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 Jason from the Travel Photography course.
Tell us about yourself!
Howdy all. I’m Jason, AKA the Traveling Twiget, and in less than a month I’ll be turning 41. Way back in 1994, I enlisted in the US Navy, straight out of high school. Between active duty and reserves, I spent a little over 10 years serving in the Navy as an Electronics Technician. It was where I got my first taste of international travel and I was hooked.
Over the course of my career I’ve worked in a variety of roles as a technician and an engineer. Most recently I spent the last three years working around the US and overseas as an engineer in the semiconductor industry.
As of right now I’ve been to 47 states and 21 countries over 4 continents. Most of my international travel has been sponsored by my various employers, though. It’s time to change that.
Back in March, I quit my job and bought a Kawasaki KLR-650 motorcycle. I spent the next two months prepping the bike for a trip from New Mexico to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Once I get to Alaska I’m going to head south until I run out of land. A quick check of Google Maps says that should be around Ushuaia, Argentina. I am calling this trip Chasing the Summer.
I hit the road on May 30th and started working my way east through the Gulf Coast. I’ve been on the road for about a month now and I’m in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
How did you get started traveling?
I’m a huge sci-fi nerd and I blame Star Trek for igniting my wanderlust as well as my love of science and technology. Every week I would watch Captain Picard and crew “boldly go where no one had gone before” and I wanted to do that (I also wanted Geordi’s job as Chief Engineer). I may not be able to explore space like the crew of the Enterprise, but I can explore our world. Or to paraphrase the good Captain, “Boldly go where I’ve never gone before.”
What are some of your favorite places you’ve been to?
One of my first (and best) travel experiences happened in Italy. I was 19 years old and the ship I was stationed on had just pulled in to Naples. Some friends and I decided we were going to take the train from Naples to Rome and spend the day there.
We made it to the train station, bought the cheapest tickets we could and boarded the train. Once on board one of us had the bright idea to crash the first-class car and look for an empty cabin. One of the first cabins we investigated was occupied by a retired American couple. They took one look at us and asked us if we were American servicemen. “Yes we are, Ma’am. We’re Navy.” They promptly invited us to join them for the rest of the train ride. Once we arrived in Rome we thanked the couple for their generosity and we went our separate ways.
As we exited the train station in Rome, we were greeted by the Coliseum, which is literally across the road from the train station. That by itself was impressive. It gets better, though: we happened to be there when the National Marching Band Championship was going on. So, not only did Rome greet us with an awesome view of the Coliseum but we also walked straight into a huge parade!
There were marching bands, cheerleaders, baton twirlers, and all manner of street vendors. It was all very surreal, like a scene out of a movie. We spent the rest of the day exploring Rome and generally had a great time. Unfortunately, we could not stay overnight so we hopped on the last train back to Naples.
How did you come up with the idea for Chasing the Summer? What preparations have you had to do?
I love doing road trips, the longer the better. Riding from Alaska to Argentina is basically the longest road trip one can do without boats or planes. There is actually one spot in Panama, known as the Darien Gap, where the jungle is so dense that there are no roads going through it. In order to get around the Darien Gap I will have to take a boat from San Blas Panama to Cartagena Colombia.
As for preparation, I decided to go all in on this. Along with all of the work-related travel over the last three years, I also paid off all of my bills, sold my house and saved up as much money as I could. For all intents and purposes, every thing I own fits in the bags on the back of my motorcycle. You can read all about the work I did on my bike here.
What places will you be visiting this year on your Chasing the Summer trip?
Before I started Chasing the Summer, I had been to 45 states in the US. I only had Georgia, South Carolina, Michigan, Alaska and Hawaii to visit. So far, I’ve checked off Georgia and South Carolina. Before I head south of the border I’ll have visited Alaska and Michigan. I can’t get there via motorcycle, so Hawaii will have to wait.
Despite having lived in Texas, New Mexico and California, I’ve never been to Mexico or anywhere south of the border. It’s all undiscovered country for me. I am really looking forward to visiting Chichen Itza as I make my way through Mexico.
What destinations are still on your bucket list?
I’ve been to 3 of the 7 Wonders of the World: the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum and Petra. I’d like to visit them all. If everything goes according to plan, I should visit Chichen Itza and Christ the Redeemer before I’m done with this trip. That will just leave the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal.
How did you get started blogging?
I enjoy taking pictures and telling stories about my travels, so starting a blog seemed like a logical evolution of things.
What have been a recent blogging success?
Posting regular updates. I started TravelingTwiget.com in 2015 and quickly forgot about it. I didn’t start posting regular updates until my trip to Israel in late 2016.
What are some aspects of blogging you find difficult?
I’m normally a fairly introverted person, so sharing my travels with the wide world was kind of disturbing to begin with. I’ve found that the best way to grow as a person is to constantly push ones comfort zone, though.
What are your blogging goals for 2017?
My biggest goal right now is to grow the traffic to my site. Since I departed for Chasing the Summer, my site traffic has increased noticeably, but I still have days where I have zero visitors.
To do that, I’ll be networking, trying to meet as many people as I can as I travel. I made up a bunch of business cards and whenever the subject of my trip comes up I make sure to pass the cards out.
I will also continue publishing posts on a regular basis. At least once a week, preferably twice a week.
What do you enjoy the most about blogging?
My favorite part of blogging is the photography. I enjoy capturing the small details in the every day world. Honestly, if I could get away with just posting pictures and no words, I would be a happy man. Sadly, I’ve learned that even though a picture may be worth a thousand words, some context can be helpful.
In addition to this course, what other resources do you rely on for help or information?
I use the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress. The plugin is extremely helpful when it comes to tuning my posts for Search Engine Optimization. The Yoast website is also a fount of information about all things related to SEO.
What camera gear do you travel with?
For every day point and shoot stuff I rely on my phone. It’s a Nexus 6P, which has one of the best cameras available on a phone. It especially shines in low light. All of the cavern pics from my trip to Carlsbad Caverns were taken with my Nexus.
I also carry a Sony a6000 with an 18–200mm super zoom lens. The a6000 is great for outdoor photography and action sports stuff, but its low light capabilities are sub-par. Between the Nexus and the a6000 I have been pretty pleased with the way my pics have come out.
I also travel with a 17” laptop which has Lightroom and Photoshop installed. All of my pics get at least a little bit of post processing.
Seeing as you’re in the photography course, can you share your favorite photo and tell us the story behind it?
This picture is of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which is on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As I mentioned before, I love pretty much anything science or technology related. And what could represent those two things better than one of the most complex and beautiful machines ever built?
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from travel?
People are people. No matter where I’ve been, everyone has been pretty nice. I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that people outside of the US don’t like Americans. That hasn’t been my experience. Just respect the local customs and be polite to the people you meet and you should have a great time.
Tell us about your blog and where we can find you on social media.
You can find my blog at TravelingTwiget.com. You can also find me in my Facebook group and on Instagram.