5 Minutes With Pip and the City: Portia Jones

For McCool Travel’s 161st travel interview, I am pleased to present Portia Jones from Pip and the City. I have noticed Portia in several Twitter travel chats, including my own #FunTravelChat. So I pretended to be an investigative journalist for a day and asked Portia for an interview. Really, she did all the work.
Pip and the City‘s bio: “Portia Jones is a travel and lifestyle blogger from Wales. She travelled the world extensively as a solo backpacker and now as a travel blogger and travel partner of husband and favourite human Luke. Since launching her blog Pip and the City, Portia has been shortlisted for a Vuelio blogging award, been made a brand ambassador for Euroventure Travel, has been listed as a Travelex top blogger and has collaborated with many tourism boards and travel brands.”

McCool Travel interview with Portia Jones of Pip and the City.
Portia Jones, Pip and the City, Giants Causeway

Portia Jones: Pip and the City

HOMETOWN …
Cardiff, Wales
ALWAYS IN MY LUGGAGE …
Camera, laptop, notebook, and emergency chopsticks [You never know when you might be having Chinese right?]
3 FAVORITE HOME-AWAY-FROM-HOME PLACES …

  1. New Zealand
  2. Bosnia
  3. Rome

A FAVORITE TRAVEL MEMORY …
Got up at 5am to have a sunrise snorkel off the coast of Roatán with my husband and favourite human Luke, when we were backpacking around Central America for our honeymoon. There was no one else around and we got to see amazing colourful fishes as the sun came up over the horizon.

McCool Travel interview with Portia Jones of Pip and the City.
Portia Jones of Pip and the City at work

3 FAVORITE TRAVEL BRANDS …

  1. STA Travel
  2. Lonely Planet
  3. TripAdvisor

3 MONEY-SAVING TRAVEL TACTICS I USE …

  1. don’t pay for Wi-Fi—download the Wi-Fi Finder app to find the nearest free Wi-Fi spots
  2. take overnight busses and trains to save on accommodation costs.
  3. try and travel only with hand luggage where possible, you’ll save money and have less to carry

3 WAYS THAT I HAVE FUN WHILE TRAVELING …

  1. Getting lost in a city, sometimes I like to go off grid and explore without using Google maps. If you get really stuck, you can always find a bar and recalibrate.
  2. I love to take lots of photos, as a travel blogger it’s a really important part of my job to capture the feeling of a place. There’s nothing quite like getting that perfect shot when on the road and sharing it with my readers and followers.
  3. As a predominately solo traveller, I really enjoy meeting people when bouncing around the globe and I have made lifelong friends during my time travelling. My preferred method of meeting people is to put on a pair of trousers I have with Bob Marley’s face on. It’s always a conversation starter, I call them my ‘making friends trousers.’

8 WORD (OR LESS) TRAVEL MANTRA …
What is life but a great big adventure?

McCool Travel interview with Portia Jones of Pip and the City.
Portia Jones of Pip and the City in Croatia

FAVORITE NON-TRAVEL WEBSITE …
I love BBC good food as i love to cook and they have a fantastic selection of recipes!
MOST MEMORABLE SOUVENIR  …
A hand painted boomerang that I made whilst in the outback, it doesn’t function as a boomerang [I have tried many times when on the wine] but it looks pretty cool.
FAVORITE CHEAP EAT …
Street food in Penang. My favourite is Assam Laksa, a spicy, fish-based noodle soup—it is heavenly.
RECENT DISCOVERY …
Croatian wine, there are some lovely little vineyards just outside of Dubrovnik.
I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE MET …
The 2foodtrippers bloggers, Daryl and Mindi Hirsch.
I WOULD LIKE TO MEET …
Adventurer and bad-ass Rosie Swale-Pope.

McCool Travel interview with Portia Jones of Pip in the City (aka Khalesi).
Portia Jones (aka Khaleesi) from Pip and the City

Thank you so much, Portia, for sharing your travel inspiration and tips. Keen McCool Travel readers will notice that Portia is my second interview in a row from Wales. You did notice that, right?
Follow Pip and the City and Portia Jones on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pip and the City.


McCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes travel interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Check out McCool Travel’s previous travel interviews. Previous 5 Minutes travel interview: Yaya and Lloyd from Hand Luggage Only.


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