Travel Tips
Over protective parents and rigid cultural teachings have held Muslim women from travelling the world and embarking on journeys to explore the world. Thankfully, this has changed and it could be seen with the increasing numbers of travelling Muslim ladies.
It will give you courage
Independency
Escape to recharge
Educating Others
To know the locals
More awareness of people and places
Enjoy your own company
Get lost and discover
I am very excited for you that you are taking a trip solo! And pictures are really important! Even if you don't like your photo taken, it's really nice to have a few pictures just to remind yourself of the trip and to share with your friends and family. We all appreciate a good view but when you are in it, it's more personal and truly yours. You might have wondered how can solo travel instagrammers take pictures of themselves. It's actually not too hard! The photo below was taken by myself in Sri Lanka.
Here are the four tricks I regularly use!
1- Mini Tripod and Timer
I use the Joby tripods because they are so versatile and can be twisted and places in random spots. I think most cameras would have a timer. Look into how to set that before you trip! You don't want to be fiddling with your camera and figuring that out on the spot. 10 seconds is the most common time, but you can set the duration. Possibly 20 seconds so you don't have to run to the spot.
Ps1. You can do that on your phone too!
Ps2. You can take a proper tripod with you if you like but that might be too heavy to carry.
2- Remote shooting
This is done by connecting your wifi enabled camera with a phone application and using your phone as a remote. If your camera doesn't have an app from the manufacturer then it might be worth purchasing a remote. I absolutely love this feature on my Canon G7x and its own app Canon Camera Connect. I can see the photos on my phone before shooting as well!
3- Selfie stick
I know. You probably know that, but just in case! It looks slightly funny, but everyone is doing it now it became very normal. I actually use a selfie stick for my travel vlogger rather than still photos! Just like the two photos below!
4- Asking others
You can start this conversation by asking others if they want their photo taken then ask nicely for them to do the same. Everyone loves that! You can ask them straight if they would take yours and offer to take their as an appreciation token. Sometimes people just offer when they see me struggle setting the tripod and timer.
How to stay safe when you are travelling solo? Here are 10 tips that might help you!
1- Give your parents/partner or a friend your travel details before you travel.
2- Take a photo of your passport and visa.
3- Don't tell others you are travelling alone.
Keep on reading for more!
Read MoreMalta is a gorgeous island and having few pretty outfits to match is a must! I tried my best to look stylish while modest. I also needed to pick light outfit so I can survive the island's summer heat. Thankfully I visited Malta end of May, which meant that the weather was still beautiful and breezy. Hope you like the outfits!
PS. All outfits were packed in carry on, so that's fantastic if you like to travel light!
Last month, I was blessed to go on a trip to Greece for a friend's hen do (or as it's known in America a bachelorette trip) in the gorgeous island of Santorini. Since Greece is mostly affordable, a lot of the girls wanted to join for the fun hen do abroad. We ended up being fifteen girls including the bride. No one anticipated this big turn out, but it is a great feeling to see how many people would love to come and celebrate for a big occasion. We were all excited and rented a big villa. One of the only ones that accommodates fifteen! We were there for five days. On one hand it was undeniably fun, but on the other some plans were hard to arrange. Saying that, the maid of honour did a fantastic job organising everything!
On the last day, I asked the girls about their thoughts on group travel and how to make the most of it. So, this is a collective post with all our thoughts.
Let's start off with everyone's favourite things about travelling in a group:
halal travel guide for Muslim women to start travelling solo with confidence
Are Muslim girls allowed to travel solo?
How do you convince your parents or husband to let you travel solo?
Joining a travel groups vs arranging it yourself
Before your solo trip
During your solo trip
After your solo trip
the more I travelled around the world, I realised that the Muslim traveller is different and this post will tell you why:
Destination can be an issue
Halal Food while travelling
Alcohol Free Activities
Prayer times and locations
When I tell people that I want to make it as a travel blogger, many still ask HOW. How would you live off it? How would you earn and pay bills? Well I am still asking these questions myself. I am still not making actual cash, but I did get a hotel stay for a review in the gorgeous Heritance Kandalama for example. I think that is a good start for where I am with my blog anyway. Slow and steady wins the race they say. I am still working on it and trying to dip my fingers in all the pies.
One of the things I thought might help me get some direction into HOW I could possibly monetise my travel blog was attending travel related conferences such as the World Travel Market, Blogtacular, Summer in the City by Youtube and Traverse. All were held in London. I went to their educational sessions and social media panels. I also read a lot of blogging websites and e-books such as Digital Nomad Wannabe. I learnt a lot from each and it's a matter of putting everything into motion to earn, which takes longer than you might think!
In this post, I want to share the things I have learnt from everything on all the possible ways to make money from blogging.
Affiliate links are when you endorse a product or a service and add a link to them and getting a percentage. This is a very slow way, but it builds up over time. It is also known as passive income because you can make money without getting involved after posting about it. The percentage you get back can be between %2 to %8. There are many programs. Unfortunately, there is not only that for everything, so you might find yourself part of a few. I have an excel document to keep up with them! The ones I use are Amazon, Adobe, Booking.com, Itunes, Shop Style and Skim Link. If you want to find a specific one just look it up with the word Affiliate. If you want more information, watch the video below because it talks about this in details. Although it's mostly about Youtube, but all the information applies on blogging too!
Brand sponsorships are great, but they are not easy to get especially when you are starting out, but once you have an established online presences you can start approaching brand you love or you might get lucky and be approached. The company will either pay you to represent/ mention/ use/ place/ model a product or sponsor a trip/ activity/ flight or stays. Brands usually collaborate with bloggers to reach to a new audience or to spread the awareness of their brand further. Sometimes the brand wants the information only shared as a blog post, sometimes a video and sometimes on social media. More information on how to work with brands as a blogger can be found here.
There are some companies that connect bloggers/instagramers/influencers with brands such as the Australian company Tribe. You will have to be approved though! This was recommended to me by Polka Dot Passport from personal experience. It's an app and I just started using it. Watch their video to know more. There are other companies that appeared when I looked up similar companies such as Revfluence.
Bloggers have trained themselves in so many skill sets and they are able to produce written and visual contents for their own blogs and others. For example, I do some freelance writing on the side and I get paid per article. There is a lot of hustling involved in this one. Sometimes you have to pitch yourself and tell the company you want to write for that you are a valuable influencer that will enhance their brand. Since I started my Youtube channel, I have had a few video making requests. Have you seen my video collaboration with Skyscanner?
When a blogger has an audience interested in something then it's only logical to create an e-course that satisfies the markets needs and bring in a steady income that will also be considered as passive income. here are a few examples of bloggers and vloggers that created e-courses that generate an income.
1- Normadic Mat and his various ecourses such as: travel blogging, travel vlogging and travel photography on the Super Star Blogging platform. I myself took the took the Art of Travel Vlogging e-course. I would only recommend it for complete beginners though.
2- Thomas Norman with his The Travel Video Academy
3- The Travel Hack and her Blogger course.
This has worked for some bloggers or vloggers where they collaborated to sell a product like (t-shirts etc) to generate some income. Examples of vloggers who have sold merchandise:
1- Mr.Ben Brown
2- Zoella
3- Psycho Traveller
I feel like this method requires a lot of work and someone to actually be in one location to package orders etc. I am all over the place for this to be an option for me, but it might work for you.
Blog posts are all written content, so it makes sense to turn that into an e-book. Especially if there is a a useful story or some valuable advice. If you are interested in this, I would recommend reading the book Authority by Nathan Barry. I really enjoyed reading the book and he is very encouraging. I haven't written an e-book yet though, but it is something I would love to do one day.
Speakers get paid at conferences and if you have an inspiring story to tell you will be invited or you can just pitch yourself to be a speaker. If you are a blogger or a traveller there are plenty of events you can go to such as Blogtacular or Traverse.
As you can see most of these methods are even more work than just writing posts or making videos. Making an income is not straight forward, but some people love the challenge.
Another amazing source of information is Video Influencers' Youtube channel
This is the million dollar question that I get at least once a week or whenever I meet new people. Let me start by saying when I say I live in London, I am no where near Big Ben, London Eye, Harrods or anything in Central London really. I live an hour away and that's still considered London. This city is expensive no doubt, but here is how I can afford living in London
I think being a student in London gives you so many possibilities and DISCOUNTS! I have a discounted Oyster card, which means I pay 125GBP a month for a travel card from zone 1 to 4 and that includes all forms of transportation in London (Bus, DLR, Tube, Trains and the Overground). I also get a student train card (Rail Card) to travel in the UK for a significantly cheaper prices. Plus, I get 10% off in most stores with MyUniDays or you can get the NUS card.
As a full time student, you don't pay council tax too, which makes rent cheaper as well.
As I said in the introduction, I don't live in Central London. I live between zone three and four, which happens to be on the other side of the River Thames that you probably would not have visited. It basically takes me an HOUR to get ANYWHERE. That's a sacrifice you have to make if you want to stay in an affordable place that is slightly bigger than a shoe box. With my discounted Oyster card mentioned above, it makes sense to live further.
This saves so much you have no idea! Those supermarket sandwiches and crisps you buy at lunch for 3-5 pounds add up and become crazy! Think of this: A whole loaf of bread is 80p and humous is 1 pound and a bag of spinach for another 1 pound you can even treat yourself with 6 small bags of crisps for 2 pounds max. There you just made 5 lunches for 5 days for the cost of one! You see what I mean. Another thing, plan your meals before you get groceries, so you don't waste. Each meal I cook has two portions, so I have it for two dinners. Try a few vegan meals a week and that saves loads if you are using one type of vegetable, a can of chopped tomatoes and rice that's like 3 pounds for a filling meal. You can get very creative here and there are like a bazillion pages on instagram and pintrest to help you with that!
The wonderful thing about is London is the amount of free activities! (Read: How to find cool events and things to do in London). Big museums and art galleries are my default meeting point now. It gives you something to do and it is a fun. If the weather is good, you can also go to parks for picnics and catch ups.
I am a social butterfly and I love hanging out with my London pals. As a Muslim, we can't meet at Pubs, so I used to meet my friends for restaurant meals (Read: My Ultimate Favourite Food Guide in London). That started costing me so much!! Now, I try to meet at cafes in the afternoon for tea or a just desserts. We sometimes only get tap water and stay there for two hours or more. Even buying a cup of tea or coffee is much more affordable than a main course.
One of the best summer activities in London is the rooftop cinema! This is a review of my experience in the Rooftop East Cinema in Startford, East London
If you are visiting London and you love Marry Poppins then this themed afternoon tea will be perfect for you. This post will give you a full review on the food, the Aqua shard views and how Muslim friendly it is
London is a really fun city to visit, but it’s a very big place! This post will help you navigate it and make your visit with children as smooth as possible!
Tips to visiting London with kids + Ten Fun Things to do in London with kids
Muslim Friendly Summer in London - How to have the best summer as a Muslim in London:
Movies in parks and rooftops in London
Cultural celebrations of diversity : Walthamstow Garden Party
London Halal Food Festival
Flower and Fruit picking
Art Exhibitions in London to escape the heat
Theatre performances in London this summer
Muslim friendly musical events in London
When I decided to get on Youtube, I decided to get a more portable camera other than my profession (but heavy!!) Nikon D7100. I looked around and basically read every possible review. Until I found Canon G7X. I was a little worried because it was almost 500GBP, but after using it for a year, I can highly recommend it! About 95% of my videos are all filmed with this camera, so take a look at my YouTube channel Arabian Wanderess to see the video quality if you need more video examples.
Buy this tripod
Extra Tip: I bought two extra batteries from Amazon, so I stay longer on the road without worrying about the battery life!
Another Tip: I got the wind muffler to get better quality sound.
Also another thing you might want: a camera protective case! I got my poor camera scratched so many times until I got a case! Like a whole year later.
By the way, if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to the Canon G7x reviewed above and you don't really care for vlogging or flip screens and you want a light, reliable, good quality camera with the phone app then the Canon Powershot SX610 is going to be a great option for you. I bought it for my sister as a birthday present and she loves it. The quality of her photos are so much better than a phone camera.
Note: if you are considering buying any of these practical and reliable travel bags, please consider getting them through the links provided in on this page. That will give us a little commission with no extra cost to you. These little commissions help this blog grow and continue. Thank you for your support.
- Practical and Reliable Duffle and Tote Travel bags for your solo travels
- Eight reasons every Muslim woman should travel solo at least once
- How to take pictures of yourself when travelling solo
