Meet Sarah Nicole | Travel Content Creator & Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Nicole and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah Nicole, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work life balance is so important, yet it can be so hard to achieve. I still work a 9-5, so doing that along with working on my travel business coupled with family/friends time is hard.

I used to work on my travel business every evening when I got home from my 9-5. I would eat dinner and then work on my travel business until about 9pm. It gets exhausting!

Over time I became burnt out and working on my travel business wasn’t fun anymore. I knew something had to change.

At this point I’m doing a much better job with my work life balance. I still work my 9-5. However, instead of working my life around my travel business I work my travel business around my life.

What does that look like? I get up earlier. I answer emails, messages, texts, etc before I go to my 9-5. Sometimes I post content on social media before my 9-5.

I also utilize scheduling tools. Scheduling tools have helped me more than anything! Being able to schedule instagram posts, Pinterest pins, etc is a game changer.

I also don’t have a set list of things I need to get done each day. I have a list of things I need to get done each week. And, I do them around events in my life. Each week it looks differently. I may work late one day and the next not work on my travel business at all.

When my mindset changed to wrap my travel business around my life, my time management became much easier. I was no longer overwhelmed or stressed out often.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My Macroscopic Life is all about travel. I believe everyone should have the tools to travel if it’s something they wish to do.

I’m based in East TN. I’m a local to the Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge / Smoky Mountain area. I grew up going there and still go today. Although I’m an expert in Smoky Mountain travel, it’s not the only travel content I share.

I have a blog I update weekly, I post pre-made trip itineraries, and travel guides. I also create personal custom trip itineraries for my clients.

Each pre-made itinerary is one I created and used on one of my trips. The destinations for them are all across the US. Each one is free to download and use. You also receive a color coded custom map with your download.

My guides are just that: travel guides to specific destinations. I only write them for places I know extremely well. Because I’m a local to the Smoky Mountains area, my Smoky Mountain travel guide is very popular.

I’ve been having a lot of interest in my custom trip itineraries. I only offer them to places I visit frequently and know well. Of course I offer them for the Smoky Mountains area! I also offer them for Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

A lot of people get me confused with a travel agent. I’m not a travel agent. I don’t book anything for my clients. I create a personalized trip for them, give them a color coded itinerary, a color coded custom map, and links for them to book everything.

Starting My Macroscopic Life was not easy. The biggest challenge for me was creating my own website. The web developer I hired did a great job. However, when things were finished him and his team tried to hold my site hostage.

I made some mistakes and gave them access to things I shouldn’t have. For those reasons it was easy for them to hold my website hostage. Eventually, I was able to get it away from them and get everything back into my control.

I want the world to know that My Macroscopic Life is here to help. It should be fun and exciting to experience life as seen by the naked eye. Planning a trip doesn’t have to be overwhelming and stressful!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I wanted to show someone the best time in the Smoky Mountains area for a week here’s what I would do:

Day 1
We would start our week in Pigeon Forge. We’d start the morning with breakfast at one of the pancake places. Then, we would do a little shopping in the Mountain Mile and Tanger Outlet. We would have dinner at the Smoky Mountain Brewery or Local Goat to end the night.

Day 2
We would head to Dollywood and spend the whole day there. We would have some cinnamon bread while there because it’s amazing. We would ride all kinds of rides, play games, see shows, ride the train, and more. Under no circumstances could we leave without eating a corn dog!

Day 3
We’d start by going to a coffee shop, probably espresso yourself. Then we would head into the Smoky Mountain National Park. We would do an easy waterfall hike. Either Laurel Falls or Grotto Falls. Then we would ride the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. After that we would go see The Sinks. It’s a small waterfall that is actually man made. At that point we would be close to Townsend so we would go there for dinner. We’d eat at the Peaceful Side Brewery and Kitchen.

Day 4
We would start the day by going to the titanic museum. It’s one of my favorite museums in Pigeon Forge! We would have lunch at Elvira’s cafe and then go to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum. It’s my other favorite museum in Pigeon Forge. After it we would explore the Island. I absolutely love the island. We’d have dinner at either Margaritaville or Timberwood Grill on the island. And, we’d be sure to stay after dark to see the colors dancing fountain easier.

Day 5
We’d start this day by having breakfast at Trish’s mountain diner. Then we would head into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park again. We’d start across Newfound Gap and then branch off to Clingmans Dome. We would park and do the hike to Clingmans Dome. The views from up there are nothing short of amazing! After that we would finish driving across Newfound Gap, stopping periodically at overlooks. Once in Cherokee, NC we would visit the museum of the Cherokee Indian and see if any festivals are going on. We would find Nikk’s fry bread food truck for lunch and stop in Qualla Java for coffee. After that we would ride back across Newfound Gap and have dinner at Bennett’s Pit BBQ

Day 6
We would spend this day in Gatlinburg. We would go to the Donut Friar as early as possible for the best donuts. Then we would explore the rest of the village shoppes. We would then go to the Salt and Pepper Shaker museum. It’s such a fun little oddity! After that we would walk the strip stopping in shops along the way. Lunch would be a milkshake from the Crazy Mason Milkshake bar. The milkshakes are amazing and if you go earlier in the day the line isn’t as long. Then we would go up to the SkyPark. We would spend a lot of time up there walking the deck and bridge. After it we would have dinner at the Peddler. They have the best salad bar you can imagine!

Day 7
The last day. We would spend the last day in the quieter side of the Smokies: Townsend. We would go to the Apple Valley Mountain Village. We would go into the shops and get coffee at the Dancing Bean. We’d visit Bigfoot popcorn and then drive through Wears Valley into Pigeon Forge. There’s a lot of General Stores along Wears Valley so we would stop in a lot of them. They have many flavors of whole coffee beans so we would stock up on them. The views along the road are gorgeous! Towards the end of Wears Valley is the Goat Coaster at Goats on the Roof. We would ride the coaster. It’s through the mountains and you control the speed, so it’s not at all scary. After we got off we’d feed the goats on the roof. After that we would finish with dinner at Blue Moose Burger and Wings.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without the love and support of my family, friends, and fiancé I would not be where I am today.

Website: https://mymacroscopiclife.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mymacroscopiclife?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072022367615&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mymacroscopiclife?si=jJ18ex0Jk7YfXJN_

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mymacroscopiclife?_t=8gyUfQQACJG&_r=1

Image Credits
All images are my own.