Up-to-date and on-the-spot travel blogs provide great information. Travel writer Carla Lewis-Balden, author of Die Reismier blog, reismier.com, shares her amazing journeys. Your background?I've been a lifestyle and travel writer at Media24 for most of my career. I took time off between 2013 and 2015 to freelance, travel and build a blog.Always been a big traveller?From a young age I went on road trips with my parents and was dragged through dusty museums in small Karoo towns, through muddy patches at b attlefield sites - and later I went overland through Africa.Why did you get into travel blogging?Blogging helps build your brand as a freelancer. My readers appreciate my advice, tips and tongue-in-cheek columns.EXTRA MILE: Carla Lewis-BaldenMost memorable trip?I was 20 years old and went backpacking through Southeast Asia to Cambodia and to the southern part of Thailand. It was my first interaction with a completely foreign culture.I remember the sunrise over Angkor Wat, the exact colour of the light and the smell of the morning in a little Asian town despite not having any images of it [it was before we had smart phones].What are the elements that make a trip great?Great service and wide smiles create lasting memories. People who go the extra mile, who remember your favourite drink or put a little something on your pillow.Favourite travel blog?Canadian blogger Candice Walsh's Free Candie ( freecandie.com). She's honest, funny and self-deprecating - a breath of fresh air . Kash Bhattacharya from Budget Traveller (budgettraveller.org) is indispensable when planning a trip on a shoestring.Do you use blogs to plan trips?I look at bloggers based at the destination I'm visiting. I ''twoogle" - ask a question on twitter and rope in the opinions of experts of the destination. You get great advice you won't find in Conde Nast Traveller or the guide books. - ..