It seems to be that I am returning from a long Blogging hiatus – and I thought it would be a good idea to say ‘Hello.’, here on this little corner of the internet and introduce me to you.

Hello, my name is Belinda and I am an expat living (and loving) life in North Wales, for over 6 years now. I moved here in June 2012, after marrying my (now) husband Neal and we’ve been having crazy fun Adventures ever since. For me, blogging has always been about creating a time capsule of my expat journey – but now I am looking to make it something more than that.

When I was first blogging, I was Writing and posting a lot, but I found myself comparing my blog to what other bloggers were doing. I was trying to catchup to other trends in the blogging space, just to stay relevant. I was worried about media kits, followers and shares, plus weekly/monthly traffic to my blog. (This is in the era of paid sponsorships – which was tough to keep up sometimes.) Instead of feeling inspired and motivated, I felt burnout.

And each time I sat down, I saw the damned blinking cursor in front of me – and I didn’t know where to begin.

It also didn’t help that I was incredibly stressed and stretched in my career, not allowing additional energy or space to – CREATE.

So there sat my blog gathering cobwebs and mental dust.

Then a few months ago, I started thinking about writing about our travels and adventures with one question in mind, ‘What would I tell Shannon?’  You see, Shannon is my best friend back in Seattle, and thinking of how I would recount our adventures to her, inspired me to get writing. (That’s the power of 15+ years of friendship!)  In fact, I have a post-in note in one of my notebook with that simple question – which helps me to craft the story of our adventures both big and small.  

Recently, when I told a co-worker that I had a blog, and that I was picking up writing again, she asked, ‘Did you settle on what you are going to write about?’ I’ve been torn on that single coveted blog topic: travel adventures, North Wales expert, expat life, positive outlook and motivation and more.  I have so many interests – how do you narrow to one single niche?  

That’s when I decided one a simple approach:  Write about the shit that gets me excited in the morning.  The stuff that makes me happy to be on this big ol planet earth.  The stories that inspire me.  The moments that move me.  Advice I can’t hold back from sharing.   

My writing about what I love and what truly moves me – it will stay down to earth and authentic.

I want to help you (yes, you) my beloved reader feel inspired to go on adventures – big or small.  From the farmer’s market in your town to a backpacking trip on the other side of the world – let’s have some adventures and fun along the way.  Life is too short and too stressful to not have fun and adventures, fuelled by gratitude, at every chance we get. 

I want to help you feel inspired to take a risk, or to finally get that passport.  I want to inspire others to greet the world with a positive outlook, and feel empowered to make a difference.  

And for the readers who have been sticking by my side this whole time, to you – I say a warm and heartfelt , ‘Thank you.’ Thank you for following along and joining in – and spending a bit of your precious time with me.  Stick around, we are about to have some fun together.  And for those new readers who are joining along new – a welcome to you, I am thrilled to have you here.

Kick off your shoes, pour a glass of wine and dive into the archives. (Let’s get to know one another – shall we?)

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