Cristina Romero is a Spanish blogger and I catch up with her and discuss life.

Cristina, a pleasure to interview a fellow blogger. Tell my audience something important about you?

Thank you very much, Jerry. I could be compared with the hands of a clock. In other words, I am always “functioning”. I am a very active person and I don’t stay put. I do not think there are enough hours in a day to do everything I would want to do. I am very human; my heart drives me. I like to help people around me. As a result, I find it worthwhile because that shapes the person I am. In conclusion, I am a woman that is very independent, very devoted to others, with clear ideas on her mind and who doesn’t settle.

Tell me a little about your blog and why did you decide to blog?

My blog is the start of a new phase in my life. After having worked in media and communications, I stopped working full time to take care of a family member.

After two years, I created the trademark “by Tina” and designed a handbag collection of different types of material, which were made in Spain. The fixed costs were high and I did not have any financial backing. I, therefore, decided to pursue something that I liked which is writing and having my own blog.

It was challenging at the beginning and a new world for me. I thought through the whole process and designed the website by myself. I am a perfectionist by nature. I took courses on blogging and www.elblogdetina.es was born.

The blog is about my thoughts, reflections, and state of mind on various topics like a visit to a restaurant, my kids, or just cooking. It is a journey.

What kind of journalism do you specialize in? What do you like about journalism?

I have worked in the press and radio.  I did not like what I saw when I started working for different media companies. To my mind ethics are a key feature of individuals, and this should be even more highlighted when you work in the “fourth power”. When I was faced with the truth about journalism, I was hugely disappointed. My ideas around journalism pictured the great reporter investigating for news but the reality is very different.  The news is delivered to you by the big press agencies and that is a debacle for your ideas.

What does female empowerment mean to you?

I believe women need to have their own dignity, be independent, and have their rights acknowledged. I further think that Spain where I live,  men and women have the same rights and opportunities (at least from a legal perspective, which sometimes plays out differently in practice).

When I was born, I had the same opportunities as my brother and the same is true for my friends. Maybe if you look back two generations it was odd to see the same number of men and women study, but nowadays any child born, be it a boy or a girl, will go to school and have the opportunity to go to university and have a future. I don’t see women as a prejudiced social group in Spain because of being born female.

I think that the word empowerment is fully compatible with women, as the word indicates, gain control over their own lives and circumstances. Maybe it is actually the circumstances each of them faces in her life that makes that woman give up on her professional life (be it because she has kids she wants to raise so that she can be independent in the future or because she has a disabled relative who she needs to take care of or due to other reasons…). And it is here where I see that laws don’t work properly: both a woman and a man should be able to take care of their families and home without giving up on financial independence, but there is no government help for this.

How has social media changed your society?

Social media has allowed people to have a broader view of life.  In other words, not everything is controlled by the same media. Therefore, the freedom to express yourself has substantially increased. It is a great tool to exchange information and has led nowadays to a steep change in mass media.

Spanish society has evolved positively in a lot of ways on the back of social media as it has given everyone a voice. The flipside of this is that it gives rise to abuse, to people manipulating social media to achieve their goals or to professional haters hiding behind the anonymous status a profile gives them, but that can be mitigated by the right of every individual to choose what he wants to read, follow or do.

Help me understand some of the challenges you have faced in life and how did you overcome it?

The first was in the workplace. In order to move up in the media world, I faced, as we say in Spain,  “pasar por la piedra”, It means as a woman if your boss comes and tells you that in order to progress you have to have dinner with him (or do anything, as we have recently seen in the cinema world) and when you say no he makes your professional life unbearable until you quit.

Another tougher challenge was when the CEO of my company told all female employees that he didn’t want any of us to get pregnant and that if we did no one could in “his” company (which wasn’t actually his) apply for a part-time job as is set out by Spanish law. When my second child was born, I decided to focus more on my family, and therefore against the will of my boss I notified HR that I applied for the reduced working hours that I was entitled to. They couldn’t obviously object but they made life difficult until I voluntarily left. That challenge has been very important and thanks to the fact that I actually sent that notice to HR and subsequently left women can (and do) now have different options of working hours in that company and can find a work-life balance.

The third challenge was that I was in a relationship with a male chauvinist. When I wore a skirt, it was too short and he wanted me to wear pants. He did not want me to drive and was emotionally abusive.

He was very controlling, negative and it had a deep impact on my personality. He was very aggressive in his character. I became aware of his negative impact on me and mentioned that I wanted to end the relationship. He became manipulative, by threatening to jump out of the window, screaming, and even broken a door to get into the room I had locked myself in.

However, I decided to quit this toxic relationship, as I would never be happy and called it off. We should be free in a relationship and not be subdued and unhappy. I still have to see him because of certain issues but I have learned to forgive and have pity on him.

Talk to me about Spanish society and is it still patriarchal or an equal society?

Spanish society is undergoing constant change. In the last few years, it has changed significantly and there is a long way to go. Spain has a constitution since 1978. We were coming from a completely patriarchal society, where women’s role was basically to be the wife of someone and raise the kids whilst staying at home (with some exceptions). Women gained the right to vote in the 30s, notably 1933 and it was strange to find women studying in university and having a job linked to their career thereafter. The change was accelerated in 1978 and since then boosted, and it has only been 41 years! It is amazing to see how everything has changed since now we live in an equal society.

As I said, most women are free to decide what they want to do in life and if they want to continue with their career or prefer to devote more time to their family and give up a professional career. But there is still a lot to improve regarding maternity leave and the way back to work once it is finished. Rejoining your job isn’t easy and sometimes your salary is not worth it. A lot has to change. You can of course always decide to start your own business and try to balance family life and work that way, but not everyone has the financial capacity to be able to do that and the government doesn’t, unfortunately, help much. On top of that, not everyone has the personality you need to start your own business and prefers to settle for a company or, if you are a woman after maternity leave, stay at home.

Walk me through some of the best restaurants in your city?

The restaurant scene has exploded in Madrid in the last decade.

There is a choice for every palate and wallet. From eating fantastic pinchos in the San Antón market to a nice plate of pasta in an Italian restaurant such as Don Giovanni, Mediterranean food as in La Ancha or El Qüenco de Pepa, nice fish in el Barril or go to restaurants that are more trendy where fusion food or Japanese food are growing such as Amazonico, Bibo, Sushi 99, Inari and many others…. you can also have a great piece of Brazilian meat in Rubaiyat. This is all on top of your classic paella or other rice dishes like in St. James restaurant, but Spanish food goes way beyond paella.  A very welcoming restaurant where you have great food is La Buena Vida, with one of the best cheesecakes in town. Another one of my favorites is Taberna Laredo. I could go on forever…

What is your city famous for and why should we visit it?

Madrid is 1000 years old, historic and one of the greatest European capitals. It is a thriving, cosmopolitan city with a dynamic cultural scene and amazing weather.

Food is an obsession (not least the Mediterranean diet has been considered the most healthy diet worldwide) and there is plenty to choose from as madrileños tend to go out a lot…

On top of that, if you have enough of Madrid, which is very difficult to happen, you have amazing places nearby, including several world heritage sites like Toledo, or the Roman aqueduct in Segovia, or the walls of Avila…all within less than an hour drive.

How do you find balance in modern-day society and what are your priorities?

I think we have gone very quickly from one extreme to the other, from not having the technology available to having access to everything. New technologies bring with them a lot of good things but also give rise to something that is very bad: social isolation. It is very sad when for example I am having dinner in a restaurant and look around me and see most people with their mobile phones, teenagers meeting their friends and each of them just looks at their mobile, rather than speaking to each other, playing cards… there should be more education on the bad use of technology in order to foster healthy, natural and true relationships.

If when you raise kids you should impose time limitations on the use of technology. At home we have rules for the use of technology (including the fact that when we have lunch or gather with our family or friends we can’t use technological devices) and, to be honest, life is good that way because at the end of the day we are people and personal relationships should still be channeled through conversations and face to face instead of through phones or screens.

Balance in modern life would to me be complete equality of rights between men and women, that we were all free people with the ability to think for ourselves, without being conditioned by anyone and that we could all study and work to be truly independent.

The post Cristina Romero: Spain’s Modern Clara Campoamor appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

It is time to take a vacation. You want to go to an all-inclusive resort. I have been to 10 all-inclusive resorts, taken a couple of cruises in the Caribbean and Central America. I have been to 30 countries and lived in four different countries.  I have traveled on business and stayed in some of the best hotels in Europe, the US, and Dubai. I love food, people, and culture and have an undergrad in hotel management from Switzerland. This is a practical guide on how to enjoy your vacation at an all-inclusive resort. Trust me if you follow these tricks your experience will be better at an all-inclusive.

Set a budget 

An all-inclusive can cost $ 600 a week all the way to $ 6,000 a week. Start saving a year in advance. You do not want to go on vacation stressing about how you will pay the bills. It is wise to include a taxi back and forth to the airport from your home or parking, tips and excursions. I recommend going during the low season. Avoid March break, Christmas, and New Year. Also, sometimes it is cheaper to fly during the week than at the weekend.

Choose an all-inclusive resort that meets your needs

If you are going as a family, choose a family resort. If you want peace, quiet, and romance then go to an adult resort. If you want restaurants, a marina, discos, and clubs then choose one that is in the downtown area. Remember if your resort is next to the airport, get used to planes taking off and landing and the noise. If you have mobility issues then choose a resort that has elevators and not constructed on a mountain.

Know what is included in an all-inclusive

It is important to know what is included. Make sure that baggage, transport from the airport to the hotel, tips, room service, mini bar, Wi-Fi and other services are included. Premium drinks, excursions, taxis, spa services, laundry, and long-distance phone calls are not included.

Eat yogurt

Two weeks before you head on your vacation, start eating yogurt. Yogurt increases the good bacteria in your intestines and will fight the bacteria that can lead to diarrhea at an all-inclusive.

Check flight times

If you are going for a week and you have an evening flight. You will get to the resort late in the evening or the night and you lose a whole day. I recommend taking an early morning flight. This way you are on the beach by noon.

Check the distance from the airport

I personally prefer a morning flight and a resort within a hrs distance from the airport. If you take a 6.30 am flights you arrive around 10 am. Once you pass customs, you can be at the resort latest by noon.

Sunscreen, tanning and mosquito spray

Make sure you carry the appropriate sunscreen, tanning, and mosquito spray with you. These are very expensive at the resort.

Sunglasses and a hat

If you do not want to get a headache and avoid getting sunburned then bring a pair of sunglasses and a hat.

Research the resort

Look at the map of the resort. This will give you an idea of where your room is located and how close you are to the beach, restaurant, pool, bars, amenities, and activities. On Google Maps find out the attractions, shopping centers, and nearby towns if you want to leave the resort. Also, look into public transportation and hospitals nearby.

Know the weather conditions

Look at the weather channel and it will give you one week and two weeks forecast. It is vital to know the weather, temperature, climate and any other conditions that will impact your vacation. Do not go during hurricane season.

Book your vacation

Now that you have money saved up and done your research book your vacation. Make sure you have your passport and visa if necessary.

Check with your family doctor

Call your doctor and see if you need to take any vaccinations for the country you are visiting. Carry Imodium, Pepto-Bismol and an after bite with you. All three are over the counter medications.

Exchange money

If you are in Canada and heading to Mexico, ask your local bank for Pesos. You will get the best rate. At your hotel, you will get 10% less.

Get to the airport

I recommend taking a taxi or limousine. The parking at the airport is expensive. If you stay at a hotel, make sure the buses come regularly. In a snowstorm, you can be stuck for a couple of hours.

At the airports

Enjoy your flight. As you land at the airport and pass customs walk straight through the timeshare sharks and head outside. Your representative will meet you there and take you straight to the air-conditioned bus and even offer you a beer.

Put all valuables in the safe

You are now at the resort and in the room. Unpack and put everything in place. Before you head to the pool or beach, put your passport, jewelry, cash and any other valuables in the safe.

Traveling with children

Find out about the kids’ club, the age limit, hours of operation, activities and tell them about any allergies. Also, ask if daycare is available after the kids’ club closes.

Take a tour

Walk around the resort. See the distance between your room and all the amenities.

Clothes

Dress appropriately for the pool, beach, lobby, restaurants, and clubs. The beach club might allow you to eat in your bikini. It is definitely a big no in the restaurant.

Restaurants

The resort will have at least 4 to 6 restaurants and about 6 to 10 bars. Ask the concierge about the types of restaurants, the names, what time they open and close and if reservations are required. Also, find out if they cater to any allergies.

Bring your own mug, insulated cup or flask

The drinks outside the fine dining restaurants will always be served in throwaway or plastic cups. If you prefer to drink coffee or your cocktail in your own cup or glass then bring it along.

Meet your representative

Your tour representative would want to meet you the next day. I strongly recommend that you see him/her. They are locals and will tell you everything about the resort and the tours. They can also help you in case of emergencies. The representative will also give you a return voucher which you give to the taxi or bus that will pick you to take you back to the airport.

Take it easy the first day

This is very important. I have seen many people get sick. It is not the fault of the resort. Remember you are in a new country. Brush your teeth with bottled water. On the first day, do not expose yourself to more than one hour of the sun. If you spend 8 hrs in the sun, have 8 Coronas, a couple of Mojitos and then a couple of drinks after you have overstuffed yourself with food. Guess what? You have shocked your body. The shock will suppress your immune system. You will get sick. Also, if you step outside the resort, drink only bottled water and eat at a well-established restaurant. Do not eat from any road hawker.

Do not lose your room key, wrist band or towels

Keep your room key with you always. If you lose your keys, you have to go back to reception, stand in line, explain the situation, answer any questions and then security might escort you back to the room. Do not lose the room keys. You will get a card for a towel. Do not lose this card. You will have to pay at least $20 per towel. You will get a wrist band during your stay at the resort. Do not lose it or cut it until you leave the resort.

Get in the mood

You are now finally here. Relax, take it easy and do that embraces this pace and flow. Be grateful and enjoy.

Forget the Wi-Fi and the internet

Wi-Fi has been around a short time. The internet has been around for the last quarter-century. Cell phones do not enhance your vacation. Take pictures for sure. But do not get worked up if the Wi-Fi strength is not strong or the internet is down. You do not have to check your social media feed every hour or your emails. Forget about checking with the office. Focus on yourself and your friends and family.

Do not schedule every minute

Do not bring your day timer and plan every minute of your vacation. It will ruin it for you and your family. Go with the flow and enjoy talking to the other guests and employees.

Food

After I have visited an all-inclusive and read the reviews, I wonder if we were at the same resort. I am going to spend some more time here. Every resort I have visited, I have checked the kitchen. They are run by professional chefs with professional standards on safety, hygiene, and cleanliness.

I am going to lay down a couple of ground rules. If you are leaving from Canada, the UK or the US, the bacteria and microbes are different in the meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. If you eat a steak rare or a salmon at medium, you should always eat your meat and fish well done. The bacteria are killed and chances of you getting sick are slim.

Before you enter the restaurant, use hand sanitizer. Drink bottled water only. Find out what oil is used. If you have eaten food cooked with sunflower oil and you eat everything cooked in coconut oil, your body is not used to it.

Most of the buffets have chefs making tacos, crepes, omelets, pasta, fish, steaks and tacos. Eat fresh off the grill.

Try different a la carte restaurants. Try various buffet restaurants. Try various local dishes.

Take it easy with the alcohol in the restaurants.

Activities

An all-inclusive will have activities from 9 am to 2 am. A family resort will have a playground, games room, mini-golf, and a waterpark. The adult resorts will focus on dance lessons, massage, tasting wine and everything romantic. In general, expect aerobics and stretching in the pool, games, volleyball, soccer, yoga, Spanish lessons, cooking lessons, guessing the alcohol in a cocktail, ping pong tournament, archery tournament, dart tournament, bingo, history questions to be some of the activities. My personal favorites are volleyball in the pool and ping pong.

On the beach snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing, parasailing, and gliding are some of the activities. Try them all.

Do not expect everything to be like home

I would strongly recommend learning a few words in Spanish and French. Always have Google translate with you. Embrace the new culture, food, and entertainment. Do not freak out if you see a lizard, fly, dragonfly or mosquito in your room.

Go outside the resort

One of the things I strongly recommend is taking an authentic tour to see historical sites, villages or a small town. It will open your mind and hearts as to how other people live. Go visit a local bakery, school, local market and you will notice things are done differently. Invest in sustainable, ethical tourism.

Ask questions

Talk to a concierge or someone at reception if you have a question. They are more than willing to help you.

Do not compare resorts

When you go on a tour or for a walk on the beach, you will meet fellow Canadian, American and from British tourists. Never compare your resort to the other. Always remember what you paid for your vacation.

On a rainy day

The first thing to do is not to freak out. Sleep in. Go to the spa. Exercise at the gym. Go shopping. Take a tour of the city. Spend the day at the sports bar. Watch soccer, play some pool or cards. This is your day. Do not let any rain spoil your day.

Tips

In the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, the staff depends on tips. This is my recommendation. For one week at an all-inclusive, a couple or a family of 3 should budget $200.

The driver who drives you to the resort and back to the airport: $5

Bag attendant: $2 per bag

Housekeeper: $15 a week

Minibar service: $2

Buffet waiter: $5

A la carte waiter: $10

Buffet chef: $5

Bartender: $2

Concierge: $5

One or two members of entertainment: $15

Tour guide: $10

Tip your bartender, waiter at the buffet and the omelet chef the first day and miracles will happen.

Finally, enjoy your vacation. Something will always go wrong. The staff at the resort are humans. They work long hours in extreme heat and on their feet. Treat them with love and respect and you will be surprised.

Photo Credits: Ana Acosta Sharon McCutcheon Karly Gomez Leio McLaren Belinda Fewings yue su Chelsea Gates STIL  Gary Tou twinsfisch David Boca Michelle Spollen

The post Discover 34 tricks to enjoy an all-inclusive resort appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Ashley was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She had lived there her whole life there until she decided to move halfway around the world to Edinburgh, Scotland back in September 2015. On what she likes she says “I enjoy traveling with my husband, Arek, and I document our journeys with photographs. On a daily basis, I spend time meditating first thing in the morning and always try my best to be grateful for the little things in order to try and live a balanced life.” I talk to Ashley about her experiences in Europe.

Ashley, welcome aboard. What is one journey away about? How did it start? What is the main purpose of it?

One Journey Away is our platform to showcase our photography and videography, provide people with our travel tips & tricks, and let people in on our life in Scotland. It actually initially started just under my name as I wanted to start blogging and have a place (other than Instagram) to display my best photos, but Arek soon got into making videos, so we rebranded into One Journey Away. We mainly just want to share with others the places we’ve been, including our own backyard.

You moved from Vancouver to Scotland. What motivated you to make the move and why Scotland?

I wanted to explore more of Europe, and with Vancouver being the westernmost city in Canada and the few holiday days I got over there (especially when compared to the UK), it made it difficult. I knew there was a 2-year “working holiday” visa that the Canadian and UK governments had put together for 18-30-year old’s, so I decided to take advantage of that. I knew that I didn’t want to move to London, and Scotland just seemed like the quainter, quieter northerly neighbor – like Canada! It also helped that I had a good friend living in Scotland at the time (also on the same visa) who raved about Edinburgh, so that reassured me that I was making the right decision.

Help me understand what you have learned from traveling? Has it changed you and in what ways?

Traveling has definitely opened my eyes to new cultures and different ways of life. It has taught me to be more open and receptive to others, whether that be in regards to others’ choices, lifestyles, or even their opinions. I wouldn’t say that traveling has drastically changed me, but it’s allowed me to learn a lot more about the world.

What has been the response to your blog? Is blogging all glamorous as it is made out to be or is it hard work?

The blog is barely 6 months old, so it’s still relatively new! At the moment, it’s mostly family and friends who are enjoying the content, and they’ve indicated that they thoroughly enjoy it. It’s definitely hard work to keep a blog afloat, especially if you work full-time as well! My commitment to the blog from the start was to be consistent, and for me, that means publishing new content once a week as that’s what’s manageable for me. It also means thinking ahead and ensuring I have a lineup of topics ready to go. While it is hard work, it’s also very enjoyable for me, and I hope that that will be what keeps the blog going in the long term!

What advice would you give someone who wants to move from one country to another?

Go for it! Honestly. Travelling is amazing and it’s a privilege to be able to travel, but moving to another country and truly experiencing life in another country is something you can’t get from traveling alone. Travelling is like the tip of the iceberg and moving somewhere is the rest of the berg. A lot of people may have fears of not being able to find a place to live or secure a job, but I’ve always believed that everything will work out exactly the way it’s supposed to and when it’s supposed to. And this has always been true for me. The universe will reward you for leaping out of your comfort zone and everything will be okay.

Name me some interesting places you have visited and what is so special about them?

Right up there at the top of the list is definitely Meteora in Greece. It’s a rock formation and has monasteries sitting atop these pillars of rocks. I don’t remember how I stumbled across it online, but when I saw it, I knew I had to go there. And when we planned our holiday to Greece a number of years ago, we made sure to make time to visit Meteora. We sat atop one of the pillars to watch the sunset and it was just stunning.

The glaciers in Iceland were also amazing to see. We did a bit of a road trip around the south of Iceland at the beginning of 2018 and to see glaciers up close and personal is astounding. It seems a lot of people who venture to Iceland keep to the Golden Circle, but if you venture out just a little bit further east, you get to witness some glaciers. It’s just so cool to see something that is so, so many years in the making, and the size of them makes you realize just how small we are!

What does women’s empowerment mean to you?

For me, women’s empowerment means that women have the right and power to make their own decisions and to be able to speak up and have their voices heard without being drowned out. In the West (perhaps with a few exceptions), we seem to be shifting towards an age where women can and do feel empowered to be equal to men and to break stereotypical gender roles.

Tell me something special about the city you live in? Why should we visit it and some good restaurants?

Edinburgh is by far the most beautiful European city I’ve ever seen. There is a charm to it that just can’t be explained. I don’t think you’ll find anybody who’s been to Edinburgh and didn’t like it. Few cities in the world – if any! – can say they have a castle on top of an extinct volcano on one end and another extinct volcano you can climb up on the other! There is so much history to Edinburgh, much of it captured in its stunning architecture, and having plenty of green spaces in the city center doesn’t hurt either!

I typically recommend the Royal Mile Tavern on the Royal Mile as a nice, casual pub to get in a traditional Scottish meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties, with a deep-fried Mars bar for dessert! It’s nothing fancy but has a great atmosphere in there. For vegetarians or vegans, Henderson’s on Thistle Street is a great place to visit. And if you’re looking for something incredibly high-end, Martin Wishart on the Shore in the neighborhood of Leith is a Michelin-starred restaurant that lives up to its name.

How do you balance food, faith, finance, and family?

Family comes first, and in order to ensure we can visit Canada at least once a year, our finances have to be in order! I like to think we’re on top of our finances, wherein aside from the usual monthly bills, we typically only spend money on food. It’s important that we nourish ourselves well with nutritious, home-cooked meals. In terms of faith, I lean towards the spiritual side of the spectrum, where I believe that there is a higher power out there that will ensure my family is safe and all aspects of our life will work out exactly as it’s meant to.

The post Ashley: One Journey Away appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Sharon Mendelaoui is a travel writer, passionate photographer, and graphic designer. She is the creator and publisher of dailydream360.com, a travel and lifestyle website featuring travel destination guides, fashion and beauty tips, and a selection of lifestyle articles to help her readers live a balanced dream life.

I met Sharon more than 15 years back as we both worked for the same company on Bay St. Sharon has been super friendly in answering a lot of my questions about blogging. A couple of months back, we sat down again and talked about life, our own path through the corporate world, where we are, and where we are heading. I told her I would send her some questions and to put that in writing. Sharon is real, vulnerable, and a lot of wisdom is shared here.

Sharon, it is a pleasure knowing you for the last decade. Please tell my audience a little about yourself.

I’m a dreamer born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I’ve had a passion for writing and art since I was a young girl, but the responsibilities of school and career took me away from that passion. I am a graphic designer and have been doing this for over 15 years, mainly for financial firms, one of which was where I was lucky enough to meet you!

I know you were in the corporate world for a while. Why the change and how has blogging helped you and shaped you?

Working in crazy corporate offices was stressful, and I was always dreaming about leaving and working for myself. I started blogging in hopes of finding ways to make money online. I had built at least 4 websites, all trying to do this as I worked in jobs that really didn’t inspire me at all. Google crushed my dreams with an update known in the web world called Panda.

The premise was that bad sites geared to getting traffic without good information were removed from search ranking. The updated hit all my sites except one, my hobby travel blog. I kept working on this hobby which I devoted my weekends too. It was like taking a vacation every weekend and made having to go into work during the week a little more bearable.

I don’t know why but I was surprised when I started to notice brands take notice of me. I didn’t quite believe that this hobby could somehow really be a business. I dreamt about it constantly, but it just didn’t sink in.

By 2012, I was on many Ontario Tourism Boards’ radars. On my very first press trip, we went treetop trekking. It was a hard course and after two obstacles I realized I wasn’t going to be able to complete it. I swallowed my shame, disappointment, and fear as the crew set up a high angle rescue. I had to lean back and let the harness carry all my weight as they winched me down a tree. About halfway down I had this overwhelming moment of pure joy. I knew I was the only blogger on the trip with this story and also, I knew in my core, this is what I was meant to be doing. I found my passion.

That was when I really started to take the website seriously. I also spent every spare second at work learning about running a business, planning my business and figuring out how I was going to take the plunge away from the corporate world.

In 2014, I was downsized from my corporate job. I took this as a sign. I could find another job that made me miserable and pays the bills or I could take this opportunity to chase my dream of running my own graphic design business and do the things that really inspired me. It was the scariest time of my life, but the combination of fear and joy was something I can’t even describe in words and it pushed me to share that dream in my website Daily Dream 360.

What is Daily Dream 360 all about?

Daily Dream 360 is the evolution of a hobby travel blog into a travel and lifestyle website built to inspire women over 40 to transition through big challenges with a 360° approach to their life.

What I discovered in my travels was that facing my fears and doing things that challenged me and then conquering those fears was a powerful feeling. That combination of fear with sheer joy that comes from accomplishing it was something that fueled me in my life. The smallest dream moments could add fuel to this little fire inside of me which inspires and moves me to the next moment.

What is unique about it and why should we read it?

There are a million places online to get inspiration, life coaching, travel advice, etc. Some of these sites are good and others are just nonsense. My goal with Daily Dream 360 is to really create a community where women like me are going through a big transition maybe divorce, being downsized, or chasing a dream-like starting their own business. My end goal is to create a place (maybe a Facebook group) where we can help one another with information, support and just knowing that we are not alone in this.

At the moment I categorize posts on the site into Dream Travel, Dream Life, and Dream Home. My focus is to talk about these as a Dream it, plan it, and live it approach, which is the way I live my life today. Every dream starts with an idea or pleasant thought, however, you have to make a plan and set an intention to fulfill that dream and then be aware when you are actually living it out.

This past year I focused on rebranding the site with this focus, a huge undertaking where I had to face the fear of breaking the travel site or losing my audience by trying to build something bigger and more balanced with Daily Dream 360. Thankfully the site is doing great and the response has been terrific, so now I’m focusing on building a Facebook community and connecting more to my audience so that we can inspire one another to dream every day!

Name some of your favorite places you have visited and why?

I have such a hard time with my favorite questions because I’m always looking for places that inspire me, challenge me to do something new or outside my comfort zone, and continue to add fuel to my dream flame. I have been so fortunate to find this in just about every trip I take. The memories and experiences add up and it is so hard to choose just one but here are some that just really wowed me.

Horseback Riding at Painted Bar Stables in Finger Lakes NY: The stable is run by a woman named Erica who has a passion for all things horses that just lit me up. I had never been horseback riding; I was absolutely terrified, and she just made this the most amazing experience ever. Never in a million years would I have imagined riding through a forest with water running down a creek on horseback – but I did it thanks to a woman with her own dream and business plan. An area is a great place for a woman’s road trip, wine tastings, little boutique hotels, great parks with hiking trails I highly recommend it.

Quebec: I have discovered a lot of the province and I have to say that every trip I took in the province had some crazy dream moment in it. From hugs with Bonhomme Carnival in winter carnival, a soak in a Scandinavian spa in the dead of winter, visiting the ice hotel, walking the white sand beaches of Iles de la Madelaine or a helicopter ride over Charlevoix – there was always a dream, a challenge, and amazing food and people.

The last time we had coffee you told me you found your faith through traveling let us talk about that?

This is a hard one to answer. I have had a lot of challenges in my life growing up. Being the redhead, fat kid, with braces and the ugliest headgear you could imagine you’d think was enough – but being that kid in a private Jewish school of rich kids who took it upon themselves to remind me that I was not like them every day of my childhood life was a lot. I was born into an immigrant family, my mom was a teacher and my dad a contractor. My parents wanted me to learn about my faith and to learn to speak Hebrew a language we spoke a lot at home.

When you are in a private Jewish school and you have no faith in your religion because you are miserable all the time, well that is a very hard thing for a child to go through. When my father later got diagnosed with a brain tumor and left us, I didn’t get any comfort from my religious faith. I just felt empty and really angry at God.

It was Oprah that brought me out of my anger believe it or not. I discovered later in life that God or the universe or that energy that seems to be flowing through us and dictating things that happen in our lives is not something you can be angry about because it is inside you. If you are angry at it, you are angry at yourself. When I let go of that anger and started chasing the joy that was when I found my faith.

In a way the traveling was me chasing joy – a walk on a beach, sounds of the ocean and other sounds of nature all fuel that dream and that joy.

If I do something out of a place that starts with feeling good – it usually leads to fulfilling a dream. Travel is a great place to find that joy feeling which at home and during the crazy in our day to day lives is just harder to find.

You have been blogging for a long time. Give some advice to those who want to become a blogger?

I can’t believe it, but I just started my eighth year of blogging. As a graphic designer, I have a lot of clients that want to start blogs on their business websites or to make money as my site does. The problem with this is they don’t realize the technical side of blogging and just how many things you have to do just to maintain and run a website – before you even start writing an article.

This is a loaded question because if you want to start a blog or website my best advice is to make sure it is set up correctly, is updated and maintained, and that you have plenty of security measures in place. An out of date plugin on a WordPress website can lead to a disastrous hack. Back when I started, we just wrote, and no one worried about algorithms and plugins and site speed and mobile-friendly. So, making sure that you either have a great web designer to help you with the technical side of things or that you are willing to learn all about this is going to be very important – before you even start writing your blog.

The post Sharon Mendelaoui: Pursuing Your Dreams appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.