Make business out of your travels.
Monica is a managing director of a media company Vagabond Media Group in the Cayman Islands. She has always been in media, everything from photography to journalism to video. She started out in PR, worked in production and tv for a while and that’s when she started travelling and writing. Very unexpectedly, a travel website she started, featuring her videos and articles grew very popular and afforded her many opportunities. After taking a bit of a risk and getting some cool collaborations, she went out on her own and started an umbrella media company ready for the digital age. She also shares Caribbean travel info on beachboxtv.com.
What allows you to live a traveler life as an entrepreneur.
I’ve always loved to travel and tell stories, you could say I have a restless soul! I studied media, journalism and video production at school and decided to combine the two. I gained some really good work experience in some PR companies in London before moving to the Cayman Islands to work in tv. I had to film and edit lot of the news stories I reported on so I honed in on my video and storytelling skills with a particular focus on travel and tourism. After some years I was fortunate enough to be able to go independent with my own media company and I now manage the tourism channel here in Cayman under my umbrella company Vagabond Media Group.
Do you mostly travel for work and make a living off this work?
I’m very grateful for the amount I do get to travel. Last year I was able to go to Anguilla, St Maarten, St. Barths, Saba, Jamaica & Mexico to shoot videos for some cool brands, resorts and tourism companies. A lot of my work is based in Cayman but this year I’ll be traveling a lot more for work. We’ve just landed a cool gig with Jeep Caribbean to film on some of the islands. Next stop is Aruba and I’ll be heading to Tulum in the next month also. It’s a really long process to actually get paid to travel as there are so many travel writers, bloggers, photographers etc. out there. I’ve been really lucky as we offer a unique style of video content and have built an audience of Caribbean travelers to distribute the content to.
What is your success story?
A lot of work! A lot of sacrifice, figuring out what makes money and what doesn’t, knowing your audience and having a great deal of experience in the field is how I managed to get to this point, I guess! A lot of people say you should do what you love and take a big leap of faith, but I’m a believer in really taking your time to get a plan in place and build a solid brand and bank of experience before making any drastic decisions.
Do you also use drones to prepare materials?
Yes, I’m a university certified drone pilot and I studied photography and video. I love filming and editing. It’s so rewarding seeing a story come together! Seeing the Caribbean from above is incredible and is such an adrenaline rush!
There is so many people dreaming about this kind of life, is there any advice you could give them?
It takes a lot of being humble, patience, hard work and at the beginning working a lot for free until you can really build a substantial, successful brand and offer a somewhat rare skill/service to go along with that before you can even think about making a living, in my experience that is. Being in the creative industry helps, having a lot of experience and even a journalism/ creative degree helps. Building a large portfolio of work is a great start as well as traveling a lot and finding a niche! Go after your dreams but be prepared for hard work along the way!
Would you give us a few Insider tips on what to do in the Bahamas?
Book a full-day trip on the sea in Great Exuma. You’ll stop off at a few sites on the way, such as Thunderball Grotto, a stunning underwater cave and the set of the famous James Bond movie, you’ll powerboat through the beautiful islands and sandbars, see some Rock Iguanas, Nurse Sharks and of course, the perhaps the most unusual of them all, the swimming pigs! While you’re in the Exumas, you should definitely head to the other pretty beaches across the island, like the Tropic of Cancer beach - it’s just miles and miles of aquamarine blue.
What was your the most memorable trip ever.
One of my most memorable trips was to India a few years ago. I was volunteering in an orphanage and in some schools near the Himalayas. I was very humbled by the experience and fell in love with the people, the culture and how colourful and aromatic the country was. In terms of the Caribbean, another memorable trip was flying to St. Martin, Saba, St. Barths and Anguilla in one trip. It was incredible how close these islands are to each other yet so different in what they offer. St. Barths is super glamorous and upscale, whereas Saba is quaint, charming and full of adventure.
What your day at the beach is like?
I love to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and the peacefulness that a day at the beach brings. Being an entrepreneur can be very stressful and tiring! Luckily in the Cayman Islands, it’s always beautiful outside and I’m very grateful to be living so close to the beach, so I find time to reflect, regroup and get out of business mode and into beach mode. I guess a good motto to have for a happy life, is to just live a well and balanced life.
