Iva Dobreva, Bulgaria/UK: Blogging is a process of learning, self-discovery, and self-improvement!

1. Hi Iva, how are you? I would kindly ask you to introduce yourself to the Bellspiration readers so that we all can get to know you?

Hi Belma, I’m great, thank you. I’m very happy to have been given this opportunity and hello to the Bellspiration readers. My name is Iva Dobreva and I was born and raised in sunny Bulgaria. I’m currently a Media and Communication student at the University of Leeds on my way to complete a year-long industrial placement as part of my degree. I’m passionate about dancing, writing, traveling, spirituality, and social equality. 

2. You are a creator of travel-blog. Can you share with us your website and how did you come to an idea to start blogging?

Yes, absolutely. The name of my blog is Ivception ( https://ivception.travel.blog/ ) - kind of like the word ‘inception’ but I wanted to make it a bit more personal and related to my name so I swapped the ‘n’ with a ‘v’ and there you have it. I started my blog in December 2019 and I made a New Year resolution for 2020 to try to keep the blog alive no matter how difficult it can be to find inspiration to write. 

There was never a particular event that triggered my idea to start a travel blog. I’ve always loved writing and to this day I find it a lot easier to express myself through written communication rather than verbal. I was extremely lucky to have been given a jump start from my parents who had been taking me on multiple trips around Europe since I was 11, hence, I got to see and experience a lot. At 14 I was already comfortable with flying by myself and at 18 I moved out to the UK to study which did not halt my travel plans.

3. How difficult or easy is it to write blogs from trips? Would you give us some inside hints on how you do it? Are you writing during the trip or after?

It can be both easy and difficult. Sometimes it takes me a couple of hours to collate images and information about the places I want to include in a particular blog post, sometimes it takes days and even months. I think it all depends on my motivation, inspiration, the kind of things I have going on in my life which can make the whole process difficult. 

I always research the places I will be visiting in advance and I pick out spots and landmarks that I want to see and write about. I then make a list of those spots prior to my trip and I use it to structure and write my blog post after I’m back from the trip.  

4. Would you like to share with Bellspiration the favorite place you visited and why it made such an impression on you?

Good question! It’s a close one between Petra (Jordan) and Toronto (Canada) but I think I’d have to go with Toronto. It was my first time on such a long intercontinental flight, my first time in North America, I was flying alone and it was an exciting moment for me.

Toronto was everything I could have expected and more. As much as I enjoy nature and green landscapes, I’m crazy about sky-high buildings and busy cities with diverse cultures from every part of the world. 

5. For others who would love to start their own travel blog, what advice do you have for them?

My biggest advice is to make a start now and not give up once you’ve started. It is a lot of work in the beginning while you’re figuring out all of the technical bits like creating the blog, playing with the design and the whole outlook, deciding on how to plan your content, etc. It’s always helpful to have a look at different online travel blogs to get some inspiration. Consistency is also a huge factor and if you look at the dates on all of my blog posts you’d see that it’s something that I struggle with but I’m still determined to keep writing. Overall, blogging is a process of learning, self-discovery, and self-improvement and I’m sure this is something you’d be able to relate to, Belma. 

6. What motivates you in life? What inspires you the most?

Anything really! Because blogging is a way of self-expression, you can get inspiration from songs, books, stories, movies, photos, conversations, and anything that can influence the way you structure your sentences which is the case for me. I recently watched this Disney animated movie called “Soul” and it really touched my heart and made me think about what makes us all special and what we consider meaningful in life. 

I remember telling you this but the whole Coronavirus pandemic/lockdown situation affected me as someone who writes about traveling and was unable to travel. It also inspired me to think locally and to go on more local explorations every other weekend. I used it as an opportunity to write a few blog posts focused on traveling tips and gift ideas for travelers. 

7. Do you have an inspiring message for young people all around the world?

With the advent of the Internet and all those popular social media platforms, we’re constantly being bombarded with all sorts of media content. There are hundreds of thousands of successful social media influencers and celebrities and it’s oftentimes easy to feel small as if your life is less meaningful when your achievements are not linked to monetary possessions and fame. It’s easy to feel like you’re destined to be unsuccessful when you’re seeing 18-year-old business entrepreneurs whose careers are blooming and you’re in your twenties or thirties at university or working full-time without a clear plan for the future.

I’d say try and do more things that make you happy, try and create memories that will bring meaning to your life. Don’t worry about staying on top of social media but equally if posting online makes you happy, don’t worry about how others may perceive your posts, what they would think, what they would say. In fact, that is a piece of advice that I also need to take more often! 

8. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this Bellspiration interview! Good luck and see you soon :) 

Thank you so much for this opportunity, Belma! I’m truly grateful! Best of luck to you and the Bellspiration readers and let’s stay in touch. 

CONTACT:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/ivception.travel.blog/
Blog: https://ivception.travel.blog/