About Me

Hey I’m Jon! I’m the visionary behind the Global Viewpoint travel blog!

For 7 years, I’ve helped millions of people discover this beautiful world. And I’m here to help you save time, money, and hassle – all while traveling in a deep and fulfilling way.

Welcome to my corner of the internet, or as I like to call it, my travel blog. This is where I share my adventures from around the world, as well as travel tips, itineraries, guides, reviews, photos, videos, and much more. As a premium service, I also provide personalized travel guides and itineraries for busy working professionals. Check out my online travel shop for more products and services I provide.

I’ve visited 66 countries on five continents, exploring bucket-list destinations, hidden gems, and everything in between. More recently, I’ve also attended 20 transformational retreats – covering wellness, spirituality, personal development, and business mindset. As you’ll soon find out, this site offers much more than just conventional travel tips.

Why you should trust my content…

• Travel Inspiration: Since 2017, I’ve traveled 3-6 months per year. I have an eye for beautiful and epic destinations, as you can see by my Instagram page. Major brands and tourism boards have paid me thousands of dollars for my travel photos. My travel tips have been featured in some major publications, including Yahoo Travel, Forbes, HuffPost, and the Boston Globe. More media mentions are on my press page.
• Air Travel Tips: My travel flight hack articles have been read by more than 1 million readers. I have a proven track record of saving $5-10k per year on flights thanks to flight tracking tools and services. I also own 10+ travel rewards credit cards. So yeah, I know how to save big on airfare (and travel in general).
• Luxury Travel: I have stayed in some of the world’s most prestigious hotels and resorts. This includes recent stays at the Chatham Bars Inn (USA), The Chedi Muscat (Oman), Bo Phut Ko Samui Resort (Thailand), and the Miraval Berkshires (USA). I have also flown business and first class at my own expense, including business class with Emirates to Asia.
• Foodie Experiences: As a seasoned traveler and avid foodie, I’ve savored the flavors of over 60 countries. From street food tours in Thailand to fine dining in Paris, I share firsthand experiences and tips on where to find the best eats around the world. My detailed reviews and personal recommendations are independent from big brands. In other words- I always pay for my own dining experiences whenever I travel!
• Transformational Travel/Retreats: Since 2021, I have paid over $100,000 of my own money on personal development, including retreats, coaching, books, and courses. I’ve gone on 20 retreats around the world, which for me, makes traveling extra enriching!
• Road Trip Guides & Itineraries: Driving is my preferred way to travel. Over the years, I’ve created 500+ detailed road trip guides for some of the world’s most scenic routes, covering must-see landmarks, hidden gems, and everything in between.

Jon Miksis in a nutshell:

I’m a full-time travel blogger from Boston (Wakefield, to be precise). But mostly, I’m just a guy with a passion for traveling and a dream to make a living out of it. So far, it’s been working out pretty well, but I still have a long way to go. The journey never really ends.

In case you were wondering, I’m 6′ 4″ (193 cm) tall, my last name is Lithuanian (though I’m also Swedish and English), and I’m 30 years old.

Some other fun facts about me:

– My favorite country to visit is Switzerland. Those epic mountains, fairytale towns, and turquoise waters get me… Every. Time.

– I’m a chocoholic who never skips dessert, let alone a good gelato.

– In college, I got a degree in Finance with a minor in Politics. So yes, I believe anyone can become a travel blogger.

– I ran Track & Field in high school and college. Exercise is still a huge part of my life today.

– I speak some Spanish and German.

– I’m happily married to the love of my life, who happens to be from Vienna (hence why I know German).

– Mini Oreos taste better than the big ones. (I swear they do!)

– My most frequently visited country is Iceland, where I’ve been over 10 times!

Ok…now that I got all the fluff out of the way, I can begin telling you about my story through life and travel.

How ‘Global Viewpoint’ began…

Since I was boy, I’ve always been the biggest nerd. I’ve been fascinated with history, science, politics, animals, languages, international relations, architecture, geography, and up until somewhat recently, strategy video games (gave that up when I was 20ish).

Back when I was in high school, I was quiet about each of these things, for fear of being labeled by what I was: a nerd.

It wasn’t until I was a junior in high school when I built up the confidence to face my nerdom, thanks to my history teacher Mrs. Lopez. I had many great teachers growing up, but she was the most enthusiastic of them all. Mrs. Lopez, if you’re reading this, thanks getting me out of my shell during those formidable teenage years!

Thereafter, I wrote essays, including for the World War II Memorial that had just been established in my hometown. I delivered speeches as the captain of my high school Track & Field and Cross Country teams, quoting a philosopher, famous runners, and even Sir Winston Churchill. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Just before I graduated from high school, I remember writing a long-winded and heartfelt Facebook post about how talented my Senior Class was and how much I would miss them. That’s who I was then, and it’s who I am now.

Passionate, sensitive, curious.

Global Viewpoint goes off to college (2012-2016)

I got the Business Department award in high school, so it made logical sense that my next move in life would be just that. I was accepted to the college of my dreams, Bentley University, one of the best business schools in the area. Though I enjoyed my studies in finance and business strategy, I somehow knew then that it wouldn’t be my full story.

My alma mater had a student body with 15% international students. This was really my first time making meaningful, long-lasting friendships with people from other countries.

One semester, I got really close with a group of Germans who were studying on an exchange semester. We engaged in philosophical conversations about different governments, cultures, and economic systems, and bantered about which country had the best food. I also met my wife to-be, who speaks a slightly different German dialect than these other friends, though she insists people in Vienna speak the purest form of German.

I also studied abroad for a semester in Barcelona, Spain, making more friendships, creating new experiences, and drinking way too much Don Simon sangria. That semester, I visited 12 countries on a backpacker’s budget. I managed to save money by staying in hostels, using some travel hacks, and not eating out too much. This semester in the fall of 2014 is when the travel bug inside me began to fully take hold.

Having grown up in a homogeneous, suburban Massachusetts community, these Bentley years were an an eye-opening experience for me. It was during this time that my love and passion for travel – and the world as a whole – grew ten-fold.

My first corporate jobs (2016-2018)

I graduated university with a degree and a promising full-time job with a public accounting/consulting firm. I did business advisory work, a hodgepodge of management consulting and internal audit, but mostly the latter. It wasn’t the sexiest job, but I was making decent money and gaining valuable life experience. I liked who I worked with, and some of my clients too.

One thing I learned: it’s good to test things out to discover what you don’t want to do.

I ended up quitting that job after just over a year, only to find myself doing something more or less the same, for a company that was more or less the same. So…I left that job too after about a year, again liking most of the people I worked with, but not the nature of the work itself.

As you can probably tell by now, I was never really cut out for corporate or consulting desk jobs. There’s something more out there; and I was dying to find out what that was. I still am. As we go through life, we change, and what we enjoy changes. That’s just how life is.

Anyways. If you came here to learn about my story as a travel blogger, and not necessarily my long, drawn-out history, thanks for hanging in there. The stuff you’re looking for is coming right up.

Global Viewpoint: the travel blogger and Instagrammer (2017-present)

Simultaneously during these two jobs, I was slowly but surely building a future for myself. A future filled with new challenges and new opportunities; new faces and interesting places; and new life experiences that will lead me to look at the world a little bit differently. This is the world of travel.

I worked nights and weekends. Not on work, of course, but on my passions for traveling and learning. I learned how to start a travel blog, gain traction on social media, and foster a passionate and purposeful community of global-minded citizens.

Through countless hours of research and trial and error, I learned that you could live a life of passion, adventure, and continuous learning, and make money from doing so.

Whether it’s collaborating with brands and tourist destinations, writing content for other platforms and publications, leveraging advertising and affiliate marketing, selling photos and videos, and coaching people on how to change their mindset and achieve their dreams, this digital age has given people like me an opportunity to make a living out of a passion. The vocation is now the vacation; there’s no need to escape my job any longer.

I’ve never worked any harder or for longer hours than I am right now, but even still, every day feels like Christmas.

The story behind the name: Global Viewpoint

The reason I chose Global Viewpoint as the name for my travel blog is because this isn’t about me. It’s about a mindset. Something that each of us share. I still believe today, as I did when I was sitting on my couch in May 2017, pondering whether or not to make a travel Instagram page, that the world can get better through travel. It opens up our minds, hearts, and souls to the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable.

We’re all the same. We may look a little different, speak a little differently, and even wear different clothes and pray to different gods, etc., but there’s more that unites us than divides us.

We’re united in our needs, hopes, and dreams. We ought to take the time to learn about and appreciate one another, and the best way to accomplish this is by traveling. If more people travel purposefully, our world will be better for it. That’s what Global Viewpoint is all about.

I hope that my content inspires you to travel and learn about our beautiful planet. I hope I’ve been able to spark your inner explorer, and encourage you to think about the world a little bit differently.

Through my travel guides, blog articles, and photo and video content on social media, my goal is to help make you a better, smarter, and more purposeful traveler. I hope I’m succeeding in doing so.

Global Viewpoint in 2024

Today, across all Global Viewpoint channels, we’ve cultivated a global-minded community of 1 million travelers, including 300k monthly visitors on my blog. This community would not be what it is today if it weren’t for all of you. Each day, I am inspired by your messages, words of advice and encouragement. Your energy, engagement, and passion makes me grateful to wake up every morning and create content on social media.

The main focus of my blog is value travel. In other words, I want to see as much of the world as possible while paying as little as possible to do so.

Sometimes I like to travel on a budget, staying in hostels to save cash and meet interesting people. Other times, I enjoy staying in fancier properties where the hotel is the destination. It really depends on the type of trip and what I’m feeling like at the moment. I will never partake in activities or stay in accommodations that are overpriced and not worth the money. When I create travel guides and itineraries, I only include things that I genuinely believe are a good value to my readers.

Personally, I don’t like the idea of classifying bloggers as either budget backpackers or luxury travelers, because I think we ought to be a little bit of both (after all – which backpackers wouldn’t fantasize about an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean?). Even though I tend to prefer budget accommodations when I’m on the road, I think it’s okay to treat myself every once in a while. Over time, tastes change and what we enjoy changes. What won’t change, however, is my commitment to discovering the best possible value from travel.

Global Viewpoint media mentions

Over the years, this travel website has been featured in major media outlets due to my actionable advice and tips. This includes the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Boston 25 News, Forbes, Huffington Post, Kayak, Yahoo, and many more. For more press mentions, refer to my press page.

Thanks for hanging tight and reading my About page

Thanks for following my journey, reading and sharing my articles with family and friends, sending kind messages and words of encouragement, and just being awesome. I feel blessed that social media and the internet has brought us all together with a similar passion for traveling and continuous learning. I deeply value each of the friendships I’ve made on the road and on here.

I’d like to end my long and wordy About page with one of my favorite travel quotes: “Don’t quit your day dream.” It’s been one of my guiding lights through this journey as a travel blogger.

Thank you for sharing this lifelong passion for traveling and fostering a global viewpoint.

Other Global Viewpoint links

– If you would like to work with me, feel free to contact me or check out my media kit page.

– Check out my press page for recent media/press appearances.

– Here are my favorite travel websites that I use on a regular basis.

– Here you’ll find my top travel videos, destination guides, and blog articles. Hope you find inspiration in each of them!

– Curious to learn how to become a travel blogger? Check out my guide on how to start a travel blog in 2024!

If you’d like to follow my journey, feel free to connect with me on my social media accounts below!

My top Global Viewpoint accounts

Instagram: @Global.Viewpoint

TikTok: @JonMiksis

Twitter: @JonMiksis

Pinterest: @GlobalViewpoint

LinkedIn: @JonMiksis

YouTube: @GlobalViewpoint

TripAdvisor: @MyGlobalViewpoint

Facebook: @MyGlobalViewpoint