Traveling over 80 cities under her belt, lifestyle blogger Jocelyn Castillo lives by the true meaning of carpe diem by doing it one city and one blog at a time. Today, Jocelyn’s platform CCD inspires thousands of women to live presently and to pursue their own aspirations.
“Chasing’ is a reminder to always go after your dreams. Whether it’s traveling to new adventures or landing the dream job – chase it. While, Carpe Diem symbolizes presence, I hope to see my following live presently in the moment.” -JC
How did you start becoming a lifestyle and travel blogger?
JC: “I had decided to stay home for college, but still wanted to get the “out of state” experience. So I decided to start traveling and documenting everything journalistically and suddenly I grew a following that felt inspired by what I was doing. When I graduated college, I took blogging full time. It’s been the best!”
Of all the places you’ve traveled, what are some of your most memorable experiences?
JC: “I think by far the most memorable one was my one month away in Europe. I traveled to Spain, Italy, and France. I have never felt more challenged and more free at the same time. I could do that trip all over again!”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received when you started your personal brand?
JC: “Stay true to who you are and don’t conform to being someone you’re not.” Now I look back and totally!! Its been the only way I’ve grown organically. “
What is the best advice you have for a blogger who has to travel on a budget?
JC: “I still travel on a budget. It’s the best way to travel. If you can’t spend the money to travel outside of your own city or your own state, own where you live. Be the person that EVERYONE goes to for advice about your city/town/state. I love when all my friends ask me about places to eat or a hotel to stay for some “staycation.” Travel blogging is about knowledge even if it means your own city. OWN IT!”
How many cities/countries have you traveled so far? What is one city/country you dream of going to one day?
JC: “I’ve traveled to 82 cities so far! The city that I am DYING to visit is Petra in Jordan. It is my life dream to visit this gem. Hopefully one day – fingers crossed!”
How do you juggle and balance your personal life with the amount of traveling?
JC: “It’s becoming a lot harder to juggle my personal life with the amount of traveling that I do. I think right now separating the two is helping. I also try to make friends everywhere I travel to so that I can also hang out with friends if I visit the city again. I think the hardest part about being a travel blogger is forcing my friends to stop and help me take photos when they’re traveling with me. Not everyone will understand what you’re doing and I think respecting that is very important.”
What do you love most about being a lifestyle blogger?
JC: “Meeting people. I am a people’s person so being able to share the kind of life I am setting myself up for and helping others is the most rewarding thing about this. “
What’s some advice for someone wanting to start a travel blog?
Do it! It’s never too late to start doing what you love to do.”
Do you prefer to travel alone or with company?
JC: “This is such a hard question. It depends where I am traveling to. I feel like when I travel on my own I learn more about myself because I’m held accountable for everything that happens during the trip, while traveling with a company there’s more compromising to do, but it’s still fun of course. Yeah, totally a hard question. Haha!”
What’s your biggest goal this year?
JC: “To have a place I can call my own 🙂 I haven’t felt “at home” in a while so I’m looking forward to this!”
About Jocelyn Castillo
I’m a travel blogger navigating her twenties through the use of airplane tickets. I’m here to purposely bring out the wanderlust in you. ❤
IG: @chasingcarpediem
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jocelyncastillo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChasingCarpeDiem/
Website: http://chasingcarpediem.com/?fbclid=IwAR2yKrNIpW2-FTCegZE_k_wG1xzPr5gvMNgA5tqgTTINyNVKf3a_Ry8pgJ8
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