Wander With Alex

Alexandrea Sumuel Groves, Founder & Travel Writer

Smithfield, Virginia

2024

Wander With Alex is taking the hassle out of vacation planning

As a full-time Director of Operations for a law firm, Alex Sumuel Groves knows how hard it can be to take a vacation. That’s why she started Wander With Alex — a travel blog that helps busy people plan some well-deserved time off.

Balancing business and pleasure

When it comes to paid time off, Americans don’t have it easy. The average American gets 10 paid vacation days a year — the second-lowest of any country (source). With busy work days and a whole range of social commitments, it can be tough for most people to plan that vacation they’ve been dreaming about.

Alex Sumuel Groves knows that feeling first-hand. As a Director of Operations at a law firm, she’s regularly jetting off on business trips to major cities. But in recent years, she’s tried to inject some leisure into those business trips — “bleisure,” you could say. Even if she was in town for a conference, Alex made sure to spend a few days wandering around, seeing the sights, and getting some relaxation in.

When the pandemic hit and Alex no longer had to commute into work, she had some more time on her hands. She decided to make the most of it and document her “bleisure” travels on Wander With Alex — a vacation planning resource that helps everyday people get the most out of their travels.

“My original mission was to be a resource for busy professionals like myself who travel for work and want to take advantage of exploring the destinations they travel to,” says Alex. And with over a decade of marketing and operations experience under her belt — including running the law firm’s website — she was confident she could quickly turn her site into a hit.

And in just three months of part-time blogging, Alex managed to generate tens of thousands of page views. With traffic coming in, Alex wanted to monetize her site so that she could fund her upcoming travel with income from the site — so she turned to an ad-supported model.

The journey begins

With tens of thousands of page views, Alex realized she met the threshold to qualify for a Certified Publishing Partner, and worked with an ad network that helps content creators build, scale, and grow their businesses.

Using Google AdSense with her monetization partner, Alex began to generate consistent ad revenue. Two years in, Alex is so impressed with the results that she plans on taking her blog full-time in the next few years. But for now, she’s enjoying working at night and on weekends on a project she’s passionate about.

It’s not just the ad revenue that excites Alex — she’s also been invited on press trips thanks to the blog’s growing audience. “While my work schedule makes it difficult to accept every press invitation I receive, I’ve been lucky enough to make it out to a decent number of domestic and international destinations over the last few years,” says Alex. She’s even earned awards for “Best Travel Planning Blog” from New World Report.

Soon enough, Alex decided to apply to Raptive, another Google Certified Publishing Partner. Their premium ad network could help bring in new readers and boost her ad income even further.

While the awards and “free” trips are nice, her blog has produced another fun bonus. “My sister is the site’s social media manager!” she says. “It’s fun that we get to work on this together as sisters — and she’s a bit younger than me, so I have to admit she’s a bit savvier when it comes to the latest social media trends.”

“My hope is that my work helps take some of the stress out of planning, helps people discover places, and helps them genuinely enjoy their well-deserved time off.”

Never a bad time to get away

Alex knows that not every content creator can take off so quickly. The travel blogging niche is a very crowded space, where it’s hard to stand out. It can take travel bloggers years to gain enough followers to qualify for an ad network — so Alex doesn’t take it for granted when she hears from her growing community of readers.

“It makes my day when I receive an email or comment about how my travel blog has helped someone discover something new,” says Alex. For instance, one reader in Virginia reached out about a town they planned on visiting: Smithfield, VA, which just happens to be where Alex lives. The reader was so grateful to find Alex’s blog, which helped her discover a charming destination they hadn’t yet explored.

Alex knows from experience how tough it can be to get away — so if her blog helps others spread their wings and take that unforgettable trip, she considers it all a success.

“I love helping people plan their vacations,” says Alex. “The average American works very hard during the year, yet most only get two weeks of vacation time with their families. My hope is that my work helps take some of the stress out of planning, helps people discover places, and helps them genuinely enjoy their well-deserved time off.”

About the Publisher

Alexandrea Sumuel Groves is a nationally syndicated travel writer and founder of the Wander With Alex travel blog. Her work has appeared in online publications across the nation. Alex is a direct MSN publisher and Yahoo creator. Alex earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Management and Information Systems and Technology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is currently the Director of Operations and previously the Director of Marketing of a personal injury law firm. Alex travels to experience, eat, explore, and occasionally escape! She started the Wander With Alex travel blog as a passion project. Today, she collaborates with destinations, vacation property management companies, and hospitality technology firms to provide her readers with exclusive insights and information.