Introducing the new-look website!

Hello hello!

I just wanted to drop a quick note here to introduce the revamped While I’m Young! I’ve been working with an amazing designer to get this website looking exactly the way I want it and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. What do you think?

This is something I’ve wanted to do for absolutely ages and I’m so pleased I took the plunge and invested in a professional redesign for my blog.

While I’m Young has been going for about seven years and I’ve always used cheap, one-size-fits-all themes but I found them restrictive and it was holding me back from diving in to all the different things I wanted to do with the site. For ages, I felt it just looked a bit blah and too similar to every other blog on the internet.

I’m so happy that While I’m Young now looks a bit more grown-up and professional. After all, this blog has matured with me. I’m certainly a tad more sophisticated than the girl who used to write about losing her shoes in Cambodia and puking off the back of a motorbike in Thailand. My trips have evolved since then and I hardly ever do questionable things ‘just for the story’ these days, so I figured my blog should reflect my adult self.

While I’m Young has gone through many changes over the years, but none have conveyed what this site is all about quite as well as I’d have liked. Until now!

Doing this redesign has really made me think about what direction I want to take with While I’m Young so it has been a valuable exercise. I’ve tried to summarise what my aims are and who this blog is for over on my sexy new About page, if you fancy a read.

In addition to the gorgeous new pink look and feel, I’ve worked with my fabulous designer Cat from Gatto Web (who I highly recommend if you’re thinking about investing in a slick new design), to add some new features. I’d be thrilled if you wanted to stick around for a while and check all the new stuff out!

What’s new?

Aside from my pretty new homepage which really shows off the main topics I cover, I’ve got a swish new clickable map so you can see all of the content for any destination that I’ve visited and written about. Just click on the country you’re interested in (or choose a continent from the top of the page) and you’ll be taken to a page with all of the relevant blog posts.

There’s a new landing page for all of my travel tips, and a handy page where you can shop my Instagram. I’ll be adding to this page as Spring moves into full swing, because I’ll be updating my wardrobe with a few key seasonal pieces.

One of the new additions I’m most excited about is the super useful page with all of my go-to websites for trip planning. I’m always asked how I manage to find good travel deals and what websites I recommend for planning and booking journeys, accommodation and tours etc so I figured it makes sense to have one page with all of my most-used sites. Bookmark my Travel Resources page and use it find great deals on your next trip! 

I’ve also added a better section on the homepage to show off my Youtube videos. Although my blog will always be my main gal, I really enjoy making travel vlogs and getting used to seeing my little peahead on the screen has actually done wonders for my self-acceptance.

I went through a phase where I wasn’t sure that Youtube was really worth the effort (it takes me forever to edit videos!) so I sort of abandoned my channel for a while. But then I checked it one day and realised my Marrakech vlog had somehow racked up over 8,000 views! Not bad for a tiny channel with less than 300 subscribers.

So yeah, I’ll be picking up my GoPro on my next trip…

You might have noticed that things have been a bit slow on the blog recently because I’ve prioritised other projects (god being an adult is dull), but I’m really excited to finally have While I’m Young looking how I want it, and I’m bursting with ideas again.

I’ve also got a few trips planned so there will be plenty of new travel content coming soon. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I’m not long back from Warsaw, so keep an eye out (or sign up to my mailing list) for posts about that trip.

I’m also off to Italy for a spot of wedding venue shopping at the end of the month! How fancy does that sound? I mean, I’ve already paid a hefty deposit so there’s not much I can do if I don’t like the venue we’ve chosen (except cry, throw tantrums, make Tom rue the day he proposed)…

Fingers crossed it’s all as lovely as we’re expecting it to be!

You may have seen my first post about finding our venue in Italy, and I’ll be adding more to my Destination Wedding section as we move forward with the planning process. It probably won’t be interesting for all of you, but hopefully it will help anyone else who is planning a wedding abroad.

I’d absolutely love to hear what you think about While I’m Young’s new look, so please let me know in a comment or on Instagram. Or Twitter. Or Facebook. I like to keep all bases covered.