About Jay
Where are you from? … is a common question when you’re traveling. It’s a way of establishing some common ground and a good neutral talking point with fellow travelers. But for people like me who feel like they’re not from anywhere, who don’t call anywhere home, it’s a challenging question.
I’m from the tail-end of the baby boomer generation and was a forces brat, constantly moving houses and schools. It was a nomadic childhood that any child of a forces parents is well familiar with. This upbringing is what made it difficult to settle in one spot.
When I left home to work in the hotel industry, I continued moving around England hopping from one live-in job to another, before finally landing in London for a couple of years, where (of course) I continued to move from one flat to another, until I left England to spent a couple of decades living in America.
I lived in New York for a while, and then delivered cars across the States and ended up in Phoenix, before finally settling in Los Angeles. Needless to say I still moved around from apartment to apartment, but Los Angeles is the city I’ve spent the most time in, and we split our time there in Palm Springs.
That wasn’t the end of the journey. We bought a house in Turkey and eventually relocated after I abandoned my corporate career.
Our Turkey home was on the Bodrum Peninsula, nestled between Gumusluk (the ancient city of Myndos) and Yalikavak. It was a base, not a home and we spent part of the year wandering the globe trying to outrun cold winters. We’re occasional house sitters, and more recently, we’ve been supplementing our travel with Workaway gigs (where we swap 4-hours work a day in return for accommodation and food).
Covid shook everyone’s lives up, and we decided to sell our Turkey home and become truly nomadic with no home base. This had been a long-held goal of mine. I loved the idea of being a rolling stone, no fixed abode, able to move on at a moment’s notice. Exploring like Marco Polo. But after the death of my mother, after her long and tortuous battle with Alzheimer’s, I suddenly had a need for a base. Although my travel bug is still alive and kicking.
We’ve landed in Portugal—let’s see where this current chapter takes us.
What am I writing about?
I launched my travel blog after our first trip to Bodrum to buy a house there, and called it Roving Jay so that I could blog in stealth-mode. Back then “blogging” was still a niche and nerdy past-time and I was unsure about committing my words to a screen and publishing on the world wide web. I have multiple blogs now, and the nerves have gone!
I share our global travel adventures and random musings. I also write about our house sitting and Workaway gigs. My blog is just an excuse and opportunity to write whatever I want to write. It’s all more or less related to travel, although some posts are a little off topic. More recently I’ve been writing about the creative journey I’ve embarked upon. Check out the Art Room posts if you’re interested to see what I’ve been drawing and painting, but here’s a sneak peak at a self-portrait I did during lockdown in a government facility in Istanbul.
I’m a slow traveller, and love staying in quirky self-catering accommodation, and taking the bus, tram, trains, or boats. We love food! And visiting local farmer’s markets in a new destination is our #1 sightseeing activity. I like art museums and street art. I love researching travel journeys, but I also like throwing the plans out the window and just wandering the streets of a new destination, to discover what’s around the next corner.
My other websites
I maintain three different websites that cover different topics:
Birds of a Feather Press
Birdsofafeatherpress.com is my Indie Publishing Imprint and Self-Publishing Website:
- As an evolution of my self-publishing journey I’m starting my own self-publishing imprint “Birds of a Feather Press”, where I share writing and self-publishing tips to help travel bloggers and travel writers self-publish their own books.
- I host an author interview series featuring travel bloggers and writers who have written books, and a Podcast aimed at travel bloggers who want to self-publish.
- Take a scout around this site and check out the free books and downloads I offer. You can also join my beta readers list and street team for new books.
Jay Artale Website
JayArtale.com is my Author & Content Marketing website:
I’m a project manager specialising in social media and content management and I share insights and education about building your personal brand online. My preferred social networks are Twitter and Pinterest, and have a special interest in the travel and self-publishing niches.
Bodrum Peninsula Travel Guide Website
BodrumPeninsulaTravelGuide.co.uk is my main Bodrum Travel Website:
It covers all the towns and villages on the Bodrum Peninsula in Turkey, and is aimed at encouraging independent travelers to get off the tourist track and discover the charm and beauty of the local area. This is also the showcase site for my Bodrum Travel Guide series.
As well as being an avid blogger, I’ve also written and self-published two travel guides for Turkey’s Bodrum Peninsula, and a collection of non fiction books for travel bloggers and travel writers to improve their travel writer and self-publish their books.
Hi Roving Jay,
I came across your great picture showing the colorful booth from the artist Juarez Fagundes in Sao Paolo regarding the ‘Call Parade”.
I am writing for a companies’s magazine and one of the upcoming topics will be “connections of all kinds”. Do you think it would be possible to grant me the right to use the above mentioned picture of taken by you and if so, could you kindly provide it in high resolution?
Many thanks for your kind feedback and wihsing you a good day,
Simone
Yes absolutely… I’ll contact you via email and send you a hi-res version of the images.
Roving Jay recently posted..The Yellow and Green Landscape of Norfolk
Hi Roving Jay,
I loved your post on blogging and pajamas and how you talk about them going together. https://www.rovingjay.com/blogging-in-pajamas/ I was wondering if you’d be opened to a guest post about pajamas and sleepwear that are functional, fashionable and can easily be taken on travels because of their versatility being able to be used for multiple things.
Please let me know if this is something you would be opened to.
Thanks and great site!
Adam
Can you send me please the urls with an American traffic?
Travel, tourism..etc..
Thank you
Dear Roving Jay,
My name is Joyce and I work for ExpatFinder.com.
ExpatFinder.com is a free one stop website for people preparing to move or working and living overseas. We provide a myriad of services for expatriates and we have over 2,000 articles to help and support the people moving around the world and we are now creating an interview section to help the expats with real life experiences!
We quite enjoy your blog about living in Los Angeles, it is very interesting and informative. Would it be possible to interview you to further share some of your tips and feature some of your first hand experience as an Expat and your interview will be published on our Expat Interview section as a guide for our expat readers. The questions are mainly about the day to day lifestyle of an expat. If it would be possible, could you also send some photographs that we can use?
Of course, if you accept, we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
The questions are enclosed, feel free to respond freely. You can return the doc with your answers if you accept this invitation.
Thanks in advance and do let me know if you prefer other means to conduct this interview and we would be happy to accommodate your terms.
Best regards,
Joyce
Thanks for contacting me Joyce .. I’ll follow up via email.
Roving Jay recently posted..Dog Sitting in Northern California
Hi,
I was wondering if I can sponsor your site for a client of mine that is based in UK. It will be either about travels, holidays or city breaks.
It really is simple work and of-course the ad copy is upon your approval. We will make sure it will fit you and your readers taste.
Please let me know if this is possible.
Thank you and looking forward to working with you.
Liza Barton
Web Outreach Team
Thanks for the offer .. but the topic is a bit vague.
Hi Roving Jay, I am starting up a travel blog about my life growing up and living as an expat. Check out my blog about it and if you are interested feel free to use any of the posts as guest posts. Thanks, Sean
Thanks for the offer Sean, but I don’t recycle content from other blogs to feature as guest blog posts. The content needs to be unique and shouldn’t have been published elsewhere. If you’d like to write a guest blog about being an expat — happy to feature it, if the topic is relevant to my audience.
Roving Jay recently posted..I’m going to Camp NaNoWriMo this Summer
Hi
My name is Joyce, I am a marketing executive at expatfinder.com which is a leading expat information and services website.
I saw on your blog that you are and expat. I wish to interview you to further share some of your tips. The questions are mainly about the housing, the daily life etc.
It just takes 5 minutes (or more depending if you have lots to say 🙂
Of course, if you accept we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
If you are interested to participate at this project, please send me an email at interview@expatfinder.com.
Hey There,
I am Tanay, and that I am knowledgeable content author operating as a freelancer. I’m extremely inclined towards something regarding motion or travel blogs.
I am following your blog for currently and your web site talks predominately regarding things that excite me. If you’re accepting posts, I might prefer to supply a write-up. I’m tuned in to the style of your blog /website and that I am certain that the content can resonate with the audience.
If this appears like one thing your audience would love, then lets work together!
Let me know what you think!!
Hi,
My name is Jacob Lee. I wanted to reach out to you regarding advertising options on your blog, rovingjay.com
I was impressed by the content you share with your readers and the rapport you have built with them. Every article was packed full of valuable information and enlightening to read. It’s not surprising you have such a following!
After looking at your site, I figured working with you would be a perfect collaboration. I hope that you will consider allowing advertisements from our reputable clients to be added to your site.
If this is something that interests you, please contact me so that we can discuss this proposal in detail. Hope to hear from you very soon!
Thanks and Regards
Jacob Lee
Content Marketing Executive
e:jacob.techlee@gmail.com
Hi Roving Jay,
We enjoyed going through your web site and blog, and think there might be an opportunity to collaborate. We’d like to invite you to our upcoming retreat for a week as our guest, meet you in person and get your help to promote our brand. Several digital content creators from Europe and the US will be joining us, and we’d be very happy to welcome you too. Please contact us via email or Instagram at your earliest convenience, if you are interested, so that we can send you the full details.
Best,
Erkin from Bright Tribe
Hello Roving Jay,
Is there a way to reach you by e-mail?
Thank you.
Umit
Hallo sir,
I need guest post on your site https://www.rovingjay.com/
So please tell me price
I am waiting for your reply
Thanks & Regards..
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Hi,
I have gone through your website and it looks really amazing. We are looking for a long-term collaboration with admins who have websites as appealing as yours. We provide guest posting services on websites with good DA and traffic. Let us know if you’re interested in collaborating with us for a long term and healthy business so that we can get orders for your websites also as soon as possible. And also let us know the best re-seller rates you can provide us with so that we can maximize the order frequency for your website.
Thanks
Regards,
Hi,
This is Kleise, an outreach assistant. I wanted to find out who the best person is to speak with to contribute an article on your website?
I am looking to write an article that you can post on your blog. The article will be well-researched based on the large pool travel experts that we has access to. In exchange, I was hoping that you could credit our online travel media site for providing the article to you. Please let me know if you would be interested?
Thank you,
Kleise
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Hello Team,
I am Robin D’Cruz Link Builder from OLM Digital Agency. We are looking for Guest Post opportunities with the, especially considering how things are right now.
I see that you publish some really great contents; I’m also ready to pay for the Guest post.
I’m just reaching out to see if you would like to work together on your blog,
If you have the opportunity, don’t hesitate to reach out via email. Of course, you can also connect with me via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Also, let me know the price of the backlink,
Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I hope we cross paths in the future!
Cheers!
Robin
Hi There,
I hope you’re fine.
I’m Biswajit S, Currently working with “GPP”. I’m a blogger outreach service provider, since 2016 I am in online marketing field.
I’m providing High Quality Guest Post/Link Building & Article Writing services to all of my client’s.
I’ve a great resource of high quality genuine blogs with various niche I can easily post your quality article/content in this high quality blogs at very reasonable rates.
You can see my top some blogs as a sample:
1* Cuny.edu (DA 85 PA 60)
2* Tgdaily.com (DA 75 PA 52)
3* Lerablog.org (DA 53 PA 54)
4* Buzzfeed.com (DA 93 PA 72)
5* Entrepreneur.com (DA 93 PA 67)
Kindly let me know if you have any requirements. I am looking forward to hear back from you.
Yours truly,
Biswajit S.
“Hi there,
I hope this email finds you well. I am a travel enthusiast and blogger. I recently came across your website and was impressed with your content’s quality.
I believe that I can provide valuable insights to your readers by contributing a guest post to your website. I have written extensively about various travel topics. I am confident that I can deliver a high-quality article that will engage your audience and complement the existing content on your website.
If you are interested in publishing my guest post, please let me know, and I will be happy to send you some topic ideas. Alternatively, if you have a specific topic, I would be happy to write about it.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best regards,”
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