We were lucky to catch up with Lev Baker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lev thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

AI:
One of the biggest trends I’ve seen is the rise of AI. AI has taken the world by storm, but few industries have been reshaped as much as blogging and content marketing. When ChatGPT first came out, I was pretty resistant. I didn’t want to lose that human element that makes content valuable. But I’ve since come to see how powerful it can be if it’s used intentionally.
AI has become central to our workflow, especially for SEO tasks like drafting content briefs, brainstorming keywords, or automating more technical parts of the process. At the same time, I’m very clear about where I draw the line. As a travel blogger, our content at The Nomad Almanac is built on real experience. We only write about places we’ve actually been to, so our voice, photos, and insights need to feel personal and not the bland machine-generated travel advice you’ll get if you ask ChatGPT to craft you a 3-day itinerary…
Google is also evolving in how it ranks content, with AI-generated overviews now appearing front and center. So it’s been crucial to adapt our SEO strategy to stay competitive while still doubling down on what makes us different.

The Shift From Blogs to Social Media:

When I first started blogging, it was all about long-form content. You could focus solely on writing useful, well-optimized articles, and that was enough. Social media was more of a nice-to-have.
That’s completely changed. With Google rolling out so many core updates and attention spans getting shorter, it’s no longer enough to rely on one platform. We’ve had to diversify. After some rough traffic swings due to algorithm changes, we made a major pivot to focus not just on blogging but also on Instagram. That shift has really helped us stabilize traffic and reach new audiences in ways we couldn’t through search alone.
I think this trend is only going to grow. Bloggers today need to think like media brands and diversify. Think of it like an index fund. You spread your risk across multiple traffic sources. If your blog gets 20,000 monthly visitors from search and another 10,000 from social platforms like Instagram, X, and YouTube, an algorithm hit on one platform won’t tank your entire business.

Lev, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m originally from Austin, Texas, and I’ve been passionate about travel for as long as I can remember. Right after high school in 2016, I took a three-month backpacking trip through Europe. This was originally supposed to be a gap year, but I suppose I’m still on this gap year nearly a decade later. I came home obsessed with the idea of living abroad. Over the next year, I worked a string of odd jobs, saved every penny, and set off again, this time without a return ticket.
Fast forward to 2021: I was living in New Zealand, working long hours in manual labor jobs, and feeling burned out. That’s when my business partner (and fiancée), Mia Kim, and I sat down and mapped out the kind of life we actually wanted. We agreed on two things: we wanted the independence of working for ourselves, and we wanted the freedom to travel while doing it.
That year, we started freelance writing. At first, it barely covered our travel costs, but it gave us a taste of what was possible. By 2022, we made the leap. We quit our jobs and went full-time on the road, launching our content marketing business, Kea Content, named after our favorite New Zealand bird species.
What started as freelance content writing quickly evolved. As we learned the ropes of SEO and content marketing, we began offering more strategic services: website audits, content refreshing, keyword research, and conversion-focused content strategies. Over the past few years, we’ve worked with law firms, travel companies, B2B startups, insurance brands, and more. Today, Kea Content specializes in helping small businesses grow through smart SEO and content strategies and on-page optimization.
In 2023, we launched The Nomad Almanac, our passion project and travel blog. Travel has always been at the heart of my life, and this platform gives us a space to share the stories behind our adventures. We never expected this side gig to become a central pillar of the business, but it’s grown exponentially in the past few years and is now one of our core focuses.
The Nomad Almanc is built on the idea of inspiring others to pursue freedom and adventure over the 9-to-5 grind. Everything we publish comes from firsthand experience, and we put a strong emphasis on ethical, mid-budget, and sustainable travel.
I now split my time between running Kea Content and growing The Nomad Almanac, and luckily, there’s a lot of crossover. The same SEO and content strategies I use for clients, I apply to our blog. Our true hands-on travel experience and technical marketing knowledge are what set us apart. I’ve been to more than 45 countries and run a remote marketing business while traveling the world.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I’m lucky enough to have a business partner who also happens to be my life partner. My fiancée, Mia Kim, and I built both Kea Content and The Nomad Almanac together from the ground up.
We started during a pretty tough period. At the time, I was living in New Zealand, working 50+ hours a week doing warehouse labor. The pay was decent, more than I’d earned before, but I was miserable. Just before that, I had been running my own nightlife and events business in Poland, but when the borders closed during the pandemic, tourism dried up and everything came to a halt. I missed the independence and creativity that came with working for myself.
Mia was working for the New Zealand government at the time and, true to form, was told by multiple supervisors that she was overqualified for the job. She’s one of those people who, once she sets a goal, will absolutely make it happen. We both wanted more freedom, more flexibility, and the ability to build something of our own. That’s what led us to launch Kea Content together.
We have very different strengths, which is part of why it works so well. She’s incredibly organized. Type A to the core. She makes the to-do lists, manages our schedules, keeps us on track, and handles the design and visual side of our work. I’m more focused on big-picture strategy, negotiating with clients, and shaping the direction of the business.
From client websites to social media campaigns, our skills complement each other perfectly. And at the end of the day, we’re building a life together, not just a business.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

For us, it really comes down to quality. We’ve built our reputation by consistently showing up, never missing deadlines, and always aiming to exceed expectations. It sounds simple, but in an industry where flakiness is surprisingly common, just being reliable and overdelivering goes a long way.

With Kea Content, we treat every client’s business like it’s our own. We take time to understand their goals and build strategies that actually help them grow. Our goal is to go the extra mile because we genuinely care about the success of our clients.

With The Nomad Almanac, it’s about staying true to our brand and values. We only write about places we’ve actually visited, and we only partner with companies we believe in. As our audience has grown, we’ve made a conscious decision not to dilute our voice or promote things we don’t stand behind. A lot of travel creators lose authenticity when the brand deals start rolling in, but we’ve worked hard to keep our content honest, personal, and experience-driven.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thenomadalmanac.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenomadalmanac/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578604414933
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lev-baker-888872196/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheNomadAlmanac
• Other: https://keacontent.com/