Blogger Spotlight: Meet Paul from Go Backpack Go

Hey guys! I just got back from Nicaragua yesterday so I figured I’d start of the week by introducing you to Paul! Paul is a digital nomad from the Netherlands who blogs at Go Backpack Go. He’s traveled extensively in Southeast Asia and works full-time as a WordPress developer and SEO Specialist from the road.

Name: Paul Ram

Age: 29

Occupation: Online Marketer, WordPress developer, SEO specialist.

Hometown: Amsterdam

Residence: Attic storage at the moment! Started traveling in October 2014.

Website: gobackpackgo.com

Country count: 28

Favorite city: Berlin & Chiang Mai

Favorite beach: Perhentian Islands (Malaysia)

Favorite food (I know this one’s hard!): Street food! But if I had to choose Pad Thai.

Favorite blog(s):

http://thebackpackerintern.com/

Home

But I also try to find smaller undiscovered where I can find some special places or tricks.

You’re originally from the Netherlands. How did growing up in the Netherlands affect how you see travel?

I lived in the middle of Holland in a small town,and then studied and lived in Amsterdam for seven years. In that time my sister did the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Beijing and traveled in Asia for six months. After I saw those pictures and she told me stories I made it one of my big dreams to travel for a year. I started with a cycling tour from Amsterdam to Pisa, Italy to test myself. And last year I decided to go.

You’ve traveled extensively in Southeast Asia. What have been your favorite experiences there?

Myanmar was awesome! In every country in Asia people want to sell you stuff and sometimes that can be bothersome. I arrived in Myanmar after 4.5 months. I was dropped in front of my hotel in Mandalay and two people approached me. They asked questions and I was thinking what do you want to sell me? And they left. That happened three times before I realized that they just want to talk to me and help me instead of sell me stuff. It For example, I rented a bicycle and rode it through Mandalay, a lot of kids started waving and yelling “Hello! Hello!” I felt like a king, it was so adorable.

You’re a full-time WordPress developer and digital nomad. How do you balance both work and travel? 

Last year I didn’t work, I just want to travel and enjoy my time. Now money is running out and I accepted a freelance job for three months in the Netherlands. In February I’ll go to New Zealand and Australia. I can work in Australia to make some money and travel further to the places in Asia I haven’t been yet. :)

What’s it like blogging in English, as English is your second language?

One of my goals on my trip was to improve my English. When I was on school I wasn’t good in languages as I prefer math. But now that I can speak and write better English it’s going much easier. With my blog I want to help much travelers as I can. My motto: Live is a journey not a competition. That’s also the reason I started to invite guest bloggers to promote their blogs on my website.

You’re an expert in SEO. How does that effect how you blog?

I want to make high-quality blog post to help other travelers. When I write a blog post about something I always follow some rules like: Where is it, what does it costs, how much time to you need, is it worth it? Add some pictures and if it is possible I add a video so people can see themselves how it is and decide to go or not. The basics of getting high in Google is high quality content.

What SEO tips do you have for bloggers? Any plugins you would recommend?

1. Always write about one subject and focus your blog post about that subject.
2. Combine different kind of content; text, pictures and videos.
3. Start to build high quality links from other good relevant websites.

If you use WordPress or Drupal I recommend the SEO plugin from Yoast.

So let’s hear it! Anything else you want to know about Paul?