Interview of the Month March

Our travelblogger of the month March! Meet Naomi from Authentic Chica.

CHAPTERTRAVEL: Hi Naomi. Glad you had time for this interview. Maybe you can first give a short introduction about yourself before we start the questions?

Naomi: Hello! My name is Naomi also known as Authentic Chica: a girl who likes to travel authentic but still chic, who is interested in everything the world has to offer and always stays real. That’s me in a nutshell! Therefore I call myself a traveler, wanderer and explorer with a special love for authenticity, while keeping it chic. I live in the Netherlands and work in fashion, but I have a huge passion for traveling, a lust for exploring and an eye for beautiful things. At the age of 35 I have now traveled more than 30 countries. Since I am curious by nature I always explore each country I visit for their heritage and all the sights it has to offer. And as I have traveled much and always take A LOT of pictures I love to share this with tips through my self-built website and on my social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest).

Thank you so much for your introduction. Let’s start this interview to get to know you even better! 

What is at the top of your bucket list?

To travel as much as possible and visit all seven continents in the world. I still haven’t been to Antarctica and South America, so they are definitely at the top of the list and I hope to cover them soon in a combined trip traveling from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, Antarctica, Chili and to the north of Argentina!

How many countries and cities have you seen?

About 31 countries until now, and as I love city trips and have been to a lot of cities for work as well, I have seen about 24 well known/iconic cities, such as Sydney, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, London, Berlin, Copenhagen, Vienna, Milan, Florence, Barcelona, Lisbon and so on…

What was your least favorite country or city?

This is a tricky question as I try to find beauty in every destination, but I think I have to say that I didn’t really like Glasgow. Of course this city has beautiful sights as well and maybe I haven’t been there long enough, but the outlook and atmosphere in the city was a bit gloomy to my taste, especially in comparison to Edinburgh.

What was the strangest thing you ever experienced during traveling?

Christmas dinner in Costa Rica with 38 degrees Celsius and after that immediately going from this tropical climate to -10 degrees to celebrate New Years Eve in New York City! It was just surreal and such a big transition, but also a very unique combination and both beautiful and perfect spots to celebrate these festive moments of the year. I can really recommend combining these 2 destinations in 1 trip!

If you never had to work again, what would you do with your life?

Travel the world extensively and live in many different places in the world. I would love to have a summer home in Bali for the winter time, to escape the cold weather in Europe, and combine it with a few months in a beach house on the Thai islands. Then we would come back for summer in Europe again to stay in the Algarve and Lisbon area, combined with a few city trips through Europe and our homes in The Hague and Amsterdam to visit our relatives and friends again! Oh yeah and do lots of travel blogging, organize travel sharing events and do as much charity work as possible along the way!

What is your life goal?

To see as much of the world as possible and to inspire others by sharing my passion for travel. This way I hope to stimulate others to pursue their passions as well, to get the most out of life, appreciate all the world has to offer and the beauty that surrounds them.

What are your passions in life?

Being creative through sculpting and painting, yoga but also reading and cooking are a few of my hobby’s. Next to that I have been working in fashion already for 18 years now and love to combine my passion for fashion in my day job. But I am also fascinated by online marketing. Therefore I started to build a website in my spare time to practice my online marketing and web building skills and share my other passions; traveling and photography through my weblogs. As these are my true passions my blog and social media canals like Instagram are the perfect outlet for me!

What has traveling taught you?

I really prefer to have less stuff and spend my money on traveling, as I want to see as much of the world as possible. My biggest life lesson is that I have learnt the most about myself and life through traveling. I got to know new people from different cultures, I learnt to let go of expectations and to go with the flow and to appreciate architecture, heritage, nature and history! This is why I’m convinced that traveling enriches your mind and collecting stuff only binds you to one place and makes your suitcase heavier.

Who is your traveling companion?

My boyfriend and life partner. He does not like social media and doesn’t even have a Facebook or Instagram account himself, therefore you will never see him in any on any of my blog or social media pictures. But he has been my traveling companion for seven years already and takes beautiful pics of my most precious moments. Next to do that I love to do city trips with girlfriends and have also traveled solo a few times.

What is your favorite Instagram picture?

Again a very difficult question as I’m a real photography addict, and as you can see on my Facebook and Instagram accounts I post at least one picture a day. I see beauty in everything and as my interests vary from nature, to animals, architecture, culture and so on, they are all very diverse. Therefore it is just too difficult for me to choose one favourite, so I made a compilations of a couple of my favourites instead!

Thank you so much for your time and effort, and happy travels!

Are you interested to be featured on our website as traveler of the month? Please sent an e-mail to info@chaptertravel.com with some information and we’ll get back to you!