Talking Travel With Hippie In Heels: Living + Blogging In Goa, India

For the latest installment of my Talking Travel Interview Series, I’d like to introduce you to Rachel, one of my favorite bloggers! Rachel runs the awesome and inspiring travel blog Hippie In Heels, where she writes about her life on the beaches of Goa, India and beyond. Part hippie, part girly-girl, Rachel always has a best-of-both-worlds perspective when it comes to travel.

I’ve been following Rachel on Instagram (@hippieinheels) for some time now, and was recently selected to contribute to her blog + travel within the United States for Rachel in the event that she can’t go somewhere! You can check out my posts on Hippie In Heels here.

Hi Rachel! Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself!

 

Hi guys! I’m an American girl from Ohio, who lives in India! I started blogging about “glamorous travel” 3 years ago, and how to travel in India which was a fun change in career paths from nursing. I call myself the Hippie in Heels because although I kind of mix and match being hippie and being a girly-girl. While I don’t brush out my hair (love it wavy!), don’t even own a blow drier or curling iron, and tend to be barefoot & makeup-less, on the other hand, I do love fashion, dressing up when I travel, and love boutique hotels and spas! My backpacking years are far behind me!

 

Can you tell us more about living in India? How did you decide to move there?

 

I was backpacking India 5 years ago when I met my now-boyfriend in a bar in Goa. We only knew each other two weeks and then I went back to the USA to take a travel nurse assignment. When that was done (13 weeks later), I moved to Goa. It was not a hard decision as I wasn’t in love with nursing, was moving around in the USA anyway, and saw it as a fun thing rather than “wow, I’m quitting my job to move to India”. I didn’t know how permanent it would be or that my boyfriend’s job would require him to stay here so long.

What have been the best (and worst) parts about living in India?

 

The best parts are that I have two dogs, Shanti and Omni, and a cat, Kitkat, here and they are like my babies. I get to have my coffee in the morning on the balcony and watch the monkeys jump around. I work when I want to, and go to the beach when I don’t! The parties are great here and I’ve made awesome friends. It doesn’t hurt that it’s crazy affordable so I have saved money and like most foreigners here (and middle class to upper class Indians), I have a housekeeper, something I would never afford in the USA. There are downsides, though. I have lost two dogs (Huck and Piso) to diseases that they likely wouldn’t have gotten outside India. I have snakes in my backyard (the biggest has been an 8-foot python). They don’t treat women well here, and it’s a struggle to live in a place that has such poverty and civil right’s issues and it took years to realize my opinions and help offered are often seen as condescending and are not welcome as I’ll always be an outsider here.  

What first inspired you to start Hippie in Heels?

 

I didn’t even KNOW what a travel blog was when friends told me to start writing about traveling India alone (which is what I did before I moved here and a lot after I moved here, too). I decided to start one after they explained it to me (drunk, in a bar in Thailand, while I was saying “man, I need a job, Thai massage and making candles in Goa just isn’t paying well!”). I had to google every single step of it. It was fun to learn it all from scratch. Three years ago, there was a lot less information, whereas now every blogger has articles on how to start a travel blog step-by-step. Originally, it was meant to be about India only and I wasn’t even going to show my face on it!

In your experience, what are some of the best parts about travel blogging?

 

I have had hundreds, maybe even a thousand, girls email me to say they booked a trip to India after being inspired by my blog. India is seen as so scary, and it is wonderful to show another side of it.

I mean, free trips too, although bloggers don’t like to call them that 😉 are always going to be a perk. When I travel, I do exchanges for hotels, flights, and activities in return for coverage on my blog. Sometimes I get paid for it which is great, but if I’m 60 and still getting a hotel stay for free, I’m a happy girl!

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced while running a successful blog?

 

Being just one person! Especially a person with such a Type A personality. After all this time, I finally just hired a VA and only let her help with my Pinterest and replying to generic comments on Instagram. So, I really need to take more steps to grow – but find it so daunting. It’s hard to run a business totally alone. When things go wrong, there is no team. It’s just me!

How did you grow your blog so quickly? Do you have any advice for aspiring travel bloggers?

 

Honestly, I just wrote a TON. I wrote about India on every topic I could think of. I posted 6x a week for a year. To this day, I still have 4-5 post go up every single week without fail. I didn’t even know what SEO was. This third year of blogging, I’ve started doing “what the internet says to do” but honestly found that just doing what felt natural worked.

My advice would be to not compare yourself to others. It can be damaging to your SOUL lol. It takes time to be successful and even more these days where there are SO many travel bloggers. The competition is huge so just try to ignore it and grow your blog without looking around at others!

My last tip is to be yourself. I am not a writer. I’m a nurse. I just type like I’m talking to my bestie and it works. People want to feel like it’s real and not some travel book monologue. I just tell it like it is, and I share the bad stuff, too. Yes, these days my photos are more curated than when I used to show my sweaty self on Indian trains with a headlamp on, but that’s because these new “Instagram style” photos are what people love. While my photo style has improved and changed to fit the trends, my words have not and never will. You have to be honest and open to your readers. You have to reply to ALL your emails and comments and really get to know them! No matter how busy you are, that is what is most important.

 

If you had to choose a favorite destination, what would you choose and why?

 

India! It’s just got everthing: empty hidden beaches, dense jungles and tigers, deserts, snowy mountains, beautiful rice fields, epic tea fields, and more. The food is amazing, the people are hilarious, and there aren’t that many tourists here like Bali or Thailand making it feel like you are “off the beaten path” every single day.

Can you tell us about some of your upcoming travel plans or travel goals?

 

I want to write an ebook about Goa, which I’ve said for four years. UGH, it’s so daunting but this summer I have to start. I will go to the USA for six weeks. I’ll work with Visit Florida and Visit Myrtle Beach but for four weeks I’ll be with my family in Ohio. I do this every July. It’s really the best part of my year! Then in August, I’ll go see Ben’s family in London and Cornwall. From there, back to India and who knows!

What is your biggest advice to someone who is interested in traveling or moving abroad but isn’t sure about taking the leap?

Moving abroad is hard and I wouldn’t have moved to India if Ben wasn’t already here. I totally get that it’s different if you do it completely solo. I would say just really think it through; and 100% have a back up plan. I have one! As for traveling, don’t even think about, just do it.

 

---

Learn more about Rachel and her life in India on her website, Hippie In Heels, or follow her on Instagram!

You might also enjoy reading the rest of the Talking Travel Interviews, or some of these posts:

• Talking Travel: Learn How To Live A Work +Travel Lifestyle With Go Seek Explore
• How I Afford To Travel: 1 Year, 15 Countries, And Just $2,000
• How I Spent 1 Month In Greece (Almost) For Free!

Pin it for later!