She was one of the first travel and hotspots bloggers in the Netherlands who made her hobby into a career. You might know her from “Your Little Black Book” where she’s the first to tell you about all the hotspots! This lady is constantly on the road but despite that, she wrote 2 books and she made some time to do this interview with us! This is the Wanderlust of..fellow wanderlusty Anne de Buck.
Hi girl! Could you tell our readers who you are and what you do?
Hi! I’m Anne de Buck and I’m the founder of (urban) travel blog Yourlittleblackbook.me. I’m a travel entrepreneur and created my own dream job to travel the world for a living. For my platform Your Little Black Book I create city- and travel guides for destinations all over the world. In just 3,5 years my hobby blog grew out to be the largest travel blog in The Netherlands. Something I could have only dreamed to happen! Now I do what makes me the happiest girl in the world. I live up to my feelings of Wanderlust full time!
Wanderlust. Photo by Presstigieux
So when did you decide to become a full time travel blogger?
Good question! I think now it’s the ambition of a lot of new travel bloggers do become a full time travel blogger and get paid to travel. But for me it never started that way. I just loved traveling and hotspots and started to write about my experiences. And there they were: the first 3.500 readers, and then 10.000, 40.000, 70.000 and when I hit the 100.000 unique visitors a month I decided to quit my marketing manager job and just go for it! That’s two years ago and by now the numbers almost doubled.
Impressive stuff! What advice would you give yourself if you look back 5 years?
FOCUS. When things you do get the proper attention and love they will grow. Just like a plant!
Do you still have destinations on your bucketlist and if so, which ones?
Haha, OH YES. In my book Wanderlust (for now only available in Dutch) I shared my bucket list. And for someone who travels so much it’s surprisingly long. On #1 is my dream to make a polar bear safari once in my life. Even though my professional niche is urban travel my personal favorite holidays involve animals in the wild. Can watch them for hours! And after the polar bears? The Philippines, Rio, Buenos Aires, Sri Lanka. Oh and The Maldives. I know that everyone says that it can be very boring there, but I think boring is good for me. No hotspots to write about means true holiday!
Strolling down the city of Angels
What is your favorite thing about traveling?
Exploring, wandering, discovering new places, people and cultures. I do well when I’m on the go.
What’s the worst thing that happened to you whilst traveling?
I once had a terrible bike accident in the USA. One part of my face was totally damaged, my whole body blue and bruised. After that healed my forehead was paralyzed at one side. Almost like a bad botox treatment. Luckily my hair covers the scar and you can only see the scar tissue with the changes of the weather. I think ending up in the hospital abroad is the worst thing that can happen to you while traveling.
Wow, that’s heavy! On a positive note, name one song that would definitely be on your travel playlist
Fade out lines. I still don’t get tired of this one!
“I’m more adventurous than I share on my blog” – Anne de Buck
You recently published 2 books, tell us a little more about that.
YES, so exciting! One book is a lifestyle guide that’s all about travel called Wanderlust. But for now that one is only available in Dutch. The other one however is published in both Dutch and English and called The Amsterdam City Guide. It’s really the best reward after writing about hotspots in Amsterdam for the last four years. In this book I share all my personal favorites in six different neighborhoods, an Amsterdam bucketlist, shortlists from my favorite restaurants to concept stores and tips what you can do in 24, 48 or 72 hours in the city. I still can’t believe that they’re in store now!
Anne’s books, The Amsterdam City Guide and Wanderlust
Being a girl from Amsterdam, what is your favorite lunch spot at the moment?
I love YAY in De Pijp! It’s just too good to be true that everything on the menu is super healthy and I can order it guilt free ;-).
If you could give one golden travel tip, what would it be?
Go where your dreams take you. Make a plan and just go! That’s actually a motto for most things in my live. I don’t really understand people that talk about something for years without taking action. Whether it’s a career change, starting a business or making your dream trip.
The YAY Healthstore in Amsterdam (picture by wander-lust)
And finally, what kind of traveler are you? (backpacker, glampacker, adventurous, explorer etc)
I’m more adventurous than I share on my blog, but if I would put myself in a box it would be the urban travel one. It doesn’t matter where I go I’m always looking for cool and urban-style places to explore. Even when I’m on a tropical island!
Anne relaxing in Bali (source)
Anne’s books are now available to buy online or in store! You can follow her adventures on Instagram.
Curious who we’ve interviewed before?