Regarding a blogs authority and importance online

Let's continue with the questions you had for us. Warning for a long answer to one single question.

Q: On your "advertising" section you say: "They say this is the worlds largest and most famous independent sailing/cruising blog..." What does this mean and how do you know your blog is the largest independent sailing blog?
 We have followed your world tour for a year now and wish to leave for a similar journey ourselves one day. i see you have done well in promoting your trip and the blog is a success, your ideas would be helpful as we too would like to set up a blog for our journey when we set sail. Thank you. /Phil and Susann

A: Many of you have wondered about what we mean with that, let me explain: When I say "they", I refer to the overall authority and popularity which this blog has on the world wide web, compared to other independent blogs. There are a few ways to determine your websites relevance and importance online. One and the foremost is to check how many visitors your website has, this is easily done with the various analytic and statistic programs that you can find online. We use Statcounter and this is what it looked like yesterday when I checked our traffic for the past 30 days.

As you can see we got a bit more than 104.000 unique visitors and around 187.000 visits between Dec 28th and Jan 27th. Usually we have around 120.000 unique visitors and 210.000 visits monthly but the traffic slowed obviously down a bit during Christmas and New Year as people been busy doing other things than hanging online. Should be back with 120k unique, or more, next month.

That's a fair amount of visitors, but how do I know that we have more than others, and that our blog is so "popular"? First you can register your blog in different blog portals where you can get an idea of how many readers you have in comparison to other blogs/pages (like this one where we are #1 of all sailing/boat websites worldwide). Numbers on these portals are never 100% accurate but gives you an overall picture of how you stand in relation to the other websites on that specific portal.

Second, and even more important, thing to do is to check your page rank which is Googles valuation of your website. There are many blogs which has many readers, but your Google authority and your popularity online are only determined by the amount of backlinks (meaning sites writing about your blog) as well as the quality of the links that are sent your way. We have been blessed with having many readers who not only love what we do but who also have enjoyed sharing our story with their friends and followers. That is a successful project and blog in my eyes, when the many hours you spend working online is compensated by generous quality backlinks. The more links you got from sites with a high pagerank, the higher page rank/authority will you eventually get for your own site. Click here to check your page rank.

Your page rank is pegged on a scale 0-10 and the higher your site ranks on that scale, the more valuable it is in Google's eyes. Our blog has page rank #5, which is very high being an independent blog without support from a large newspaper platform or such. Every website or blog whose aim is to make money on their site wants to have as high pagerank as possible so you can dominate search engine rankings and to be interesting in the eyes of advertisers.

When compared with other sailing/cruising/sport/travel blogs or any other blog for that matter, our rank as 5 is regarded to be very good. Most of the independent blogs out there has somewhere between 0-3, some has 4 whereas 5-7 is considered to be very high. To give you a comparison, Facebook and Google has rank #10 obviously, Amazon has #9, Greenpeace #8, New York post has #7, Garance Doré and West Marine has rank #6 and Laser Performance got #4.

Websites which are in the same "league" as us with pagerank #5 are Conde Nast,  Blondinbella (one of Sweden's largest blogs written by an inspiring young business woman/blog personality), American Apparel, Not without salt (one of the most popular food and cooking blogs on the Internet) and Style by Kling (one of the world most famous fashion bloggers).

To check what page rank you got, just type in your own website here and if you'd like, compare your rank with your favorite sites. We are today offered a good amount for ads and partnerships with our blog and considering the amount of inquiries we've received since we've started, a blog like ours is apparently a perfect place to be seen.

If you'd like a tips regarding how to make your blog successful, I can tell you the only good way that I know, which is to be interesting, unique and genuine in your production. You should be faithful to your niche as well as to your readers and instead of constantly chasing new followers, focus on making a damn good blog and to build an intimate relationship with the readers you got and the rest will follow. You will need to spend lots of time and energy on your project and daily updates are crucial when looking for to create and develop a highly ranked blog. There are today over 156 million blogs in existence so you better be unique, dedicated and hard working in order to stand out among the rest. It's all about building a true and strong foundation, just like with any other business. 

Answers to the first questions..

1. What language do you two speak on the boat when it is just the two of you? You seem to speak so many languages.. Sure enjoy your Blog! / Tim

English. Some words comes out in Spanish too but mainly it is english for sure. It's good for us as we both can practice.... other than that Alex teaches me French at times.. unfortunately Alex doesn't speak Swedish or Finnish.

2. Thanx for a awesom blog and inspiration! How long are you planing to sail.. any specific goals, like 2 times around the globe? Are you working to get all end to meet or i the blog and savings enough? 
Have a great day / Criss - Sweden

Thanks for reading Criss. No specific plans more than we'll do what we want to, when we can. The new boat must be ready and safe before we cross a new ocean.. We have spent much money and time to make our other boat, Caos, a very safe boat, now begins the job of doing the same with Duende. We will probably stay a few months here in Antigua, then maybe sail a few months around in South America, then Pacific. But can't tell you when. One day we will maybe get around the world.


We don't have much savings left... spent most of it on our first 1,5 year of cruising and on the boat/s. Now we must slave at work as most other! Glad that we can do our job from almost wherever we want to tho. Or almost anyone could do the same I think? It's all about choices and priorities. There's always a way. 

Besides of being a talent with wood/joinery, Alex is working as a carbon fiber/composite specialist and he got loads of good job now when the season has started here. I'm working as a freelance photographer and I do quite alright as well during this season. Then we got the blog which is my art project as well as a portfolio but also a quite lucrative business. We make OK money from the blog and the plan is to get enough from it and things in relation to it so we don't have to be working with anything else. Maybe end of this year that dream will come true? Alex has a great (musical) plan that involves this blog, he will get started with it as soon as he's done with the boat later this year (hopefully late spring/early summer). He's normally a successful mastering/mixing engineer when he's not sailing around the world so he's looking forward to pick up that side of life again, combined with our travels of course. We will also open up our market online later this spring so the blog is of much importance to us and so far it has proved to be a very good source of income for us... we got a lot of plans with this little blog for the future so we're very thankful that y'all are reading. Thanks so much!

3. Who's idea was it to change boat? I read it was more speed and space you required.. ? / Pete

It was mainly Alex's idea.. he has for a long time been longing for a project where he can build something with his hands. A Hallberg Rassy is hard to modify to your personal needs and ideas, it's made the way it is and it would be a shame to start dismounting it. Alex will one day build his own boat from scratch so this new Duende is one step closer to that dream as she offers many possibilities for modification.
 Also Alex has been frustrated with the (slow) speed of Caos. He raced much when he was younger and he wanted a boat that can give him a real challenge. For me I was alright with Caos, she's safe, strong, comfortable and ok in size... but I do understand Alex's point of view and Duende is a beauty plus the size and speed appeals to me as well.
 Besides of being a great boat, we both see Duende as the perfect home and we can see a long future with her. We don't want to build a family with kids and all that for now, but we wanted to have a home/boat which we can slowly build and rebuild to something that suits our life and needs. This boat is equal to a house on land for us as we will be sailing around the world for many more years so it's important we both feel happy with it. It's a family project which we both value very much. Alex will use his skills to rebuild/refit this boat to his high standards and he's happier than in a long time. For him it's important to be able to create something. He's an artist and needs to have a fulfilling project to feel satisfaction in life. For me, I love the size of the galley and saloon of course.. it will be so very much work for us, again, but so far we've figured it will be worth it. We're currently dreaming and planning for all the beautiful things we will do to make her shine as the star she was created to be (and more).

4. Who came up with the idea of this trip? Did you agree from the beginning, or did someone think their partner were crazy? /Celia

Initially it was Alex's idea for us to sail somewhere warm for a few weeks/a month (like Morocco or such) and I asked him why we couldn't sail around the whole world instead? That was when we had dated for a few weeks only and one year later we left. Alex had owned many boats in his past and to sail around the world has always been his dream, for me that dream was created when I met him. I had never sailed before I met him but for now I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. Read more about how it all started here.. and here's the longer version which explains how we met, who we were before that and all other perhaps interesting things about our past.

5. Hello, I love your blog, especially the great photos you take! So excited already which places in the world you gonna discover and share with us this year (:
My question would be: Is there any specific place or piece of nature you seen so far, that impressed you the most and like sticks in your memory more intense than others? Like the most overwhelming thing you've seen so far on your travels? If yes, which one was it? I mean,you see and discover so much and i'm interested if there was something which was most special/beautiful for you.
 Or is it all just so amazing and you can't really make a difference between the places?
Anyways,pleae keep on writing this amazing blog like forever,thanks /; Ines

Thanks Ines, glad you're enjoying our blog. I've made a diagram of what we think is best with each of the Caribbean islands we've been to so far, will show it soon. But best for nature experiences are: Nevis and Dominica, both are very very beautiful and peaceful places, not too crowded nor touristy. I will show pics from the rainforest of Dominica soon, it's so wild and untouched. Feels like the only place on earth where humans haven't destroyed it yet..

6. What brand and how much sunscreen do you use on a daily basis? / Kent in Kansas City

Banana Boat spf 50 (Alex) Jan Marini spf 30 for face (Taru), Vichy body spf 20 (Taru) we have sunscreen on almost all the time.. more when on the beach or sailing of course. Alex is still looking for the perfect sunscreen though, one that is dry, not oily, and works for sailing/surfing/long hours of out door work, any tips are appreciated.

7. What happened to the HDPro camera? Why not set up a live web cam over Alex working on the boat, so we can see the weather the scenery and live activities.
Can you charter out Caos, at a low rate so it is always in use? Just generate some income from it while to go forward instead of waiting around for a lump sum?
Did you see the Dutch girl arriving in Sint Maarten on Saturday? The marina at the draw bridge. Looked very very window from the news videos. Simpson Bay I think. There is a monster yacht parked there, just massive, do you know who/what it is. Enormous white thing with a black stripe around it (I think). Here's a screen shot of the massive yacht I am referring to http://i44.tinypic.com/so8v81.jpg /Oswald

Haven't received GO Pro camera yet because of messed up postal service on these islands.. will sort it out soon. We don't want to charter Caos, we want to sell her and move on with our life. We didn't have time to wait for the Duth girls arrivial (youngest person to finish a sailing circumnavigation) but we saw her father at the Yacht Club by Simpson Bay Bridge. He looked excited. I think the boat you're talking about is Abrahomivich Eclipse maybe? The one I have a shot of here?

8. How are both of you financing this trip around the world? I see some photography assignments, merchandising and articles as evidence of some of the income. 
Also, once you pass into the Pacific, where will your first landfall be located? /42N

We're working along the way, see answer #2. Landfall for Pacific... not sure.. right now we're focused on making Duende safe and ready, will take a few months. We might then make a season of South American cruising (Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina) before we get out into the Pacific.. time will tell, but South America has so much interesting places to discover so we're kind of figuring it's a shame to miss all that before we set off for the South Pacific. Also for the music project Alex will do later this year, it might be better to be in South America... looking forward to it. Miss speaking Spanish!

9. Hello there! 
I'm one of the daydreamers that one day will sail away with my boat and hopefully will meet you in at anchor in a fantastic place in the middle of nowhere.
Do you think your lifestyle will change after crossing Panama channel? South Pacific is huge and quite different from Caribes. Will you be able to update your blog so frequently like you're doing now?
Best wishes! /Claudio Italy

Hey Claudio, our lifestyle will (hopefully) change to more hippie bohemian in the South Pacific and we look forward to spend much less money over there.. Not sure now when we will leave for Pacific though, will do some South America first. Regarding updating the blog over there: It might be a bit slower on this blog during the long ocean crossing. On the Atlantic crossing I had only a satellite connection to use for blog updates but I think I could report quite much anyway. At least once every day. Not sure how it is to find bars and restaurants with wifi in the South Pacific but what I heard from others who've been there, it hasn't been a problem. The reason why I spend so much time with the blog and other online projects now, is because Alex is working a lot. When he doesn't work as much, I will naturally slow down my work as well so we can find a comfortable balance. It has been a good year here in the Caribbean, business wise, Alex got lots of work and I had time and peace to build and expand this blog and our trademark. We do look forward to work less and travel more later this year though.

10. Do you want English lessons as you post blog entries? While your English is 99% accurate there are many small subtle things missed, and unless pointed out will never be corrected.

For example the paragraph in this post is 100% accurate except the last sentence: "We look forward to speak to you"

which should be:

"We look forward to speak[ing] to you"

Very small thinks like this all over the place where the use of in should be on, lots of these e.g. "Swing in a liana anyone?" -- this should be on. Anything on the outside is on, anything inside is in.

Not trying to be clever but for a non-English speaker unless someone points them out, they will never be corrected and learned.

YES please!! I know my grammar sucks at times... correct me anytime you have time por favor as I do want to perfect my writing, thanks. I know how irritating it is when I read Swedish texts and people use the wrong grammar so I can understand it hurts your English speaking peoples eyes at times!

11. I remember Alex owning a motorcycle before your trip and with his mechanical skills he must have owned a series of interesting vehicles before spending endless hours in the bilge. We read your blog daily from car-obsessed Los Angeles every day. /Bill Price

alex answer: hi bill, yep i owned some nice bikes such as Harley Davidson 1980 883cc sporster, HD 1340 cc springer, HD 1998 1600cc evo dyna superglide, HD 2001 1800cc dyna sport, Yamaha 2001 1300cc, of course all of them with a lot of mechanical tweaking... I bought/sold much bikes back in the days but just like with boats... you don't make much money on them on the second hand market.  i also had some nice cars like Alpine a310, Mercedes coupe 300ce and Audi s8. 

12. Alex,
 Tu as choisi un superbe bateau. Il a une ligne fantastique et ça doit être un vrai plaisir de la barrer.
Pas trop de boulot de maintenance tout de même? / Luc

luc, merci pour le compliment, duende a effectivement une superbe ligne et navigue tout aussi bien, jusqu'à 8 noeuds dans de la mer formee, tout en maintenant une extreme précision a la barre

par contre on ne pas parler encore de maintenance mais plutôt de restauration...

That's all for now,,, more answers coming up later....

Question time

So as we sometimes don't have time to answer all emails and comments, Alex and me figured it might come handy with a live questions time? It's all very simple, you ask your question/s here in the comment form and we answer it all as soon as we can. We'll be online for now for a few hours so either you'll have your answer in the comments straight away otherwise all questions and answers will be published here on the blog tomorrow. Ask us what you want from boat stuff to travel plans and life philosophies and we'll answer what we find appropriate.

We look forward to speak to you!

FAQ's

We get so many questions that we sometimes haven't had the chance/time to answer properly so I've added a new section up here at the top. That's where we'll fill up with answers to the most common questions we receive from you. Here's a few of the latest ones:

Hey, what's up with the new boat? You haven't showed any pics lately? Peter.

Will tell you all about it in a while...

Taru,
First I want to give you all the credit in the world for hopping on a boat with Alex and starting the next chapter in your lives to tour the world. I enjoy your blog immensely while I sit in my cubical at work, dreaming to someday do what you are doing. I have to ask though. How do you and Alex manage to get a long as well as you do? Dating a sailor myself, and having hopes of doing what you two are doing someday, I'd love to know how you remain so devoted and patient with one another. Safe Travels through Hurricane Season! -Ali

Well, we don't get along so well all of the time. Most of the times perhaps, but as we both have quite some temperament and passion in our blood, it tend to spark around us quite often. I would be lying if I said we never wanted to kill each other. Thinking of it, I could almost say that we argue about something minor almost every day. Not big stuff of course, just a small argument that dissolves in a couple of minutes. There have also been moments (not very many thankfully) when I have wanted to jump off the boat in nearest harbor and take a flight back home to Europe and there have been times when Alex nearly have dumped me overboard of frustration but we still hang in there. We are both strong believers of that a good fight is good and refreshing for every relationship every once in a while, as long as you still are willing to work towards the same goals in life. Both of us are also pretty good at "forgiving" each other and what could be seen as a major argument one second, can be turned into happy times and peace the next. But no, not even us who look to be so in love are always getting along and I don't think it's a bad thing at all. I could tell you a story about the time when I jumped off the boat, naked, in the middle of the night in a peaceful anchorage, just to get rid of the never-ending conversation we had started, but I'll save that for another time... It's a great challenge we've got here, after all. To be with only one person for such an extended time. And I believe that you will have to be really convinced and in peace with what you're about to execute and who you're doing it with, to be able to take on such a life changing project with another person.

Hello Alex & Taru!

We have stumbled across your blog and love it; we now follow all of your new posts and it's great to see what other cruisers are doing.... I was wondering how you were able to get sponsored? If you have any advice or method, way of approaching companies that worked for you (..) I would love to hear about it. We have a blog started and a site still in the works but are reaching out to friends for help and advice... Also, did you both have a lot of sailing experience before embarking? Well, below is our site, please check it out. We are also on facebook; let's keep in touch! Thanks in advance for your response! Best wishes, Lindsay & Matthew

Hi Lindsay and Matthew, thank you for your email and I apologize for the late reply. We get a lot of emails regarding sponsoring and I regret that I haven't replied to these questions earlier. Simply put, which can be applied on any project/business idea: Find your way to go, create a clear vision of what you will do, how to achieve it, what way to go. Make sure to be unique in some way, do not be only a copy of everyone else, find something that makes you stand out from the rest. Companies and brands are always looking for new ways to market their products and will most probably not choose you as partner if your project is just like everyone else. You also need to believe in your ideas, treat your project like a baby, work hard on it and prove that you take this serious. Because it is not before you self believe in your ideas to the max that you can convince others to do so too. You must also almost certainly be able to guarantee that you will bring new clients, more publicity to the company, that your idea will generate something for the brand that will sponsor you. With a blog, your weekly/monthly traffic is important to mention. The more readers you got, the greater the chance to be interesting for the company you approach. If the larger, more commercial brands doesn't reply on your inquiry or doesn't show interest in your ideas, try the smaller ones in the same field. Perhaps you can find companies that are brand new, new businesses are always looking for getting their products out on the market and those are often great to approach. When you have everything clear, send the company an email, tell them who you are, what you're about to do. Tell them why you'd like to get sponsored by their brand and what they could gain from sponsoring your project. Make it simple but clear. Shorten the email to the most relevant and add a link to your website. If you already have some other sponsors you should mention these too, the first one is always a bit tricky but as soon as you have a reference, it should get easier. I could go on forever about this but these are the basics I believe. Good luck with your plans and travels!

Your second question about sailing experience: Alex has been sailing all his life, he's been racing when he was younger and he is an extremely accomplished and experienced sailor from who I myself have learnt everything I know about sailing. I didn't know anything before I met him for two years ago but Alex brought me out to the sea quite immediately after we met. We have now sailed more than 10.000 nautical miles together during these past two years and we both look very much forward to continue our travels for many years to come.  

More FAQ's coming soon.... you can find some of the other most common questions here.

Question of the day - How do we make money on this journey?

New feature on the blog: Questions and Answers. We get plenty of emails sent to us every week and we regret that we can't answer them all in person. A way for us to give you our view on some of the most common inquiries is to publish some questions here, so that all of you can take part of our thoughts.

First question out today is an email that was sent to us for a couple of days ago. Here it goes:

Hi. I'm an Italian sailor and I love follow your tour around the world.

I feel you like some friends that send me postcards... and I can see these postcards on your blog.

I'm glad to know that the tour is not only like a long cruise: little problems , decisions, works, etc... all this things give spice to the boat life. I feel you are not bored!!!!

I have an ordinary question and doubt. How can you make money? A tour is expensive: hotel, dinner, boat maintenance, and other things.

Can you give me an answer? I will not wait for a very private explaination , but a simple answer about the way you make money. Charter? You are consuming your personal money? Photos?

Thanks.

Best Wind

by Luca

Thank you for your email Luca. This is a very frequent wondering among our readers and I remember we touched the subject quite briefly for a couple of months ago, but here it goes again in more specific details. 

Luca didn't ask how we saved up for this tour so that we can keep for another time, but just shortly: When we had decided that we wanted to sail around the world, we made sure to sell off a lot of our personal belongings. We also juggled around with some savings and made clear that we had cash enough to upgrade the boat to perfection and also to be able to live on the boat for 1,5-2 years. We did spend more than we originally planned for during the first year out, but we do still have some savings left for an additional year or so. Now we don't have any bank loans or mortgages at all so this makes life one step easier for us. We made sure to pay off what was needed before we set off on this tour and we also made sure to upgrade and equip the boat to utter perfection so that we didn't have to deal with sudden failures or unpleasant maintenance for a long time to come.

Since our original plan, that was to sail only for around two years, have been changed to sail indefinitely and for as long as we still love and enjoy this amazing freedom, we need to make sure that we get in cash during the time to be able to maintain this liberating way of living. I think I said it before but it suits to mention it here again; this life and this tour is not a vacation only for us, it's a lifestyle and our everyday life - and we need to make sure it is sustainable for as long as we still enjoy it. The ways to make money differs quite a lot to what we would have done back home on land, but we do what we have the time and the possibility to do and as long as we feel good and happy with that, we will continue in a similar way.

The main importance in life right now is to be free from stress, free from obligations and normal life obstacles and to enjoy the world, the places we get to see and unlimited time with each other. And as our everyday needs have drastically decreased during this first year on the sea, so have also the amount of money that we need to be happy. It is definitely easier to feel fulfilled for a low cost on the sea and in connection to the nature, than it is back home in the big city life on land. We are also very glad that we no longer (well currently at least) are part of the wheal of consumption that is so easy to get tangled up in on life on solid ground.

These are the ways we have made money since we left our home in Barcelona for nine months ago:

- The blog. Having an independent blog that hits around 150.000 page views and 90.000-120.000 unique visitors every month, we now have the possibility to get paid for this story that we have published online. There are several different types of advertisements and sponsorships that appears on this website and I have found a good strategy for what brings in relatively OK amount of incomes every month. We do get a lot of inquiries from companies that wish to send us free stuff for us to promote on the blog, and while that is fun at times depending on what things they offer, it is also of significant importance that our partnerships brings in some real money. This blog is definitely both business and pleasure to me and they both need each other for me to be engaged to it, to this extent. I'm sure you already figured it out, but I spend quite some time on this site and things in relation to it. Something like 2-6 hours are spent every day on this blog, sometimes even more, and I can honestly say that I wouldn't have been online this much if it didn't give me at least some type of payment. This blog is my true passion, a great part of my life, a fantastic way for me to share what I love, it is my baby that I love nurturing and improving with every day that pass, but it is also the greatest source of income for me at the moment and the business side of it is almost equally important as is my personal interest in it. And as I know that many of you love numbers, I can reveal that I currently make somewhere between $500-1000/month on collaborations and partnerships through this blog. That's not a lot, but it helps, and I hope to be able to increase this with time.

- Alex skills. Besides of Alex being a skipper who occasionally takes on shorter yacht deliveries for some good extra incomes I also think I might have told you that Alex is one handy man. I'm not only talking about mounting furniture's bought in IKEA or fixing with simple mechanics of the engine - no, this man is particularly skilled when it comes to composite work (carbon and fiberglass), woodwork and whatever else you can think of that has to do with boats and other handcrafted things. He could basically get a job at any famous boatbuilder in the world with his knowledge and expertise and he has decided to take on shorter projects when there is time and space for it, if the money is right. On the projects he's been doing so far, he have made well enough for us to live on and to top up our savings during the very same time. I was not aware of his skills to this extent before we left and I was confused when he first told me that he might be willing to do some work on other boats, one week per month or so - Work on boats?? But you're a mastering engineer! - but I have with time found out that he loves the art of building and he also has a fucking gold mine in his hands. Literally. Pretty good to know for the day when our savings might be gone and vanished, if we are not yet ready to get back to the normal world that is.

- My photography. I sell some of my photos from this blog to both private and professional clients, information on this can be found here. This has proved to be a very popular thing and I wish that I will continue to have the time (and the clients!) for it for time to come. I have also been in touch with various sailing/travel magazines for publishing my photos in their publications, but I must admit that I have been extremely lazy in sending in samples and portfolios like they've requested. I maybe should be more active on this part, but on the other hand it is a tough industry where you have to work your ass off to be seen and published, the payment is quite low for photos nowadays and also I really do hate to have to promote my creativity as I believe that it all should come out naturally. With this blog on the other hand, I do already see a good future potential and a profit and with the blog I'm also free to work in my own tempo, on my own conditions and the photography shown here pays off in other ways, indirectly. I also do simpler web design and I design blogs for private clients from time to time.

- Sponsoring. Again, when having such a large blog (large in visitors), you will get companies interested in being seen on your website. Because of this we get loads of things for free or for a discounted price. Hotel nights, clothes, boat equipment, marina visits .. you name it. This is a great way for companies to be seen on our website and a good way for us to have some fun without spending too much of money. We are very restrictive though. We do not let just anything come up on our site, and only the things and services that we could consider spending our own money on will have the chance to be connected with our blog. We love working with the places and brands that we had the chance to work with in the past and we do hope to get more of these for the future. It's one of those great win-win deals you can establish if you have a niched blog like ours and one of the benefits I love with the whole social media industry that I've been working with for the past five-six years now.

We are fortunate that we have our creative skills that can give us a bit of extra incomes along the way, but even without it I'm sure we would be able to spend a good time with only our savings for at least a couple of years around the world. I will get back to you one day soon with more specific calculations on how to save up for a journey like this and what are the budgets and so on, but this post is too long as it is already so let's wait with that for another day. Let us know if you have any additional questions on this subject.