Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Haywood.
Hi Claudia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My love for travel started as an undergrad. I was a collegiate volleyball player for the Xavier University of Louisiana and I was invited to play volleyball in Costa Rica by a company named Beyond Sports. It was my first time traveling outside of the country.
While there, I had the opportunity to explore the Costa Rican culture and the amazing sites that it has to offer. Since then, I have made travel a priority for myself and life. I have been fortunate enough to travel all around the world and experience new cultures, foods, and people. I wanted to be able to share this experience with others to show them that travel is possible with a full-time career and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Before I started to break out as a content creator, I would say that my journey was fairly easy. Since branching out into the creator industry, most of the challenges I’ve faced are due to the expectations I’ve put upon myself. While social media can be a rewarding place, it can also cause me to compare myself to my other well-established peers.
Becoming a travel content creator is extremely competitive. There is a lot of pressure that I put upon myself to go viral or hit certain metrics that I can lose sight of the joy of traveling, which is why I started in the first place.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a travel blogger/content creator, I travel throughout the country as well as internationally while I create content from my experiences. Instead of concentrating on one specific niche, I allow myself to branch out to different aspects of travel. I focus on solo travel, International travel, local experiences, food, and travel essentials. Since starting my travel journey, one of the things I am most proud of is challenging myself to solo travels and adventures. There are a lot of stigmas that come with solo travel, especially for females, particularly African Americans.
When it comes to solo travel as an African American female, we are told that it is too dangerous due to the amount of global racism that is experienced. While engaging in solo adventures and travel, I have a sense of confidence in myself that wasn’t present before. Solo travel has allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone as well as prove to myself that I am able to challenge societal norms.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
One piece of advice I would give to someone who is just starting out in the travel content creation field is to never lose sight of the joy of travel.
It can easily be lost when focusing on reaching an audience or comparing yourself to others. Continue to focus on why you started the journey and the rest will come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://viewsfromclaudia.wixsite.com/travel
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viewsfromclaudia/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@viewsfromclaudia
