Online Lives: On the wild side with Emily Culhane

Adventure-loving Emily Culhane lives on the wild side through her blog, thewildwayfarer.com

The 24-year-old from Limerick works in marketing but she loves travelling, spending time outdoors, and sharing those moments online.

“As much as I love what I do, I absolutely live for the weekends when I can go on adventures,” she says.

“No matter how big or small, I’m always happy once I get outdoors.

Along with actually going on the adventures, another part I love about them is sharing the places that I find.

She’s not the only one who enjoys her travels in Ireland and abroad, however.

She has amassed more than 5,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts as @emziiepop, and she also uses the social network to plan future holidays.

“My main reason for using Instagram is that it’s both a creative outlet for me, but it’s also where I draw a lot of inspiration from. I follow a lot of travel accounts and it’s given me the ability to find out about places I wouldn’t have known about before.”

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Emily finds blogging has pushed her out of her comfort zone, both personally and professionally.

“The blogging aspect has helped me a lot from an IT point of view as I created the website myself from scratch, and it keeps me writing, which I love,” Emily says.

“The social media side of things has also pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of travel and photography, which I love.”

Fear of being judged by those she knows held Emily back from posting and sharing content when she began, but she has since moved past that hurdle.

“The most challenging part is starting out and wondering what everyone ‘back home’ will think. But that just isn’t a good enough reason to not pursue something that you are interested in, I think.

“I just wish I wasn’t as scared to share it with the world so openly.

Instagram is something I always just tipped away at but I kept my website quiet enough for longer than I should have.

Ireland’s blogging community has been a source of inspiration and support for Emily.

“I absolutely love it; there are so many people who are there to help you when you need it and the support is fantastic across the board.”

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Emily says would-be bloggers should know it takes hard work to build a successful brand online.

“Start slow, find your style and don’t get disheartened if things don’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of effort and time.”