Traveller of the Month: Paul from Paul Passing Through

Welcome to the final Traveller of the Month 2023! Each month I feature a fellow travel blogger and world traveller to help build connections and share new travel stories with you. I love getting to know other bloggers better and bringing new perspectives to Teaspoon of Adventure.

Without further ado, please meet December’s Traveller of the Month, Paul from Paul Passing Through! Paul and I have been Twitter friends for a little while now and it’s so nice to learn more about him and realize what compatible travel styles we have.

And if you missed November’s featured traveller, you can get to know Marc here!

Please introduce yourself, Paul! What’s your travel story?

I’m originally from Pittsburgh, PA, but I’m now living in Princeton, NJ, by way of Durham, NC. As a kid, my family didn’t really travel in the way people in the blogging community think of the word. We took lots of vacation but these were always of the Disney or beach variety.

However, I did watch a ton of travel, nature and history documentaries which created a passion in my soul to see and learn about the world. But then school happened, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and more school, so I never got around to traveling.

Finally, in late 2019, my wife and I took a trip to England and France. I immediately realized what I had been missing! I sometimes regret all the time I lost, but I’m using that as motivation to do as much traveling as I can now.

The way we travel is a mix of fast and slow travel. We both have jobs in America where we have limited time-off, so we have to make the most of what we have.

In between our travels, I love sharing my recommendations and advice on my blog to help others in the same situation see what I think are the most worthwhile things in the most efficient way.

When did you start your travel blog and what sort of stories do you share there?

I started my travel blog in April 2021 several months after a trip to America’s southwest. We were still in the thick of COVID-19 and I was questioning my career choice.

Writing was a hobby I picked up during lockdown, and it quickly became a passion of mine. Between those things and my love of travel, I decided to give blogging a go!

My blog is mostly of the guidebook variety. I like to describe the places I think are worthwhile with a mix of practical info and my own personal experiences.

My guides are catered to those people who have to travel with limited time-off. I like to think of it as how to travel efficiently and succinctly.

What do you do when you’re not travelling or writing about travel?

When I’m not traveling or writing, I spend my time with my wife, our three cats and dog. We recently moved to New Jersey and we’re excited to explore our new state.

Besides that, I also enjoy running, weightlifting, reading, hiking and playing video games.

If you had to sum up your travel ethos in one phrase, what would it be?

Travel the way that feels right for you.

In other words, don’t feel like you have to travel how everyone else does because that’s what the internet tells you to do. Go wherever you want, and do whatever you like. Don’t worry about making other people happy; make yourself happy.

What’s your best travel memory of the last five years?

We were in Italy in May 2022, and it was the very first morning in Venice. I woke up incredibly early after crashing hard the night before due to the time change and exhaustion from traveling.

Rather than stay in bed, I decided to get out and explore the city while most everyone else was asleep.

The experience was as close to magic as you can get. I was able to wander Venice’s old, narrow roads all by myself. The architecture and atmosphere of this wonderfully decaying city were mine and mine alone. I eventually saw the locals come out to start a new day in their city.

I love museums and art galleries, but seeing Venice like this was by far a better way to get to know the city and understand it than I could ever get from objects hung on a wall or kept in a glass case.

If you had $100 to spend for a day in your favourite place to travel, where are you and what would you do?

I’m in Doolin, Ireland. It’s a delightful Irish village along the Wild Atlantic Way on the northern edge of the Cliffs of Moher. It has rolling green hills, dramatic coastal landscapes, perfect Irish pubs and lots of craic.

I would start my day with a traditional Irish breakfast and Irish breakfast tea to load up for my hike along the Doolin Cliff walk to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre where the most iconic cliffs are located.

Once there, I would buy a small lunch to take outside to sit while I admire the views. I’d spend an hour or so there just taking it all in. I’d maybe do some writing, too.

After hiking back to Doolin, I’d park myself in a pub with some trad music (okay, maybe I’d nap first), enjoy some Guinness and just hang out till the music ended.

How has COVID-19 impacted your travels? How will it change how you travel in the future?

It inspired me to not wait to travel because you never know what life and the world will throw at you.

I had just taken my first big international trip when just a couple months later the pandemic started. Every trip we had planned had to be delayed.

It was very frustrating because I finally discovered what I had been missing only to have to put more travels off for the foreseeable future. Now, I refuse to let any type of excuse keep me from traveling. If anything, I go out looking for reasons to travel!

What advice do you have for newbie travellers?

For new travelers, my number one piece of advice is to simply get out there and start traveling.

I always had one excuse or another to keep myself from traveling when I was younger. They typically had something to do with money or having no one to travel with.

Now I realize that you can travel despite those two things and most anything else. It can almost always happen as long as you set your heart to it.

What about advice for aspiring travel bloggers?

As far as blogging is concerned, I think my advice is to have a clear plan in mind when you start. It should also be realistic and applicable to what you are.

When I started, I envisioned my blog being catered to outdoor destinations even though that wasn’t really what I was. Once I realized (or maybe admitted) that, I had to go back and change lots of things.

Oh, and SEO. Know your SEO. If you think you know it, go back to the internet and learn more about it.

What is the best food you’ve eaten on the road? And the worst?

My favorite is easily a Florentine steak at La Spada Bisteccheria in Florence. Almost everywhere I’ve ever ordered steak cooks it just slightly too much, but not here. It was deliciously rare and salty. It makes my mouth water every time I think of it!

Worst is a little tougher. I’d have to say it’s the pizza in England or Ireland. I had it in a few different places, none of them were particularly good. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it was something with the dough.

To be fair, I obviously didn’t eat at every pizza place, so I’m sure there are some good pizzas to be had in those countries.

If I were to pick something more regional, I’d have to say pork schnitzel in Vienna. It’s not that it was bad, it just wasn’t anything special. I don’t really get the excitement over it.

What’s one thing people don’t understand about travel blogging?

The time commitment, especially if you are trying to make blogging financially viable. I was guilty of this before starting, too. I think most people think you just write words down on a screen, paste some photos, click publish and that’s it.

There’s so much more to it, not to mention how long it takes to actually write a post if you are trying to publish something more than just a travel journal. The research involved takes so long. Then add in all the optimization and marketing!

Even when I’m not directly blogging, I spend so much of my time on social media networking, marketing and trying to gin up engagement with my brand. If you’ve heard the saying that blogging is a full-time job, believe it.

If you could live abroad, where would you live?

I would live in Ireland. In fact, I always half jokingly say to Michelle when we’re frustrated with this or that in America that we should move to Ireland. It’s not even my favorite travel destination, but it feels like a real place where real people live.

This is in contrast to my favorite destination, Italy. Italy felt dreamlike, almost surreal even. I couldn’t imagine myself actually living there.

What destination are you nervous about visiting?

We are actually heading to Mexico City in a few months. I’m excited, but in America we hear nonstop about the cartel violence in Mexico, so I’m a little wary about it.

I know anywhere can be unsafe if you don’t travel smartly, and I even see lots of people I know on social media visit Mexico without any issues. It’s just hard to get over that perception.

*Update: We ended up having a great time in Mexico City!

What is your biggest travel mistake?

I planned way too much to do in Florence. We always have kind of a full day with rest breaks included, but Florence was a different animal with all of the art galleries. I’m usually really good at planning our trips so that we don’t get burnt out, but not in Florence.

We did the Accademia Gallery, Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace all in one day. It was way too much. We still had another day in Florence, but it felt like we spent most of the two days there in some type of museum. We never had much of an opportunity to get to know the city itself.

How do you see your travel life changing in the next 5 years?

It’s very likely we’ll start trying to have a kid in the next year or so. It’s hard right now to even imagine how travel will happen with an infant even though I know people do it.

If I had to guess, the next five years will include a lot more domestic travel in America. After that, I plan on indoctrinating my child to love travel and new experiences so that we can go back to traveling similar to how we are now!

(I’m just kidding, indoctrinating is never good…unless it’s travel-related. No, kidding! Or am I…)

What is the best local celebration you’ve attended?

We were in Vienna for New Year’s Eve this past year. The whole night was a lot of fun, but what really set it apart from any other experience was what happened at midnight.

We were on the Graben where they play the Blue Danube Waltz over loudspeakers along the road at midnight. Hundreds of people started waltzing under the twinkling chandeliers and, all at once, nothing else mattered except for that moment. It only lasted a brief few minutes, but it was perfect.

What is the best weekend trip you’ve ever been on?

This might not sound like anything special, but we visited Gettysburg, PA over the July 4th weekend several years ago. It honestly was one of my favorite trips ever.

As a history buff, the battlefield was great. Even if you don’t like history, though, it’s a beautiful place. The town is just so pretty. There are lots of wineries around the area, and it all has great old America charm. I would recommend it to anyone.

Lastly, where can we find you online?

You can find me at my website Paul Passing Through, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest and Twitter.

Thank you for joining my Traveller of the Month series, Paul, and ending the 2023 series on such a great note! Head on over to Paul’s blog to read more about his adventures and how to fit adventure into your 9-5 job. Plus, stay tuned for the first edition of Traveller of the Month 2024 here on Teaspoon of Adventure!