Hi, it's great to (virtually) meet you!
My name's Hayley Stainton and my blog is a little bit different from that of most travel bloggers. Whilst we all want to know what the top things to do in New York are or where are the best places to eat in Barcelona, I've come to learn that this kind of blogging is a saturated market nowadays. There are already 1001 blogs that answer all of those questions for you that rank far higher than my little blog on Google, so I won't even go there!
I'm a normal Generation Y woman who, at aged 18, knew there was more to life than the realms of suburbia, a bland social calendar and two weeks in the sun each year. I craved adventure, intellectual stimulation and a sense of ‘the unknown'.
I've worked in a bar in Crete, travelled solo, travelled the world as Cabin Crew, climbed TWO mountains, completed a PhD, written a couple of books, got married, had two babies, almost went bankrupt and come out the other side, have published in the top academic journal for tourism research and visited countless along the way.
People ask me how to do I have the money or the time. People assume I must be rich…. I wish! I have achieved all of these things through ambition and motivation. I have worked hard but I feel that I've partied harder. One day I will read through dozens of journal articles in my office, the next day I'm struggling to change a nappy on the jungle floor in Costa Rica. I don't spend money on clothes (seriously look at my photos- I've been wearing the same summer dresses for about five years!), I don't spend money on takeaways. I have always had jobs which are either based overseas, involve travelling or which provide me with ample time off to travel. Like I said before, I am just an ordinary girl, no super powers here.. .
I have two facades: Academic and world traveller. This is my USP; there is no other blogger like me (that I've met yet- if this is you please say hello!). I combine my academic rigour with my travel and lifestyle experiences to present to you posts that have analytical underpinning and are based on first-hand experience or reputable research, without all of the jargon that scholars love to use.
But Lifeasabutterfly is no longer just about me. It's also about my family who play such an important role in all of this. My husband contributes posts when he's not bogged down with marking scripts and analysing data (seriously, we need to give teachers a bit more slack here in the UK, but that's another story…). He is also my number one photographer and videographer. My daughter seems to have become the star of the show, trumping my other photos on Instagram– it seems people love a cute giggling toddler in front of a Nepalese temple… I wonder why!?
When I was child I dreamed of becoming a writer. It wasn't so easy back then though. With the growth of the Internet, social media and e-publishing the world is now my oyster, and it's yours too! I love working in academia, I love travelling and I love my family. Life can be hard, sometimes we need some inspiration, sometimes we need a little motivation- and that's what Lifeasabutterfly is here to do.
Here is a bit more detail about my video-
Like what you read? Subscribe below for travel tips and discounts as well as conceptual explanations on all things travel!