Business of Blogging course.
Tell us about yourself!
Hi!, We’re Jeremy and Joanna! Jeremy is a Kiwi and Joanna is a born and bred Aussie. We are both physiotherapists, but we did not meet through work. We travelled half way around the globe to finally cross paths at a music festival in Scotland in 2013.
We became engaged on the Great Wall of China, and while planning our wedding for late 2016, our blog was born. We are proud to own the travel and fitness blog Coming Home Strong which combines our passions and expertise in keeping fit and healthy while on the road.
We love to stay healthy, and to be honest, we go a bit crazy if we have a few days without working up a sweat! We have travelled all over Europe running half marathons, while seeing new cities
Over the years, we’ve lived in New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and England and have visited over 60 countries, with a busy itinerary lined up for 2017 and 2018 which will add more to the list!
How did you get started traveling?
Jeremy: It was 2011, my home city of Christchurch had just been devastated by a large earthquake so I decided it was time to get away for a bit and see the world. While on a tour through Africa, I met the founder of a travel blog website for which I started writing guest blogs for him. Since then, I had picked up many perks from writing blogs and enjoyed spreading the experiences to people back home through words on paper.
In 2012, I sold everything I owned and jumped on a plane headed to the United Kingdom, which I called home for the next two years. I worked as a physiotherapist in a few different cities, meeting loads of ace people, seeing some cool sights and experiencing some amazing things.
Joanna: When I first started traveling it was for work. In 2012, I moved to Thailand by myself to work in a hospital on the border of Burma. While there, I had to cross the border a few times for my visa and I started to love the adventure of simple everyday things that were so different and new (figuring out how to turn on a shower in a different country sounds so simple but can leave you confused!). When I returned to Melbourne I was itching to find the adventure in everyday life. I moved to England in 2013 and loved the simplicity of getting around to other countries (which you just can’t do as easily in Australia) and finding new adventures every weekend.
What is your favorite place you’ve traveled to?
This is always a hard question. If only we could pick a top 100! We believe travelling is all about experiencing things, rather than just going to a place and seeing a tourist hot spot.
Jeremy: If I had to choose a favourite place, it would be the state of Kansas. Saaaaay whaaaat??! This is where is saw a tornado on an action packed storm chasing tour. I have also run with the bulls in Spain, went skydiving over the Swiss Alps, seen the northern lights in Norway, rode a dog sled in Sweden, and experienced a hangover at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Joanna: I believe that the more you see the world the more beautiful you realise it is. There are too many favourite places to name but all of the best memories are because of activities that happened there. Helicoptering into the Grand Canyon, driving a race car around the Indianapolis Speedway, taking part in a lantern festival in Thailand, snorkelling between the tectonic plates in Iceland, were all great experiences.
How did you find your blogging niche?
This has always been a process which people seem to have great difficulty with. We love travelling (like a everyone else in the world), and both have some solid years and experience behind us as physiotherapists. Our joint ventures and travel which primarily involved chasing half marathons around the world lead us to believe we are experts in this area, so we have decided to share our thoughts and ideas on the travel fitness field.
What are your blogging goals for 2017? How will you reach them?
We believe setting SMART goals are very important, and use these every day with our clients when we set rehabilitation programs. Our blog is still only a few months old and is building slowly as people hear about our new hobby.
Joanna has been instrumental in the set-up of the website, doing all the coding and layout, where Jeremy is enjoying learning the new craft of writing good well. Currently, we are loving practicing our writing skills and seeing what sticks, but this year we will start to hone down into our niche which is travel fitness.
This year, we aim to grow our blog and develop a mailing list which will reach over 500 people. We are aware of the importance of social media, so we plan to utilize these platforms to speed the growth.
What are your travel plans for the rest of the year?
We are stoked to be in a position where we are allowed plenty of leave from work. Making the most of this, we’ve just locked down our next four trips which will give us plenty to look forward to this year and early next!
April – a week of hiking in New Zealand.
June- Japan for two weeks, eating and getting amongst the local culture.
October – Nepal to climb a pretty big mountain (well, to Base Camp anyway!), then a week in India to immerse in the chaos.
March 2018 – We have just had confirmation of our position on the start line to run a marathon in ANTARCTICA. We will do some travel around South America while we are over there too – why the hell not?
What is your favorite run you have done overseas?
We have never been super-fast runners, but like anything, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. We have been lucky enough to combine our travel with some fun runs all over the world.
Jeremy: I was stoked to get a place on the starting line in the London marathon. This is hands down, my favorite experience and hardest run to date. The support on the sidelines made crossing the finish line all that more special
Joanna: I don’t run as much as Jeremy as I often get shin splints (and lack motivation and discipline to run the longer distances – something I am working on this year). Last year we ran the Sydney City 2 Surf. Jeremy and I dressed in banana costumes which got the crowd cheering loud for us. Our extra motivation was the group of people dressed as gorillas trying to chase us down and the people on the streets yelling “Go Banana Girl!”.
What are the best 3 things someone can do to stay healthy/fit on the road?
1. Portion control. We aren’t going to tell you to not order that pizza, just don’t order it with a side of fries and a garlic bread starter. Consider sharing a main meal if you are in the USA – all meals are massive there which, unless you are working out for two hours every day, you do not need.
2. Wake up early and go for a run/walk. As well as getting a good workout and starting the day on a high, you miss the crowds of tourists especially around the hot spots of major cities. Take a phone with a good camera on your early morning walks/runs – you will need it!
3. Soft drinks/fizz/pop. Whatever you call it, don’t do it. Get used to sparkling water and move on.
There are plenty of things people can do to stay fit. The word ‘fit’ is very broad and doesn’t necessarily mean having a six pack beach body all year round. We like to keep active most days we are on the road, and even if our sight-seeing schedule is busy, we will make time to go for a run, or do a hotel workout. Joanna wrote a blog about a year ago which highlights many of the ins-and-outs with keeping fit (and healthy) on the road.
What video/camera gear do you travel with?
We don’t leave home without our GoPro Hero.
We learnt how to scuba dive last year, so have been down the depths many times with it. It can be attached to a simple chest strap or head strap like I used on my recent Spartan race and can be used around cities with its wide lens.
Joanna invested in an Olympus mirrorless camera last year which gives us the ability to take scenic and zoom shots. We love this as it is slimmer than a DSLR camera but still has interchangeable lenses and incredible definition. It also looks ‘old-school’ which I like.
Finally, we wouldn’t leave home without our lifeline: our phones. We can’t count how many times we’ve used these photos on social media with great effect – of course, a touch-up and enhancement can go a long way too
Have there any major struggles you’ve had while blogging?
We are lucky enough to have been guided by some pretty elite people in the set up of our blog – that’s why we are all here right? So in regards to our platforms and host, we think we have done it right from square one.
One major difficulty we have is trying to find time between our full-time jobs, blogging and enjoying a well-balanced lifestyle! As we’ve come to learn, it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you work your way through the setup process, people will still be there, and we are trying to put out one new blog a week to keep people interested while we work through this transition period from worker to wanderer.
What have been some of your recent successes?
We are working on getting our blog off the ground and have been happy with the steady flow of new followers on our social media platforms. Reaching 100 followers was sweet, then we got 200 which was wicked, now we are rounding the 300 mark. Onwards and upwards I say. We have also been following where we are ranked in a google search and we are slowly coming up the ranks with that which is nice to see.
We have had great travel success recently being able to guarantee a spot for ourselves with preferred companies for some pretty amazing holidays over the next year, with the Antarctica marathon and a trip to Everest Base Camp – watch this space for in-depth blogs about our experiences!
We have also both been working hard in our respective physiotherapy fields, slowly being given higher responsibilities within our hospitals.
What one piece of advice you’d give to a fellow blogger?
Jeremy: My personal mantra is Make Sh*t Happen. Whether it be the first step of setting up a blog, or signing up for an online course, nothing happens unless you do something about it.
Joanna: Read other blogs, leave comments, make connections, and decide what you like and dislike about the blogs you read, and then write something that you love.
What tips do you have for someone traveling with their significant other?
Our main tip is that you both need to have a sense of adventure, both need to work together, whether it be in the itinerary planning process, or worrying about budgets. We work together really well in the fact that we both want to do the same things and both earn similar salaries which makes things work easy peasy. Whenever things turn pear shaped, instead of sulking, we are able to take it on the chin and realise that it has been a challenge that we will get through.
Being comfortable with each others bathroom habits is a bonus too.
Tell us about your blog and where we can find you on social media.
Coming Home Strong is the new kid on the block. We are proud at how mature she has already become and are excited to see where she takes us in the future.
We are the travel fitness experts and are always up for new things, meeting new people and seeing new places. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest!