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April Newsletter

Just back from my TV interview with That's Oxon thanks for having me guys! 🎥📺 #selfie #interview #TV #travel #blogger

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Hi everyone!

I know I say this literally EVERY month but I cannot believe that May is here! April seemed to whizz by; I went to Cardiff, Liverpool and London and had plenty to keep me busy in between.. Read on to see what I’ve been up to over the last 30 days!

I had my best month EVER for stats

Love receiving notifications like thissss… April has been a crazy month for me! Thanks #wordpress! 💻📝

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So this is pretty motivating, and I love kick starting my monthly updates with some good news! April has been a record month for me, and I’ve had my best ever stats on the blog! I’ve received over 2400 page views alone, more than 250 new followers across Instagram & Twitter and have written and responded to tonnes of emails! My stats really are booming and I am so thrilled that all my hard work is finally starting to pay off and my little blog is getting NOTICED! Thank you as always to you, the readers who really do make a difference! <3

I was featured in the press (and on the telly!)

 

*NEW POST!* Journeys with Jessica in the press.. head over to the blog to see where I've been featured lately! 🎥📺

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So this month has been absolutely CRAZY in terms of exposure and press attention for my blog! Who would have thought that little old me would make it onto the TELLY?! I was interviewed by The Oxford Mail for my UK Blog Awards nomination which was subsequently posted in their sister paper, The Witney Gazette. I was then contacted by a local travel company owner to see if we could work together, and was also asked to take part in a TV interview with local company That’s Oxfordshire to talk about my how my blog all started. PHEEEEWWWW I’ve never been so in demand 😉 Seriously though it’s been a bloody mental month and I am exhausted but so happy that my blog is starting to get noticed on a much larger scale!

I attended my first ever travel conference in Cardiff

 

 

So I’ve blogged about this soo much but I literally had the best time everrrr at my first travel conference! Traverse 16 was so motivating, inspiring and SO much fun – I met tonnes of new people, made new friends and best of all gained so much confidence. Read my highlights in my separate Traverse blog post – for anyone thinking of attending next year, no matter how little or how much experience you have, just GO FOR IT!

I ran 5 miles for Oxford Children’s Hospital

 

On Sunday 17th April I took on my biggest physical challenge yet by completing a 5 mile run around the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace. I was raising money for Oxford Children’s Hospital on behalf of my work team, LET US RUN, where we raised just under £100. A fantastic day was had by all, and I completed the run in just over an hour – considering I had done barely any training at all I didn’t think that was too shabby! If you’d like to donate to Oxford Children’s Hospital please visit my Just Giving page.

 

I went to Liverpool for my cousin’s hen do

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I was sooo excited to be reunited with all my beautiful family for my cousins hen do at the end of the month. We all headed into Liverpool city centre for a wonderful girly evening and were totally glammed up. We had a superb three course dinner at the quirky Alma de Cuba restaurant, then headed to the chic Palm Sugar bar for cocktail making before ending our night in style by hitting Liverpool’s finest clubs. It’s safe to say there were a few sore heads the next morning, but it was so lovely to be reunited with my beautiful family and I can’t wait until the wedding!

I attended UK Blog Awards 2016!

 

 

So as many of you will know I was SHORTLISTED as a top ten travel blogger at this years UK Blog Awards, beating over 150 other bloggers in the same category. I was so shocked, nervous and excited all in one go and couldn’t wait to attend the awards! I’ll do a separate post about this once I’ve caught up on all my other stuff, but I can tell you that I had the most AMAZING evening and didn’t want it to end! I stayed in the swanky Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel and got to review that for the night which in itself was incredible! I wasn’t a winner on the night,  but to have even been at the event was just such a fantastic experience and I’m so grateful to you lovely lot for voting for me – I certainly wouldn’t have been there without you! Watch out for the full blog post and juicy gossip coming soon 😉

 

 

Soo that’s what I got up to this month, April you’ve been totally crazy! My line up for May is looking equally as hectic with plenty of trips lined up including a weekend in Bournemouth and a luxury spa weekend in Gloucestershire. It’s also going to be my last month at work (OHMYGOD) which means I’ve got sooo much organising to do between now and my Contiki tri in June!! Tell me how your April went by leaving a comment in the box below – I’d love to hear from you!

Love Jess x

💃🎉👯 #liverpool #hendo

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My first travel conference: Traverse16

 

So I’m just back from my first EVER travel conference, and what a weekend I had! Traverse 16 was held in the lively Welsh capital of Cardiff this year and the city stadium made for a fantastic venue. I was super impressed by Traverse; they were welcoming, friendly and the whole atmosphere was relaxed and informal yet completely informative and helpful – I learnt SO much! Here are my top highlights from a fun filled weekend…

 

I met so many new people & have made some wonderful friends

We've arrived at the #traverse networking party! Hellooo free food and drinks 🎉🎉 @lucyronan

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So I have known the beautiful Lucy Ronan from Faraway Lucy for the past few months now – we are both shortlisted as finalists in the UK Blog Awards – and we decided we would FINALLY meet by attending Traverse together for our first ever networking conference. Naturally we were both a little nervous but it actually really helped that we were together and I think we boosted each others confidence by sharing ideas and discussing everything we had learnt from our differing workshops.

I also met the lovely Sabina Trojanova, Emma Hart & Sophie Davis from Girl vs Globe,  Paper Planes and Caramel Waffles and Sophie’s Suitcase respectively – we finally met girls!! – and it was lovely to put faces to names as we have been in touch with each other in the virtual blogosphere for so long.

 

I attended workshops with industry professionals and expert bloggers

So many reasons to visit #cardiff 📷🇬🇧@visitwales @traverseevents #traverse16 #findyourepic

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I took part in three workshops and two one-to-one sessions during my days conference – I had such a jam packed day but I loved every second! I also took the opportunity to speak with the sponsors who were showcasing their brands and I met some really interesting people. My favourite workshop was ‘How to take the Leap into Fulltime Blogging’ with Monica Stott of The Travel Hack– this was incredibly helpful and I was full of admiration for Monica after seeing first hand how she has turned her hobby into a career.

 

I also attended a writing workshop with Abi King of Inside the Travel Lab and a photography workshop with Kim Leuenberger – both talks were fantastic and I came away with so many ideas and so much inspo. Before the day was out I was lucky enough to book two 1-1’s with Skyscanner’s Tika Larasati and Julie Falconer of A Lady in London – thanks for the advice ladies!

I entered some competitions

Because who doesn't love dressing up stupid to try win a free trip ✈👓 oh hey @icelollyholiday @traverseevents #traverse16 #findyourepic

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And here's another one.. This time for @expedia ✈🏊 @traverseevents #traverse16 #findyourepic @visitwales

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Who doesn’t love a good competition, especially when there are travel prizes and free trips up for grabs?! I entered four different competitions during my day at Traverse, two included dressing up silly for Expedia & Icelolly to win free trips/credit towards a bookings (see above – I had so much fun) the other was a treasure hunt with ILOVENYPR searching for US themed clues to win (yep, you guessed it, a trip to NYC) and the last one was a Twitter comp with Surprise Trips – guess the ‘surprise’ European city and win a free trip! I had so much fun entering the competitions and chatting to the lovely sponsors throughout the day and I know so many others did too – unfortunately I wasn’t a winner but it’s the taking part that counts, right?!

I bagged tonnes of cheeky freebies

Oh hey freebies.. who knew I could pick up so much free stuff at a travel conference?! Thanks @traverseevents 🙋👜 #traverse16

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This was a MAJOR highlight for me.. who knew there could be so many freebies up for grabs at one of these events?! As I walked through the door at home my mum was quite literally astonished as to how much I’d brought home – I left the house with one bag and came back with FOUR! Amongst my fabulous freebies was a lovely Expedia towel (and pen and paper clamp), a Traverse business card holder, a Skyscanner hoodie, a cute little monkey from Cathay Pacific and goody bags from Visit Wales and Wye Valley. Thanks folks, love all my new blags!

I networked the hell outta there

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEBJWZwNPuf/?taken-by=jessica16_x

 

 

As this was my first conference, the act of ‘networking’ was something totally new to me but I think I took it in my stride and seemed to do ok! Effectively, networking is just chatting with like minded people and making contacts; I was just happy to get my name out there and meet as many people as possible, plus I love a good chat- who doesn’t?!

I set fire to a table (I’m not even lying)

 

Lol. I know what you’re thinking; who even sets fire to a TABLE?! Well folks, it did happen – and I think Lucy and I wanted the ground to just swallow us up there and then. I have never been SO EMBARRASED and I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my time! I’m sure I don’t need to give you all the explosive deets (see what I did there ;)) but basically there was a waffle in a waffle box (obvs) and a candle and a table..and then there was a flame and a pint of water and Lucy got soaked… you get the gist.. nothing in my life has ever compared to how mortified I was on that Friday night! Talk about making a good first impression… #ooopppsss

So as you can probably tell I had a whale of a time at my first ever travel blogging conference and cannot WAIT until the next one! A big thank you to everyone at Traverse who made my first experience so worthwhile, especially Lucy & Ollie who were both hilarious and soo friendly and welcoming <3

Until next time Traverse!

 

Yesterday's beaut of a venue for @traverseevents… It's a good job I'm a football fan ⚽⚽ #traverse16

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