Girlandtheworld donates 50% of all earnings to charities supporting women’s empowerment in Asia. For more information click here
So who exactly is GirlandtheWorld?
Hi, I’m Natalie Lyall-Grant, a freelance writer, travel addict, and artist and this is my travel blog!
I grew up as the only daughter of a single-mother-traveler, who infected me with the travel bug from an early age and encouraged me to travel independently.
My solo travels started in 2006 when I flew to Sri Lanka to volunteer at as an English teacher, which started my obsession with Asia. Since then I’ve lived and worked in 2 Asian countries, backpacked through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, India and Malaysia, interned at a magazine in China, and taught English in South Korea for one year.
Life on the road has taught me how to find beauty in everything, how to live each day to the full, and how to appreciate even the smallest details that are so easy to miss. Seeing the world is my dream, and so I’m doing it. Now I want to share this with you, to give you inspiration and insight into the world of travel, so that you can see just how easy it is to follow your dreams too. Join me on a vicarious journey of travel stories, sketches, and photos that scratch under the surface of countries and cultures and throw you in at the deep end of travel.
And what can you expect from this blog?
GirlandtheWorld follows my travels around the world as I try to scratch beneath the surface of what you can read in a guide book, and shine a light on the people, the food, the experiences, and the cultures that come together to make each country unique.
I believe in travel that is both sustainable and responsible, and where possible I want to show you that it is possible to pacify both your appetite for indulgence and your conscience as you travel.
Girlandtheworld is updated roughly once a week, but that depends on where I am and the availability of internet connections.
Not sure where to start reading? Why not try one of my features:
♥ Girlandtheworld’s Girls of the World is a series of interviews with women from around the world, aiming to uncover more about the working lives, personal lives, thoughts and opinions of women worldwide.
♥ A Taste Of The Unknown includes guides and introductions to specific types of cuisine as well as food-based stories from my travels.
♥ Teaching Abroad veers away from simply being a guide to getting a job teaching abroad (which you can easily find anywhere on the internet if you are interested) and instead concentrates on my personal experiences of teaching in a South Korean high school for one year.
♥ Adventures in Asia is a collection of all my articles about traveling within Asia, grouped by country.
How to connect with me:
You can connect with me on twitter, via my facebook fan page, or by leaving a comment on this site. You can also contact me personally at natalielyallgrant@gmail.com – I would love to hear from you! Also, if you enjoy reading this site, why not subscribe by RSS using the form on the right hand side of the homepage.
Want to get involved?
If you are a travel-based company and you would like to sponsor or advertise with GirlandtheWorld then please visit my advertising page for detailed information on page stats, visitor trends, and terms and conditions of advertising.
hi natee,,, gud 2 knw another travelfreak who loves my country, Sri Lanka. add me on fb, i cud share sm more cool places to travel here.
You’ll have to let me know what the agenda is for SEAsia in Feb. I’ll be stopping by on my way home to Australia from EU and hoping to make a stop or two – tweet up?
Keep up the great work!!!
Hi Nicole, thanks for your kind comments, and yes, I’d love to meet up. I’m sending you an email now
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for your beautiful comment on my blog. I’ve added your blog to my feed list as not only is it beautifully presented, but you are travelling in/are going to travel to parts of the world I’m very fascinated by (I loooooveee South Korea). While now it’s Christmas time and you’re probably busy celebrating, maybe in the New Year you’d consider guest posting on my blog on the theme of slow travel? Here is more information if you’re interested: http://www.theartofslowtravel.com/how-do-you-slow-travel/
Please use the contact for on my blog if you’re interested!
I’ve just started getting some other bloggers interested in this, and would be willing to submit a guestpost in return in you want
Happy Holidays!
Hi Denise,
Oh wow, thanks so much. I’d be honored to write a guest post for you! I’m going away for Christmas but have a few days of work towards the end of next week so will start drafting something up then. I’d also love it if you wrote a guest post for me – do you have any ideas of anything you’d like to write about?
I read on your blog about your visit to Korea. It’s such a shame that you were not able to teach here, it seems really unfair that they wouldn’t let you simply based on your home country. If it helps you feel better it was slightly harder for me to get a job here too because I’m British and the desired accent here is North American. Many private schools will not accept candidates who are from any other country but America!! I do hope that you do end up coming back out here though. In many ways this is a fascinating country. After a year, I certainly feel ready to leave, but there are many things I will miss. Where else are you planning to travel to out of interest?
Thanks again for your comments and I look forward to reading more of your blog
Merry Christmas!!!
Hi Natalie,
Browse my blog a bit and let me know whether there’s a country I’ve visited/a topic you’d be interested in for my guest post. It’s better like this because you know what would fit your blog.
, so I’m guessing it would be Sri Lanka or Korea?
For your guest post, it would be best if you focused only on one country
Happy holidays!
Hi Natalie
How much do you charge for a sponsored post?
I will be interested in providing one.
Regards
Hi Anna,
I will send you a mail regarding this.
Natalie.
Hi Natalie,
The View from Fez team loved your mother’s story on Fez. We would love to repost it with a link back to either the original or simply your website.
The View from Fez averages around 130,000 page views per month as well as being syndicated by Lonely Planet and a number of other global sites.
The story would also be shared with our hundreds of twitter and Facebook followers, so the exposure would be great.
You might also be interested in our story on women travelling alone in Morocco: http://riadzany.blogspot.com/2011/11/guide-for-women-travelling-solo-in.html
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sandy – TVFF Features Editor
Hi Sandy,
Thanks for getting in touch and glad you enjoyed my mum’s post – she’ll be very happy to hear that! Of course you can put a link on your site
Great blog by the way, thanks for drawing my attention to it and keep up the good work!
Natalie.
Hi Natalie,
CHILLAX HOSTELS here! And we’d like to invite you to Moscow, and stay at our brand new super awesome hostel for FREE!!
We just opened and trying to reach as many people as possible, because we believe that we have something other hostels and even super-duper hotels don’t! Instead of just checking people in and out, we try to give our guests the full CHILLAX experience!
When you are at the hostel – we hold fun daily event at out huge mingle friendly lounge area.
If you want to go out, we will help tailor your Moscow experience to you taste!
We really want our guests to feel like they are crashing at a friend’s place. A friend who knows the city, and shows them a good time!
Plus our facilities are all top notch! We already mentioned the lounge area with the biggest TV out of all Moscow hostels, Playstation 3, free computers, free WiFi, board games and much more.
We also have a fully equipped kitchen with all the things needed to for our guests to cook their favourite dishes from all sorts of their native cuisines.
Our beds are longer, wider, and softer then any other hostel.
In short, we have gone above and beyond, and created a hostel that we our selves would love to live in when we travel, and because of this, in just two months we became the top rated hostel in all of Russia. You can read comments from our previous guests here:
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Chillax-Hostel/Moscow/60987/reviews?sc_sau=rt&sc_pos=2
Also here is our site and Facebook page:
and then help spread the word about us through your blog, and other social media!
http://www.chillax-hostels.com/
http://www.facebook.com/chillaxhostels
So we hope you will accept our invitation, visit Moscow, and stay with us (once again let us emphasise the FOR FREE part
We look forward to seeing you at CHILLAX HOSTELS in MOSCOW, RUSSIA at a time most convenient to you!
Wishing you all the best in your travels!
-Chillax Hostels Team
Thanks, if I come to Russia I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer!
Hi,
I just wanted to say I love your blog! I will be visiting Sri Lanka soon – so excited!
You’re very inspiring
Thank you,
Really glad you enjoy my blog and I hope you have an amazing time in Sri Lanka!!
Hi there do you have any other countries you plan to visit?
Hi Mi Gun,
Yes I do, this year I already have trips booked to Dubai and Sweden. I am also re-visiting Sri Lanka and hope to visit Vietnam, and then my plan is to reach Aus by the end of the year
Wow that’s is pretty awesome ;D You should consider going to japan and NewZealand in the future
God luck on your travels cant wait to read your updates.
Thank you! I would love to visit both Japan and New Zealand at some point. Sadly I can’t afford to go everywhere this year, but those two are definitely on the cards for next year!