Travel Talk with Polkadot Passport

She’s colorful, adventurous, and got the entire world at her feet. In this week’s Travel Talk, I’ve been fortunate enough to do an interview with one of my all time favorite travel bloggers – Nicola Easterby from the popular Polkadot Passport. 

Hello Nicola! Today, we all know you as both a successful travel blogger AND an amazing photographer. But tell me, how did it all start? 
It’s funny to think about the beginning of it all. I’ve always loved photography- as soon as I graduated from high school, I studied photography at university and started my own photography business. I enjoyed it, but I knew more than anything that I just wanted to travel. So I took a gap year, went to Europe, and fell in love with travel photography. I didn’t even consider it as a career. Then I got picked up on Instagram by a tour company and they used my photographs in their brochures. Suddenly I was seeing my photos in the window of travel agencies and I started thinking that maybe I could make something out of this. The travel blog followed, and everything has just sort of snowballed from there.

That’s awesome! And as a professional globetrotter you get to see a lot of cool places and countries, but which place totally stole your heart? 
This is such a hard question as I’ve now fallen for way too many places. My favorite city is probably Budapest, it is such a vibrant place with some of the most beautiful buildings I’ve laid eyes on. In terms of countries, Turkey really did steal my heart. I have always had an obsession with going there and my recent trip there seemed to live up to all my expectations. It’s a country so rich in diversity, culture and history, and there really is no where quite like it.

Nicola exploring in the country that stole her heart – Turkey

 … And where are you NEVER EVER going back?
Probably Athens in Greece. It’s the kind of place I personally think you can go once and not feel a need to go back. Historically, it’s incredible, but unfortunately the financial state of Greece has caused the city to become very derelict and not the kind of place you’d want to spend a long time in.

Nicola really is a colorful Aussie

Nicola, you’re originally an Aussie – what is it that you always miss about your home country while on the road? 

There are two things that I will always miss about Australia no matter where I am in the world- the food and the beaches. Australia may not be known for its ‘cuisine’, but I find it hard to find the same standard of fresh, healthy and delicious food anywhere in the world. And the beaches- I may be bias but I’m pretty set that Australia has the most incredible beaches in the world. I was going to say I miss the people as well, but let’s be honest, when you travel you can’t get away from other Australians!

Can you reveal where you and your Polkadot Passport is heading next? 
Funnily enough, I am taking photos for a tour on the east coast of Australia for the next two weeks. Suddenly, I’m going to be a tourist in my own country, which will be a funny change! But I am excited to explore more of my home turf as I think it’s easy to forget the amazing things that are in our own backyard.You can find Nicola’s popular travel blog over at Polkadot Passport. You can also follow her adventures on , and on her totally amazing .