Traveller of the Month: Bella from Passport & Pixels

Welcome to Traveller of the Month! Each month I’m featuring a fellow world traveller to meet new people in the travel world, hear their stories, and give a little love to a fellow travel blogger.

Without further ado, meet July’s Traveller of the Month: Bella from Passport & Pixels!

And if you missed last month’s, check it out here!

Who are you, where are you from and where are you now?

I’m Bella, I’m from the UK, and I’m currently alone at home in my flat in London because we are on coronavirus lockdown!

What’s your travel story? How did you get into travel and what kind of travel are you doing now?

I’ve been passionate about photography since I was quite young and that fairly swiftly developed into a desire to travel the world and photograph all the amazing people and places in it. I first went travelling immediately after I left school – I volunteered for six months in a school in Chile and then backpacked around South America with a couple of girls I met out there.

Since then I have been to over 60 countries on all 7 continents, but there is still so much more to see! I love getting off the beaten track to less touristy destinations; I love hiking, adventure and the outdoors; and I’m also passionate about wildlife photography so where possible I like to visit places where there are animal-spotting opportunities like East Africa.

When did you start your blog and what sort of stories do you share there?

I started my blog in 2017 after I had just finished a job making videos for Lonely Planet. I asked how I might get to write for them and my boss said, “What writing have you done? Do you have a travel blog?” I felt very foolish saying no and then immediately went home and created Passport & Pixels! And last year I had my first 3 articles published by Lonely Planet, so I guess it worked!

I share tales of my adventures in exciting places like Antarctica and Uganda, obviously with as many amazing photos packed in as possible. I sometimes share photography tips and advice. And I have a small side project writing spoof ‘Unhelpful Guides’ about the places I visit in my job as a documentary producer but never actually have time to explore.  

What do you do when you’re not travelling or writing about travel?

In my day job I’m a documentary producer/director making mostly science, history and archaeology shows for the likes of Discovery, the BBC and Channel 4. My latest project, a 2-part series about the Aztecs, is now available to watch on catch up on All4 in the UK and Science Channel in the US. And there’ll be an Unhelpful Guide to Mexico coming to the blog soon.

What’s your earliest travel memory?

I remember my parents used to take us on camping holidays in the South of France. We would all pile into the car and drive down, and I would spend the entire journey fighting with my brother and sister. We would stay in a fixed tent on a huge campsite and go out every morning to get warm baguettes from the boulangerie to bring back for breakfast. I remember at night really needing to go to the loo and being too scared to walk across the campsite to the toilet block in the dark. I hated those holidays!

What’s your best travel memory of the last year?

I recently got back from the trip of a lifetime to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. We had the most incredible time seeing millions of penguins, whales, seals, icebergs and more. I got to stand on my 7th continent. It was a truly momentous experience and when it ended, I cried. 

What is the longest trip you’ve ever been on? Shortest?

My longest two are tied – as mentioned above I spent 7 months volunteering in Chile and travelling around South America; after university I also spent 7 months working in Ghana and travelling around West Africa. Shortest would be weekend breaks to places like Munich, Budapest, Vienna and Paris.

What is your favourite blog post that you’ve written and why?

I do love my Unhelpful Guides as they seem to make people laugh and they are a bit different, but right now my favourite blog post is this one about the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. I wrote it as soon as I got back, putting aside all thoughts of SEO or ranking, writing from the heart and just trying to get all my incredible feelings about the trip down on the page. That makes it much more authentic than a lot of blog posts, and when I published it the response was quite overwhelming. 

What is your most unique travel moment? 

In 2018, while working in Uganda, I had the opportunity to travel into the DR Congo to climb the volcano Nyiragongo, which has the world’s largest lava lake. Not many people go because it’s quite hard to get to and the Congo is quite a dangerous place to visit. It’s a six hour hike to the top with armed guards to protect you from rebels, and then you get to camp at the top and spend hours watching the lava lake boiling and bubbling below like the gates to hell. It’s one of the most astonishing places I’ve ever been and an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. 

What is still on your travel bucket list? What have you recently checked off?

Obviously I have recently checked off Antarctica, which was a big one!  But there are still loads more! Next up is probably Botswana and Namibia, but I’d also love to visit Madagascar, Borneo and the Pantanal in Brazil for the wildlife spotting opportunities.

What is your unpopular travelling opinion?

British people who go abroad, don’t bother to learn a few words of the local language, won’t respect local customs, get wasted and cause a scene should have their passports confiscated for five years.

What’s something you pack on every trip?

I always take my camera of course, plus lenses, accessories, and usually my laptop. Not to mention batteries, chargers, plug adapters and more… I’m definitely not someone who travels light!

Do you have any goals for your travel blog? 

I would just love to get more people to read it! It’s quite hard to keep up momentum when you have a full-time job and writing about quite obscure destinations does make it harder to get hits. I’m so proud to have won several awards for my content, but now I just have to find ways to get more people to know about it! 

You have an unlimited travel budget for 24 hours. What’s on your itinerary? 

Ohhh wouldn’t this be wonderful! I would look at the forecast and find the place with the nicest weather that’s within a 3-4 hour flight, charter a private plane to take me and a group of friends there, and put us all up in a 5 star spa hotel where we would spend 24 hours relaxing, eating, drinking, and maybe going for short walks in between meals. 

Lastly, where can we find you online?

• Blog: www.passportandpixels.com 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passportandpixels/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/passportandpix
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/passportandpixels/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passportandpixels/

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Thank you for joining my Traveller of the Month series, Bella! Head on over to Bella’s blog to read more about her incredible adventures and see her photography, and stay tuned for August’s Traveller of the Month!