Meet Sarah Bence of Endless Distances

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Bence.

Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my travel blog when I graduated from college and moved to England. At first it was very much about recording my experience and keeping in touch with family – sharing stories and photos and all that.

The more I recorded my experience living abroad and traveling, however, the more people started reading my posts. Eventually, I noticed I was writing for myself rather than out of any obligation to send my family photos!

Gradually I started teaching myself more and more about SEO-optimization, marketing strategies, WordPress, social media, branding, website coding, and monetization. At the start of 2017 I changed my blog name to ‘Endless Distances,’ after a line in one of my favorite poems, and started pitching to brands.

I’m very lucky now because over the last year I have had the chance to work with travel agencies, tours, and hotels all across the world, as well as build up my freelance writing business. I have now moved back to the USA, but I’m still writing about travel on Endless Distances, and writing for other companies, too!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I lived in England I was a full-time Masters student. There were times that it was very stressful, including one three month period where I had a four hour commute to my work placement! It was difficult to maintain, and build, Endless Distances alongside the stress of my Masters, but in the end my writing became a creative outlet. Keeping some kind of creativity and artistry in my life through travel writing helped me make it through my Masters.

Not to say that blogging and writing are only about art – I am self-taught, so I had many times when I struggled with the technical aspects of building a website and business myself. Eventually, I figured it out, and I’m very proud of that. Still learning, though!

Please tell us about Endless Distances.
Endless Distances is a travel and lifestyle blog. I don’t restrict myself to a niche, so I write about a variety of topics, including: ethical travel, sustainable, travel, health and wellbeing, living abroad, gluten free guides, and more. Although I do write the occasional “top 10” list or city guide, I pride myself more on my reflective and prose-style blog posts. My first degree is in poetry, so it’s important to me to keep my writing style not just SEO-friendly, but beautiful! I think the blogosphere has gotten very saturated with people just trying to rank high on Google, and many blogs are now missing out on the “soul” of it. I know I am not the biggest blog out there, and I don’t want to be, so I try to focus on creating poetic and genuine pieces. This leads to more personal connections with readers, which I really enjoy!

In my freelance writing business, I’ve written about a huge variety of topics. My specific niches are in travel (obviously) and yoga (because I am a yoga teacher!). I think I am set apart from others in my freelance writing because I am able to write in a wide variety of styles – I have experience doing scientific research, so I can write from an academic standpoint and do high quality research for pieces, but I also love poetry and creative writing.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Wow, this is a hard one! Growing up, we would visit my Grandparents in Florida every year. We didn’t do a lot of luxury, flashy, or international travel, so this was my introduction to “travel.” Just playing on the beach with my family. This is still my favorite trip to go on to this day, even after visiting over 25 countries!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.endlessdistances.com
• Email: sarah@endlessdistances.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endlessdistances/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/endlesdistances?lang=en
• Other: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/endlessdistance/boards/

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.