is a 31 year old luxury lifestyle blogger and youtuber from the Midlands. She has been running her blog xameliax for the last 10 years, and has been a full time content creator for the last 4. Amelia also runs another website called Bloom From The Darkness which helps people through inspiring stories and articles whilst raising money for the mental health charity Mind.
Hi Amelia, thank you so much for talking to us today! You run a luxury lifestyle blog. What does luxury mean to you personally?
For me I focus on affordable luxury – the little things in life that make it special and a bit brighter. This could be anything from a nice bottle of wine on a friday night through to a boutique holiday in Mexico! Luxury doesn’t always have to mean millions of pounds spent or designer shoes – it can be something as small as a special body scrub to use in the shower or a fancy face mask as a once a month treat. Luxury is what you make it.
For your blog you travel a lot. How is traveling as a blogger different from traveling as a private person?
Press trips are often very busy and jam packed with loads of amazing activities. They’re so much fun but they’re pretty exhausting as they need to show you as much as they can about a destination in a short space of time. Usually we end up doing in 5 days what you may do in two weeks travelling personally. We also have to collect a LOT of content while we’re away. So while we’re able to enjoy the activities there’s also a lot of pressure to get the shots and footage we need in order to write up and edit our content afterwards. It’s so much fun, but very different.
Of all the destinations you traveled to so far – what was your favorite destination so far and why?
Last year in South Africa. It’s a place I’d wanted to go to for so long and with the help of a friend I finally made it happen. The time I spent on Safari completely blew my mind and it was such a stunning place to visit.
Which place in the world would you love to travel to and why?
I’d love to visit Japan for the food and the culture difference. To visit temples, eat street food and experience the whacky restaurants and activities you can do there. Real life Mario Kart anyone?
What are the items in your luggage that you can’t travel without?
My phone, my camera and a good book. Oh, and of course my passport! I also always make sure I carry a good lip balm for flights and a lavender based face oil to stay hydrated and calm.
What’s your craziest travel story?
I was nearly knocked over by a female orangutan in Borneo a few years back – they’re pretty fast and surprisingly quiet as they swing low through the trees!
This definitely sounds like a fantastic addition to our collection of ChackPacker’s surprising animal encounters! Thank you so much for talking to us, Amelia! We wish you pleasant travels in the future!