Frequently Asked Questions
Our FAQs page refers to questions we’ve been asked a lot over the past months as we’ve talked about the creation of our blog site.
Q1. How can you travel to so many places and also work?
We travelled as much as we could while working full-time as a Teacher and HR Manager by just ‘going for it’. Weekend trips are easier to fit in and so invigorating. We spend time exploring locally to where we live too. Sometimes in our haste to ‘see the world’ we overlook what others come to our back yard to enjoy. These past years have reminded us that there is something to be curious about close to home!
Q2. There are loads of travel blogs out there. What’s special or different about yours?
You’re right! There are likely thousands of travel blogs out there. We launched TPOP to share our travels as ‘average travellers’. People like us who love exploring new places but travel has to fit it in with other life priorities ie. work, family, partners, walking the dog!
We’re hoping that telling our travel stories in a fun, friendly way together with practical tips will inspire new travelers. Sharing learnings to build confidence to get out of our comfort zones, do more planning on our own, and seek out locals to make experiences more authentic.
Finally, we are targeting travelers like us, 50+ who want information and honest content to help plan and keep travelling as long as possible. So if that’s you, join us and if you’re a wee bit younger, join us because well isn’t it good to learn from those who have gone before:)
“Blogging is like turning a new corner every day”
Q3. How Do you decide on blog topics?
We only blog about places we’ve visited because we want to be authentic in our stories and suggestions. Having been lucky to travel to so many places, we hope you will agree we have a lot of stories, materials, and ideas from these experiences.
In case you were wondering all our photos are our own or generously given by our trip travelers (ie. husbands, kids, friends). They aren’t perhaps perfect but they are real:) Some are pre-digital – you can probably guess which ones:).
Q4. Do you make money from your blog?
Not yet! We are grassroots, building our blog through authentic, personal narratives. Our focus is on growing our voice and community – learning more about what real travelers want and need. We are not partnering with any companies at this time. However, like any blog, we will need to figure out eventually how to cover our costs. If we set up affiliations we will state this clearly on our site.
Q5. Apart from each other who do you travel with?
We travel with our respective partners, kids, grandkids, other family members and friends. Writing our blog has been a virtual journey since we live on different continents.
Travelling solo is also something we have done, both for work but also for leisure. Jude has ventured solo outside of work over the years to Australia, the Indian Continent, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Canada, and a host of European countries. Our philosophy is if you want to go and no one is free or has the budget, just get yourself there & enjoy it!
Q6. Do you lead tours?
No.
Q7. Which budget destinations do you recommend at the moment?
It depends on your starting point, currency exchange rates, if it’s just you, or you and your family of seven, to be honest! There’s the budget for getting to your chosen destination and then there’s what you need to do all the things you want to when you are there. From the UK and USA, we’ve found great value in North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece, Peru, Mexico, and South Africa recently.
If you live in South America or on the African continent some of our options will not represent value. But many regional trips will offer better value. For example, when we visited Mauritius and Seychelles, these were long haul from the UK, but from South Africa, it’s a lot closer ie. cheaper flights and a lot less time in transit.