Updates on Blogging, Fresh Starts + Issues with Fake Followings

2017 came at me like whoa. Buying a house a few weeks before Christmas sounds crazy but it wasn't actually a bad idea – it gave us the drive to get the place is a decent shape before the holidays arrived. We managed it, and enjoyed a decent amount of downtime over New Year too. Phew!

This year is set to be an interesting one for me on a personal level. I'm planning to revise my current goals and weave in some new ones. I know I'm on the right track so I'll keep plugging away with creating content (which I'm extremely proud of), freelance roles and connecting with people in the real world. For me the latter is the big pay-off - social media can be an amazing tool, opening us up to a new world of people, but you can't replace that real life interaction.

 Wearing | Jacket c/o Barbour International | Sunspel Sweatshirt | Whistles Chinos | Red Wing Boots | CHUP socks | Penfield Beanie | Banana Republic Gloves

We decided to buy a house in the same small town that both myself + Hollie grew up in. But for me, even though it's a 15 minute walk away from where I previously lived it feels like a completely new beginning. 

We finally have the space we've always wanted, and I now have the time to really knuckle down with the much-needed redesign of Buckets & Spades. There has been a transition with how a lot of us consume content online, and many bloggers – including myself – have seen blog readership dip, which is why made a conscious decision to put more effort into my Instagram account. 

Sadly, the rise of IG's popularity has also seen many users faking their way to a big following - using underhanded tactics. This has somewhat tarnished a lot of the genuine effort that many of us have put in for years. If anyone is interested in the subject of "Instagram-fraud" then take a look at this experiment I did.

Honesty always prevails, and I have faith in the people and industry to do the right thing. I "follow" people for many different reasons; for inspiration and creativity, or the personality + likeability – I like to think that the people behind these accounts do it for the love, no matter how big or small their numbers are.

So with all that said it felt appropriate for the first piece of editorial-style content of 2017 (with Jake Millers on the camera) to be shot in the town where it all began – Blackpool. The original idea behind Buckets & Spades was simple – to document "the life of a boy who lives by the seaside". A lot has changed since those days, and I'm certainly not "that" boy anymore...

I graduated in Fashion Promotion from UCLan, worked in marketing, did some travelling, got engaged (getting married in June!), turned a hobby into a job, became a full-time freelancer,  bought a house...but we're still in that very same small town in Lancashire where it all began. The blog has progressed into something I'm extremely proud of, and I'm still buzzed that you guys come to us for our own unique style of blogging.

I have a few realistic goals for this year, both personal and professional, but I think I'm going to keep those close to my chest until I feel it's the right time to share them. One that I'm happy to share is the long-overdue redesign of the blog. And boy does it need it, you don't have to tell me twice!

Any big plans for 2017? Got some travel dates planned in?

Photography by Jake Millers.

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