Are you a dreamer? Do you dream about faraway lands, overwater bungalows or other exotic vacations? Have you ever been afraid to get into a kayak for fear it will sink? Have you talked yourself out of a hike because you thought you might not be able to finish it?
My name is Sharon and I’m a dreamer too! Except now I’m doing everything in my power to live that dream. I used to browse the internet planning vacations I never had the courage to book. There was always a fear: I can’t travel alone, I’m too fat to do that, it looks hard and on and on.
The beginning…
I started this website as a dreamer, sharing my boring beach vacation stories, favourite travel products, but I yearned for more. Then I went to my first travel blogging conference and stopped hiding behind the words of my blog. I saw that travel bloggers came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
On my very first press trip, we went treetop trekking. It was a hard course and after two obstacles I realized I wasn’t going to be able to complete it. I swallowed my shame, disappointment and fear as the crew set up a high angle rescue. Yes, that is me being rescued out of the tree. That’s me in my plus size 18 pink capris pants having a life revelation. About half way down I had this overwhelming moment of pure joy. I knew I was the only blogger on the trip with this story and also I knew in my core, this is what I was meant to be doing. I found my passion.
… the life-changing moment when …
I learned something that day, I am afraid of heights and not a fan of military type treetop rope challenges. Clearly, I was not in shape enough to do that level of trekking, but I also didn’t die from trying. I swallowed my fear of heights, the fear of dropping off the platform to repel down the tree and I survived. That moment fueled me to try more things and stop dreaming about my life and start living it.
I hope my story will inspire you to try something new however small and discover your own dreams and passions.
The Daily Dream 360°
I had a lot of dreams. Including a healthier body, running my own business and travelling the world. I’m not going to lie, that moment in the tree was humiliating. It made me mad. I committed myself to healthier eating and more activity because of it. I attend regular weekly meetings at Weight Watchers and struggle with the challenge of losing weight while travelling.
Then I was downsized from my corporate life. Instead of crying about it, I took the plunge and started my graphic design business. Here is a secret about travel writing and blogging – unless you have a million visitors it’s not going to make tonnes of money. You have to have a side hustle. Mine is graphic design and now I work on balancing self-employment, healthy living and travel.
I’m Daily Dream Sharon!
I partnered with some amazing brands to test out their products (yes I’ll even share shots of me with no makeup trying face masks) and had the opportunity to drive all over my home province Ontario. That’s how my adventures really took off I experienced a lot of little dreams: rode a Segway, zip lined, went ice fishing, went dog sledding, went snowshoeing, saw a tractor pull, saw a horse pull, and attended a demolition derby. I’m so excited to share my stories, photos and experiences with you all!
I found myself in Texas for the first time, and more US travel brands followed. Before I knew it I had written hundreds of posts making up detailed destination guides of each region. In 2016, I added Florida and Virginia to the US destination guide. In 2017, I started the year off in Cuba and Antigua and to celebrate Canada’s 150th I explored more regions in Quebec and Prince Edward Island. I’m so excited to continue the journey which will take to Croatia later this year!
After seven years of travel and lifestyle writing, I’ve decided it is time to focus not only on my dreams but on how to balance them. A 360° approach each day to my little and big dreams. The result is this travel and lifestyle website filled with tips on travel, gear, fashion, beauty, health and more. I’m hoping to move beyond just another travel and lifestyle website into a community where dreamers like me can find inspiration to live their own balanced Daily Dream 360° life!
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