Ryan Biddulph is a travel blogger and digital nomad who began his journey in 2008 after leaving a security guard job. He founded his blogging platform Blogging From Paradise to share insights on blogging, mindset and location-independent living. Over the years, he has been living nomadically, moving from country to country and helping others grow their blogs.
Q. You started blogging in 2008. The early to late 2000s were the “golden years” of blogging. What was it like jumping on the blogging bandwagon back then?
I had fun blogging because it was a neat way to share your thoughts. Blogging has not changed much if you stick to the fundamentals of creating and connecting.
Q. Nowadays, everything is AI-driven and information-overloaded. Do you think blogging still matters, and if so, how have you seen it evolve from the golden years to today?
Blogging is as important as ever. Humans want content from humans not something that technically does not exist. AI just repackages what has already been created. Who wants that?
People want content from heart-centered humans with compassion, empathy and personal experiences one can resonate with. This is why my blog continues to take off. As AI-fatigue wears, more bloggers turn to a person with a heart, experience and mindfulness, to listen to and solve their problems with content.
I teach how to think right side up in an upside down thinking world. That message will always be relevant.
Q. You make your own blogging ebook and even teach blogging online. What mistakes do you see beginners making, and how can they develop their own voice?
I sell a few eBooks and an online course to teach blogging because gross misinformation litters the blog-o-sphere. I remember how frustrated I felt as a new blogger. I want no one to suffer like I did, especially in the Wild West Age of spammy internet marketing in 2008.
Beginners think that blogging is just writing about anything on your mind. In reality, running a blog involves picking one niche, mastering content creation by practicing for 1000s of hours and learning a multitude of skills, from genuine outreach, to monetizing to the often misunderstood mental aspects of thinking, feeling and behaving like an established entrepreneur well before you go pro.
As for developing your own voice, writing 500-1000 words daily online or offline is the quickest way to do it. Practice writing to strip away self-conscious fears blocking or preventing your voice from emerging.
Write. Write some more. Then write again. This is also the best way to become a highly successful blogger. Most write only if they have a post to publish; big mistake, since most bloggers publish infrequently.
Q. “Blogging from Paradise,” and I am guessing “paradise” means the lifestyle freedom you are living right now. How would you describe what “paradise” looks and feels like in your everyday life?
Yep. You got it, my friend.
On a worldly level for me, paradise symbolizes circling the globe as I experience life as a digital nomad. I am largely free from time and location.
So, if you stare at a clock now and feel anything but immense peace, you are bound to time, afraid to lose it. Ditto for any fears related to being in a house, or apartment, as a prime aspect of your existence. That life was never really for me once I got a taste of making life *feel like* a vacation (largely), not something to run away from for a week each year.
Of course, transitioning from the semi-hell we typically experience (what the ego calls the “real world”) to paradise entails facing, feeling and releasing many fears in the mind. This is not always easy, but it is do-able since none of us are mindless.
Q. Let’s talk about you being a digital nomad. What is something about this lifestyle that people usually misunderstand?
Most people believe that they cannot do it because of people or things outside of them. This is not true.
Most people harbor severe psychological attachments *in their mind* to people and things external to the mind.
Conquer your fears and you can easily become a digital nomad. You will begin to experience that life goes on as your travels go on. Family, friends, your old job and favorite restaurant easily exist without you, even if some folks a bit scared to be equally free may give ya a little hell for your decision.
Q. As a digital nomad, what has been your favorite place to work from?
Too many to pick one. I love Thailand, Bali, New Zealand and Turkey the most. I love working from these places for the mix of convenience, culture, natural beauty, food and the locals are uber friendly. Traveling and blogging feels more seamless in loving, beautiful, fascinating environments.
Q. Has blogging ever felt like it limited your ability to enjoy where you are, or is it the total opposite, helped you immerse yourself more and pay closer attention to the places you visit?
Being fully transparent….both.
When I harbored deep fears about blogging, I wasted trips by spending too much time online when I should have been offline enjoying life in locations.
But facing those fears head on established a sense of balance. I slowly began to spend more time offline, mindfully noting the world around me. Doing this gave me the ability to add travel experiences to my blog with greater frequency.
Q. After so many years on the road, do you still feel like a traveler who is constantly on the road, or have you settled down into slow travel?
Slow travel, all the way.
Or you could say that I have realized that home is in the mind not the world.
Going back to the same GPS pin consistently is not home but a temporary placeholder for you.
I just change worldly houses or apartments more often than most.
As I change locations, I take my time to enjoy these spots slowly and mindfully. Or at least I intend to do so.
We usually spend a week to a month in most spots immersing ourselves a little bit. These beats rushing through locations in days or even hours. Almost no one can be mindful in such a scenario because when you are always thinking about time you cannot possibly be mindful in the moment.
Q. Your message to our readers?
Challenge your fears.
The secret of life is experiencing how we live inside-out.
Once you start to get the hang of it, life becomes much more fun and you will lose any desire to punish yourself, to victimize yourself or to remain in situations you have long outgrown.
All photographs credit: Ryan Biddulph
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