We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erica Hoff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erica below.

Erica, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

When thinking of a brand name, you want to make sure your audience knows what you do by reading your brand name, but you also want it to display a little bit about what type of brand you are. Plus, you only get one name, so there’s a lot of pressure to get the title of the website right. When I was looking up examples of travel blogger’s websites, I kept seeing phrases that included words like “wanderlust”, or “adventure”, or “exploring”. They all sounded interesting and catchy, but they did not feel like a good fit for me.

One day, I was setting my “out of office” feature on my email to notify those who email me that I was going to be away from work and would not have access to my email, when it hit me – I LOVED setting up that feature. It made me happy to be able to tell others I would be away. Being out of office meant that for a small period of time, I was going to be able to step away from my work responsibilities and enjoy life outside of the office. I was working hard, so I had to play hard too!
Being able to set up that feature was a blessing and a prize, and sometimes very difficult to get to as work can easily take over our lives. It was that moment when I knew that I wanted to name my travel blog
Out of Office with love,
Erica.

I wanted it to resemble the end of a letter/card or email sign off, letting readers know that the itineraries I create are made with love and hopefully help inspire them to get out of office. Out of office, with love, Erica was created to help travelers explore the world without having to do research. I do all the work, all the readers have to do it GO!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a wife and mother of a toddler, I know it is difficult to do research for travel, let alone to travel. It takes alot of work, but I know it is worth it. Discovering new places and creating memories with those you love make life worthwhile. I started my travel blog as a hobby, to share my itineraries and experiences with others so they do not have to do the research themselves. Thankfully, over time, my hobby has allowed me to make a little bit of income on the side, while still being able to do what I love: travel and share my experiences.

When traveling, there are a MILLION BILLION TRILLION places to go, things to see, places to eat, etc. and all the options can get overwhelming. One could spend a whole lifetime traveling and still not be able to explore the whole world. I noticed that there are hundreds of travel bloggers out there, but they simply share lists of things. You read things such as “Top 10 places to visit…” or “The best places to eat in…” ect. and that’s it. Travel bloggers are helpful! Don’t get me wrong. Bloggers help discover places that you would not have known about otherwise. However, now the reader needs to do research and read a few more different blogs to figure out what to do on their trip. This can take a lot of time and can be overwhelming when you are trying to make the most out of your time and perhaps stick to a budget. I wanted to fix that. Even though I really enjoy creating itineraries, I know how time consuming it is.
I created my website called Out of Office, with love, Erica to share itineraries for trips in hopes to get readers out of office. Now all the reader needs to do is pick the destination and go! The rest of the work is already done for them. I share how to get there, I suggest where to stay, what to do, and where to eat, all from experience. I write them in a way so that my readers can simply follow the itinerary and enjoy the trip without needing to do any more research as the work was already done for them. I am rarely in any of the photos I share because I tend to be behind the camera, capturing the beautiful moments.
Friends and family always reach out to me when I post a new blog sharing that my trip looked like so much fun and they now too want to visit the location.
For readers who have not heard of my website, I invite you to check it out! The website is free to visit and I share my experiences with you. I create itineraries for all kinds of trips – Weekend trips, road trips, girls trips, trips with the family, long trips, short trips, you name it! Trips that get you out of office,
With love,
Erica.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a blogger is the fact that I am able to share the experiences I have had traveling with others. Traveling makes me happy, and being able to share it with others gives me joy. I am thankful God has allowed me to go to the places I have been. I cannot wait to continue traveling and sharing the experiences with others so they too can get out of office. I am also thankful to my husband for being the best travel partner, for supporting me, and going along with my crazy travel ideas.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is simple: to create itineraries and share my experiences with others, so they too can explore the world. Getting out of the office (or off from work) is so difficult sometimes. But I truly believe it is important to make it happen. Life will pass us by if we wait for “the right time” to travel or make memories. I hope that my itineraries serve as a guide or even simply as inspiration to others to get out there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://out-of-office2.webnode.com/
• Instagram: outofoffice_withloveerica
• Other: Out of Office App (I am an ambassador for the app): https://getooo.app.link/agqRbUXN8xb