We all love a good travel quote. Whether you’re planning for your next trip, battling post-trip blues or are just looking for a little something to give your everyday life a bit of a boost, there is a quote out there that will fit your every mood. I was feeling a bit blue because of my last travels and my ill health, so I haven’t had a great time in the last couple of weeks(meeh!). So I thought I would look up and create some of my own travel-related graphics. Ready for a little wanderlust-inspiring pick me up? Yeah you are!
Winter is coming (GOT) haha jokes it is here! ( I am in Australia, and yes it does actually get cold here LOL) I hate winter but the upside of it is – long movie nights underneath a warm blanket with some hot cocoa. The best movies to watch during a cold winter night are movies that will spark your wanderlust (pretty much have you dreaming of warmer, sunnier times hah 😉 So I have compiled a list of 10 movies that will do just that. Some are about traveling and some are about new cultures and some will make you cry (YUP) however be warned, possible side effects may occur as below: Spark your wanderlust There is a risk of an empty bank account A never-ending bucket list And you may find yourself wanting to resign from your job I did warn you! mwahaha!!
In this post, I am sharing with you personally all the tools and products I use for my blog. I have some friends who have been wanting to start a blog for the longest time, and they feel lost. They don’t know where to start or where to go. So I thought I would compile all the information that I have required over the last couple of weeks and process it into one post. I hope you find some of my blogging resources helpful in building your own dream blog. A little reminder that each blog is different and what may work well for me may not work for you. If there is anything you want to ask me, please comment below or feel free to contact me! Any other tips that you may have, please feel free to drop them below as I would love to hear them. I will definitely check them out and add them to my resources if I think they will work for others as well. BLOGGING RESOURCES LIST BLOGGING PLATFORM There are lots of platforms to host your website. WordPress, Blogger, Jimdo, Squarespace… I’m not even scratching the surface here. The two most common options are WordPress and Blogger. BLOGGER VS WORDPRESS Blogger is a service owned by Google that allows anyone to start a free blog in just a few clicks. Your blog or website is hosted by Google, and they take care of everything for you. Blogger is free for a website on a *.blogspot.com subdomain So my blog name would have been http://www.bonditobasic.blogspot.com. There are no setup fees or upgrade costs. There are no ads on your blog unless you opt-in. Blogger is seriously simple to use Limited customization options Blogger is perfect for the person who is just starting out and is unsure of blogging and if it is yet your cup of tea. It will literally cost you nothing to set up your first blog(BONUS!) and you can play around with it as you wish and see if this is something you would want to pursue further. If you already know that you want to take blogging super seriously and if you need to more creative options (eg. customize your site) then my advice would be: Spare yourself the trouble and go with WordPress from the get-go. WORDPRESS.COM OR WORKPRESS.ORG The one major difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org is who’s hosting your website. WordPress.org is where you’ll find the free WordPress software that you can download and install on your own web server. So you have to find a hosting service like HostGator or GoDaddy. WordPress.com, on the other hand, takes care of all of the hosting for you. Because I have had some issues with self-hosting before I decided to try wordpress.com for my blog. Curious how to set up your ow blog? Check out my 7 step guide on how I have set up Bondi to Basic in one day. GOOGLE ANALYTICS Google Analytics – This is a great tracking tool and it’s free. It shows you how many people are coming to your site, what…
I love going to the zoo, so I took my fancy-pancy camera with me to take some pictures. Taronga Zoo is Sydney’s local zoo and can be reached by a 15-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. Taronga Zoo cares for over 4000 animals from over 350 species, many of which are threatened. It also offers amazing city views and loads of great picture opportunities, as well as being situated amongst one of Sydney’s most beautiful national parks. This is one place that is sure to impress. Check out some of my pictures below.
I love finding new YouTube channels to watch. You can learn so much from them, for example, I have pretty much learned all I know about makeup from finding interesting channels and tutorials to watch. Another obsession is traveling through someone else or just being entertained for 10 minutes to destress. In today’s blog post I have picked my top 5 YouTubers to share with you.
I only recently started this blog and I wanted to make sure that I had some platforms to post my blogs on. It is a bit frustrating when you write blogs for no one to read (Even though I said I didn’t mind that in the beginning) I was interested in showcasing my blog to more people, so I wanted to join some group boards on Pinterest. I used Fiverr for the first time ever to help me join the boards because it is pretty impossible to get access to decent boards without help. Unfortunately, instead of actually helping my blog, it ended up harming it. In this blog post, I will tell you why you should not be using Fiverr for your Pinterest account and what could happen if you do. Read on to see what happened…
Ubud is located in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency, on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Ubud was made into one of Bali’s most famous destinations when it appeared in the movie “Eat, Pray, Love’ with Julia Roberts. It still encompasses what I envision authentic Indonesia should look like. Lush green rice fields, waving palm trees, friendly locals and cheap but delicious food. It was definitely one of my favorite stops during my May 2018 exploration of the tropical island. Ubud is known as the spiritual home of the island, but your local experience wouldn’t be complete without a wander around the rice fields, lunch at one of the many local coffee shops, an afternoon with some monkeys, or a visit to one of the many beautiful temples. It, therefore, makes for a perfect relaxing getaway and offers you a unique insight into Balinese living.
If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram, then you must have seen that I was in Bali, Indonesia last week. So this weeks photo diary actually has photos from 7 days of traveling, sunbathing, swimming and enjoying a new culture.
I am currently in Bali, Indonesia. In order to make sure I can enjoy my travels, I need to stay healthy. For the last few months, I have been struggling with my health due to IBS. So staying healthy for me is easier than done, especially when traveling in Asia. The long flight, the food, water, and the heat are when you try to maintain your health. In this post, I will show you what I hope to do during my travels so that you can hopefully do the same.
Don’t we all dream of traveling wherever our hearts would take us? Just quitting your day job, grab your passport and hop on a plane too…. hmmmm.. where too? Underneath I will show you some of my favorite destinations if I had the time and money to go. Hopefully giving you some inspiration along the way.
Palm Beach in Sydney’s Northern Beaches is one of Sydney’s icon beaches. Besides being a great surf beach, it is also home to the world-famous show, Home and Away. This iconic beach is a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of Sydney, whether you are a fan of the soap opera or not. Personally I am not, but I thoroughly enjoyed the day out here. Remeber to swim between red and yellow flags here because there are some very strong currents. Home and away’s surf club is along towards the other end for a photo op if you are a fan! You might even catch a good filming day!
Sydney, my home away from home. This city has so much to offer. From sprawling beaches to hustling suburbs and amazing nature reserves all within reach. In this blog post, I will show you the ins-and-outs of Sydney living and everything you should see when visiting this amazing city.
My next trip is coming up soon and I am in the preparation stage. I have looked up quite a bit of information and thought that I might as well compile it into a post for you. So, in this blog post, I will show you the basic information that you need to know when traveling to Bali, Indonesia. What visa do you need, what sockets do they have as well as some of the sights that you could visit whilst on the island.
The other day I took a lovely trip to Freshwater beach with a friend of mine. Freshwater is a very beautiful and fairly big beach, with a terrific rock pool and nice little playground The beach is a popular for young families and a favorite spot for preschoolers during the week. It’s a surf beach which usually has a safe shallow area for splashing and sometimes there are sandbars that protect parts of the beach. Nonetheless, as ever, it’s vital to swim only between the flags. Unfortunately, the day we went there was an unusually strong current and we were not allowed to swim. nevertheless, it was a lovely day.
Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands is known for its ‘crazy’ side, but the city has so much more to offer than just legalized drugs and prostitution. In today’s blog, I will show you the softer side of the city. The amazing architecture, the canals, the museums and the lovely little markets are just some of the reasons you should visit this fantastic city. Falling in love with Amsterdam is easy when you know where to go and what to look for.
Being a new blogger and working full-time takes quite a lot of planning and organizing. (Now, if you know me, then you know that I am the worst planner and organizer ever…) I am a spur of the moment person, I see it, I want it. I think it, I write it, but when it comes down to blogging that is far from ideal. So, today I sat myself down and made a plan to make sure that I have a schedule and that I can stick to.
Last week I wrote an extensive post on how I have set up Bondi to Basic. In 7 easy steps, I was able to create my own personal blog. The very last step of that post was that you should create your own logo, header, and graphics. This is important for a few reasons. Firstly, you want to be unique and by having your own graphics and artwork is one simple way of standing out. Also, people need to recognize your brand, and one simple way of doing that is by creating a template graphic for your blogs. In this blog post, I will show you how you can make your very own blog graphics to start setting yourself apart from other bloggers.
India is a country you either love or hate. This is what I was told when I decided to do my first international internship there. Back then I was studying Tourism and Leisure management in the Netherlands, and as part of it, you had to do at least one internship abroad. Two of my closes friends also decided to go to India so we were placed in the same hotel in Mahabalipuram. I won’t go into my internship itself, but I will try to describe what it was like as 3 Caucasian girls trying to live in India. Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram is a small town located between the Bay of Bengal and the Great Salt Lake, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It’s known for its temples and monuments built by the Pallava dynasty in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Seafront Shore Temple comprises 3 ornate granite shrines. Krishna’s Butter Ball is a massive boulder balanced on a small hill near the Ganesha Ratha stone temple.
What is better than spending a Saturday afternoon at the beach! Especially when it is supposed to be autumn and we still have summer temperatures (27 degrees the day I went to the beach) This weekend I ended up going to a local beach about 20 minutes from where I live. It is a family-friendly beach because it is a harbor beach and therefore you don’t get many waves. It has lovely clear blue water so you can see a lot of fish if you snorkel or wear goggles.
If you are thinking about starting a blog and think that it is too difficult then I have some good news for you. You can literally start a blog today! Underneath I will show you exactly which steps I took in order for me to start this blog. 1. FIND A NAME Your very first step into the blogging world should be picking a name. When thinking of a name for your blog you need to take a few things into consideration. Firstly, you want the name to be memorable. It should define what your blog is about and who you are as a person. (You should always blog about things that you love, as it will reflect in your writing and therefore elevate your blog) Keep in mind that your name should not be too limiting. For example, you can name your blog “The golden retriever’’. That will limit yourself on what you can blog about. People who will look for your site will only expect content about Golden Retrievers. This can be fine if it that is your only goal. But you are limiting yourself to branch out. What if you decide to adopt another dog and that is a German Sheppard? You don’t want to create a separate blog for that dog? I know this is a bit short-sighted, but you understand what I mean right? You, therefore, need a name that allows for growth and expansion. People change and therefore your blogging needs will chance as well. Make sure you allow for your blog to chance with you. Don’t limit your blog’s growth by setting a time (“Travelling in your twenties”) or geographical limit (“Anna in Australia”) Now, some bloggers will also tell you to think about SEO factors when picking your blog name. In a nutshell, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and refers to activities that improve your ranking on Google and other search engines. What it means is that you should add keywords that rank high on google to your blog name. The best keywords for your niche can be found here. For example, to have a higher SEO for my blog I should have added: Bondi to basic travel blog Bondi to basic solo traveler Bondi to basic female traveler I personally don’t really care for these names and couldn’t really make it work. Your blog name shouldn’t sound like a generic website but it should sound like YOU. Because your writing and your life is the reason why people decide to hang around. How I came up with name ‘Bondi to Basic’: I was brainstorming on a name for either a vlog or blog for quite a while. I didn’t want to have a blog with my name on it, but I did want it to be a clean and simple name. I like the double letter names, so one of the options that I had was: “Bondi to Bahrain’. But I have never been to Bahrain and I don’t know if I ever will. So I figured that was…
