I often get asked about blogging and travelling. Below is a guide of what we used to start our website, design and plugins that are essential for making a unique site. If you are only just starting out or have been at it for a few years we hope to share with you what we have learnt and use since we began in 2007.

Food and travel go hand in hand with each other. While on the road working from your backpack can seem a little daunting. We have a packing list of essential items and gadgets that make your trip more enjoyable. We also recommend a few websites to find cheap flights and budget accommodation that take just about all credit cards. Once you are packed, with a bare minimum of your passport and credit card, you are on your way to eat your way around the world.

I will keep updating this list as our site evolves.

Starting your food & travel site.

	Once you have decided on a website name click over to BLUEHOST. Your name will be with you forever so think long and hard about it. BLUEHOST have been looking after us for 5 years providing our domain name and hosting plan. They offer a free domain name, unlimited space, great price and 24 hour help. You can also quickly install wordpress from their dashboard.
	WordPress is our blogging platform of choice. We started out as a free website on wordpress.com. Since then we have upgraded to our own domain name. WordPress has a dashboard which is easy to use and you can apply many themes and plugins to change the appearance of you blog. They also have great help options and many forums.
	The Thesis Theme for WordPress is a great way to customise your website. Allowing you to take control of more of the design aspects involved from the header to the width of your columns. The main draw card is that the SEO (search engine optimisation) for your website is easy to configure and will help get your information seen in google listings.

 Wordpress Plugins for Food + Travel Enthusiasts

EASY RECIPE: Is a simple and easy platform for putting recipes into your posts. It is also great for SEO and adds pictures to your recipe link in google searches.

AKISMET: Is a spam filter for you blog which stops huge amounts of unwanted comments in your comments folder.

TRAVEL MAP: Can show your readers your future trip or keep them updated on your adventure.

NEXTGEN GALLERY:  A great way to add galleries to your blog post that can be viewed as a slideshow or viewed as thumbnails.

NEXTSCRIPTS: SOCIAL NETWORKS AUTO-POSTER: Don’t waste time uploading you journey on facebook and twitter for your friends, do it automatically with this plugin.

ONLINE BACKUP FOR WORDPRESS: Regularly backing up your wordpress files will give you piece of mind while you are out in the world. Backing up your posts, pages, comments, pictures, plugins and themes.

While on the road.

	Hostelworld is the most useful booking site to start with. We used it through Australia, China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina and Europe. It covers over 180 countries, offering the best range of affordable accommodation, from hostels, b&b’s and budget hotels. Hostels and Budget Accommodation Worldwide Book Now!
	There are endless sites you can book flights from. We foundeDreams offers booking flights in all countries without geographical credit card restrictions. A multi-language site offering cheap flights. If you are on the road and need to get a last-minute flight from Laos to Vietnam or Mexico City to Lima, it is quick and easy way to book.
	Life getting lost in a city? A good quality guidebook is always essential to get you around a city. Bus, train and local transport information along with a map is a must have. Our favourite is the Lonely plant for their maps and transportation guide. You can now also download the guidebook chapters you need, instead of carrying the whole book.Lonely Planet Shop
	With a reliable packing list it makes it easy for light travel. Read more about our backpacks that will stand the task of the metro in Mexico City during peak hour or standing room only on a bus in China. Essentials you should always take from gadgets to your toothbrush.
	A camera is important for a food and travel blogger. Sharing your latest climb,  last nights dinner or the best market with your friends, family and loyal followers. I choose to use a Canon with a mix of Canon and Tamron lenses. We also carry a small compact quick snap camera that you can pull out of your pocket  that is waterproof and shockproof. To read more about my camera gear and software – click here.
	Computers come in all shapes and forms from full-sized laptops to netbooks to tablets. Important things to remember is that you have a way to access wifi, matt screen to keep the glare out and its small and easily portable. Software on your computer of choice should be kept minimal with a photo editing program, text editing program and something to watch videos. These are all guidelines that help us buy our next portable internet device.