Get In The Car! We're Going To Prague

Last summer I took my car to Prague for a very spontaneous day trip. 

There's something incredibly liberating about the idea to just get in your car and go wherever you like. I guess that's why I love road trips and exploring. The independence when being on the road just screams adventures and epic driving stories to me. I'm also very, very good at carpool karaoke.

Sounds good, right? 

My parents' house in Germany is conveniently located between Berlin and Dresden. From Dresden, there's a new motorway extension which makes driving to Prague way faster than before - a perfect opportunity to venture out and only a 250km drive away. 

Driving In The Czech Republic 

The downside of taking your car to Prague is the toll network, meaning you have to pay for using the roads. Therefore, you'll need to get a vignette, a sticker that allows you to use the roads in the Czech Republic. Ideally, you *should* purchase the vignette in advance - but for the spontaneous traveller like me....oh, well you just gamble and hope the first motor service will come shortly after you've entered the country. 

The vignette needs to be placed on the bottom right-hand side of your windscreen and carry the date of your first day of use. There are several options to buy. Short-term permissions which are valid for 10 days, cost around 13 EUR, which is a fair price.  

Petrol is cheap, so the day trip to Prague from Germany won't break the bank. 

From Dresden, the E55 will take you straight into Pragues' city centre. It is easy to drive into the city and navigate around. Even though I had my sat nav with me I didn't fancy going on a search for a car park. Unfortunately, Czechs are very, very strict and have tonnes of parking rules, so better not risk a ticket and go the way of least resistance. 

What Is Quality Content And How Can I Create It?

I've recently come back to travel writing and decided it is time to take my little adventure blog to the next level. I've been looking properly into monetizing it, which will open up a lot of opportunities in the long-term but beforehand there a couple of obstacles to overcome. Most affiliate programmes or AD publisher require your website to attract a decent stream of traffic - ideally somewhere in the monthly 10k range. 

More traffic? OMG how do I do that? My stats are shit (fact). Where do even I start? 

Once my panic was over, I pulled out my Gantt-Chart, came up with an improvement plan and drafted a road map for the next three month. If I wanted to grow my blogs' traffic and increase its performance I would have to work harder on my content and its quality. 

Right. Let's go!

Step 1: Work In The Backend to Improve My Travel Content

Some of the ranking factors which Google identifies as "quality" and which will eventually also affect your blogs' DA are SEO, grammar & spelling as well as all outgoing links placed on your blog.  

I haven't done a thorough blog maintenance for a year so there were LOADS of things to tidy up in the backend. I went through all 260 blog posts individually, checked for grammar and spelling with Grammarly, updated pictures and their Alt-Tag and included long-tail keywords in my subheadings. 

I've also removed a couple of posts which no longer reflect my niche, so 30% of my content went back into draft mode. Some of my old content, mainly film reviews, went over to Amazon. I've also got a few book reviews which I could submit as a guest post so if there are any book blogger interested and currently take on guest posts, do let me know!

Next on the list were outgoing links, so I checked every single link placed on my travel blog for its redirect and correct functioning, and if the link would open up in a new window. This is crucial as otherwise, readers will be leaving your blog and Google evaluates session duration as a quality factor for your website. 

I keep my readers for as long as possible on my blog to reduce bounce rate. Any time spend over 3 minutes is a high-quality indicator for Google, too. To achieve the maximum stay for my readers I've included a similar post widget at the end of each post, make sure my outbound links open up in a new window and I also interlink to my own content. 

Top & Flop Brunch Spots In Brisbane

In January I flew out to Australia to go travelling for a year. I started my trip with a two-week stay in Brisbane and as time went on, I found myself coming back to the city on many more occasions. 

Over the course of 7 months, Brisbane became my "home away from home". I fell in love with the city, which is best described as a mini version of London, minus the stressful lifestyle. Instead, I made friends here, created epic memories, spent a great deal of my lockdown time and got a good sense of what it would feel like to live here.

With its all-year-round perfect weather and relaxed lifestyle, the city also has a rich and versatile brunch culture. Australians celebrate breakfast like no other nation and thanks to affordable Brisbane, I quickly ate my way around its many cafés. 

Here are some of the brunch and breakfast spots which I visited and I tell you if they are any good. 

1. Anouk Café: Top Spot in Paddington

A 20-minute walk north of the centre in the borough of Paddington is Given Terrace, which is THE breakfast mile and top address for brunch in Brisbane. The street is seamed with countless little cafés where I found my personal favourite spot: Anouk Café.

It ticks all the boxes for me: an industrial style look - think dark flooring in contrast to the cream-white shabby chic interior and lots of green plants - outdoor seating and phenomenal food. It is no surprise that the place is popular and busy around the clock. To secure a seat outside in the glorious Queensland sun, I would recommend getting here as early as 8am. 

Once seated, it is time to check out the menu which changes every few weeks with its interesting and healthy choices. There are homemade granolas, avo on toast with a Queensland twist, a variety of sourdough bread with Eggs Benedict, sweet waffles or my absolute-never-to-forget French brioche toast with a croissant, roasted pistachios, caramelised slices of peach, ricotta cream and maple syrup. 

NOOOOOM