We were lucky to catch up with Shannon D recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shannon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

Vacations are not only to experience fun, enjoyment, and good times. They also can have an impact on your mental outlook. So, yes I take vacations. I have incorporated travel into my lifestyle, that now I made it my career you might say. Vacations allow one to be removed from the ordinary mundane duties of work. Depending upon your trip, a vacation can be full of culture, community, and cuisine. Learning how people live in different parts of the world. Vacations can help you open up your mind to new things. They may even trigger new ideas related to processes or operations that you can apply to your own business or job.

For me, my vacations entail trips to conquer unique hiking adventures. This is how I maintain my fitness and wellness lifestyle. The challenges of preparing and planning for the physical part of the hike as well as the travel is an achievement in itself.

It is extremely important to make time for a getaway. Even if for a short while. Make time for staycations if you are unable to leave the area. This time away from ‘your work’ can make the world of difference. One more idea that you can do as a mini vacation, is make time for a nature walk everyday. The benefits of this easy mini getaway are extraordinary.

Shannon, 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?

Thanks for being here. I’m Shannon, military veteran turned adventurer traveler blogger! My blog is FitLifeTravel and is a place where I share my passion for life. This entails my love for exploration, adventure, fitness, nutrition, music and art; living life to the fullest. I take you along my journey of the experiences of mostly travel and hiking adventures.

After a life changing experience years ago, it drove me to create FitLifeTravel. Life is gift in my opinion, and too short to dwell on negative happenings. So, I turned this situation into a positive and started my blog. Several hiking and travel adventures here are to places that may be uncommon for some. Or some of them are more popular known places. But I also explore a few unique challenges that only a few select folks have done. This is what makes my brand unique, exciting, and informative.

My brand is one that offers a unique marketing opportunity for specific businesses/clients. The audience of FitLifeTravel is one that travels all over the world. My network are also hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. At the same time, my blogging business promotes health and wellness for an overall healthy lifestyle. We can provide a specific more targeted demographic market for certain types of businesses. We can put your product and service in front of a highly interested and motivated audience.

One of the most memorable and proud moments in my life entails a challenging iconic hike. This adventure entails climbing to the top of the world renowned Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Another amazing trekking experience is hiking to the Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven) in Hawaii. The stairs are historic but also unlawful to hike now. Of course, my route was via the legal path; which is much further and more dangerous. There are many more detailed fascinating stories throughout my blog.

I hope you enjoy this expedition on the roads less traveled, discovering hidden gems, and remarkable outdoor experiences. My goal is to inspire fitness through adventure You are invited to come along and be inspired. If you are interested in working together and collaborating, please reach out to me.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When growing any business or brand, you must include social media as part of your marketing strategy. And one critical aspect of that social media is that you have an audience. But it can be a challenge and takes plenty of time to build that audience. But any business should have a social media presence.

I used various strategies to build my audience for FitLifeandTravel.com. One of the ways I built my audience is connecting with related accounts. Another method to building an audience is participating in chats, commenting on other connections’ posts, and staying active everyday. Another thing a business can do is creating a blog. Writing articles to inform an audience about different aspects of your business can be beneficial to your growth as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Operating my blog allows me to be incredibly creative and innovative. It gives me such joy and fulfillment in providing beautiful and informative content for my audience. The most rewarding aspect of being creative for me is encouraging or motivating people. I love inspiring people to do something, to take action. Especially when it comes to incorporating activity or outdoor adventure into one’s life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.fitlifeandtravel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitlifeandtravel
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/fitlifeandtravel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fitlifetravel/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fitlifetravel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FitLifeTravel
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/fitlifetravel/

Image Credits
All photos owned by FitLifeTravel