An Interview with.....
Jonny Blair from DontStopLiving.net

Jonny Blair from DontStopLiving is from Northern Ireland and has been living the life many of us can just dream about travelling around the world. Johnny has built his travel blog into one of the top travel blogs on the web. He was in Hong Kong when we tracked him down recently.

Jonny was kind enough to sit down with us and answer a few questions about his very interesting life and background so lets listen to the interview....

Photo courtesy Jonny at Equator in Ecuador

Hi Jonny, readers may not know you are from Northern Ireland so can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, where you are now and how you ended up travelling the world?

I was born in Newtownards in 1980 and grew up in Bangor. Having studied and worked in Belfast and Bangor most of my life, I made the decision to leave a decade ago to study in Bournemouth in the south of England.

One of my first jobs in Bournemouth was selling ice cream on the beach and through that job I met people from 6 of the 7 continents so I got a real flavour for travel. I started with short trips on the cheap to parts of Europe, later worked on cross channel car ferries, and visited China, Taiwan and Russia before moving to Australia.

From there I set about seeing all seven continents and by the age of 30 I had been to them all, including an epic 2 week trip to Antarctica. I now live in Hong Kong and am using this as my current base, but I'm a tad nomadic as you can probably tell so it's off to the Middle East and Africa next.

In terms of work my background is related to writing, I studied journalism and PR and always enjoyed Geography and English so it's quite apt that I have ended up travelling the world and writing about it through my travel blog and by guest writing for numerous online magazines. My travel blog is updated daily and contains travel tips, advice and stories from all over the world.

Remarkably you have been now to 70 countries in the world which is amazing. Of all of these there will be many, many memories if you did have one outstanding place or moment in time to pick what would it be?

If it has to be just one then I'm picking Antarctica. It is a place like no other. Endless white landscapes, no skyscrapers or office blocks, happy penguins, gorgeous fresh snow and just a feast for your eyes. It is a peaceful continent - no murders occur here and you can just sit there without a care in the world taking it all in. A truly magical experience and a place that I recommend you all get on your list to visit. You'll be amazed by it!

Photo courtesy Jonny in Antartica

You combine working and travelling - does that help to finance your travel or how do you balance the two?

I've always kept myself busy, always found work and haven't been unemployed since 1998. I've been willing to work in basically any job and am always up for trying new things. I have cleaned toilets on ships, milked cows in Colombia and been a UK PR rep for Apple.

Currently I am focusing on my travel blog as it's my biggest passion though I also work in 3 schools in Hong Kong as an English teacher as well as being a welcome host at glamorous international events on Friday nights. I've created a lifestyle of travel around the things I love and hopefully in time I won't have to work as much so I can concentrate on my travel writing, advice and stories. I have contributed to over 30 travel websites and am a featured writer on We Blog the World as well.

Your blog has grown to be one of the top travel blogs on the web that must be a very proud achievement for you - have you any interesting plans with the blog for the future ?

When I was travelling in Toronto in 2007 I met two other travel bloggers and so I set up my blog there and then. I had no idea I would be sitting here 6 years down the line having regular readers, advertisers and having written over 1,000 posts spanning all 7 continents.

My blog is viewed by over 1,000 people per day and I have over 1,200 Facebook followers and over 400 You Tube subscribers. Having now established myself within the travel blogging community, the plans are to continue with DontStopLiving as my flagship blog and outsource some of my articles to other niches with the potential to set up new travel websites.

I've already secured some deals for my readers for travel discounts and will be working on that and future advertising and sponsorship over the next 6 months or so. Basically it's a case of don't stop blogging! I want to inspire others to get out there and see the world and escape a mundane 8 - 6 day job!

Photo courtesy Jonny in Casapueblo, Uruguay, South America

You combine working and travelling - does that help to finance your travel or how do you balance the two?

Your blog has grown to be one of the top travel blogs on the web that must be a very proud achievement for you - have you any interesting plans with the blog for the future ?

Home for you is Northern Ireland . What are your favourite places to go and see in Northern Ireland?

There are so many. As I grew up in Bangor, I love the local pubs and the wee farm shops that sell decent scones and tea. Anywhere along the Ards peninsula from Donaghadee to Portaferry. I also love Belfast - it's a totally amazing city for local people to be proud of now.

I love the Crown Bar, the Titanic Quarter and I'm prone to watch a game of football at the Oval or Windsor Park everytime I'm home. Great for Ulster Frys, Fish and Chips and Pastie Suppers.

I couldn't leave out the north Antrim Coast or the Maiden City. While I haven't been to Londonderry/Derry in years, I always loved the nightlife and the views by the river. As far as world scenery goes, it doesn't get much better than the Giant's Causeway or staring out to sea from the Carrick A Rede!

I'd recommend Northern Ireland to anyone - it's my home and I'm proud of it.

For anyone thinking of coming to Northern Ireland what advice would you give and how does it compare to the rest of the world?

My best advice is GO AND SEE IT! Too many people think that to see the UK you should head to London or Edinburgh and to see Ireland you should head to Dublin or Galway.

Sod that - you can see the Irish and British all together in one city if you go to Belfast! I'd say either fly into Belfast or get the boat across from Stranraer and spend at least a week in the six counties before heading to the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland just seems so different to the south. Political tensions aside, the food, the bars and the "craic" are hard to beat. Northern Ireland has more of a raw local spirit, a competitive edge and a bouyant nature to it. If you're a traveller to Northern Ireland, I'd also get to know local Protestants and Catholics so you can get a real understanding of the situation.

Northern Ireland doesn't compare to the rest of the world. It's a world of its own begging to be explored. Wouldn't it be great if we could make a steady income from tourism! Only the blessed travellers have been to Northern Ireland and they rant and rave about it.

Anything else to let readers know about, Jonny before you head off?

Just to say that this is a great site and a fantastic resource for anyone wishing to visit Northern Ireland. All readers of Uniquely Northern Ireland are welcome to check out my travel blog at DontStopLiving and can get in touch if they have any questions about Northern Ireland, travelling the world, budget travel, working abroad or designing your lifestyle around the things you love. I'm a travelling Northern Irishman and quite frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Safe travels my friends...

Jonny Blair

(Travel Writer, Nomad, Blogger and Northern Irishman)

We hope you found this interview as intriguing as we did. We want to thank Jonny very much for taking the time to talk with us, and we wish him great success with DontStopLiving.net. Please check out his site today. Thanks Jonny!

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