Kimberly Kang or as shes known on Instagram @kmberlykang has a love of travel that runs deep. Her photos are bright, idyllic, and capture the beauty of some of the worlds most beautiful locations. We spoke to Kimberly about the journey of becoming a top travel influencer one day.
Kimberly can you tell us a bit about yourself/your story, how you developed an interest in traveling and why you decided to launch a travel-food-focused Instagram account?
KK: I’ve always been keen about traveling but I used to take only tropical vacations to all inclusive resorts. It was just recently, maybe 2 years ago when I discovered this passion that I had for traveling. I love exploring way more than settling down on a beach and indulging in food all day. Now that I have been living and working (in corporate) in the city, it is so easy to be engulfed by the fast paced environment that I so often forget to just wind down and enjoy my surroundings.
I’ve been consistently telling my friends that before I moved into the city, I always had so many reasons to want to go into the city on the weekends but recently, many times, I wake up on the weekend and think to myself “what is there to do today?” I also witness so many people around me being so focused on just “popping bottles” every weekend and spending money on everything else but traveling (which is completely okay if you do that) but I really think that everyone deserves a break to just travel instead of falling victim to a routine that will eventually wear you out.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced while traveling?
KK: Something always goes wrong! Whether a step in the itinerary goes completely awry or whether Mother Nature throws different plans at you. I actually have a story about both. Last year, I was on a Euro trip and being completely fatigued (and excited) I missed a flight to Amsterdam because I ended up at the wrong airport in Paris. I always try to travel on a budget but since I was already at the airport, I looked up the cheapest flights that were leaving that specific airport and a few hours later, I ended up in Barcelona.
Most recently, I was traveling through Iceland by driving on the Ring Road and was stopped by a police officer to turn around and that the road would be closed for a day and a half due to the heavy winds. I knew that the weather changes very sporadically so my boyfriend and I decided to pull over and kept refreshing the Icelandic weather site to not miss our chance to keep driving further while simultaneously looking for the closest hotel with available rooms. Just having to be spontaneous sometimes during traveling can definitely be stressful but I always try to remain optimistic and make the best of the situation.
How has your style or content changed since you first started? Also how do you capture just the right shot at the right moment?
KK: I used to post solely selfies on my Instagram but after a few years of growing up and becoming mature, I want to inspire people to get out and travel and to remind them that there’s so many places just a flight away. I usually take pictures when in the moment, I feel happy. Photos really do last forever. It also helps that sometimes I just hold my finger down on the button (on my phone or the camera) and look over the photos after. There’s always a shot or two that makes me think “Ah! This is it. This is what I’ll remember.”
What do you think is unique about your audience and the way that you engage with them?
KK: A majority of my audience are my friends or people I have actually met before. It’s always nice being able to reconnect with someone after a photo/ video I post piqued their interest. I have been keen on sharing my travel experiences and I love being able to ask respective individuals about theirs. It really is a good feeling being able to bond over sharing our personal experiences especially since a majority of us do lose touch with tons of people as we continue to adult and as our lives go in all directions.
If you could go back in time and visit any city or country in another period, when and where would you go?
KK: This question really made me think but if I had to pick one country to go back to, probably Dubai in the 90s. In a little over 10 years, massive skyscrapers and roads were built over its natural landscape. I really appreciate going someplace and seeing them preserve its history rather than knocking it down and starting brand new to “modernize.”
Tell us a little more about travelwithkimberlyk.com
KK: I just started this blog two weeks after I got back from Iceland. I was joking that I was going to start this blog to be able to charge for my itinerary that I spent 52 hours on. I was just posting one photo daily from my trip onto my personal Instagram and I received SO MANY messages from my followers saying that Iceland was never on their list of places to travel to in the near future but that my photos changed their mind. I absolutely loved that my photos inspired people to want to travel to Iceland to experience its beauty for themselves that I sat myself down and tried to transfer my itinerary as well as tried to illustrate my time in Iceland into a single blog post. I’m working on creating blog posts for everywhere I’ve been to thus far along with my itinerary in hopes that it’ll continue to inspire more people to just get out there and travel!
In what single way would you say social media has most changed your life?
KK: Social media has changed my life by allowing me to reconnect with friends and acquaintances, easily. You can see what someone has been up to by the pictures and stories that they post up and when you run into them, there’s tons to talk/ ask about.
What’s the best advice you ever received about Instagram?
KK: “What you see on Instagram is not real.” Truth. Everything on Instagram is always picture perfect but there were numerous takes/ edits before that one photo was selected to be put up.
What is still your biggest challenge on Instagram?
KK: The biggest challenge about Instagram, in my opinion, is that it keeps severely downgrading the quality of photos! A photo that starts out super crisp in detail just gets completely shattered once uploaded onto Instagram. For example, I uploaded a photo of the northern lights, which you could see the numerous stars speckled in the sky but after uploading, it was just (not as) vivid colors splattered across the sky.
Is there certain photography gear you use for your photos?
KK: The iPhone XS Max has been my primary source for photography gear but Iceland is the first trip where I brought along a Sony a7iii and I am so glad that I did because I wouldn’t have been able to catch the Northern Lights if it wasn’t for the lens.
What’s next for you? What are your future plans?
KK: I’ll be going to Switzerland in late November! Currently planning that trip out. It’s different this time because I’ll be bringing my Siberian Husky along with me this time. I also have flight alerts set for Alaska, which hopefully will happen sometime early next year, followed by an Asia trip.
If you had to pick either food or travel, which would you go with?
KK: Travel, for sure. Traveling enriches my life in a way food has not. I know people say trying different cuisine is a way to become cultured but I don’t think you can fully become “cultured” until you immerse yourself into all that a foreign place has to offer you because it’s pretty exciting to experience how different daily life is for people in a country on the opposite side of the world.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
KK: Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. There’s so many ways to bypass unnecessary fees and there’s so many apps out there currently catering to help you find cheap flights. Please feel free to message me and I will gladly assist! Also, if you’re not that keen about traveling, that’s okay too. Just make sure to do something that fulfills YOUR happiness every once in a while and to never fall into a cycle for too long because you may end up in a rut.
