A B & Me Blogger in Focus : Sandier Pastures

Welcome to another edition of A B & Me Blogger in Focus! My next feature is a blogger that really piqued my interest. She is the first ever blogger that I read all blog posts from the beginning. Hah! I started commenting on her posts and then I emailed her. I was a total fan girl at that time. She probably thought I was psycho for doing that. HAHA!! We have been friends and travel buddies ever since. 😛

Our next feature is … 

Name: Grace Fujimaki

Location: Dubai, UAE

Blog: http://sandierpastures.com

How did you start blogging?

I started blogging in 2004 after I gave birth to my first child. Blogging then was just about putting your rants online (LOL). I stopped blogging after my parents found out about it. We moved to Dubai in 2007 and started to keep an online diary of our adventures.  

What do you write about?

I write about my expat life in Dubai, family, travel (especially with kids) and sometimes, about blogging.

Tips for new Bloggers?

Find your voice. Write more. Comment on other blogs preferably with the same niche as yours (have a niche in the first place!). Include photos, lots of photos, no one wants to read posts with texts that fill up the whole computer screen. Schedule your posts.

What are the challenges you face with blogging?

Time since I work full-time and have two kids. And a husband.  

What do you do outside of blogging?

I work full-time 5 days a week (used to be 6 days a week!).  

Blogs you recommend my readers should read/follow?

Problogger (problogger.net) for blogging tips on how to improve your blog. Camels and Chocolates (camelsandchocolate.com) for that wonderful balance of good story telling and beautiful photos and Almost Fearless (almostfearless.com) because of the great writing and they are an expat family of four traveling around the world, now settled in Spain.

3 Random Facts about you

1. I have OCD when it comes to writing. I write better with a certain pen (I can’t concentrate if the cap is not attached to it for example), I have a favorite corner in the house to write, I can’t write or focus well if not using the keyboard I use most of the time, etc. Crazy things like that.
2. I am a morning person. And I can function without an alarm clock. I am deemed useless after 10 pm.
3. I love chocolates. I can endure a diet with no rice or bread or pasta. I can even give up ice cream but a life without chocolates is not a good life to live (according to me LOL).

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Grace is a 30 something full-time working mom of two who blogs at Sandier Pastures whenever she has the chance. Writing is her cheap therapy and would prefer to write than talk. She has lived in the Philippines, Japan and the UAE but has yet to find that ‘permanent home’ so traveling the world to find it. Connect with her in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.