Welcome to the Wednesday Wanderer Series! This is the first entry for this series and I’m excited to be featuring travel blogger Charisse Sobers of Surviving on a Shoestring, who is also a good friend of mine. Charisse, is the creator and key content curator for Surviving on a Shoestring. She is the daughter of 2 Barbadian immigrants and has been traveling since the age of 6 months to visit family. Although she could be considered a seasoned traveler, Charisse didn’t became passionate about traveling until around the age of 21. Naturally, she really became obsessed with seeing other countries and experiencing new cultures in a way that she hadn’t been before. Charisse has visited the Netherlands, Denmark, Colombia, Iceland, the United Arab Emirates, and 25 other countries over the course of 25 years! Her goal in creating SOAS is to teach readers how to see the world on a budget. She regularly shares the tips and tools she uses to travel in hopes that she can inspire others to travel frugally. Read on to find out more about Charisse and her love for travel.
1. When did you fall in love with traveling?
I became passionate about traveling at the age of 21. It was at this point that I moved out of my parent’s home, secured my first full-time job, and developed a desire to see the world.
2. What’s your travel style?
I’m definitely a bougie budget traveler. I enjoy upscale experiences for a discounted price.
3. How often do you travel?
Not as much as I want to! I’m currently a contractor so I get no PTO. No PTO = I have to pay myself when I take vacations. Because of this restriction I’ve only been able to take 3 international trips so far this year.
4. Why did you start travel blogging?
I started travel blogging to help dispel the myth that travel has to be expensive. Family and friends were constantly asking me how I was able to travel so much. Instead of answering the same questions multiple times I decided to write about my trips.
5. How do you budget for traveling?
I wrote an article covering the ways I budget for travel. But my favorite way is to have a portion of my paycheck direct deposit into my Charles Schwab checking account weekly. This account allows me to withdraw money from any ATM in the world without incurring fees at a favorable exchange rate.
6. What is your least favorite destination? Why?
My least favorite destination to date is Panama. I was unimpressed by sites such as the Panama Canal and the public transportation left much to be desired.
7. Are you a full-time blogger?
I am not a full-time blogger, yet. I currently work full-time as a Treasury Operations Analyst.
8. What’s your favorite city you have visited?
My favorite city is Cartagena, Colombia. I love how affordable it is and how much tasty food there is to eat there.
9. What’s one thing you always travel with?
The one thing I always travel with is my portable USB charger (I actually travel with 3). One of my worst fears is being stuck with a dead phone. These things are great because they allow me to charge all of my mobile devices on the go.
10. What have you learned from traveling?
Traveling has taught me to be open to change. I’m an extremely Type A person who plans everything. But there are times when the best laid plans go awry. Travel has helped me embrace this fact and dare I say it, go with the flow.
11. Where are you off to next?
My next trip is domestic. I’ll be going to Cincinnati, OH for a friend’s birthday and the University of Cincinnati homecoming.
12. Has any place you visited surprised you or been different from what you expected?
The one city that surprised me was Paris. I took French for 5 years growing up and ballet for 15 years. I was obsessed with French culture and idealized Paris. Once I finally got the opportunity to visit I found it reminded me a lot of NYC. Not nearly as glamorous as I had envisioned.
13. Are you team solo travel of team group travel?
I’m team (small) group travel. I’ve gone on trips solo and the concept is not at all appealing to me. I enjoy creating memories with other people and being able to split certain trip costs.
14. Do you have any funny or interesting travel stories?
I recently attended Yacht Week in Croatia. While talking to one of the other attendees on their yacht a man attempted to board the boat, fell off of the dock into the water, and managed to get a plank caught on his leg. A friend and I were able to pull him out of the water and he admitted that he had confused the boat we were on with his. So he had almost drowned attempting to get onto a boat that wasn’t even his *face palm*.
15. What would you say to someone who wants to start their own travel blog?
I would encourage anyone that wants to start their own travel blog to just start writing. Having a nicely laid out website is important, but engaging content will people coming back to your blog.
What do you think about the series? Let me know in the comments below. Want to be featured in the Wednesday Wanderer Series? Contact me for more information! Follow Charisse on Instagram, FB, and subscribe to her blog!
Featuring travel blogger Charisse Sobers, of Surviving on a Shoestring, in your Wednesday Wanderer Series, I enjoyed whole interview. Her experience and tips are valued.
Thank you!
Great interview, I love hearing other peoples perspectives on travelling.
Thanks for stopping by and reading!
Being a newbie travel blogger myself, this post surely gave me some pointers on the mindset of more veteran bloggers! Will wait for more! Her tips do carry some weight with her experience behind them!
Thanks for reading! Glad you got some value out of this series
Interesting interview – reminds me of the 11 questions you ask a fellow blogger for the “Liebster Award” 😉 Charisse seems to save for travelling the same way I do: Just have a banker’s order for every month on another account just for travelling and you’re fine – “You cannot spend money you cannot access” or something like that 😀 A pity she found Panama… Read more »
Ah! Yes I remember reading your post about it. The water rafting would definitely be fun.
The series sounds great – I really enjoyed reading the first interview and the pictures are pretty cool too! Not surprised she didn’t like Panama City – I googled it once and was like what is it?! Not on my bucket list! And so many people feel the same about Paris yet I think it’s an awesome place once you live there. That was my… Read more »
The irony is that she loves Paris lol I’ve heard the same about Panama City too.
I think a series is a great idea. I have to say that I am not sure what your series is on. It is not clear from the start and it was not clear throughout.
It says that the series is to showcase other travel bloggers and give readers a glimpse into the people behind the blogs. And I will be doing this series on Wednesdays as the name of it is Wednesday Wanderer. I explained that in the first paragraph.
so impressed! 25 countries by 25, go girl! and awesome that she still travels despite her lack of PTO, major respect for that!
Right!? That’s planning!
I love this very candid interview, she was very honest with her answers and didn’t see the need to sugarcoat anything,. As a long term budget traveler myself I love hr answer on her travel style. And she is so right traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. I too have had to answer that question of “Just how do you do it?” so much over… Read more »
She definitely doesn’t bite her tongue. I liked her travel style too!
This was a good read! I love reading others’ perspectives and it was nice to read an interview by a more seasoned travel blogger than myself.
Thank you for taking the time to read the interview!
Awesome! Love the interview and the insight into traveling that she provides!
Thank you for reading!