,New Mexico has never been one of my "must see" states. In fact, that's probably why it's one of the 15 left I had to visit. Although, after a night of driving around the town and countryside, I knew Taos was going to be a lot more than I expected.

Every place we visited looked as if it had a 100 stories to tell. Every corner was hella cute and I found myself thinking that before I went to Mexico, this is what I thought it would look like. Lol I'll shutup now so y'all can start planning your dreamy stay to this art community...

My friend Zoe and I road tripped down to Taos at the end of October. Her sister lived in town and let us crash at her place. We couldn't be more grateful because her setup looked straight out of an Airbnb. It was gorgeous and had the prettiest mountain view.

We had such a special time catching up and she showed us the COOLEST places. If you ever have the chance to let a local show you around, please do it! When I was in Montana, I was so nervous to meet up with a friend of a friend. However, he ended up being so friendly and showing me a world of places I could have never found on my own. Finding the best places requires a little courage guys! You can do it :)

For a tiny town, this place is chock full of beautiful landmarks. One being the Rio Grande Gorge, which I hadn't even heard of. It's super accessible and doesn't cost a thing! You can find space to park a little ways before the bridge.

This picture doesn't do it justice. I'm not super afraid of heights and my heart was racing just looking over the railing. Hence, why I have only one photo haha! Fun fact: For awhile, this bridge was referred to as the "Bridge to Nowhere," because during construction, there wasn't enough money to build a road on the other side.

Alright folks, this is my faaavorite spot we hit up on the trip. It was the most relaxing and refreshing fall evening of my life. Zoe's sister must've known exactly what we needed after an 11 hour drive. This spa is about 45 minutes north of Taos, but it is definitely worth the trek. You can find the directions here.

The spa is made up of 12 mineral hot springs, each pool doing something different for your body and skin. This resort is known to be one of the oldest natural health resorts in the United States! If you're looking to unwind specifically for one day of your trip, spend it here. In the spa and pool area, they have a strict whisper zone policy, which makes it so easy to find quiet.

After my visit to Montana, I was super bummed I didn't stop at a hot spring. Although, Ojo Caliente is everything you could ever want for a hot spring experience. Along with their pools, they also offer steam rooms and spa treatments. If you want to center your trip around this resort, they have plenty of lodging to accommodate you!

The pools can make you awfully thirsty, but don't worry, they have a wine bar and artesian restaurant on site. Their restaurant can get a little pricey, especially at dinner, so I suggest ordering a drink and some appetizers, til your back in Taos!

BUDGET TIP: The best way to get a great rate is to go Monday-Thursday. Which is, $24 per person before 6pm. If you want a better deal, wait til 6pm and get their sunset rate of $20 per person!

I feel like the best way to snag REAL souvenirs, is by heading to a thrift shop. We stopped at Pieces and found some really fun things. I bought a coffee mug and sorted through these beautiful rugs for a few minutes. Ugh, can you imagine how cool your living room would be with one of these? Next time I will save up a little and splurge!

Everybody needs a coffee pick-me-up. The Coffee Spot is a chill place to grab a cup and a bite to eat. I ordered their breakfast burrito and a black coffee. The burrito is $6.25, but guys, this thing is BIG. I barely finished it and it was like the best way to start my day. I didn't have to eat again for hours. If you're with someone, you can get two for $10!

The interior is very eclectic. Walls are painted teal and locals' artwork is scattered across the building. The ceiling is made from wood beams and adds a touch of warmness to your visit. Such a cozy place to enjoy breakfast!

And by hike, I mean take half of a hike or just sit n eat by these beautiful trees. Unless you're super in shape, then by all means, girl kill a trail! We started a trail and then turned around lol. That didn't mean we didn't soak up this scenery though!

A hiker or not, stop here and walk around Carson. These are some of tallest trees I've ever seen! They also have options for camping if you'd be into that. I'm pretty sure this place is free, we weren't stopped! Even if we were, I have my America the Beautiful pass that gets me into all national parks and sites. They're $80 for a full year and come in handy if you travel a lot! You can purchase one here.

Usually, when I see "Explore Downtown" on any blog post, I roll my eyes. THAT'S SO VAGUE. I'm going to tell you exactly what stores we loved and why! One of our favorites was Michelle's Beach boutique. She has really cool clothes that remind me of Free People and the interior is CRAZY CUTE. It has jewelry, personalized soaps, unique belts, and an attic straight out of Sixteen Candles!

Next up, is Chocolate and Cashmere. This is the place to get a sweet treat while you're walking around! The cashmere was a little out of my price range lol, but you need to try this chocolate. I think I bought 2? I wasn't super hungry, but I still wanted to try them! Zo bought a box of four. I think one of mine was a creme brulee flavor and it was delicious!

Even if y'all don't have a dime to spend, walk around downtown. I mean it when I say you don't need to spend a thing to enjoy this culture and community! We went down right before Halloween and everything was so decorated. They had colorful lanterns, skeletons, and beautiful paper tissue flowers. I couldn't get over this pink corner that was in the middle of NOWHERE.

Stop at the Taos Tap Room for dinner! They have incredible cheesy garlic bread and good drinks. If I was a beer girl, I'm sure I would have been all over their beer menu. I ordered the Agave Wine Margarita instead for $7 and it was pretty nice.

While we were there, they had live music. It was such a great way to end a day of exploring. For our entree, we ordered one of their pizzas. If I go back, I'd love to try their wood fired wings! Kids are welcome here too, so bring them along :) I think they just have two different sections.

Wow, this is one of the coolest posts I've ever written. I would have never expected myself itching to go back so soon. Before you rule out any states, definitely try one out for a weekend first! You may be surprised. Ugh, now I'm aching to reserve a lodge at Ojo Caliente. I hope this helps you plan a BOMB trip to Taos!

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Man, if I heard those three things in the same sentence two years ago, I'd say, "there's no way." Although, I've listened to some GREAT podcasts and read some GREAT books lately. They helped me believe I could be doing less for my blog and simultaneously building my brand faster. I started by cutting out unnecessary social media tasks and writing blog posts weekly.

To help y'all understand, here's what I have going on weekly: three online classes, ten hours of work (social media marketing), and writing for Bliss Junkie! God literally set this combination in my lap. I wanted to go back to school, but I didn't want to leave my blog behind, and he found the best compromise ever.

I started classes again last summer, so I've been using a similar schedule for almost a year now! I'm so excited to share this with you too, because I feel like I've read limited posts like this. Let's get into it, it's about time you feel confident about your blog schedule!

I've spent a little time reviewing how I organize my week on Insta Stories, so if you watched that, you can skip the next two sections!

Filling out my planner can make or break my week. Here's an ordered list for how I create my weekly schedule:

• I write down every homework due date for that week. Then, I check every assignment and estimate how long each will take. I put the time frame next to every due date. If it doesn't have a time frame, it's most likely an ongoing project.
• Next, I plug in exactly what day I will be doing which assignment. This way I only have two to three hours of homework a day. It also helps me avoid saying, "I can just do that tomorrow." The following day is already booked with assignments, so each one feels more urgent. After I plug in the day, I put a check mark by the due date signaling that I've scheduled time in to complete it. Along with that, if I keep to my schedule, I don't often have to do any on Saturday or Sunday.
  

TIP: I always count the amount of pages I need to read for the week. This way, I can break them up into a few days. I usually read every other paragraph
in text books and score pretty high on quizzes!

Like I said earlier, I only do ten hours of marketing work a week. I split this up into two hours a day, Monday-Friday. If a blog post ends up taking extra time to write, I skip Monday work and work 2 1/2 hours Tuesday-Saturday.

As for my blogging schedule, I write in when I'll be creating the blog post and my email newsletter. I write blog posts biweekly, so if it's an off week I work on brainstorming and a rough outline. I normally write my blog posts on Monday and newsletter on Tuesday, so I can publish both Tuesday night. For more details on my blogging schedule, check out headline #3, in my post Blogger FAQs People Actually Care About.

For social media, I like to print out a monthly calendar and write in tasks. Usually, I use the one in my planner, but I like to keep that open for my part time job details. I'm currently in the midst of finding a schedule that is smart and focuses on key engagement. Right now, this is how each week looks for social media:

Tuesday: post an Instagram (this is my day of highest engagement)
Wednesday: share pin from the blog post of previous day (meaning, share to group boards and my personal boards)
Friday: like/comment/follow five bloggers in my niche on Insta (travel, faith, or blogging)
Saturday: contribute to two Facebook groups- Women Winning Online + Female Travel Bloggers (I chose the two groups I thought would do the most for my traffic)

That's it right now! Crazy, right? I feel like I see daily blog check lists and they have like 30 things listed. That's insane. I know this list is pretty tiny, but I'd rather have a few really great things, than a bunch of little tasks that don't do much for me. Those weekly items are mostly because they are the platforms I'm not completely focused on right now.

While I complete this schedule, I'm also hustling hard on Pinterest and growing my email list. Although, if I don't have a bare minimum for the apps I'm not as concerned with, I won't remember to stay active there! This helps me stay organized. If you want INSIDER blogging tips straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter below! I only send out two or three emails a month and I promise they're worth your while! :)

Having a planner and filling it in doesn't mean a thing, if you don't look at it. I keep mine open to the exact week out on my desk. This way, I can't say, "Oh, I forgot to get it out today." My assignments and tasks are in my FACE, so I get a move on right away.

When I wake up, I make coffee, and spend an hour doing devos. I really like it like this because I can pray about homework, energy for work, and blog post ideas. Then, when I sit down to start my day, I feel light and confident to kill my projects.

The first thing I work on is homework. It's my main priority and the morning hours are when I have the most energy. Once my two to three hours is done, I like to take my puppy, Bella, on a walk. It breaks up my day and I always feel really motivated when I get back. This is about the time I jump into an hour of blog work. I usually spend it writing and not on social media engagement, because I can hop on apps when I have low energy.

From there, I do my two hours of online marketing. By the time I'm finished, it's about 6 to 8pm. Around this time I'm pretty tired, so I take a quick nap or engage on social media/respond to emails. Then I fall asleep after an episode of the Fosters lol and that's about it!

If you feel like you're super organized and have no extra time, it's time to cut things out girl. Change isn't always easy. Try making a list of your main responsibilities from the ones you love, to the ones you like. Cut out the item on the bottom of the list and see how the week goes. If it's still frantic, try cutting out another thing and so on.

When I first started travel blogging, choosing topics were a little nerve wrecking. I didn't have a lot of money and I could only make posts based on trips. After awhile, I noticed I really enjoyed talking about the technical side of travel blogging. That's when I began writing posts about blogging too. I wasn't required to travel as often and I had a whole new world to write about.

About a year and a half ago, I felt God tugging at my heart. I was learning a ton about my faith and I journaled about it daily. I wanted to serve God's kingdom with my blog, but I wasn't sure how. I was praying about it often and soon, blog post titles about faith popped into my head. Not only that, but I felt I had the confidence to actually write about these topics well.

Today, I'd consider myself to have three niches: travel, faith, and blogging. This was such a smart choice. Now, I rarely run out of blog post ideas. Some bloggers may warn you against having more than one niche. However, my traffic has grown tremendously since the switch and my readers come for my writing! As long as you post consistently about each topic, your readers won't have a problem finding more they like on your site.

Some of you may wonder, "Why did you go back to school, if you knew you wanted to just blog?" Well, at first, I didn't know how close I was to graduating. I had quite a few credits and I thought it'd be nice to have a degree if I ever wanted to stop blogging.

People don't give part time school enough credit, especially when it's ONLINE. Like why didn't I start off college like that? It's so great, I've never been happier! It allows you to have a job and do just about anything extra you want. Plus, you're in full control of your time.

If I was full time student, I wouldn't be able to blog. Remember to think creatively as possible and pray for a better schedule along the way. This combination did not come to me by accident. I went through two jobs and a few semesters before I could figure out what God was calling me to do.

Thanks for reading guys, I hope this post motivates you to create a KILLER blogging schedule. I know you can do it!

If you found this post helpful, PIN IT AND SAVE IT FOR LATER!

You may like these posts too, if you're working on your blogging game:

• 12 Killer Tricks for Mastering Pinterest
• Six Things You Need to Know Before You Hit Publish On Your Blog
• 11 Things I've Learned as a Blogger This Year