Feature Friday: Meet Megan J.

Welcome back to Feature Friday! I know you’re excited to meet our guest for the week, and today we have the pleasure of getting to know a little more about Megan. Megan is a big lover of travel, and she also enjoys hiking, reading, and drinking coffee. She’s been to several different National Parks in the U.S., and has even worked at some of them! How cool is that?! Well, Megan has a lot of interesting stories to share, so keep reading to learn more!

1. Thank you for deciding to be a part of Feature Friday. Could you tell us a little about yourself and your blog?
I’m Megan, a Wisconsin native, Utah transplant, American nomad.  After I graduated from college in 2014, I went on my first big adventure.  Since then it’s been a priority of mine to travel.  For the last year and a half though, I’ve been working seasonal jobs at National Parks around the US.  I’ve spent the summers in Utah and last winter in Wyoming with trips to Wisconsin and Florida in between.  I’m not living in Florida for the winter and exploring the Southeast US.  I started my blog, Red Around The World, in the fall of 2014 before I went to Slovenia with my mom.  I’ve always just done it to write about my adventures for whoever happened to want to read about them.  It’s been a lot of fun and has evolved along with me.

2. Why did you decide to become a travel blogger?
Mostly just for funsies. I started it to share about my trip to Slovenia and to share pictures from my previous trips, then I went to Central America and used it to sort of update everyone at home. As I’ve traveled more it’s evolved to be more of a resource for other travelers and a place to just share things that I’ve learned over the last five or six years of traveling.

3. What do you love so much about travelling?

I love planning for trips. I love being somewhere new and not knowing anything. I love trying all the food and drinking all the coffee. I love meeting new people from all over the world and making new friends, some that I still keep in touch with. I think my favorite part is first arriving in a new city or town and just wandering around all day, cafe hopping and taking pictures. Just enjoying my new mysterious surroundings.

4. Have you ever regretted doing something while travelling?
Not really, I think it’s more regretting not doing things, like not going to the robot restaurant in Tokyo, or not taking very many pictures in Slovenia. Nothing big, but just little things like that.

5. What’s the scariest thing you’ve done while travelling?
I took a bioluminescence tour in Bocas del Toro, Panama. It’s doesn’t sound that scary, and it wasn’t for the more part, but the boat ride out to the places to see the bioluminescence was terrifying. I should mention I’m afraid of the dark, like terrified, and don’t love water activities, so this was not a great combination for me. We didn’t have a light and almost hit another boat. I was terrified of what could be in the water since I couldn’t see. I just imagined us running into the land, which you could barely see, but we had an awesome guide that we couldn’t really communicate with, neither of us speak good Spanish and he didn’t speak English, but it turned out to be awesome and I would definitely do it again.

6. What is your most embarrassing travel story?
Thankfully nothing too embarrassing has happened (knock on wood,) but one time I did get chased away from a temple in Taiwan by dogs. I went up to take pictures and there was a dog eating something, I think, and apparently I got too close. It looked up and got down in that crouching angry stance and started barking at me. I was still like, 20 feet away from it, then all the other dogs within what felt like a 10 mile radius started barking. The first one started to sort of run at me and I was half running, half walking away from it while a crowd of locals watched the whole thing. It was pretty funny, but I am afraid of dogs, so that didn’t help haha.

7. Have you ever travelled solo? Would you do it again? If you haven’t, would you ever do it?
Yes and yes. I really enjoyed it would definitely do it again. 

8. Out of all the cities & countries you’ve visited, which did you like the least? Why?
I think Leon, Nicaragua. It’s not that I didn’t like it, I just think it was bad timing on my part. I just couldn’t get my bearings there and spent all my time wandering around aimlessly when I was looking for things, like food, and it was hot and I just didn’t know what to do there. I would definitely go back though. I didn’t really give it a fair shot.

9. Out of all the cities & countries you’ve visited, which did you like the most? Why?

Probably Taipei, Taiwan. I hated it at first because I was being shown around and didn’t know how to do anything for myself once I was on my own, but I need up meeting some awesome people and fell in love with the city. It’s actually really easy to navigate and is really fun to explore.  

10. If you had to choose one place to live for the rest of your life, where would it be, and why?

That’s a toughie. I think either Utah or Slovenia. I’ve been working in Utah over the last two summers and love it. It’s got one of the prettiest cities (Salt Lake) and is an outdoor lovers paradise. It’s pretty central to the western US and has big flight hubs (Denver and Vegas) no too far away. And Slovenia, I went there a few years ago and loved it! It was so pretty has delicious wine. It would also make visiting Europe and a lot of other awesome places much easier. 

11. Are there any social norms or practices you’ve encountered on your travels that you wish were normal in your native culture?
I like taking shoes off to go into places in Asia. I always take my shoes off at home anyways, but I think it would be good for everyone to do that. I mean, your floors must get so dirty!  

12. Is there anywhere you would not visit? Where, and why?
As of right now, no. There are places I’m in no rush to visit unless things change, like government and the way people are treated, but I don’t think there is anywhere I just wouldn’t ever think about going to. 

13. What is one thing you wish you could bring with you when you travel that is too big or impractical?

My cute studded motorcycle boots. They’re not super tall or anything, but they’re heavy and bulky and would just be too difficult to pack, especially in a 40 liter backpack for a 2 month trip. Maybe someday for a shorter trip around Europe or something.

14. Do you think there’s a difference between people who deem themselves tourists vs. travellers? What do you consider yourself, and why?
I want to say no. I think everybody is a little of both, though. Does that even make sense? I mean, you’re getting out there and going places. You’re traveling. You’re a traveler. There are people who take cruises, get off at the port stops, see whatever is in that vicinity and nothing else, and get back on to do it again at the next stop. There are people that spend a month in each place and explore in depth and live like a local. Both are traveling, they just have different travel styles. I think I just sort of use the terms interchangeably, so both? 

15. What does home mean to you?
 Home is the place I go back to everyday or look forward to going back to when I am on a trip. It will also always be Wisconsin. That’s my home home, but I might be living somewhere for a summer and I’ll be excited to go back to my little dorm room after a weekend away, then that’s home, too.

16. What advice would you give an aspiring travel blogger?
Just go for it. Don’t worry too much about what everyone else (and the Internet) is saying you should do. Don’t worry about picking the right niche. It’s your little Internet space and it can be whatever you want. It can evolve along with you, so don’t be afraid, just give it a shot.

Thank you Megan for taking the time to share with us some of your adventures, and your thoughts. I can’t even imagine having a dog chase me from a temple – and I love dogs! That would be absolutely terrifying! And that boat ride – props to you for facing your fears! I love the water, but when combined with the dark, it’s not necessarily my favorite place to be. Also, I love the name of you blog! Super cute! Again, thank you Megan for being a part of Feature Friday!

Did you enjoy what you read? Get to know more about Megan!

Megan, a Wisconsin native, is currently working her way around the US one seasonal job at a time. She can probably be found laying on a beach, drinking a coffee or four, reading, or wandering through the desert. She loves visiting new National Parks and sharing her adventures with anyone willing to listen. Connect with Megan at the following:

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