Interview with Noah Lederman of Somewhere or Bust

When his friends were getting employed at office desks and studio apartments, Noah Lederman packed his bag along with a surfboard to see what was the world is like. In this interview we talk about his experiences, blogging and much more.

How do you see yourself? Traveler who blogs or a blogger who travels?
I’ve always been a traveler and a writer. Blogging is relatively new to me compared to my 32 years of travel and 10 years of writing, but now the words travel and blogging are so interconnected that I don’t think I know how to travel anymore without turning an experience into a post.

What is the most memorable experience in your travels? What is’nt?
On my trip from Vietnam to Cambodia, we paid for an air-conditioned van to meet us at the border. Instead, two motorbikes showed up. It’s a pretty funny story, which I write about in my free travel ebook, Misadventures in Southeast Asia.

You are making a non-fiction of your grandparents? Where did the idea stem from?
I was always interested in my grandparents’ stories about surviving the concentration camps. It took me many years to get my grandmother to speak about the Holocaust, but after I traveled to their hometown in Poland, she finally shared her stories with me. Since then, I’ve been working on the manuscript and hope to share them with the world.

Take us through the life of a travel blogger. What are the qualities should a travel blogger have?
The life of a travel blogger isn’t much different than the life of any traveler. We’re all looking for new experiences. Travel bloggers probably just see these experiences through a different lens because we’re attempting to capture them and communicate them to our readers.

A travel blogger should always say “yes.” Then you’ll have a story.

What are the pros and cons of being a travel blogger?
Pros: Travel and write
Cons: Handling all the backend stuff on WordPress. (I’m not much of a techie.)

How do you monetize your blog?
I do a lot of freelance writing for other publications and once in awhile sell ads. I’m more focused on my bigger projects. Besides a novel that I’m writing and the project about my grandparents, both of which I’m seeking a traditional publisher for, I’m also completing a book about traveling through Cambodia’s sites of genocide. I’d like to sell this as an ebook on my blog.

You suggestions to aspiring travel bloggers and writers?
Write a lot. Read novels. It will improve your writing. Understand the basics of SEO and how to best use social media if you cannot depend on Web Chimpy services. Also, it’s a good habit to write valuable comments on other people’s blogs. But most importantly, manage your time. Blogs, social media, SEO–all of this can be a huge productivity sinkhole if you get too addicted.

Anything else you want to say our readers?
Always explore, but have no expectations.

Rapid-Fire Questions

Must have travel apps? I like Instagram and Twitter best.
A travel quote that inspires? “It is better to travel well than to arrive” – Buddha
A weird food you ate? Beetles, grasshoppers, whirligigs, and an assortment of other bugs.
A place you want to visit again and again? Central America for the surf, food, and opportunity to practice my Spanish.
Do you make enough money? Enough for me.

Noah Lederman is a freelance writer and you can find his travel stories on his blog Somewhere or Bust. Alternatively you can follow him on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram.