Greetings from Prague! On my last Q&A I answered your questions about ways to monetize a blog, choosing between trendy versus lesser-known destinations, and what to pack for winter in Europe. You can read Q&A Volume 2 here, and Q&A Volume 1 here if you missed our first post of the series. Every few weeks I invite you to submit questions about traveling, blogging, photography, Instagram, etc on my @finduslost Instagram stories. Read on for some of this week’s submitted questions.

Reader Questions

How do you get inspiration for photos and poses? Do you plan shoots ahead of time? – Hayes

Honestly, I struggle with this! The reason my face isn’t in a lot of photos is because I find that I need to move around so I don’t feel so stiff. A lot of the time I make silly faces in photos or get uncomfortable so I tend to gravitate to shots that are more ‘in the moment’ or feel more candid when I’m sorting through them afterwards. I should be better about saving references for inspiration, but I rarely do now. I’ve found that when I travel with other women (I’m now in the Czech Republic with a close friend of mine), we’re able to laugh and try poses that I would never think to try when Jacob is taking photos. It helps to switch things up!

As for planning shoots, I only plan a day in advance when we’re traveling. Often when I go somewhere and find it to be busy I’ll decide to get up early the next morning. I tend to enjoy a trip less if I try to schedule out everything.

What is your favorite place to travel in the spring? – Michelle

I love chasing colors in spring. Some of my favorite places we’ve been in spring are Lisse, Netherlands (most commonly known as Keukenhof and the tulip fields near Amsterdam), Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea in Israel (spring has milder temps but it’s still beach weather), and San Sebastian, Spain (great to combine with Barcelona or a seaside town in France since the border is only 30 minutes away). San Sebastian is one of Jacob’s all-time favorite places, it’s known for incredible tapas (called ‘pinxos’ there) and a long stretch of beach right in front of the city.

I’d love to see the cherry blossoms in Japan in the springtime, since we previously visited Kyoto and Tokyo later in the year. I’m also really interested in seeing more U.S. national parks during springtime. Returning to Yosemite is high on my list (I haven’t been since I was young), but there are also incredible parks in Montana, Wyoming, and Washington. Canada and Alaska too. One of my closest friends lives in Seattle, Washington and in spring she visits the peony farms a couple hours away in Bellingham, which I’d love to see one day.

When starting to plan a trip, what is the first resource you use? – Emily

I use Pinterest most often. I find the visual feed works a lot better for me when I’m trying to research a location and decide where to go. That said, Pinterest has a lot of limitations and I find that half the time I’m clicking through on an image I’ve saved, I’m rarely getting the information I need or the source page is too busy. (It’s actually the original reason I was inspired to start my blog!). Lately I’ve been doing more in-depth research by looking up past articles for off-the-beaten-path places. The NY times is a great resource and shares some unique perspectives on destinations. Tripadvisor also recently changed to be more of a ‘social network’ and I often find myself skimming through their articles. And of course, Instagram!

Preset Collections used in this blog post: Winter Collection.