About Me

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So who are you?

I’m Matt, a Spain based British blogger. I’d love nothing more than to write about how I quit my job, went travelling and am now a full-time wunderluster making an income as I go about scribing about my experiences. Sadly I can’t, the reality is that I have a job and in-between that and a time-wasting addiction to a silly Star Wars game I work on this site. That said . . . should the opportunity ever arise in the future I’d be a fool not to do it.

However, I did quit my job and go travelling. Bored, tired and stressed from working 20 years in hotels and restaurants across the UK and the USA I managed to save up, quit and run away to do some volunteering in Africa.

I landed in Kenya, travelled over land to Iringa, Tanzania, where I holed up for a few weeks before heading on south and flying home from Johannesburg. Before I knew it, I was off again to South East Asia, then again to Oceania. I studied wine and got a qualification and moved to Madrid which is where I am now.

So are you a blogger?

Yes.

Okay . . . Care to expand?

I plan to have a hefty dose of my own original content on here; there are some blogs from me already, (Click here) but I have lots more to whip into shape and upload. My writing started when I returned from Tanzania and wanted to do some additional fundraising for the project.

Throughout my journey, I wasn’t blogging, but I did keep a diary. Upon my return, I decided to publish it as an e-book and donate any money made to the project. I think it’s pretty funny & I hope to think you will too.

It’s called How To Clean Your Underwear in Africa, and you can read about how my first solo travelling experience nearly didn’t happen as I managed to lose my wallet, passport and phone while changing flights in Dubai. Find it on Amazon here:How To Clean Your Underwear In Africa: Helpful Advice For Travellers

I then wrote a second book about the three peaks challenge that I stupidly thought would be a fun thing to do to raise money. You can find that one yourself here, The Three Peaks Challenge: It’s Snow Joke! although I recommend the other one more. Unless you’re thinking of doing the Three Peaks Challenge yourself, then maybe just buy both!

Sorry for that unceremonious plug … next question.

What is The Travel Blogs?

Well, I’m glad you asked. As I said, it’s a hobby. When I was travelling, I loved reading other travel blogs for inspiration, but I found myself getting frustrated for two reasons.

  1. It was hard to find information directly about where I was
  2. There are a lot of good blogs out there … but also a lot of shit (excuse me).

I want The Travel Blogs to be a place that people can be confident that they will find great content. I see it as a two-way thing; I hope as it grows it will help people discover what they want and help good travel bloggers to be found. I have read so many blogs that I feel I am well placed to decide what is good or not. I look for two main things, informative and entertaining. If it hits one of them, it will be considered.

So what’s next?

After I beat Darth Vader in my stupid game I’ll probably head to Twitter, find a few more blogs to upload. I want to find some smaller blogs that have good stuff but haven’t been discovered yet. I’m also looking into 360 content, I love my Ricoh Theta camera, and VR technology, whether it has a future remains to be seen, but right now I’m all over it.

Do you accept submissions?

Of course, if you are a blogger and would like your worked shared on my platform then feel free to head over to https://www.thetravelblogs.com/submit-your-blog, submit it and I’ll take a look.

Likewise, all of my posts give a brief overview of a blog that I have found with a link to the website. The last thing I want to do is to step on fellow bloggers toes, if for any reason you have a problem with any content on my site please just drop me an email.

Where else can we find you?

I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the moment. I am in the process of sorting out Pinterest boards and youtube channels and thinking about Snapchat, although without being on the road all the time I am struggling to see how I can make it relevant for my site. If you can give me an idea, let me know!

So what’s the end goal?

Well, while I am lucky enough to have travelled a fair amount, due to the arrival of children, I’m very Spain based for now. Note they are my children, not random kids knocking at the door telling me not to travel. But That doesn’t mean I’m not travelling, it just means I am focussing heavily in Spain. You’ll notice a lot of my content is Spain based, that’s because I live here, I love it and I want to share it.

But, that’s not my priority right now, my current priority is simply to beat Darth.

So how did you come to lose your wallet, passport and phone in Dubai airport?

Well . . . if ever you’re visiting Madrid feel free to drop me an email Hello (at) Thetravelblogs.com and maybe we could grab a drink and chat about all things travel and I’d maybe just tell you . . . Maybe!