Blogger Spotlight: Victoria Philpott, VickyFlipFlop

VickyFlipFlop is described as a blog for people who want to make the most of their annual leave, weekends, money and friends by exploring the world. The author of the blog, Victoria Philpott is quick to point out that VickyFlipFlop is not just another solo female travel blog but instead a very practical, down to earth site that offers advice on how to travel on a budget. In this spotlight Vicky Philpott, who was recently featured on top travel ranking talks to us about how she measures the success of her blog, being featured in The Guardian and her future travel plans. 

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different? I want to show my readers how they can travel the world too, no matter how much time they have to play with. My blog is full of practical advice on travelling to the destinations I have been to, complete with recommendations. I keep it light hearted and aim to entertain with my stories, photos and videos.

How do you measure the success of your website? By the amount of readers I have who email to thank me for inspiring their holiday, or their path to blogging. That’s another passion, to show others how they can lead this incredible life I seem to have carved out for myself too.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Just start. You don’t have to push it live straight away but if you start writing on as many days as possible now you’ll soon get into the swing of it and learn more about what you enjoy writing about. This will help inform your blog name, what you want to focus on and how you want your blog to look and feel. I know a lot of people get stuck on what to call it – this way nothing has to be definite for now. Don’t wait until you’re ready to publish though, it could be a long time until that moment comes along.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? I like to keep things personal. I’d much rather meet up with a PR in person and have a chat to see how we could work together. In my experience, that’s what has produced the best results for a destination and for us. If I understand them and they understand me, we can work together on a plan and itinerary that suits both of our needs and goals.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? The biggest challenge is time and distraction. As soon as I even click on the Pinterest homepage for example, I’m lost down a hole of cooking and interior decorating, neither of which I do or need. Same with most of the platforms. I have to be really strict with myself, or I work in places without Wi-Fi. That way I can focus on the writing without worrying about notifications or pop-ups all the time. I will always promote my content on social media. Personally, that’s how I get most of my news and updates, rather than visiting individual sites.

What can PRs do in working better with you? Arrange to meet to see how we can help each other. And to understand that having a successful blog isn’t easy and to respect the work, effort and time that has gone into it. It’s not just a platform for others to show off their wares on, but can be a way to show off a new and interesting destination or idea to engaged readers that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. As far as I know every campaign I’ve worked on with a PR has turned out well. If I get bad vibes, I don’t do it.

What has been your blogging highlight? Getting featured in Wanderlust Magazine, and a few times in The Guardian, have been pretty cool! I used to be a magazine journalist so I’ll always get a buzz from seeing my name on paper and in print. Of course working with PRs to promote St Lucia, St Kitts, California, Cape Town, Florida and Israel have been trips beyond what I ever thought possible too.

I’ll never forget being picked up from the airport in a helicopter at Munich, flying to the top of Kitzbuhel mountains to ski for two days and then paragliding back down. The opportunities my blog has bought me are unimaginable. And the friends. It feels like quite a cliche, cutesy thing bloggers say now, but honestly I’ve met some truly awesome people through my blog that I never would’ve otherwise.

What will be big in your blogosphere in the coming months? I’ve been living nomadically and travelling solo for two years now, mostly staying just a few days in one place. In the next few months I’ll be slowing down a bit to concentrate on blogging about my experiences, and to sort the thousands of photos out.

I have plans for London and Paris for August, sailing Croatia for September and then the rest of the year will be spent between my favourite European city, Barcelona, and London. I make these relaxed plans though, and then an opportunity comes up that I just cannot say no to. By the time this goes live it’ll probably have changed!

What does being in the Vuelio Blog ranking mean to you? The fact that these rankings are scientifically calculated makes it mean a lot. There are a lot of lists about but they’re mostly the writer’s opinion so to be on this one, with some science as back up, is great. Thanks for reading, and if you dont’ check it out!