Ø  Who are you?

My name is Matt Long and I’m the founder of the travel blog LandLopers.com. An experiential luxury traveler at heart, Matt Long shares his adventures with thousands of readers every day through his award winning site LandLopers.com. As someone who has a bad case of the travel bug, Matt travels the world in order to share tips on where to go, what to see and how to experience the best the world has to offer. Based in Washington, DC, Matt has been to more than 65 countries and all 7 continents.

Ø  Where are you from/Where’s home?

I’ve lived in the Washington, DC metropolitan region since 2000.

Ø  What type of traveller are you? Backpacker, full time traveller, luxury traveller?

I call my style of travel luxury adventure. I love immersive, adrenaline pumping adventures but I also prefer the luxury side of travel, especially when it comes to accommodations.

Ø  Where was the first trip you took?

I assume you mean out of the country. Other than Canada and Mexico, I was 17 and went to Paris for the first time. That was the beginning of an obsession with travel.

Ø  Have you had any bad experiences whilst travelling?

Sure, while in Bangkok I fell prey to a scam by fake tourist police who shook me down for a bribe. Rather than let it cloud my opinions of the country though, I kept on traveling and today Travel Blogger Tell All – LandLopers.

Ø  What is the worst place you’ve travelled to and why?

I really hate Athens. It’s dirty, dangerous and aside from the Acropolis, not that interesting. The Greek islands however I heartily recommend everyone visit.

Ø  Where is your favourite place in the world?

Europe is my favorite continent to explore and I know that I will never tire of the food, culture, history and the ambience of just being there.

Ø  What would you be doing if you weren’t travelling?

I’m not a full time traveler. I have a partner, own a home and have three dogs. My time is a mixture of being at home and working on a variety of projects and travel.

Ø  Have you ever experiences any cultural faux pas?

I often see tourists who don’t spend enough time researching the culture of their destinations. Everyone should spend a few minutes learning about the places they visit before they ever leave home.

Ø  What is your Favourite airline?

Anyone in which I can fly business class.

Ø  Where are you off to next?

My next few trips include Jordan, the Caribbean, Sri Lanka and a European river cruise.

Blogging:

Ø  What is the name of your travel blog and why did you choose this name?

LandLopers.com. I wanted a synonym for traveler so I opened a thesaurus, found this one and fell in love with it right away.

Ø  When did you start blogging?

March 2010.

Ø  Why did you start a Travel blog?

Because I’ve always had a fierce love of traveling and wanted to share it with others. Also, a friend lamented to me that she wished she had my travel budget. The problem with that was that she and I made the same salaries, so it showed me that not everyone is as obsessive about travel as I am.

Ø  What are you tips for new Travel Bloggers?

You must have a true passion for the profession or you won’t be successful in the longterm.

Ø  Do you wish you did differently when you started out?

I wish I had paid more attention to the tech side. Still to this day I never pay attention to SEO and I wish that wasn’t the case.

Ø  What has been your most successful blog post and what was it about?

Probably a brief opinion piece about Iceland. As a country, Iceland speaks to many different types of people which is why I think it’s been so successful.

Ø What do you do to help make your articles successful?

Write well and think of creative angles.

Ø What social media platform is the most helpful for you and why?

I love them all, but Twitter is my favorite platform. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always seemed to understand it really well.

Ø  Do you have any tips for new bloggers who want to work with sponsors?

Stop worrying about working with sponsors. Instead, spend time making your site and your writing and photography truly excellent and everything else will fall into place.

Ø  Which travel bloggers do you admire?

So many, but especially the Traveling Canucks. They have a successful web site that they update all the time, plus two young kids and full time jobs. I still don’t know how they do it all.

Ø  Do you have any advice or tips for aspiring travellers?

Just go for it. Obsessive planning is the enemy of travel, just go on the trip you can afford right now and enjoy it for all it’s worth.

Ø  What is your Travel Motto:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau

Website url: http://www.landlopers.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/landlopers
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/landlopers
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Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/landlopers