I’ve never made a fuss over this blog’s birthday before, but I feel like 5 years is a pretty big deal so you know what? Let’s celebrate Frugal Frolicker’s 5th birthday!
And by celebrate, I mean nerd it up, look at some stats, and make some LISTS! Mostly ’cause I don’t really feel like writing anything mushy (feels like I’ve been doing a lot of that lately).
In all seriousness though, THANK YOU. Thank you for somehow stumbling upon my little slice of the internet and following my journey here and/or on social media. Thank you for the support, the comments, the likes, the shares, the emails. I am so grateful and humbled that you’ve chosen to spend some of your precious time reading what I have to say <3
Here’s to the next 5 years!
A Brief History of Frugal Frolicker
For those of you who are curious about my story: here’s a quick run-down of the major events in my life since the inception of Frugal Frolicker —
- January 2013: Launched the blog
- February 2013: Quit my job and flew from NYC to Kathmandu to kick off my 5 month solo backpacking trip around Asia
- July 2013: Returned to NYC and attempted to jump back into the “real world”
- October 2013: Started new job as sales operations manager at a start-up in NYC
- September 2014: Decided to restart my life and move to Australia (ah well, guess the “real world” aint for me!)
- December 2014: Quit my job (and the 9-5 life) and moved to Australia on the Work & Holiday visa
- September 2015: Began freelancing in SEO/web design
- December 2015: My Aussie visa expired, so I went to Indonesia for a few weeks and then returned to Australia on a tourist visa
- 2016: Did the digital nomad thing in Australia… freelancing, house sitting, and making visa runs every few months
- December 2016: Returned to the US after 2 years abroad
- January 2017: Returned to Australia on a student visa and officially made my home in Sydney
- March 2017: Applied for the Australian independent skilled visa
- April 2017: Started making some decent money off the blog with paid advertising
- September 2017: Received my independent skilled visa grant and Australian permanent residency
Stats for the First 5 Years of Frugal Frolicker
- Blog posts: 478
- Unique visitors: 540,000+
- Pageviews: 1,545,000+
- 18 countries visited (13 new): USA, Nepal, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, England, Canada, Colombia, Iceland, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, France, Italy
- Brands worked with: Merrell, YHA Australia, Matador, Luxury Escapes
- Tourism Boards worked with: Whitsundays, Queensland, Indonesia
Everyone loves reading about the Laugavegur Trail on my blog!
Most Popular Blog Posts on Frugal Frolicker
I thought it’d be interesting to pull my top 5 most popular blog posts according to a few different indicators. A few of these posts seem to be objectively popular across the board, while others kinda make me sit here and scratch my chin. Either way, it might by handy for those who only recently found my blog and maybe never read these old posts!
Most Commented-On Posts
- How To Plan For The Laugavegur Trail In Iceland
- The Best View Of The Sydney New Years Eve Fireworks
- How To Tour The Mekong Delta On Your Own
- What Happens Next
- Love and Loss on the Maya Bay Sleep Aboard
Most Viewed Posts
- How To Plan For The Laugavegur Trail In Iceland (note: has 3x as many views as 2nd most viewed post!)
- How to Spend 5 Days in New York
- How To Tour The Mekong Delta On Your Own
- 5 Reasons To Travel Southeast Asia During Off Season
- Hot Spring Hopping in the Iceland Wild
My post on crafting a Mekong Delta DIY trip has done super well, it seems.
Most Pinned on Pinterest
- How to Spend 5 Days in New York
- Biking Tulum: 3 Rad Excursions Without A Rental Car
- A Very Unplanned 5 Day Tasmania Roadtrip
- Everything You Want To Know About Hiking The Kalalau Trail
- A Year In Australia: What I Spent (& Other Numbers)
Most Linked Posts
- How To Plan For The Laugavegur Trail In Iceland
- Biking the Cape Cod Rail Trail
- A Week On Koh Lanta, Thailand
- How to Spend 5 Days in New York
- Street Art in Pilsen: Murals in Chicago’s Mexican Neighborhood
My NYC itinerary post is also a hit, for some reason.
My Favorite Blog Posts
Looking back through nearly 500 blog posts, the ones I enjoy re-reading the most are the more personal posts where, instead of giving a run-down of a place or hike, I’m sharing my struggles and values as they relate to travel.
These aren’t the blog posts that are going to rank well on Google or be shared across social media, but they’re the ones that are the most me. So if you’re at all curious about the blogger behind Frugal Frolicker, the articles below should be quite illuminating:
- I Dare You To Quit
- 10 Life Lessons I Learned Before Turning 30
- Too Many Hobbies, Too Little Focus
- In With The Old, In With The New: Balancing Comfort With Adventure
- How Much Would I Sacrifice For Travel?
- Be A Honey Badger!
- Tips For Traveling With Others When You’re An Introvert
- On Being Homeless and Planless
- Freelancing & Me, We’re Meant To Be
- Australia, I’m Yours
Selfies on the Kalalau Trail.
And Now, Over To You!
I must admit, I have been curious as to what you guys think of this blog and what you want from it. So for the first time ever, I’ve built a survey to find out!
** CLICK TO FILL OUT A SHORT ANONYMOUS SURVEY ABOUT THIS BLOG **
It’s only 6 questions and I don’t even ask for your name or contact details, so please feel free to be as open and honest as you’d like. Mostly, I just want a better idea of what sorts of blog posts are most interesting and useful for you so I can create more of them!
THANK YOU!
