We recently connected with Melanie Bange and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Melanie, thanks for joining us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?
I have always struggled to stay home and love to be busy. When I was in my late twenties and in the middle of a divorce, my friend suggested I start an Instagram blog to document adventures, places, food, and any other life ideas; at that point, she was in the process of having her first child and living vicariously through me. After a couple of years of encouragement, starting a new relationship, and taking on a support parent role, I realized I needed a consistent hobby, loved taking pictures of our travels, and talking about things we had been able to do. Merged with my full-time career in education, volunteerism, social service, and juvenile justice, I started to think about barriers that could impact others having “fun” and realized that cost is huge. Ohiogirl.travelingworld was created in August of 2019 with a vision of supporting small businesses, enjoying local attractions, highlighting budget-friendly ideas, and enjoying food. When I think about how I knew this was a worthwhile endeavor, I continuously go back to the value of mental health. My mindset continues to be that Ohiogirl.travelingworld is a hobby and I want to showcase different areas that others would want to experience for themselves in some manner.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I grew up in a very military home; both grandfathers served as officers in the Air Force, father served in the Navy. Growing up, the majority of my family is from the Shreveport-Bossier City areas of Louisiana, my Mom halted a career as a Children’s Librarian to be the primary caretaker for my sister and I, and my father finished his military career then stated a second career in aircraft dispatching. The largest constants were my parents having different work schedules, being “informed” of life’s roles, and feeling some sort of transition. Through all of these, we were able to have a lot of opportunities that lots of children could only dream of. I was born in California, but my formative years were spent in Newport (Rhode Island) before creating roots in Dayton, Ohio. When I was in early elementary school, it was nothing for my mom to decide that she wanted to take my sister and I on a day trip to Plymouth (Massachusetts). When we moved to Ohio, I was ten years old. My brain was beginning to hit puberty and lifestyle in New England was a bit different than the Midwest. Mostly, due to weather and accessibility, I remember the first time I realized how far away Columbus was from the Dayton area; I took out an atlas and realized the mileage was similar to that of going to Boston, by way of Providence (Rhode Island) opposed to north of Fall River (Massachusetts). But, with growing up in such a structured home, I started to realize I wanted to work full time with people and in education. When thinking about content creation as a hobby and the opportunities content creation provides, I wanted to be extremely thoughtful of my roots; acknowledging access and cost. Both of those are huge barriers to a lot of people! The world of “influencers” may not be able to afford a lot of the things highlighted without some form of opportunity or secondary relationship. So highlighting cost, the largest barrier, is central to my values. If there is one thing I would love followers, or silent followers, to know is that relationships are a form of cost. I firmly believe that “time is the only currency I cannot get back”. What I put my time into, I would love it to remain in my life; whether that is through posting or realizing things about my growth as a human.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Honestly, the largest resource I wish I knew was the power of inquision. While I may be pretty extroverted, I am still an extremely timid individual and constantly working on self-advocacy. The irony of that is, as a parent, we have discussions of how no one is a mind reader almost daily. But, I wish that I had started to develop tools to ask questions and recognize within every “no” provides something else in life
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I think the largest goal I have is connection. It is funny…personally, I am a support parent, biological parent, partner, career woman, content creator, sister, parent, and a plethora of other roles I cannot think of currently. But, when I look at every single one of these roles, I crave a different form of closeness and distance. Every day may look different, but that struggle with connection truly fuels me to get out of bed every day and just “do the damn thing”
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Melanie A. Bange