We were lucky to catch up with Noelle Bertram recently and have shared our conversation below.

Noelle, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

My independent personality type is definitely better-suited as a business owner, vs. being an employee! Every time I’ve had a quote/un-quote “regular job,” I remember distinctly how I felt at the end of the day: drained, & a bit like a robot (particularly if I’d been staring at a computer screen all day). As the owner of a travel blog, I’m still looking at a computer screen a lot ~ but I can break up my days with gardening, hiking, mountain biking, walking the dog, etc. My eyes & mind are happiest, & I’m actually more productive, when I take frequent breaks! I try not to be on the computer longer than for two hours at a time, & I’m not sure if this would be possible at a “regular job.”

Some of the downsides of being a business owner are: 1) Income can be unpredictable & seasonal, which means you need to be able to budget accordingly, 2) It can get a little lonely, especially if working from home. But this can be overcome by working at a coffee shop, finding other friends who are remote workers, or just by getting your social engagement in other ways ~ like volunteering, happy hours with friends, or by joining a local team sport.

For me, the freedom that comes with being a business owner FAR exceeds any downsides! And having focused my career on developing multiple passive streams of income (via restaurants & the travel blog), provides financial freedom for the long-term as well, which is truly priceless.

Noelle, 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 started “Girl Who Travels the World” back in 2016, as a travel blog & website that is a resource for female travelers all over the world (as the website can be translated into numerous languages). Since then, as I’ve realized my audience is both male & female, I’ve expanded to include articles that are truly meant for everyone ~ not just women. But the original impetus for creating the site was born out of a NEED to show women that solo travel is NOT as scary as it’s made out to be! The website & my articles, all based on boots-on-the-ground knowledge from one female traveler, are meant to be an antidote & rebuttal to the fear-based pronouncements made by the media about travel in “dangerous” foreign countries. I have been so many places as a solo traveler, & with friends ~ & most of them truly feel just as safe, if not safer, than the United States!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During 2020 & Covid, when travel virtually hit a stand-still worldwide ~ I most definitely had to pivot my travel blog if I ever wanted to make money again! I started writing articles about gardening & natural health (two other passions), & this has turned out to be a HUGE silver lining. The bulk of my sales as an Amazon Affiliate now come from “Home & Garden” & natural supplement recommendations….so this has made a huge difference with my blog income, & provided much-needed diversity for my website ~ & also allowing me to attract a whole different reader base.

During the pandemic, certain hotel affiliate programs also just entirely stopped! Airbnb is a good example of this, & it forced numerous travel bloggers to remove ALL of their Airbnb links, which no longer worked (a very time-consuming task). The lesson here is: diversify your offerings/affiliate programs that you work with, if you’re a blogger. DON’T just rely on one, because it could go away one day. As hotel bookings are a major source of revenue for my site, I work with several booking companies: Travelpayouts, Hotellook, Kayak, & HotelsCombined. I feel that this protects me in case any one of them stop offering affiliate programs in the future, as I have others to take their place.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As blogging is a fairly new business, I’ve faced a lot of backlash or misunderstanding from people who think I “don’t work,” or who think writing & blogging is not an “actual” job. This is far from true!! So many people are making a living these days as content creators of all kinds: from Tik Tok stars, to YouTubers, to tried & true bloggers, who value producing long-running, evergreen content ~ which is more what I do.

Though I try not to let other people’s opinions “get” to me: it does get a little frustrating when people seem not to take you or your work seriously. There are over 500 articles on my site, & in the beginning I was making NO money!! The travel blog has taken a TON of work, & was truly a passion project…otherwise I never would have had the fortitude to stick it out, & turn it into an actual money-maker.

I guess the lesson here is: stick with what you’re truly passionate about, even if other people don’t understand or appreciate exactly what you’re doing. Maybe one day they will….or maybe you’ll realize that their opinion doesn’t matter as much as you thought!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://girlwhotravelstheworld.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlwhotravelsworld/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvgdCVoii3TBEt8eYrblWw

Image Credits
Noelle Bertram