A Fireside chat with Jeff from Jeffsetter

Welcome to a new Sunday series that will be a bit like a fireside chat. I count it a privilege to be a part of an amazing group of Travel bloggers here at BoardingArea.com. But just how well do you know “your” BoardingArea writers? Are you reading all the blogs you should be each day? This series will help you get to know them one by one. Now on to this weeks chat.

BoardingArea has a history of hosting the top travel blogs in the USA. Now they are adding more of the most unique and outstanding growth blogs that bring information in an understandable, clear and informative way that can be found nowhere else on the web. Jeff, from the Jeffsetter blog, fits all of this in spades. I know Jeff and he is a brilliant blogger and compliments BA! Now let’s get to know Jeff.

Rene – Hi Jeff thanks so much for sitting down by the fireplace. I am so pleased you are now a part of BA. Clearly you are an accomplished blogger in your own right. Why did you decide to join BA and what is Jeffsetter all about?

Jeff – I have been blogging for quite some time about various topics in my life (since the year 2000), even spending some time writing about my travels. Near the end of 2012 I decided to get serious about sharing my travel experiences and started brainstorming ideas for a name for the blog. Jeffsetter seemed like a clever way to marry my name and my passion (Jet-Setting all over the world) into a persona to use for the blog. The domain name was available and the rest is history as they say.

I joined Boarding Area because it was through reading several Boarding Area bloggers that I learned many of the tips and tricks that I use to travel the world inexpensively. It made perfect sense to join the team of bloggers at BA.

Rene – It is impressive to me that someone with as much knowledge as you would learn from the BA team, but it shows to me that your blog is a perfect compliment to the BA family. On to more about Jeff. You are truly a road warrior. You spend a ton of time on the road and in the air. So is Jeffsetter a blog for the road warrior set or who should be adding your blog to their daily read?

Jeff – Great question. Even though I have been going at it for a year, I am still working to improve the quality of the content that I can provide to readers, as well as taking feedback on what visitors would like to see. Business trips aren’t always the sexiest way to travel, but if I can give tips on how to maximize points earning while traveling or what hotels to visit on a trip to New Jersey, then it’s of value to my readers.

At the same time, I also stay motivated by aspirational travel all over the world, so I try to talk about these experiences as much as possible, share my experiences and help people get to their dream destinations. I am also interested in providing a visual showcase of the world, and like to share photographs and videos on my blog whenever possible. You could say that there is a little bit of something for everyone. The one thing I do not do often is “break” news on my blog. This is because I am often in a business setting or traveling when news breaks, so I am rarely the first one to break a story. When I personally do take advantage of a promotion, bonus or deal, I am sure to write about it though.

Rene – I think most readers have no idea how much work it takes to work with photos and video and to share them in way that is helpful to the reader. It is a simple thing to put up a Facebook post but yet another to teach. It is impressive that you do this and I am sure one of the reasons for the success of Jeffsetter!

Jeff – It is a lot of work indeed, especially when you are sitting on a computer on a vacation in paradise. I try to minimize the amount of time I am connected while traveling for both my sanity and the sanity of Mrs. Jeffsetter. This leaves me with a lot of photos and videos to sift through when I get home and explains why I have some yet to be finished trip reports that I have been neglecting. It’s almost like a full time job on top of my full time job!

Rene – So much of these chats is for readers not just coming to know the blogs that are available to them on BA but also to get to know the person behind the blog. Just who is the Jeff in Jeffsetter. What makes Jeff tick so to speak?

Jeff – I graduated from college with a computer science degree and made my first website when I was in 8th grade (it was a website dedicated to a video game I was playing). I have always appreciated the web for it’s ability to share experience and learn from others. It makes our world smaller in a sense. I love to learn and I love to teach and the Internet is the perfect forum to do both.

Rene – Stunning. Speaking of tech, most of the BA sites do look the same. There are some that are more individual in appearance and yours is like those. Can you tell us the difference between Jeffsetter and the old school BA sites?

Jeff – Certainly. I would say that the biggest difference is that I am starting my site later in the process, after blogging platforms have matured significantly. By starting from scratch, I am able to include more images in posts while still having the site load quickly. Since I am a website developer by trade, I also can write advanced code for the site that allows me to do cool things like produce an interactive travel map of the places I have been in the world. I know that “old school” BA sites will start to become more and more beautiful over time as well.

Rene – Neat. I think we are seeing this already as BA starts to upgrade. I know some of the bloggers are already moving that way. OK enough tech. So what can we look forward to from Jeffsetter moving forward. What can readers look forward to learning from the Jeff behind Jeffsetter next year?

Jeff – I will continue to become a better photographer and post great photos on the site. In addition, I hope to make more video content on the site as well as further develop the Jeffsetter community. I have found that people really enjoy when I post weekly polls on the site and had some nice success running my first contest on the site last week. I look forward to learning from site readers what they would like to see more of from Jeffsetter in 2014 and beyond.

Rene – Outstanding. Jeff thanks so much for taking the time to sit down by the fireplace and chat with me. Without question your blog is a great addition to the BA family and I look forward to each post from Jeffsetter!

Jeff – Thanks for having me Rene! This has been a fun experience and I really have enjoyed sitting by the warming glow of my screen and talking with you.

You can follow Jeff on his blog as well as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. Be sure to check back next week as I chat with another of the outstanding personalities the make up BoardingArea! – René

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