Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ellduclos

BOSS GIRL BLOGGERS SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY

Happy Saturday friends! It’s time to spotlight another amazing Boss Girl Bloggers member! Today I am featuring travel blogger Emma Wong from The Weekend Abroad! She is inspiring and has seen many places in the world. After reading her blog I have decided it’s time to travel more! Here’s her story.

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Who am I?

My name is Emma Wong and I am the traveler behind The Weekend Abroad. Born and raised in the Great North up in Vancouver, Canada, I now reside in sunny Berkeley, California. I have always had an interest in all things creative – musical theater, illustration, film/tv, dance, and creative writing. Above all, travel has become a major driving force in my life. If asked what I most want to accomplish during my lifetime, it would be to see as much of the world and meet as many different kinds of people as possible. This captivated me so much that I ended up switching degrees to Human Geography in university. So I took my need for a creative outlet, passion for travel, and career objective of helping others and turned it into the The Weekend Abroad.

My Blogging Journey

The path to travel blogging was (and has) not been as straightforward as it sounds. I actually started blogging back in high school and focused largely on fashion. Fashion was what I consumed on a daily basis – through fashion blogs, magazines, and even through the fashion channel on TV. While I still love fashion, my priorities changed over time and I realized that sharing my stories abroad aligned more with my values. After years of website iterations involving design and purpose, I finally landed on what you see at The Weekend Abroad today.

I try to do at least one trip per month and friends often ask me how I’m able to get away so frequently and how I’m able to fit so many activities into short weekend trips. It was these questions that prompted the central theme of my blog – to help others travel affordably and to recommend realistic day by day itineraries. Something that has also been really important to me is the inclusion of photos that haven’t been overly edited – I really want to give readers a genuine sense of each destination.

I am not a full-time blogger (although that is the goal). In fact, I work full-time as a marketer in the real estate industry and for a fashion startup on the side. For anyone who has put off blogging because they don’t think they have the time – I am here to tell you that it’s always possible if you want it enough. You’ll just be working a lot of late nights and weekends. However, despite blogging being an “unpaid job”, it’s the one out of my 3 jobs that I find most rewarding.

What I’ve learned through my blogging journey:

1. Not to care about the numbers. When I first started blogging, I had thoughts like, “why am I even doing this if no one is reading?”. Over time, I started to care less about the readership and write for myself because I want to. This mindset has been way more healthy and positive.
2. Practice makes perfect progress. I cringe reading some of my old posts! If you read through my posts over time, it’s clear that I started to find my own voice over the past couple years.
3. It’s been most worthwhile to offer advice and help other travelers. For me, if I’m not publishing tips or recommendations (or a crazy travel story that others can learn from), then there’s not really a point for me to be writing a post. Offering insight to travelers has become the driving force behind The Weekend Abroad.