Since starting my website, networking and meeting sooo many new people, I have to laugh at the small-world, full circle-ness of it all. After a handful of events this past winter, I began to joke, “it’s Kevin Bacon’s world and we’re all just living in it.” (You can quote me on that!). I’m not sure if it’s just this industry or if everyone feels this way, but there is something to be said for the sense of serendipity you get when you realize there are so many coincidences that they can’t possibly be coincidences and that the path you’re on is meant to be. Case in point – when I met travel writer and founder of From Here To Sunday Monica Houghton at a We Are Travel Girls event last summer.
She was helping to host the global organization’s local Chicago meet up and I quickly realized what an amazing source of information she would be. Not only has she grown her “side hobby” blog into a wildly successful hub of information to encourage people to explore and get out of their comfort zones more, she’s also made the scary transition from a full time job to successfully full-time freelancing as a digital nomad AND has a travel column with Forbes.
Interviewing her now, compared to where we were when we met just a year ago has been such a fun process – discovering the network of people we know and places that we’ve gone. Read on for more on how
- Monica made the leap to a digital lifestyle from a full-time corporate job at Deloitte.
- How she travels safely abroad as a female.
- The lessons she’s learned about travel and about herself along the way.
Photo courtesy of Monica Houghton
MZ: So I’m really excited about this interview – you’ve been on my list for quite a while, and I know you have SO much to share. To begin, from your perspective, tell us a little bit about yourself and your website From Here to Sunday.
MH: I’m originally from the Midwest – my family is from Michigan; I was born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin. I went to school in Minnesota and lived in Chicago for a few summers – so through all of that, I usually just tell people I’m from the Midwest. Which sounds very vague, but I think the theme you’ll start to see here is that I feel like I’m everywhere all the time – but overall, an all-around Midwestern girl. Growing up I had the opportunity to travel a lot with my family and that really sparked my interest for travel later on.
One of my first opportunities in high school to travel was at 17 – I went to Spain. It was my first time abroad without my family – part of a study/live abroad program. Later on in college at University of Minnesota I took an internship abroad in Sydney – which was another opportunity to get out of my comfort zone. When I graduated, I took a one-way flight to San Francisco, where I lived for 7 years.
I worked full time and built a career path in human resources; I studied industrial organizational psychology (the study of human behavior in the workplace). I began working remotely and living nomadically for about two years before I left my previous employer, Deloitte, which gave me a lot of freedom while working to bounce around in the US and get a feel for that lifestyle. And about two years ago I actually left that job to pursue a path toward writing and explore what it meant to be a digital nomad freelancing abroad, which, coming from a career in HR, was quite new for me. And now I’m back in San Francisco!
MZ: And what about your site, From Here to Sunday?
MH: So From Here to Sunday started off as just a blog, actually – really as kind of a personal journal, a side hobby – because I’ve always enjoyed writing. And because my role was remote I was able to travel around a bit – I have lived in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Charleston and even Honolulu, writing all over the place.
I shared stories of the coffee shops I went to, pros and cons of what it was like to live in all these different cities, pictures of my experiences – and it was all to inspire people to explore more and get out of their comfort zones. A lot has changed since then – it’s morphed into more of a helpful resource, particularly for millennial women (which is my audience), to encourage them to travel more.
MZ: That is such an interesting path. So did you know the job was remote when you took it? Or was that a surprise perk?
MH: So I was at Deloitte for 5 and a half years – the first 3 years I was in the San Francisco office and then my role and team changed to be remote, along with the entire talent organization at Deloitte.
MZ: So this is a really interesting question that I am just dying to ask people who travel a lot or who live away from their families, as I know you have family in Chicago and family that lives elsewhere too – is it hard? How do you cope with it? I think that might be helpful for people who might be limited by the fear of leaving where their family is.
MH: My family’s always been kind of scattered – when we moved to Wisconsin, it was really just my parents, me and my sister – and the rest of my extended family was in Kentucky and Michigan, so I guess growing up I got used to seeing them over holidays. And I went to college in Minnesota, which is about a 6-hour drive from my hometown (and then of course you add an extra few hours for blizzards and wintery traffic) so I’ve always been a little bit removed from my family, I never really felt homesick. So the day-to-day isn’t difficult for me; I think the holidays are always hard, though.
Actually this last Christmas was my first Christmas away from my family – and it was honestly difficult. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy thing to do. I did it because I didn’t want to pay for two round-trip flights, but looking back that week is really important – I think it’s important to have those connections. But I think because I’ve worked remotely for so long and have built such a strong virtual network, and the fact that we talk a lot on the phone and rely on social media and I share quite a bit about my whereabouts – I think that always helps my parents know where I’m at and what I’m doing.
Photo courtesy of Monica Houghton
MZ: So it seems that you’ve gotten to explore this creative side you have a passion for. What is your creative process like when it comes to content, features, etc.? How do you think of things to write about or address on your website?
MH: Actually, you might be able to relate to this with your Faces & Places series because I, also, like you, like to come up with theories that I think people would be interested in reading more about (specifically female millennial – because I am one myself). For writing, I try to think through ideas that others might like to read about. I also ask around and see what people are searching for.
I have a few series I’m working on now for Forbes; one is about traveling like a local, but less of things that only locals do and moreso what locals want tourists to know before they visit their country or city, or places that might be unique or not well-known. So I like to come up with theories and kind of dig deep and get into topics that are not super known and things that might be interesting to people in the travel community.
For photos, since I’m so into Instagram, I am constantly needing to find inspiration for new ideas of images that kind of share an emotion or feeling of a certain place; I post bright images and always try to share inspirational travel quotes in my captions that might get people to consider new places.
MZ: Do you ever find it’s difficult to do something that hasn’t been done before?
MH: That’s a good point – yes. Especially for super touristy places.
MZ: I always notice your content is so unique and I love that you personally relate to it. I think there are a lot of accounts out there that are just like, “here’s a pretty picture… yes or no?!”. Or, “thumbs up or thumbs down?!”
MH: It’s one of those things – I’m in most of my photos, so it’s not like anyone else can do what you’re doing because it’s uniquely yours in the way of how you represent yourself in that place. I post a lot of images where I try to show off the energy of a place, whether it’s a shot of me twirling around or jumping or sitting in a spot looking out and taking in the view – that’s how I try to frame them. But yeah, it’s hard – it’s obviously a saturated area on Instagram.
MZ: That’s really inspiring. I’m glad – I think it’s hard to not lose that perspective sometimes.
So for people who do want to get into travel writing – do you have any tips for them, anything that you’ve learned?
MH: The way I got into this is just because I really like to write – the biggest tip I would give is to just start. The way I was able to do that was start my blog. I built my portfolio writing about things I wanted to write about, and it morphed into having a theme and a mission (it didn’t, at first), but in the beginning it was just me writing.
And then it turned into a platform I could use to start pitching various publications to actually get paid for writing. You may not get paid right away, necessarily, but you have to like it – it’s a “do what you love” kind of thing. That’s how I started – I think it worked out in the sense that I was able to present something to these publications and say hey, here’s what I’ve done before and here are links to my favorite pieces I think would work for your brands, and start to pitch ideas from there. Having something to work off of is always a good place to start. So just get started! Get going – see where it takes you.
MZ: That’s another really interesting thought – I got an email with a quote from Rand Fishkin (he’s really big in SEO) and was somewhere along the lines of, if you’re looking to make money blogging, you’re in the wrong business. It takes SOOO long. And that was really refreshing to me – we live in this world of instant gratification where you are taught that if you can yourself, you can expect to get what you want, where you want and when you want. But this is a little different. You have to be into it and really love it, because it’s a LOT of work.
MH: And actually, on that note, people talk a lot about how blogs can generate passive income – I do not think so. It’s not passive income – you’re actively updating that blog, to not get paid, for a few years of pretty hard work. So you have to really enjoy what it is first before you can consider monetizing it with traffic. It’s always something you’re working to improve. It’s definitely not passive income.
MZ: So related to travel – I had the opportunity to interview Pauline Frommer a few months back, and I asked her how she manages places she wants to go – because I figured out of anyone, she’d be traveling to that many places. She said it was more about where she HAD to travel as it was related to the Frommer brand. But for someone like you, you get to choose where you go – do you have a method for managing all the places you want to travel to?
MH: You know, I have done the whole spreadsheet thing when I worked full-time at Deloitte – I’d write down all the countries I wanted to go to, but in the last 2 years, because I have been on the road so much, that they’ve really just been in the back of my mind. They change a lot, based on what I hear from others and what I see online – what could be the hot spot now could be a different spot three months from now. Maybe there’s a crazy cool new art installation or something everyone’s talking about in Nice, France… and then you want to go to Kenya the next day.
If I were to think through them all right now, though… Finland has been on my list, and Botswana, just because I was down in South Africa and meant to go but didn’t get a chance to. And you’re on Instagram, so you know the Maldives is ALWAYS taking over my feed. And it looks gorgeous. I’m one of those people who is inspired by images too and I kind of create an itinerary off of what I think would be a great experience.
Photo courtesy of Monica Houghton
MZ: How do you vet places? Have you ever stayed away from a place because of what’s going on? Or do you have a process for doing research if you are deciding? I notice you find people to travel with in certain places, but also, you’re probably on your own quite a bit.
MH: Yes I am; I mean, I’ve also solo-travelled quite a bit, but it’s funny, because even in solo travel I’m never really alone – I’m always with other people that I meet along the journey. But yes, I rely on them – I rely on locals, I ask around and use that as a method. But really, I do a lot of research.
When I was in Thailand, everyone had a lot of opinions and things to say about Myanmar – it was on my radar. Bagan had always been on my bucket list – it looks like a dream – but obviously a lot of issues there. I didn’t end up going (because I didn’t make time for it) – but there was quite a bit of research that went into that. Thinking it through, thinking about flights, thinking about places that have a lot of political agendas and things going on that I’m not in alignment with or whatnot.
But there have also been times when I’ve kind of shown up in a place – for instance, when I was in Japan (a place I’d always want to go), it turned out the flight was significantly cheaper if I went through Malaysia – which wasn’t on my list previously, but I am SO glad I went. It was kind of a last minute trip but it ended up being one of the highlights of my journey through Asia. I didn’t make time to research much, but when I got there I made sure I asked around, tried to research and figure it out quickly. But for me, I prefer building in more time to get to know a place before I land.
MZ: And what about places? Obviously you’ve been many, many places – asking you to pick a favorite would probably be like asking someone with children to pick a favorite child – but do you have a favorite place that you have traveled? And/or where is the last place you’ve traveled?
MH: Probably for you too – it’s always hard. For me, it’s not necessarily the place, it’s the people I’ve met and spent my time with there that end up being my favorite. And I’ll say I have a favorite country, but really it’s the experiences I’ve had there. But if I think through the food, culture, experiences and people there are 3 places: South Africa, Norway and Chile.
MZ: So that’s really impressive – I didn’t expect you could narrow it to 3! Okay so this is a favorite question of mine – really open-ended. How do you find inspiration from travel?
MH: Through the people I meet. I think it’s always the people. I’m quite social – whether meeting the locals, expats, even other travelers – no matter who it is – I always find inspiration through them. Hearing stories, kind of learning through them: what inspires them? What gets them going? How did they decide to go where they are? What did they learn from it?
You learn so much when you’re on the road and when you’re in a new place you’ve not been to before. And even if it’s a restaurant – not even the owner, whoever is helping you – getting to know them – you never know where those conversations can lead.
MZ: Absolutely, you never know where anything can go – it’s always worth putting in that little bit of effort.
Okay, so my series is called Faces and Places. Do you have a favorite place to find inspiration? Like if you go somewhere and you’re in a rut, or you need some creativity? Or even a metaphysical place, anywhere. Do you have one?
Photo courtesy of Monica Houghton
MH: I feel I’m most inspired when I’m in transit. When I’m on a bus or train – whenever I’m in motion, I think a lot comes to my mind. I talked about this a little bit about this before – but you never know who you’re going to meet. And in that – you never know where their final destination is, but you’re both on this journey, wherever it’s going, together, and it’s inspiring in and of itself to be in that place.
I’ve been a nomad for a while now – I’ve moved around quite a bit – so whenever I’m sitting on a bus or a plane, I think that space and that energy in that place feels like a little bit of home for me, just because I never had a place that was home to go back to over the years. My parents even moved after I graduated from college, so I think even being on a plane feels kind of homey to me, in a way. That’s one of my places I think I find the most inspiration.
MZ: Absolutely – that’s a really wonderful answer that I don’t think anybody’s really ever brought up. I think to a lot of people, change and transit can be really uncomfortable – everybody thinks of that piece of travel being basically a pain in the ass – but that’s a really cool spin to put on it.
So this is the final question I ask – it’s very open-ended – and it’s my favorite to ask because the answers are always different. Is there anything else you want to share, related to your career, or background, or travel or just life in general with the audience?
MH: I think when it comes to travel, I would say if there are places you want to go on your list, to see what you can make happen. I think a lot of times there are barriers that get in the way of being able to explore, and whether it’s having a pet or having kids or feeling like it’s too expensive, things like that – if you just dig in and research a little bit, you might find that you can explore on a very cheap budget.
And there’s so much you can do with your own neighborhood – you don’t have to go halfway across the world to explore. There are a lot of people who are like, I have a full time job and I can’t take time off of work, so I can’t do it – but I think there are still a lot of ways that you can and if you approach it a little bit differently you can still get out of your comfort zone quite a bit.
Want to know more about Monica and From Here to Sunday? Check out her site here or follow along with her global travels on Instagram here!