Ah the open road, the snaking mountain pass, the cloud-dappled blue sky as gleaned from an airplane window. Sights and sounds familiar to some, feared by others, craved by the providential, perpetually windblown few who have committed their lives to travel.
Emilie Drishinski is one such full-time adventure blogger, an avid student of the world and all its marvels, trotting the globe with her husband in search of the exciting and new.
MELISSA: I read in one of your recent blog posts that you and your husband currently travel an impressive 3 – 4 times per month. When did you first get the travel bug and where did visit?
EMILIE: My husband and I love to travel. Whenever we both have a free weekend we’re always packing our bags to go somewhere new. I first developed the travel bug my senior year of high school when I went to Lima, Peru for humanitarian work. This trip was incredibly eye opening to me. It was an entirely different country, culture and people from what I knew. It was all so new and foreign, which excited me. The experience created a feeling in me of adventure and a desire to see more of the world.
Emilie in Costa Rica // instagram.com/emiliedrishinski
You’ve written before about a professional shift that’s taken place in the workforce. A generation ago, as you observe, our parents worked 9-5 office jobs and there was no other choice to be had. You graduate college, you find a job, you work. Today, social media influencers and content generators like yourself are stepping outside the boundaries of the 40-hour work week, breaking free from the cubicle and finding inventive new ways to generate an income. Did you always imagine yourself as someone who would eschew the traditional career path or was it something that almost happened as an accident when you first began posting videos and photos?
There are so many aspects of this millennial era that I absolutely love. Customs are changing drastically, social media is truly booming. I really appreciate tradition and never would have imagined myself pursuing a career online. It was more of something I fell into. As a little girl I loved being in front of the camera – whether it was pictures or family video recordings, I adored it. It never even crossed my mind as a career path. I always imagined myself working a 9-5 job in some corporate office in the city. However as social media advanced, I found myself wrapped up in something I have always loved as a young little girl just on a larger scale now.
Emilie in Vancouver // instagram.com/emiliedrishinski
Any advice for the 9-5ers who really, really want to follow in your travel-loving footsteps?
My advice to those who want to stray from their 9-5 day job would be to do it. I think life is full of so many incredible experiences that you could miss out on them if you settle for a job you don’t like. If you truly desire to travel then do it. You’ll be far more happy doing something you love then settling for something you don’t.
You often post sweet, personal messages about traveling with your husband. Is it important to you to maintain that level of authenticity and connection with followers you may not even know? Do you worry about getting too personal or, do you treat your Instagram and blog as extensions of yourself, where (mostly) anything is fair game? Where do you draw the line between personal and private… and is a line even necessary?
Social media is such a neat way to record memories. I want to be able to look back at my posts 50 years from now with my husband and reminisce the amazing experiences we’ve had together. I think being authentic and sharing personal experiences is also a great way to connect with my followers on a more personal level where they feel like they know and trust me. That being said, I do believe there should be boundaries when sharing your life through the internet especially when it comes to relationships. I think every relationship needs some privacy and experiences that aren’t shared online in order to help maintain emotional intimacy within the relationship.
Nick and Emilie in Montana // instagram.com/emiliedrishinski
Staying on the topic of romance … what’s the most romantic place you’ve been to with your husband?
I think Kauai is probably the most romantic place I’ve been to with my husband. The beaches were incredible and there are a lot of quiet places on the island that allow for romance!
Did you guys meet traveling or was travel something you both decided to pursue once you were together?
Nick and I actually met in high school. Traveling wasn’t something we really did together either when we were dating. Once we got married we began traveling more and more and fell in love with experiencing new places together.
If someone gave you a blank check to use on a trip, where would you go?
There are so many places in the world I would love to see. However if I was cut a blank check and could only narrow it down to one place I would probably say Italy. I know it’s probably a little cliché but I’m a sucker for rich history and romance!
Nick and Emilie in Costa Rica // Instagram.com/emiliedrishinski
Have you ever had a really negative experience while traveling and if so, what did you do to overcome the scenario and keep your passion for travel alive? (I’m reminded of hours-long flight delays but maybe there’s something else …)
I think traveling comes with negative experiences if you expect everything to go as planned. I try to keep an open mind and flexibility when it comes to traveling. However one of the most stressful experiences we’ve had is when Nick and I were traveling in Costa Rica. Our hotel was about 1.5 hours from the airport and I had printed off a few google maps to help us get there. I thought the path looked easy but I was entirely wrong. We ended up stuck in the mountains completely lost with no idea where to go. Our phones had no service, we didn’t have a GPS, and no one spoke English (great preparation on our part …) After 3 hours of driving around we found a little local restaurant with a sign that read, “Wifi.” We were so relived and were able to look up directions from our current location to the hotel!
You’ve collected quite the sizable, engaged social media following — 51K strong and growing! What are your future plans for your blog/Instagram? Will you keep documenting your travels for years to come?
I plan to continue blogging and using Instagram for many years to come. It is a way for me to document the amazing experiences I’ve had. I hope that one day when Nick and I have kids they will have years of documentation to look back on our lives together. I also enjoy interacting with people all over the world via social media. It is something I have really come to love and enjoy!
Emilie in Zion National Park, Utah // Instagram.com/emiliedrishinski
Finally, travel quotes are everywhere (and yes, some are a little overplayed) but the right words about journeying afar can be really inspiring. What’s one quote or motto that motivates you to hop on a plane and visit somewhere you’ve never been before?
One of my favorite travel quotes is …
"So much of who we are is where we've been." - William Langewiesche
I love this quote because I think there is something extremely important in seeing how other people live their lives that may not be from the same place you are from. Different foods, scenery, styles, etc. outside of our own can really impact and change a person. That’s why I love this quote – it accurately describes how the places we’ve been can make up who we are as a person.
Nice post, Melissa,
Some of your content borders on concerns I have about the future of social media and the Internet in general. You and Emilie touch on the changing nature of careers and especially on the presumed permanence of social media and its ability to record memories for the long term; you both seem to take for granted it will still be around in the future. Just like our forebears presumably assumed the platforms and institutions they relied on would still be valid decades in their future.
In one instance, Emilie states she wants to look back 50 years from now at her social media posts to recall the events of her past. Considering current events, what gives either one of you the confidence that 1) the Internet will still be a viable system of information storage and retrieval 50 or 100 years from now; or that, if the Internet is still viable and operational, the apps/platforms on which you currently post/store your pics, essays, etc ., will still be online?
Thanks,
Denny
Love the comment, Denny. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.
I can’t speak for Emilie, although she might agree with my feelings on the topic, but I define social media much more broadly than the current names we know and (arguably) love today … Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Social media trades on consumer attention and by definition, means just that: It is the media society consumes. If collective predilections shift to something called GooblyGoop and that’s where everyone is posting photos, videos or even some crazy cool VR-altered content, then GooblyGooping will be how “social media” is most accurately defined, at least for the duration of the viability of that platform.
In no way do I presume 50 years from now we’ll all still be updating our Insta stories and Snapchatting every moment of our lives … just a few short years ago Snapchat was known as an app for elusive content deemed only appropriate for ephemerality (to put it into kind words).
Who can say what form or shape social media may take in the next few decades? Certainly not me. It’s entirely possible right now there’s a brilliant hacker with fingers flying across a keyboard in a dim basement somewhere in Palo Alto, coding a platform that’ll redefine content consumption for years to come. All we can really do as media creators is figure out where consumer attention is being traded most voraciously and put our words and images onto that platform so they may be seen, digested and enjoyed by the greatest amount of people until something new causes our entire strategy to shift.
As you astutely pointed out, the state of social media is in constant flux. Yet, knowing volatility is inherent to the game, we can at the very least remain alert and prepared for change, so that when it comes our way next, we’re more than ready to play.
“brilliant hacker with fingers flying across a keyboard in a dim basement somewhere” = SO NOT ME! Ha ha ha! I wish, though!
“All we can really do as media creators is figure out where consumer attention is being traded most voraciously and put our words and images onto that platform so they may be seen, digested and enjoyed by the greatest amount of people until something new causes our entire strategy to shift.” = Amen! Will you marry me?
The above comment (and the fact you deigned to reply to mine) are why you have 674 followers and I only have 43!
Take care, be well, and good night!
Denny
Oh my. I apologize for my previous comment, specifically the proposal. I really shouldn’t blog or facebook after midnight, especially when I’ve been drinking whiskey. Please forgive me.
Reblogged this on Millennial Millions and commented:
Hello everyone! @melissakandel did a cover on my thoughts and feelings regarding traveling, love, experiences and more! I absolutely loved being able to go more in depth regarding my experiences. I hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the reblog! xo
Love your blog, Melissa! Thanks for sharing with us.
And thanks for reading 🙂 Appreciate it! More to come …
Reblogged this on Robert Trinagel.