The Travel Issue

THE FOX MAGAZINE DREAM BIGGER WITH US.

THE TRAVEL ISSUE NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST.

JULY 2017 | PHOTO BY: MAX REYES

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MILES TO MEMORIES

JULY/AUGUST 2017 WANDERLUST

DEPARTMENT OF WANDERING Page 30

EGYPT Page 12

FIND US LOST Page 36

ARGENTINA Page 18

CLAIR SUMMERS Page 44

SOUTH AFRICA Page 22

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WANDERLUST -n a great desire to travel and rove about

Being a wanderlust is important sometimes.

To expand your thinking, awareness, and most importantly real-world experience. Travel as a whole has a deep impact on the world, playing a vital role in community development, conservation efforts, and promoting cultural heritage. It turns out wanderlusts’ aren’t so lost after all.

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GIZA, EGYPT As the only one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World still largely intact, the Pyramids of Giza are definitely worth a visit.

Dating back to around 2,560 BC, the Great Pyramid of Giza stood as the tallest man-made structure for over 3,800 years.

Inside the main chamber of the Great Pyramid lies a granite coffer, which all seems perfectly normal until you realize it is made out of one solid piece of granite that is far too large to have fit down the passageway you just squeezed through. This realization has led historians and archaeological to believe that the Great Pyramid was built around the coffer rather than it being brought inside.

The two smaller pyramids of Giza are those of the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs Khafre and Menkaure. To the east of the pyramids there are three small piles of rumble believed to be the tombs of pharaohs Khufu’s wives and sisters. If there’s any desire to travel to this destination these pyramids are a must-see.

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BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Rebuilt in the early 20th century and modeled after Paris and Madrid, visiting Buenos Aires you’ll easily see the city buzzes with a passion that is entirely its own. This dynamic city is home to three million and is perfect for wandering at leisure.

While there are key sites worth ticking off such as the Casa Rosada or Teatro Colón opera house, the essence of Buenos Aires is taking coffee at a barrio café watching the world saunter by, or browsing the latest exhibit at a hip gallery before lingering over a three-hour lunch.

Today, citizens of Buenos Aires are known as porteños, a name that commonly refers to anyone from a port city, but has taken on added significance given the immigrant roots of local citizens.

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CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Our options for adventure this year are infinite.

However, one destination continues to hold a spot in our wanderlust-filled hearts: Cape Town.

It’s strategic geographic position at the tip of Africa has seen foreign visitors stopping off at the Cape since the 1400s, each contributing unique cultural influences that make up the fabric of modern-day Cape Town.

A mix of Malay, Dutch, French, Portuguese and African flavour is reflected in Cape Town’s stylish restaurant menus, where locally produced wines complement popular seafood and curry dishes.

The city’s leisure-loving lifestyle and mountainous backdrop have given rise to myriad leisure pursuits: hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, abseiling, helicopter flips and skydiving.

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MILES TO MEMORIES 28

The ins and outs of travel are sometimes tricky.

Different people have different techniques that change often. Miles to Memories was created to bridge the gap between an amateur traveler and a modern day nomad, providing exclusive insight on the best places to travel and the best methods to get there.

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Department of Wandering

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epartment of Wandering is a travel and lifestyle blog for design-savvy trailblazers known for taking bold, new paths.

The blog appeals to travellers looking to avoid the common tourist traps to find the true essence of a place; something that is not commonly discovered between the pages of a guidebook. The Department of Wandering is also a resource for those interested in quitting the 9-5 and making the transition into freelancing or blogging.

Born in 2014 as a creative outlet for founder, Rachel, when she was living in one of the most exciting cities in Europe (Berlin) but coping with the soul-sucking drudgery of the 9-5. The blog has since evolved into a trusted hub of advice, inspiration, travel tips and tales built around a loyal and engaged community from all over the world.

The Fox Magazine interviewed Rachel regarding tips, inspirations, and Where is home?

Melbourne, Australia. I’ve recently returned home after living abroad in Berlin for three years.

It’s always hard to choose your favorite places on this earth, but you have to choose 3. What are they?

Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

What has traveling taught you?

More than anything, traveling has taught me that there is beauty in difference.

Do you have any traveling tips/ techniques to share?

When you’re in a foreign place, try to travel as locally as possible. Go where the locals go, take public transportation, eat where all the locals are eating.

Your experience will be so much more authentic that way.

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For those unfamiliar with what a travel blogger does, what do people overlook the most?

I think a lot of people think that travel bloggers just get to travel for free in exchange for positing a pretty photo.

It’s so much more than that though.

Essentially, travel bloggers are content creators and the job is multi-faceted. We are writers, photographers, marketers, editors, social media managers, researchers, pitchers and negotiators.

Like any job, there are endless, unseen hours that are invested behind the scenes and it takes a lot of hard work to make it profitable.

The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, what/who inspires you the most?

My fiancé is someone who inspires me the most out of anyone I know. He is always pushing the boundaries with his work (he’s a Concept Artist for film and games) and is fearlessly creative.

“One day, you’ll wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.”

-Paulo Coelho

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My fiance taught me a lot about the importance of putting myself out there, taking risks and investing in myself.

What’s the best part of being a travel blogger?

Inspiring people to get out and discover the world for themselves. That’s a pretty awesome job description! I also love the freedom and flexibility that comes with not being tied down to a 9-5 job.

Do you have any tips or tricks for achieving an aesthetically awesome Instagram page?

Any social media tips?

If you want to grow your social media following, my best tip would be to be active on the platform(s) and engage with others as much as you can. Build a community around your work. To create an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed, upload only the highest quality content, stay consistent with your editing style and always try to tell a compelling story with your images.

What’s your best advice for people wanting to travel?

Save up, do your research and just book that ticket. Your biggest regret down the track will be not going.

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Find Us Lost

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ind Us Lost is a travel blog specializing in curated travel guides and designed with a new generation of wanderlusters in mind.

If you crave meaningful experiences, delicious food, and photo-worthy destinations when traveling, use Find Us Lost to inspire and plan your next trip — be it a vacation, a new lifestyle around travel, or anything in between.

The Fox Magazine interviewed both Selena and Jacob, the creators of Find Us Lost and their journey through travel blogging.

Where is home?

Selena: We’re both originally from California, but we moved to Amsterdam last summer.

It’s always hard to choose your favorite places on this earth, but you have to choose 3. What are they?

Selena: Greece is up there, we absolutely loved visiting Santorini for the first time last year. I also would go back to Iceland in a heartbeat.

Jacob: Uganda is a special place to me — the wildlife, landscapes, people and culture make it unique of all the places I’ve visited.

What has traveling taught you?

Jacob: How surprisingly familiar foreign destinations and cultures can feel. I’ve come to realize that if you are open you can connect with just about anyone, even with cultural differences and language barriers.

Do you have any traveling tips/ techniques to share?

Selena: Have a plan, but don’t be afraid to deviate from it. My trips are usually planned visually first — I’ll hunt on Pinterest for what I want to see at each destination and have a rough outline ready before I go. That way I have some

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places I’ll check off, and leave time for spontaneous activities that come up when we’re there.

For those unfamiliar with what a travel blogger does, what do people overlook the most?

Selena: In addition to blogging, social media is a huge part of my daily routine.

Instagram is by far the biggest platform for us. I’m also trying to invest more time in our Pinterest strategy to make sure our guides and photos are being seen — if someone’s planning a trip to Paris and is searching for places to go, I want them to find our guides! It’s all about forming a connection. I think visuals are key, and information is just as important to keep someone coming back.

“Eat well, travel often.”

-Selena

“The core of our spirit comes from new experiences.”

-Jacob 37

The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, what/who inspires you the most?

Selena: Incredible landscapes and new cultures.

Jacob: Individuals who are able to use their art to inspire change. Creative mediums are so powerful and I am inspired by those who utilize their skills to create a positive impact in the world.

What’s the best part of being a travel blogger?

Selena: When someone tells me they used one of my Travel Guides for their trip, or that I inspired them to travel to a specific destination. That’s powerful.

I believe everyone should prioritize traveling if they want to. Our generation is definitely the ‘wanderlust’ generation.

Do you have any tips or tricks for achieving an aesthetically awesome Instagram page? Any social media tips?

Selena: I’m a perfectionist, and one thing I focus on is always making sure our last 9 photos on Instagram fit together and look visually appealing. Think about it this way: when someone is deciding to follow you, they are going to make a split second decision based on what your Instagram feed looks like in that moment. You want them to be motivated to follow you.

Jacob: Shoot lots of photos, then shoot some more. I can’t emphasize enough how important practice is in improving photography skills, from operating the camera to coloring the photo. Overtime you will start to define your own style/ look and we’ve found we discovered ours through practice as well as trial and error. (It’s also ever evolving).

What’s your best advice for people wanting to travel?

Selena: Be unconventional and don’t hold yourself back. Moving abroad together was the best decision I ever made, and it was definitely a tough one. I couldn’t wrap my head around traveling for a long period of time without a plan (and leaving the comfort of my job!), so when we left we road tripped for 3 months before finding a home base. I was lucky enough to find remote work, but the travel community opened my eyes to so many creative opportunities like content creation and social media influencing. Supplementing my income with this has been life-changing.

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Claire’s Itchy Feet

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laire Summers is a full time traveller and blogger and on a mission to help motivate, inspire and inform other solo female travelers to pack their bags and travel more. Last year at the age of 34, Claire sold all of her worldly possessions that wouldn’t fit into 3 boxes or her backpack and hit the road.

A true adventure traveller with some pretty incredible experiences hiking active volcanoes and rappelling down waterfalls in the rainforests have been just a few of her travel highlights this year.

The Fox Magazine interviewed Claire about her amazing journey as a solo traveler and advice to others trying to do the same.

Where is home?

This is such a tricky question for me. I have many “homes”, right now I’m living in Guatemala and I feel so comfortable here, but that could change at any moment when I decide to move on. I’m from Liverpool in the UK and that’s where most of my family live. But my Mum lives in New Jersey so I also class the US as home, it’s where all of the things that don’t fit in my backpack are kept.

It’s always hard to choose your favorite places on this earth, but you have to choose 3. What are they?

My number 1 would have to be Cornwall in the UK. I lived on the border of Cornwall and Devon for many years and it’s the most beautiful place in the world for me. I have such fond memories of my time there, coastal walking, surfing, camping with my friends and hanging out at the beach.

Number 2 has to be Thailand. I spent 3 weeks travelling there with one of my best friends and it was a magic time. So many travellers go there and for good reason, backpackers have been flocking to Thailand for decades so the routs are well mapped out making it the perfect place for first time backpackers.

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Number 3 is Guatemala. I arrived here in January this year to learn Spanish and see as much of the country as I could. My plan had been to stay for 2 months and then move on. It’s now been 6 months and I’m still here! I have completely fallen in love with Guatemala. The people are some of the friendliest you could ever meet. There is a great yoga community here and it’s the perfect place to learn Spanish. Its also a great place to be based to explore Central America. Although I’m based in Antigua I have been to Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico. I’m planning trips to El Salvador, Belize and Nicaragua in the next 3 months before I move on to South America in October.

What has traveling taught you?

Its taught me that I need very little possessions. When you have to fit all of your possessions into a backpack you have to be pretty ruthless on what you can take with you. Before I left the UK I had to sell or give away almost all of my “things”. It was very emotional at times but almost a year later I have a completely different relationship to possessions. Things come and go, but it’s the experiences that I have had while travelling that really make me happy.

I’m a much more content and fulfilled person now that I was living in a house full of things.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.�

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Do you have any traveling tips/ techniques to share?

Be flexible. I can’t even tell you how many times my plans have changed since I’ve been travelling. I had a rough plan that I would spend 3 months in each country I visited. But I actually realized I didn’t just want to check of countries just for the sake of travelling.

What I really want to do is experience living in different places and different cultures. To do that you need longer than 3 months. Don’t be afraid to go slow, take your time. In my experience its better to slow down and enjoy the places you are than rushing to check off as many “must see” places as you can.

I have only done this once during this trip. I spent 30 hours in a 6 day period on 3 buses visiting 3 countries and it was hell! I wish I’d taken more time. It’s hard to really relax and enjoy yourself when you are tired from so much time travelling.

I’m also a huge yoga fan. I recently took up Mysore Ashtanga Yoga and it has helped me so much already. Because Ashtanga is a set series of Asana it’s really easy to incorporate it into a daily self led practice wherever you are. All you need is a yoga mat and a bit of self discipline as you ideally need to practice 6 days a week. What I love about it is how grounding it is for me. After a 10+ hour bus ride I’m often feeling stiff, tired and a bit unsettled. Getting on my mat not only stretches out my stiff muscles but it also helps me to still my mind and really arrive in my new place. It also gives me some much needed structure to my often unstructured days.

For those unfamiliar with what a travel blogger does, what do people overlook the most?

I write a lot of how to guides in my blog, especially “how to get from here to here”.

To be able to put these guides together I almost always do the most difficult (cheapest) option. This means I’ve had some pretty exhausting, frustrating and a few times a bit scary experiences on public transport. So I’d say that the lengths bloggers go to to be able to put together guides to a place is overlooked. I know I didn’t appreciate how unnerving treading the path less travelled was until I started doing alone for my blog.

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The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, what/who inspires you the most?

The people I meet on the road and the kindness I have experienced from strangers. It these experiences that I crave and that really inspire me to continue travelling. One woman I met in Guatemala had cycled solo from Canada. I was completely in awe of her.

She wild camps or looks for people to host her in the remote villages she travels through and survives on very little money. She is the first and only solo female cycle tourist I have met, although I know there are more out there.

What’s the best part of being a travel blogger?

A friend I traveled with for a few days pointed out to me how interesting it was travelling with me because I spend time talking to people about what they do. I hadn’t really thought of this before.

But I realized thats one of the things I really love about this job. I don’t just go to a place and stay for a few days then leave. I go and I meet people who are running local businesses, that could be a hotel, tour company or local NGO and I find out about them and their business and the area so I can write about my experience with a lot of background knowledge that I can share with my readers. I love getting to know what makes people tick and finding out their individual stories. If I wasn’t blogging I would never sit down with a hotel owner and find out how they came to be in that place and set up their business. I suppose I love how noisy blogging allows me to be. I’ve always been an inquisitive person, so this is the perfect job for me!

Do you have any tips or tricks for achieving an aesthetically awesome Instagram page? Any social media tips?

Social Media is constantly changing and its so difficult to keep on top of all of the changes. My number one tip would be to be consistent. Post on the platforms you use consistently, engage with your audience daily and make sure you focus on quality not quantity.

There are so many courses you can take and things you can read to improve your social media skills that it can be really overwhelming. One of the best

places you can find information is the Social Media Examiner. They have weekly podcasts and an active facebook page. I have found them the best source of information and it’s not too overwhelming, and it’s free.

What’s your best advice for people wanting to travel?

If you want to travel long term you can’t wait for the right time to go. You have to make the decision and take action. I ran my own company and owned a property in the UK, so making the decision to leave was not an easy one. I had put it off for so long as I didn’t feel it was the right time. I knew I wanted to go and staying was making me pretty miserable. My good friend and colleague just turned round to me one day and said “What do you want to do? You just need to make a decision and we will have to deal with it.” It was as simple as that, at that moment I realized I just needed to make the decision.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

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