Meet Alysa & Jack from Voyaging Herbivore
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Here’s another awesome travel blogger interview! Today I’m introducing you to Alysa and Jack from Voyaging Herbivore.
Alysa and Jack are a full-time travel couple who focus on promoting ethical, sustainable, and plant-based travel. Their website, Voyaging Herbivore details vegan guides around the world as well as sustainable travel hacks and slow travel itineraries.
Alysa, from the United States, originally started Voyaging Herbivore shortly before a trip to China and then a move to England, where she met Jack. Together they’ve been running Voyaging Herbivore and have been traveling full time.
Interesting in keeping up with their adventures elsewhere? Be sure to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
How long have you been blogging for? Why’d you decide to start a travel blog?
I (Alysa) originally started Voyaging Herbivore in 2017 before a trip to China and a six-month move to London. It began as your standard “I’m doing okay, Mom!” blog.
When I moved to London, I met Jack, and when it was clear that we were both head over heels for each other, we decided to pursue a long-distance relationship knowing that it would be for at least two years.
We only saw each other a few times each year, and those adventures were incredible. From London to Chicago to Paris, each meeting was like the most incredible date. Although the blog is still my baby, Jack has helped so much.
In the past year, we started learning about and implementing SEO. I’m a photographer by trade, so it really began as a place to share my travel photos, but after learning how to rank with SEO, I quickly began adding more targeted content.
Now, it’s a way for us to make money while traveling and share sustainable travel and lifestyle information.
Do you have any tips for new travel bloggers/aspiring travel bloggers?
Learn SEO (search engine optimization) today! Go Google it right now. I’m currently in the process of keyword targeting and rewriting every single post (there are about 70) instead of creating new content, and it’s an absolute pain in the butt.
SEO takes months to kick in fully, so you need to do your keyword research, create high-quality and optimized content, and build backlinks to start ranking and seeing high volumes of organic traffic.
Don’t waste any time and start today!
What’s one thing you wish you knew before you started traveling?
You’ll be so so tired some days and wonder if a life with the 9 to 5 might be easier. Especially when you’re living off canned goods as you look for another freelance gig, it can be tempting to call it quits and go home.
Sleep on a big decision before you make it. Everything seems a bit better after a good night’s sleep.
It’s also important to remember that you don’t need to catch every sunrise and sunset. Your admin work is important and you absolutely should not neglect it.
Why do you love to travel?
The main reason we decided to start traveling is that Jack and I are from different countries (UK and US) and getting long-stay visas in either country is incredibly difficult and expensive.
We’ve both been fortunate enough to travel a bit before and were so excited to see new places that it just seemed like the perfect solution.
Now, we love traveling because of the fulfillment. As tiring as a day of hiking or admin work, or catching 4 am sunrises can be, we’ve never gone to bed feeling so fulfilled.
What’s your best and worst travel experience?
Our best travel experience so far has probably been Paris. That was such an amazing trip that was full of sunrise shoots (totally free of tourists), fantastic food, and connecting with other bloggers.
The worst travel experience is probably any time we have to say goodbye knowing that it will be several months before we see each other again. There was one time in particular when Jack’s flight got cancelled so we had to drive six hours to get him to the airport to catch another flight.
Stuff like that is stressful when you’re together, but when you know you have to say goodbye for an undetermined amount of time and then drive home by yourself, it’s just a terrible day.
Do you prefer solo travel or traveling with other people? Why?
We definitely prefer to travel with each other! Neither of us has really traveled solo, and we definitely plan to keep each other around for the foreseeable future.
What’s your favorite place you’ve ever been to? Why?
We were supposed to be in Bali as I write this, so I imagine I would have said Indonesia; however, since we have yet to make it there our favorite trip has probably been Paris.
The vegan Paris scene was phenomenal, and we found some of the most amazing photography spots.
Although the majority of our sunrises were blocked by gray clouds, the ones we did see were absolutely magical and even being up at 5 am means that you have Paris completely to yourself. Nothing beats that!
What’s your biggest travel tip?
Don’t get ahead of yourself with scheduling! I am super guilty of planning months of planes, trains, and Airbnbs so this is a work in progress for me.
But when you plan this far ahead, you don’t give yourself any flexibility.
There will almost always be a flight or somewhere to stay available, so give yourself the freedom to get recommendations from other travelers or spend an extra day in a city you fall in love with.
Is there one specific thing you like to do, see, or buy in every place that you visit?
This isn’t really intentional, but we always try to find vegan cheese wherever we go. We’re big cheese lovers as it is so I think it’s just been fun to see what spins different countries come up with.
Is there one particular food that you’ve tried while traveling that you loved? What food was it and why do you love it so much?
Lotus root! It’s very common in Chinese dishes, and you can find it in many Asian supermarkets, but it’s so good, especially when fried. I’ve eaten it as vegan meatballs and as an addition to stir fry. Whoever discovered it really hit the nail on the head!
Quick Questions
Plane or train? Train
Hotel or hostel? Can I say Airbnb
City or nature? City
Popular site or off the beaten path? Popular sites at sunrise, off the beaten path for the daytime
Suitcase or backpack? Suitcase
Fast travel or slow travel? Slow (run out that visa!)
Professional camera or iPhone photography? Professional
Warm or cold weather? Warm (but only if I can find shade)
All photos used throughout this post are courtesy of Alysa & Jack!
