Okay, so we aren’t redecorating as such, more updating the website template and creating a new Pre-2016 Archive section where you can find all of the content from 2009 to 2015 in its old format (Arras theme), be that recipes, catwalk reports or travel guides. I’ve been rather fond of Arras and clung onto it but it’s time for the sun to set and Charlotte’s VVeb to relaunch with a fresh look.
I started Charlotte’s VVeb when I was fresh out of university, right at the start of the recession. It was almost impossible to get a job, particularly in media. One of my former employers suggested I start a website called Charlotte’s Web and well, I couldn’t afford the £10,000 for the domain. A few weeks later, someone casually suggested dropping one of the letters, or changing one and hence Charlotte’s VVeb was born (that’s two Vs for those not paying attention!)
I stopped regularly blogging in 2011. I was exhausted and working very hard as a trend forecaster, travelling a lot and in a relatively fresh relationship. Since then the blog world has really evolved. There are blogging superstars, making millions of pounds/dollars/Euros each year in endorsements. They have millions of followers on social media, which was really only in its infancy when I started this website. Their blogs (not forgetting their vlogs too) have generally focused on them and their personal lives and well, I wasn’t really interested in telling you all what I ate for breakfast, who I was dating or what I just bought at the shops!
Design has changed a lot too and so, when I found myself with a little time on my hands a few weeks ago, I decided I’d sit down with my little website and make some changes. It’s going to take a while and I can’t promise I’m going to blog every day or even every week but I will make more of an effort to keep you entertained than I have over the last five years. However, on the odd occasion (or sometimes more frequently) I may well digress from the original theme of this website. When I graduated, the only thing I was really an expert in (and I use the word expert loosely) was Eastern Europe. Now, it seems like the world and its mother is hiking in Slovenia, going on a stag in Prague or hitting the festivals of Croatia. Hell, it’s not even illegal to go to Chernobyl anymore! Of course, there is still plenty of undiscovered Eastern Europe and I’ll always love the region – it’ been a big part of my life – but in more recent years I’ve travelled a lot to other places, Africa, the Middle East and the USA and of course, Western Europe.
That’s just the travel! I’ve picked up some reasonably decent tech skills, photography experience and even written for a couple of books. I’ve studied Level 1, 2 and 3 in Wine and Spirits at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, passing the latter with merit. I’ve got new jobs, been promoted and lost my job when the company I worked for closed, abruptly. And that relationship which was in its infancy, well, now we’re engaged. From here on in, I won’t shelter you from those other parts of my life any more but I can’t promise you I’m ever going to do a ‘haul’ video or try to shove 50 marshmallows in my mouth. I’ll leave that to the infinitely successful Zoella…
Thanks for reading!