Interview with Travel Blogger Alexx Hayward

I worked in marketing for a travel agency straight out of uni, and started working on my travel writing and photography skills through that job. I worked for them for four years in New Zealand and then two years in their head office in the UK, before deciding to try travel blogging full-time while travelling solo after my UK visa ran out.

My top tip would be to know your point of difference. There are so many travel bloggers and content creators out there, what makes you different from the rest of them? It might be a particular photo style, it might be the types of topics you talk about on social media, or it might be something like budget travel for adventurous solo female travellers.

Milford Sound was so magical, I visited on my six week South Island road trip last year and that was absolutely a highlight. We spent the night at the Milford Lodge campsite and woke up to beautiful blue skies and went for a kayak trip where we saw penguins and seals!

It’s impossible to choose but the three I really, really loved are Vietnam, Switzerland and Turkey. I love everything about Turkey’s food, people and culture, Vietnam offers brilliant bang for your buck, and Switzerland’s mountains remind me of NZ, plus they have lots of cheese!

I can’t travel without my comfy wireless headphones (I have the Sony WH-1000X), a decent travel pillow and snacks.

Pretty massively! I was nine months into a long-term solo round the world trip when borders started closing, and I came home in a mad dash after the Philippines gave people 48 hours to leave the country. I landed in NZ about a week before our full lockdown and have been ‘stuck’ here since. I was lucky enough to spend three months exploring our own backyard in a camper van last year which was incredible, and I’ve also done two more South Island trips plus a Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa getaway since then. My content went from being in a cool new place every single week to being mostly me working on my computer in my apartment for weeks on end while I save up for another NZ adventure. Living and travel costs are much higher here and being self-employed in travel obviously isn’t a great career situation right now, but I’m grateful that I’ve had the ability to travel domestically and I’ve been able to make it work so far. My content has definitely shifted to talking about responsible travel too, and what that might look like once borders start reopening. How do we ensure our travel doesn’t negatively impact local communities, how do we minimise the risk we bring, all that type of stuff.

@_aswewander, @wanderingdonut and @haylsa are my current faves because they’re giving me the best tips for an upcoming Australia trip, @sophiepiearcey is a content creator guru and has the most amazing NZ mountain photos, @viktoriawanders and @ryan_domenico are also NZ travel legends, and I’m obsessed with @thebrokegeneration for money advice and @shityoushouldcareabout for keeping on top of current events.

I’m a sucker for carbs so Italy comes out on top for food!

What are your top three packing tips?

1. Create a capsule wardrobe where each piece matches with a few other pieces, maximum outfits with minimum clothes!

2. Check cultural requirements before you pack. You might need to cover shoulders and knees, so a lightweight dress like the Kosan travel dress with customisable length is ideal.

3. Lightweight suitcases are KEY. I travel with Samsonite Cosmolite for my suitcase and cabin bag, and they are (or were at the time) the lightest hard cases I could find. Don’t waste precious kgs on heavy bags!

I’m all about making the most of your time in a destination, so I do all the above! I love getting right amongst the food scene and I try to do a food tour in each new place I visit, this way you learn about local delicacies and can be more confident to order those dishes for the rest of your trip, plus you’ll get to hear about the destination’s history and culture as well. I also love finding the best views so whether that’s at a rooftop bar or at the top of the mountain, I’ll be exploring with my camera to make sure I can capture the destination in the best way.

Travelling solo is an epic adventure but it comes with lots of misadventures too. Being quarantined on a private island in the Philippines just as Covid started was pretty crazy, we spent a few days snorkelling with turtles, drinking rum around the bonfire and sleeping in tents on the beach before being allowed back on the mainland to fly home. Last year on the first day of a three month NZ road trip our campervan got crashed into literally as we were getting on the motorway to leave Auckland, and we waited three hours for a tow truck to tow us back to the depot to pick up a second van. And losing my wallet with ALL my money in it in one of the most expensive countries in the world, Switzerland, wasn’t great either! Moral of the story here is ALWAYS get travel insurance, never out all your access to money in one wallet, and also don’t leave your wallet on a bus.

1. Plan your accommodation and route to save time and money, but always give yourself some flexibility to change plans based on weather or because you discover something else to add to your itinerary

2. Travel insurance is a must, full stop.

3. Have a brilliant time! Travelling for the first time can be scary but getting outside of your comfort zone builds your resilience, improves self-confidence and will help you hone your problem-solving skills.

First stop is Australia, I’ve got three months exploring the East Coast from September this year which is going to be epic. And once it’s safe I’d love to continue my round the world trip. The destinations that were coming up when I had to pause it were the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea, and I only had a day in the Philippines before the world turned upside down, so I can’t wait to head back to that part of the world.

Connect with Alexx on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or check out her blog!