California Archives - The Atlas Heart

LA to San Francisco Road Trip: Recommended Stops, Planning Tips, and Sample Itineraries

November 22, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

An empty highway in the Big Sur area, LA to San Francisco Road Trip featured image.

An empty highway in the Big Sur area, LA to San Francisco Road Trip featured image.

Pack up the car and hit the highway with this ultimate LA to San Francisco road trip guide.

Where to See Fall Colors in California: 21 Spots for Fall Foliage & Leaf Peeping

October 28, 2022October 27, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

fall colors in california

fall colors in california

We’ve found the very best places to see fall colors in California to embrace autumn to the fullest.

45 California Redwood Parks: Ultimate Guide to the Best Redwoods in California

October 4, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

california redwood parks

california redwood parks

This article is your complete guide to the forty-five California redwood parks.

17 Best Ghost Towns in California, from Spooky Old Gold Rush Towns to Abandoned Cities

September 1, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

ghost towns in california

ghost towns in california

We’ve compiled the best ghost towns in California for those who love eerie old gold rush history.

13 Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit this Summer

March 15, 2022February 23, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit

Magical Lavender Farms in California to Visit

The best lavender farms in California to visit, including when to catch them in full bloom.

Where to See California Poppies in Full Bloom (2022 Guide)

March 15, 2022February 11, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

Where to See California Poppies

The best places to see California poppies and the perfect time to see them in full bloom.

39 Flower Fields in California (to Brighten up Your Spring, Summer & Fall)

April 18, 2022February 4, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

Flower Fields in California

Flower Fields in California

The ultimate guide to the best flower fields in California, including where and when to see the most colorful blooms.

California Islands Guide: 16 Beautiful & Unique Islands in the Golden State

April 18, 2022January 28, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

California islands

California islands

From the north to the south, these are the best California islands to visit in the Golden State.

11 Best Campgrounds in Northern California That You Should Book Now

March 21, 2022January 13, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best campgrounds in northern california

From the Golden Gate Bridge to Crescent City, Shasta Lake, and Lake Tahoe, these are the best campgrounds in Northern California.

Romantic Getaways in California: 17 Destinations to Fall in Love With

April 18, 2022January 12, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best romantic getaways in california

From rustic retreats to ritzy resorts, these are the most romantic getaways in California.

Even though I’ve been running my website since 2

Even though I’ve been running my website since 2012, it always used to be my passion not my main source of income.   It was a way of sharing my experiences and perspective about the places I traveled. I never had a business plan or looked all that much into how to make money from it.

Over the next six years, I went from bartending to running a somewhat successful consulting business as a freelance marketer that still allowed me to travel and work remotely.

Although I always imagined being able to make a living from my website, it honestly seemed unlikely that I’d be able to make money from something that I enjoyed so much.

It wasn’t until 2018 that I started teaching myself SEO and invested in numerous courses.   It took another year after that to start looking into how to monetize my website, and that was only after I lost one of my biggest clients and my monthly income was cut by 80%.

I thought it was as good a time as any to finally give it my best shot to create a successful blog that supported me.

I started building up a monetization strategy, intertwining my SEO skills to start making a little more money, one month at a time.

And then seven months later, March 2020 happened. And we all know how that went for the travel industry.

l was very close to walking away at that point, but I had seen how much growth there was in just seven months before everything came tumbling down. I couldn’t unsee that potential. So, after three months of a lot of languishing, I kept working on my site, more determined than ever.

It took another year and two months after that to finally be making just enough to end all my client work and start focusing on my website full time. I wrote an income report a month after that in June of 2021.

It was called “How I made $6,598 from my blog in June 2021.” When I wrote that article, I had big goals to hit 100,000 page views in a month before the end of the year (which I did!) and to make over $6,000 in a month again.

Secretly, I was hoping to double that amount by the following year, but looking back, I probably should’ve dreamed bigger.

Continued in the comments below👇

11 fake ring boxes later, @suneelj1 finally gave m

11 fake ring boxes later, @suneelj1 finally gave me the real one today on our favorite hiking trail in Berkeley. 💍❤️

2 years since our first date. ✨❤️ My first i

We’re feeling 22! 💃🏻🎉🎶. . ✅Vaccin

We’re feeling 22! 💃🏻🎉🎶.
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✅Vaccinated + negative COVID tests for everyone the day of before the party.
✅ Fancy on top, casual on the bottom.
✅Piñata, beer pong, rage cage, karaoke, confetti party poppers, midnight countdown, and all the food.
✅ A memorable NYE with some of my favorite people. ❤️
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Happy 2022!! 🎉💃🏻🍾✨

In May 2021, I finally took the leap. I decided to

In May 2021, I finally took the leap. I decided to end all client work and start working on my website full time. Since then, it has been a wild ride. It’s mind-boggling to finally see something grow into what you’ve always imagined it could be after 8 years of dreaming about it.
 In 2021, I published 87 posts. I finally learned how to delegate better, hiring one VA and three writers to create a team of brilliant and talented women beside me. Site traffic grew by 149% to around 870,000 page views for the year (averaging around 93,000 per month for Q4). Annual revenue grew by 300% and included hitting a new benchmark - our first five-figure month (with many more to come)! I also explored so many new corners of California in the name of research, including the Channel Islands, Pinnacles National Park, more of Big Sur and the Bay Area, and even tackled my biggest adventure yet - hiking the Trans-Catalina Trail over 5 days.

My goals for 2022? There are too many to name here, but just know that it will be a year focused on growth and chasing big things. 2021 was a taste of what could be, and this year I finally feel ready to hit those big milestones I used to only dream of (a consistent publishing schedule, six figures, and well over 1M page views before the year is done).

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!! Let’s go kick some ass in 2022.💃🏻✨

A look at some of the books I read in 2021, I read

A look at some of the books I read in 2021, I read 32 books this year!
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In swiping order is 1) my favorite books that I read in 2021 (and one not pictured: “Second Foundation” by Isaac Asimov), 2) all of the fantasy/sci-fi books I read, 3) all of the non-fiction books I read, and 4) all of the misc fiction/historical fiction books I read. There were also a couple others that I read that aren’t pictured here because I read them on my Kindle: “Beach Read” and “People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry, both of which I consumed in under a week they were so good.
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In previous years, I’ve mostly focused on reading non-fiction business and travel books. I still read some of those this year (“Profit First” - actually a re-read, “High Performance Habits”, “Leave Only Footprints”), but this was the year I got back into reading just for fun.
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My reading list this year consisted of a lot of good stories, and I especially dove into a lot of fantasy and sci-fi books, a genre I hadn’t explored much before. I also continued my goal from 2020 of reading more books from POCs (including both fiction and non-fiction racial justice books) to surround myself with a wider variety of perspectives.
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The most disappointing book I read this year? Dune. Loved the movie, I don’t understand why so many people love the book though. It was a slog to get through.
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So, what should I read in 2022? What was your favorite book from 2021 that I should add to my reading list? Looking for any and all recommendations (as you can see, I pretty much read anything) to hit my goal of 40 books for 2022.

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