Hello there and welcome to another #PoCoLo - if you were here last week it was great to see you, if you're new here this week, then welcome. Morgan and I have a first for our Blogger Showcase this week - and it's another fab one - or rather two, we have Rachel and Ryan joining us, so do take a read and connect with them.
After a great treat weekend this week has been a lot calmer, which is very good news for many reasons. There's still been some long days in the office but it's felt more productive. We're about to start the final phase of our decorating - or the first round of it all anyway, and I need to spend some time getting my head round exactly how that's going to happen.
With everything being so busy MOH has been leading on the organising, so anything could happen! That's unfair of course, I know at a high level what's going on, we've chosen the doors - two sets of bifold doors - and I've insisted that there is no way we're having a portaloo as part of this. I'll explain more in another post, but that's a big no from me.
There's a functional reason for starting this work on our conservatory, it's lovely but old and starting to leak and so it's time to do some maintenance, before we can do the pretty stuff. It's sensible, but I am more interested in the prettier end if I'm honest.
My picture this week is one from RHS Wisley and the pale greeny yellow flowers are hellebores, which are also known as a lenten rose, and it's easy to see why isn't it - especially with Shrove Tuesday on the way next week. I think these are particularly striking with the dark foliage and doubled back to snap this shot.
Blogger Showcase: Ryan and Rachel from The Opposite Travellers
1. Who are you?
We are Ryan and Rachel, a married couple living in London. Rachel was born and raised in London and Ryan hails from Toronto, Canada. Together we make up The Opposite Travellers, and we run a travel blog about our trips around the world. We have very different tastes when it comes to travel, Ryan loves adventure while Rachel loves luxury travel, hence the name.
2. How did you discover blogging?
We’ve both been reading different blogs for many years, we mainly follow blogs about fitness and travel. When we started travelling we used blogs to research where to go and what to do in the different places we were visiting, and found so many invaluable tips.
3. Why did you start blogging?
Ryan is an avid photographer and videographer. We decided to travel as much as possible after getting married, and Ryan was taking some beautiful shots and videos on our trips which we felt we should showcase. We have had so many amazing experiences while travelling and we wanted to share them with the world, so that's why we started.
4. What do you find most challenging?
We both have full time jobs, Ryan is a high school PE teacher and Rachel works at a large record label. It’s tough to balance work and keeping the blog updated, and also planning future trips. The good news is we really enjoy blogging so we always make time whenever we can.
5. What is your favourite topic to write about?
We love writing about special travel experiences that we’d never have the chance to do in London. For example, quad biking in Santorini, snorkelling in Bali or taking a boat trip around Ibiza.
6. Are you blogging for fun or do you have goals?
We both really enjoy our jobs, and don’t plan on giving up our careers any time soon. But being able to travel and write for a living sounds like a dream, and maybe one day we’ll be in a position to do that for a while. We love to document our experiences and that’s what drives us for now.
7. What is your favourite thing about blogging?
We love being creative and making content in other countries. Ryan’s GoPro allows us to make amazing videos of our trips and it’s great to be able to share our experiences with others. Rachel loves to produce music, and the content gives her the chance to make bespoke music which we use as the soundtrack to our videos.
8. Have you ever attended a blogging conference?
No we haven’t but it’s something we’d potentially do in the future. There’s so much to learn and it’s also great to get out and meet other bloggers.
9. What are your three best posts?
Here are a few of our faves:
10. Describe yourself in three words
Creative Travelling Couple!
11. Are you a tea and biscuits or coffee and cake person?
Rachel is a coffee and cake person but Ryan loves tea! Rachel has a major sweet tooth and is always trying to stop herself from buying a slice of red velvet cake.
12. What's your idea of the perfect night out?
We love eating out so we’d have a nice dinner somewhere, probably Italian or Japanese. Then we’d have some cocktails at a bar.
13. And the perfect night in?
We love a good Netflix binge, so we’d probably either cook or order some take out and get stuck in to a box set. We try and avoid doing too much of this, because TV can become seriously addictive for us and we don’t want to waste too much time on the couch!
14. What would your best friend/OH/mum or kids say is your best quality?
This is a hard one to guess so we just asked each other! For Rachel it would be her ambition, and for Ryan it would be his creativity and work ethic.
Thanks Rachel and Ryan, great answers!
Before you link up, don't forget to pop over and say hello to Rachel and Ryan on their social channels: Instagram - YouTube - Facebook - Twitter