Why Passionfruit is the Bomb Dot Com (Plus 5 Membership Giveaways!)

I've been told by legitimate sources that the phrase in the title is still cool to say...so I'm sticking with it. Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, you've heard all about Passionfruit, the website that actually makes sponsoring fun. I started using Passionfruit back in November and I haven't looked back since. So what first drew me to start using it? Guys, I've tried the whole coding thing. It's not as fun as it looks.

Now I understand that $9 can seem like a lot. Especially when you're first starting out and it feels like all you do is shell out money for this and that to just get your blog up and running. But if you sign up now, you can get a whole year for just $50. That's only $4 a month. That's just a cup of coffee guys! Or, to be fair, in the States, that's actually two cups of coffee (dang you Korean coffee prices). Regardless, I am more than willing to skimp on my coffee intake in order to let someone else handle my nightmare coding problems for me.

But my favorite part?....

You're not alone.

It's not some faceless corporate company with hundreds of employees buzzing around a large office company. It's a family guy that is passionate about what he does and truly sincerely cares for the bloggers that support his company. When you email, text or call with a question; you don't get put on hold and have to listen to crappy instrumentals of the 80's greatest hits only to be connected to a different person than the last 10 times you've called or tried to contact. You don't get auto response emails from a computer, or only a F&Q section to figure out a glitch or question. You get a real live person, the same person that you've talked with before. And might I say, a speedy person at that.

Other awesome features:

• The marketplace, where you can find other awesome bloggers and hang out on their sidebar.
• Payment processing, weekly paychecks, delivered right to your Paypal account. There's nothing easier than that!
• Image hosting, no more fuss, no more muss over putting in ads yourself, keeping track of how long they should be up there, and swapping them out when their ad time is over. That frees up my time for more important things like writing and building relationships. 
• Easy HTML, we all know this is my favorite. 
• Automatic reminders, for all those forgetful people out there, myself included. They let you know when someone's ad is about to expire so you can go bug them about renewing, or when you own ad is about to expire.

And here's the best part. They're letting me give away FIVE one year memberships! Because we all know that free is always the best option. And here's the really cool part. If you're already signed up? They will reimburse you! What a deal, what a deal.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules

• You need to have the Passionfruit Widget installed on your blog by the 1st of September in order to be eligible, so if you haven't already, go upgrade now!
• If you are already a paid member and win, you get your money back!
• The giveaway will end at 12am on September 1st!
• Five winners will each receive one annual membership valued at $50.
• The winners will officially be announced on September 1st as well.

Good luck!

Treasures from Cambodia for Sale!

SOLD OUT

I can't tell you how excited I am for this! When I saw these elephant wallets for sale in a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I just knew that I had to bring some back. I bought some for gifts, one for myself and I gave one away last week. If anyone searched my bag at the airport they probably thought I was crazy for having so many wallets tucked away in my bag. But then ask me if I care and you'll get a big fat nope.

Well here's the great news guys, if you entered the giveaway last week but didn't win, you can still get your hands on one! I have six of these bad boys to sell, in two different designs and you can buy them through my sponsor page. These wallets are well made from recycled concrete bags in Cambodia (how cool is that?!). So if you want your own souvenir from Cambodia, be sure to head over to my sponsor page and snag one up for yourself!

August Sponsor Giveaway!

Remember back in May how I said that anytime I traveled out of the country, I would bring back a gift for one lucky reader? It's been awhile huh? Well the day has finally come for another giveaway, and this time, not only have I brought back a little something something for you to win from our trip to Cambodia, but my lovely sponsors have also joined in the on the fun.

True Colours: 2 months of "London" ad space 

Chasing Happy: 2 months of "Cheerful Package" ad space

One and Twenty: $10 Target gift card 

Found Love, Now What: 2 Months of Chester Cathedral ad space

Manhattan Emily: Customizable Copper Bangle Bracelet

After We Tied the Knott: Ad Space

A Compass Rose: 1 Month of Featured ad space

Lost in Travels: Cambodian Wallet 

I found this wallet in a market in Phnom Penh and couldn't resist (I may or may not have picked one up for myself...and for souvenirs). It has a unique elephant design and is made from recycled concrete bags in Cambodia. How cool is that? Enter below for your chance to win this, along with gift cards, ad space and jewelry from my lovely sponsors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules

1. Open internationally. 

2. Winner’s entry validity will be verified by me and if an entry proves to be invalid, you will be disqualified.

3. Giveaway ends on the  28^th of August at 12:00 AM EST. Winner will be contacted by email no later than the 30^th of August. Winner has 48 hours to respond, if the winner does not respond, a new winner will be picked.

4. Please note that Lost in Travels Blog is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s).  I will make every effort to assist you in obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you. 

A Little Word in Self Confidence

I am not the poster child for self confidence. It's something that I have struggled with since youth and something that led an eating disorder for a portion of high school and university. Thankfully I was able to turn my life around and start taking care of myself but self confidence is still something that I struggle with and constantly work to improve. 

For years, I spent way too much time trying to compare myself to others (heck, I still do this at times). I would spend my time wishing things were different or that I could change this or that about myself. I had this mental image that 'if only' this were different, then I would be happy with me. It didn't help that for a few years in university, my side job was dressing twig shaped models backstage for runway shows. When they would leave to go on stage all the dressers would go into a frenzy with 'Did you see her...' 'She has amazing...' 'I wish I had...' 

But recently my friend Dorette (aka the oh so talented and lovely photographer who took these pics for me) said something to me that really resonated. 'How can we compare ourselves to others when we were all built completely differently?' Ground breaking news, I know. But the more she discussed it, the more it sunk in. We come in all different shapes and sizes, with a whole slew of personality traits. 

Take my sister and I for example. She's 5'2", dark hair, olive skin, with the best J.Lo booty you've ever seen. She's quiet and reserved, a Betty Crocker in the kitchen, and a natural born mom. I'm 5'8", blonde hair, pale complexion, with literally a flat as a board behind. I'm loud (sometimes a little too loud) and outgoing, I work hard to make an edible meal and holding babies can make me genuinely nervous (anyone else scared that a freak accident is going to happen while you're holding someone else's baby?)

So how can I compare myself to her? No matter how much I try, no matter how many lunges I do, I will never have a behind like hers (believe me I've tried). And she can stretch every day for a year but never grow an inch. So why waste our time wishing and hoping for things that we simply cannot change about ourselves? Why not redirect that effort into bettering who we are, changing what we can, and appreciating what we love about ourselves?

I can honestly say that for the first time in a long time, I'm content with the way I look. That doesn't mean my ego is through the roof and it doesn't mean that I'm thrilled with every aspect of my body. It just means that I've accepted the fact that I, along with everyone else, have certain flaws and that's ok. It also means that I've realized that along with flaws, we all have beautiful features that we should be proud of and confident in. We spend so much time focused on what we don't like about ourselves and too little time embracing the wonderful and beautiful features that we all have. 

I could go on and on about this topic but I'll end with saying that today I'm teaming up with Katie for a photo shoot link up today. I was so excited when she reached out to me about this idea of doing a photo shoot of ourselves to celebrate the beauty in us all. I encourage you to do the same and show off your beautiful self! If you decide to participate, go over to Katie's blog and put the link in the comments!

Extra Reads:

Travel Babbles also has a great post on a similar subject that you should check out. 

Milk + Crown has a wonderful series where women share what they love about themselves. You can see my feature here.

So tell me, what does confidence mean to you? Or what makes you feel most beautiful? 

Six Things You Should Know About Me + A Giveaway!

I'm so glad that my friend Rachel decided to tag me in this! She's been one of my favorite bloggers for a long time now and I love reading about her time as an expat in Europe and especially about her transition back to the states. Because let's face it, as much as I want to live forever overseas, we will most likely end up back 'home' in Oklahoma and I know it won't be the easiest transition to make! Besides my love of Rachel's blog, I'm a sucker for anything that lets people know a little bit more about the blogger on the other side of the screen. So let's get this party started!1. What's the best piece of advice anyone has given you?Just keep swimming...just keep swimming. Ok, not really even though that is really good advice. I remember growing up, my mom would repeat the scripture to me 'do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough worries of it's own'. Can you tell I was a worry wart growing up? I tried to control everything I could and when I couldn't, I would stress and worry about it. But I have to realize that there is only so much that I can do, only so much that I actually have control over. With the other things, I need to do what I can, and let the rest go! 
2. If you could meet any blogger in person, who would you choose?It's no lie that me and Laurie were meant to be neighbors. I met her months ago when I was just starting to rebrand my blog (aka actually take this thing seriously) and we hit it off right away and try to talk often. I keep trying to talk her into coming and visiting! But there's something about a stupid ocean separating us or some nonsense like that. 
Other than that, I also have my dream team that I would love to have an international blogger meet up with. Hey Rachel, Belinda, Bonnie, Melyssa, Crystal, Nicole, Casey, Katie, and Jenna...are you down?
3. What's your biggest struggle in life?Being too much of a planner. I'm always looking to what's next, the next step, the next destination, the next job. It's not always a bad thing but it goes along with the worrying I talked about above. I'm a planner through and through and I want to know what the next five steps are in advance. And it goes without saying that sometimes there's just no possible way of knowing or things can change last minute (especially here in Korea) and it can stress.me.out.  
4. Favorite piece of jewelry {other than your engagement/wedding ring} and why?I have two pieces of jewelry that mean the world to me. The first one is a pearl necklace that my grandma gave me when I was born. You are supposed to add another pearl each year but I liked the simplicity of just a few tiny pearls on there. 

The second one is my great great aunt's engagement ring. This is a woman that I looked up to and admired. She was the oldest of 13 children and spent her life caring for others and raising her siblings. She was brave enough to walk away from a dangerous marriage even at a time when it was highly looked down upon to do so. She then married a wealthy man because he promised to give her an education (one of the most important things to her) and she continued to work until very late in life editing and reviewing books. My favorite story is when she told me about her second marriage, how they never ummm....consummated it, how there was always another man with them when they went out to dinner, and the list goes on and on. In her upper 90's she sat in her chair, tilted her head and told us, 'ya know what...I think he was gay.' Even though this ring isn't from the best marriage, it reminds me of her and what a strong and hardworking woman she was. 
5. What's something you love about yourself?I really love my bright blue eye color. My whole family has dark features...and then there's me with my pale complexion, blonde hair and blue eyes. I used to hate it because I stood out and didn't look like the rest of my family. But over the years I have started to love my eye color for the fact that it's unique. My siblings actually used to tell me that I was adopted when I was little and I remember believing them and going up to my mom and telling her it was ok if I was adopted, and that she could tell me the truth. Thankfully I have my grandma's nose and my sister's laugh to seal my fate as a part of my family. 
6. Tell us something we don't know about you.Deep water makes me a little nervous. Weird coming from someone who loves to sail and is scuba certified. But something about not knowing what's around you...or beneath you, makes me nervous every time. 
Pick six to answer for yourself:1. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?2. If you had an endless supply of one food, what would you get?3. If you could hop on a plane right now, where would you go and why?4. What is your biggest pet peeve?5. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? 6. What is your biggest fear?7. Would you rather be rich and stressed? Or poor and happy?8. If money and university major didn't matter, what job would you want?9. Why did you start blogging? Do you still do it for the same reasons?10. What makes you the happiest?
I'm tagging:KatieCrystalNicoleJamieKenzieJenna--------------------And as an added bonus today, I'm jumping on board with Crystal from The Happy Type and some very lovely ladies to bring you a truly Korean giveaway! I have to admit, Korea has some of the best beauty products I've ever tried, and they're super affordable too! And lucky you can win some of these amazing products to try for yourself!

It’s no secret that South Korea is any cosmetic and beauty product lover’s playground. For years South Korea has been one of the world’s leaders in beauty product production and most recently its innovative BB and CC creams have set the states a buzz. Birchbox calls South Korea “ground zero for beauty innovation”, so why not see what all the fuss is about? 

Lucky for you, you don’t have to get on a plane to Korea to take part in the Korean cosmetic boom! I have spent the better part of two years living, learning, and loving the country of Korea and in honor of my return home to America, my friends and I are giving little old you the opportunity to get your hot little hands on a whole slue of Korean cosmetics and beauty products.

 

Here are the lovely sponsors for this crazy awesome beauty product giveaway!

Kayli Wanders | The Gap Year Guru | Living In Another Language | The Style Dunce | Lost In Travels |Daisy Bisley | Inspiration Sparks |The Happy Type

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules:

1. The validity of the winner’s entries will be verified by me and if any entries are false a new winner will be selected.
2. Winner will be contacted no later than the 23rd. Winner will have 48 hours to respond, if winner does not respond with 48 hours a new winner will be notified by email.
3. Sit back and relax because I’ll package your pretty little package up and get it in the mail. Contest is only open to U.S. residents.