Gear Archives - The Atlas Heart

41 Best Dirty Santa Gifts Under $25 That Everyone Will Love

September 29, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

dirty santa gifts

dirty santa gifts

Show up to your next holiday party with the best Dirty Santa gift that everyone will want to steal.

Canoe vs. Kayak: Main Differences & Which One is Better

September 26, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

canoe vs kayak

canoe vs kayak

Are you confused when comparing a canoe vs. kayak? This article is our guide to understanding their differences.

57 Top & Best Gifts for Boaters Who Are Always on the Water

September 21, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

gifts for boaters

gifts for boaters

Functional and fun gifts for boat owners that they’ll love as much as they love their boat.

11 Best Kayak Racks for Trucks to Transport Your Kayak Securely and Easily

September 19, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best kayak racks

best kayak racks

Read through our guide to finding the eleven best kayak racks for trucks.

45 Best Gifts for Beach Lovers Who Enjoy Sunny Days Near the Ocean

September 19, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

gifts for beach lovers

gifts for beach lovers

Pack your swimsuit and towel because we are diving into the best gifts for your favorite beach lovers.

37 Fun & Best Gifts for Long-Distance Friends to Make Them Feel Closer

September 2, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

gifts for long distance friends

gifts for long distance friends

We’ve rounded up the best gifts to help long-distance friendships to grow no matter the distance.

11 Best Kayaks for Kids To Get Them Out on the Water at a Young Age

August 26, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best kayak for kids

best kayak for kids

We’ve rounded up the best kayaks for kids, no matter their age or skill level.

71 Best Travel Gifts for Every Budget and Type of Traveler

August 26, 2022August 19, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best travel gifts

best travel gifts

A comprehensive guide to the best gifts for travelers, written by a world traveler.

62 Best Gifts for Hikers That They’ll Actually Use

August 26, 2022August 18, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best gifts for hikers

best gifts for hikers

The ultimate guide to the best gifts for hikers so you can find the perfect gift for any hiking enthusiast.

11 Best Action Camera Microphone Attachments for Top-Notch Audio [GoPro, DJI, Drift]

August 16, 2022 by Mimi McFadden

best action camera microphone attachment

best action camera microphone attachment

Find the best action camera microphone attachment to capture audio for every camera and digital recording device.

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! 💃🏻🎉🎶.
.
✅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. ❤️
.
.
.
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!
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.

Follow Me on Instagram

Join the Adventure

Get first dibs on travel updates, tips, and deals. Life is an adventure, join me around the world!

HOME
START HERE
DESTINATIONS
BLOG

ABOUT
RESOURCES
CONTACT
PRIVACY

HOME
START HERE
DESTINATIONS
BLOG

ABOUT
RESOURCES
CONTACT
PRIVACY

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2022 The Atlas Heart | Design made in collaboration with Ink & Honey Design Co. + Michelle Robins Creative