november-2010
november-2010
november-2010
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Matt Preston<br />
travelwithamate.com<br />
How did you start blogging?<br />
I went travelling and wanted to<br />
have a site that my friends and<br />
family could read. But then<br />
I realised friends and family<br />
were the least likely to actually<br />
read it and I was writing for the<br />
rest of the world instead!<br />
What would be your<br />
ideal destination?<br />
I’d love to go to the Baltic<br />
states – Estonia, Latvia and<br />
Lithuania. Countries like<br />
France and Italy are so well<br />
known that it’s easy to get a bit<br />
blasé, but I don’t know much<br />
about the Baltic states.<br />
What will you spend<br />
your £100 on?<br />
Probably some decent food<br />
at some point. And I’d like to<br />
have something to bring back<br />
that’s from that city – I like to<br />
fi nd quirky little bookshops<br />
and independent places.<br />
What’s your top travel tip?<br />
Don’t plan too much. It’s good<br />
to have the security of a few<br />
ideas, but don’t have a very<br />
strict itinerary because the<br />
more you can make it up as<br />
you go along, the more quirky<br />
little adventures you’re likely<br />
to have.<br />
Karen Bryan<br />
europealacarte.co.uk/blog<br />
How did you start blogging?<br />
In 2006 I had an email from<br />
a student who was doing<br />
a dissertation about travel<br />
businesses using blogs. At that<br />
time I thought a blog was a<br />
teenage geek’s diary, but I did<br />
a bit of research and I realised<br />
they’re a great way for search<br />
engines to fi nd information.<br />
Within a few days I had a blog<br />
set up and that’s when things<br />
really started to take off.<br />
How are you preparing<br />
for the challenge?<br />
I know it’s all about social media,<br />
and people will be asking their<br />
15 YEARS | TRAVEL BLOGS<br />
Twitter followers for tips, but<br />
I’m not sure I’ll have time to ask<br />
everyone and follow their tips.<br />
You could spend all day just<br />
looking at your phone and trying<br />
to get Wi-Fi! I’d like to talk to<br />
locals and ask them for ideas.<br />
What do you think the<br />
Facebook community will be<br />
looking for from their winner?<br />
Maybe it will be somebody<br />
who can pack in a lot of things,<br />
but maybe it will be somebody<br />
who can give a more authentic,<br />
relaxed feel rather than<br />
frantically running around. I’m<br />
just going to be myself!<br />
15 TH BIRTHDAY ISSUE | TRAVELLER | 37
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