Tag: photography

How to create your Facebook book

Posted on by Team Blookup

BlookUp specialises in creating beautiful memory books, using your digital content. One of our most popular products is our Facebook book. As you might have guessed, in order to create the Facebook book, we use your Facebook posts and transform them into a valuable, hand-held, paper copy of your best moments and memories. Printing your Facebook has never been easier, and in this blog we explain the very simple steps to creating your very own Facebook book.

1. Create a BlookUp account

Firstly, to place an order with us, you will need to create a BlookUp account. This allows you to save any books you’ve created, ensuring no work is lost and you can keep them in your library until you are ready to order.

2. Connect your Facebook account

Next, you simply need to connect your Facebook account so we can access the content to create your book.

If you wish to make a Facebook book of your own account you will need to login to the account using your personal details. However, there is also the option to create a fan page book. This is a book of another page which you do not have personal access to.

3. Choose your dates

Now, you will just need to let us know what dates you want the book to cover, by selecting the to and from dates. Whether you want a recap of a specific year or just the posts from a certain trip or period of your life, let us know.

Then, is a matter of seconds BlookUp will generate your book.

4. Edit and personalise your book

Now for the fun part. At this stage your book is fully available in your library and ready to be personalised. This is where you can change the colours, photos, fonts and layouts of the cover; choose your preferred layout of the pages; and make any desired changes to specific posts or pages.

5. Order your book

Just like that, your unique personalised memory book is ready to be ordered and could be with you in a matter of days.

https://www.blookup.com/en/products/

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Print your Facebook or Instagram page

Posted on by Team Blookup

BlookUp turns digital media such as Facebook or Instagram accounts into beautifully made, hand-held books. Our Facebook and Instagram books have became our most popular products, with hundreds of clients transforming their social media pages into memory books which will last forever.

Why the shift from digital to paper?

It cannot be denied that we are living in a more and more digitalized world, which in many ways makes our lives easier. Today we are looking at tools like Facebook and Instagram which make it extremely easy for users to create digital photo albums while sharing their photos, storing all their best memories on their account. This saves a lot of time and effort which goes into creating traditional physical photo albums, when people would go to get photos printed then sit for hours sorting through and creating their book.

However it could be debated whether these digital Facebook and Instagram albums fully replace the original concept of a physical, hand-held album. Many would argue that there is no comparison to the feeling of flicking through pages of old memories with family or friends. After all, we spend so much time looking at screens these days it can be nice to have a break.

This is why BlookUp has created a way for you to have your physical book without the effort. By simply connecting your Facebook or Instagram account to our site you can turn your ready-made albums into a book in seconds, it has never been more simple.

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World Photography Day: 3 tips for photo lovers!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Today, Wednesday August 19, BlookUp is celebrating World Photography Day! To mark the occasion, take a look at the 3 best photo tips.

  • The perfect spot

Whatever your camera type is, the most important thing is to choose your playground, like the rooftops, the hills or even monuments will offer you breathtaking shots, whatever the weather!

  • Editing apps for your smartphone

Photo retouching will never be about distorting the image, but about refreshing and personalizing while remaining natural. There are several apps that you can download for free on your smartphone.

  • Create a blook of your best photos

After posting your photos on social networks or on your blog, BlookUp lets you print and save your “arts” in a blook in order to keep track of all your online work, your best moments with your family and friends. All these souvenirs will now be at hand’s reach, ready to be comfortably reviewed again.

Social media image dimensions : The perfect guide!

Posted on by Bruno Desthuilliers

In order to differentiate yourself and create engagement, it is important to publish impacting photos on your social networks.

No matter if you are a brand or an individual, it is crucial to adapt your photo’s dimensions to each platform’s standards.

Here is the guide for image dimensions on all social networks !

Continue reading “Social media image dimensions : The perfect guide!” →

The new Instagram book is here. Print your’s today !

Posted on by Bruno Desthuilliers

The new Instagram book is here ! and it is enough for all your pictures ! It is often said that size doesn’t matter, and that it’s more about how you use it. At BlookUp, we decided not to overlook any aspect of the popular saying!

instagram-book-cover

Continue reading “The new Instagram book is here. Print your’s today !” →

Hashtag Shelfie: Sharing your library under the hashtag

Posted on by Team Blookup

We know that internet, blogs and social networks gave or maintained a general taste for writing and creation! It also  gave the world of books a second youth by putting self-publishing at everyone’s reach.

Books and writing are part of the daily life for many of us. And the internet pays them tribute!

@earthscorners

What the shelf?

On Instagram, we find under the hashtag #shelfie a whole lot of inspiring photos featuring shelves and libraries. The word “shelfie” itself sets the tone by combining the words “shelf” with the word “selfie” (the famous self-portraits photographed in the 21st century, for those sleeping at the bottom).

Many of the photos feature furnitures arranged like they’re almost taken straight out of an IKEA magazine. But, and this is what interests us here, we can also find books!

@culturetripbooks

#Shelfie indeed is the occasion to make your personal library a star while the hashtag lasts ! It’s also the moment to share your reading taste or your  storage foibles to your friends and followers… Or even to discover what composes the tastes of others and how people organizes and surrounds one’s readings!

@bluestockingbookhelf

@bluestockingbookshelf

No boasting of elitist readings or endless rows of books here (even if we recognize that a full library is always pretty to picture 😉 ), only the joy of seeing beautiful book-related photos and starting exchanging about your favorite books!

After all, the contents of a library are often indicative of the personality of its owner(s): It is with this idea that the newspaper The Guardian launched the concept of the Shelfie in December 2013.

@shelfjoy

More than 820 000 publications are now classified under the hashtag #shelfie and more are coming everyday, so it’s always time to get involved and show what you have and love!

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Article source (French) | Images:  @earthscorners, @culturetripbooks, @bluestockingbookshelf and @shelfjoy

Interview : From chic to farm with Preppy

Posted on by Team Blookup

Who said that if you want to live with style you have to be in a big city? Because we are about to prove him/her wrong! Today we are interviewing Preppy Mountain Farmer, who shows us through her blog that you can own a farm in the countryside and be chic at the same time!portrait-preppy-mountain-farmer

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About me & my blog:

I am Preppy Mountain Farmer, and my lifestyle blog is Preppy Mountain Farmhouse.  I’m a middle-aged mom of a large family living in a century-old farmhouse on the side of a mountain in the northeastern United States.  We have a small hobby farm, a rustic cabin, and a busy life.  I try to combine my preppy style with our love for country living, and Preppy Mountain Farmhouse is about that.  I like to capture the beauty found in the simple, natural, sublime aspects of our surroundings through photographs and commentary, and these are interwoven throughout each of my blog posts.

Why did I start my blog?  

When I began blogging two years ago, I thought it would simply be a new creative outlet for me and a chance to start a new project.  I wanted to document our life but also show others that families can live a farming/country life in style.  What I quickly learned was that the blog world is a terrific place to make connections with other like-minded people all over the world.  A more thorough explanation can be found on my About Me page found here: http://www.preppymountainfarmhouse.com/p/about-me.html

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What content am I most proud of?  

After 25 months of blogging, I have written 221 posts about many aspects of my family’s life.  I think my four favorite posts are the following: Blame it on Charlotte’s Web: How a Preppy Girl Ended Up With a Farm,
This is the Crazy, Divine Story of How We Got This House
A Beautiful Mess: My Life
A Primitive Preppy Christmas Farmhouse Tour

What do I like most about blogging?  

I’ve always considered myself a writer.  I started keeping a journal at age nine and began writing and illustrating my own short stories when I was ten.  Getting published the traditional way requires query letters, submissions, and lots of waiting for acceptance or rejection letters/emails.  That is followed by more waiting for the actual publication and release dates.  Blogging is immediate publication for the world to see.  I think of it as the fast food of the writing world: instant publishing and nearly instant feedback at very little expense to the blogger.  But there’s no fat, cholesterol, or calories involved!

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Why turn my blog into a book?  

Although the blog sphere is digital, I still prefer to read and look at images in print.  I enjoy flipping through the pages of a book and having a bound copy of my blog on our living room coffee table to browse through.  My family’s life—along with my heart, soul, and creative energy—are in Preppy Mountain Farmhouse, and I like having a tangible copy of it safe and sound in my possession.

How did I find out about BlookUp?

BlookUp sent me an email advertising their service and product, and that is how I learned about turning my blog into a printed book (Blook.)

living-room-table-picture

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What did I think of the process, and did I encounter any difficulties?  

I thought the actual process of transforming my blog into a book through BlookUp was fairly straightforward and simple to do.  The only thing I had to keep changing was the final post for each volume because my blog kept exceeding the maximum page numbers allowed for each book.

Do I enjoy the finished product, and what do family and friends think?  

I love my Blooks.  210 posts and two years of blogging are contained in nearly 1000 printed pages of two volumes of books.  They are better than any of the digital scrapbooks I used to spend weeks creating for our family photo albums, and per page, the Blooks are cheaper too.  The index is especially handy when I’m trying to find specific posts, pictures, or recipes.

two-blooks-preppy-mountain-farmer

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Would I recommend BlookUp or use their services again?  

I definitely recommend BlookUp to others.  In fact, I devoted an entire blog post to BlookUp after I received my books in the mail:  BlookUp Will Publish Your Blog or Social Media Posts

Huge thanks to Preppy mountain farmer for answering our questions and mentioning us on her blog! Don’t forget to check it out and to join her social media pages:

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Interview: Pamela Breitberg captures nature’s beauty and shares it on a blog

Posted on by Team Blookup

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine a blog full of photographs! Today we have the chance of interviewing Pamela Breitberg who is going to tell us about her blog and her passion for photography!

– Tell us a little bit about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I am recently retired from teaching. I am a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who taught science lab to 1st through 8th grade elementary students in the inner city of Chicago. Prior to that I was a professional portrait and wedding photography.

My “hobbies” are being outdoors: walking and biking, and photography: micro, portrait style and candid all which reinforce my appetite for learning. My passionate hobby is nature photography which I share through this blog and various books. The blog is a way for me to share the wonders and beauty of being outdoors observing nature. I am an avid reader as well. My blog has stimulated desire to research while I try to include some scientific or folk information on species in my images.

Projects, at the moment, are on hold while I continue photography as a method to stop and reflect on God’s gifts and wonders. The past few years have been stressful with health issues and passing of both my parents; being outdoors and photography has been a blessed self-therapy. Giving is the best therapy, it has been said, and so my blog is my venue for giving. I am touched each time someone “likes” or comments on one of my posts.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
My blog is photography, primarily of plants and animals in the United States’ Midwest. I now spend some of the year along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, so I’ve begun to include images of that nature. My writing includes scientific information, folklore and personal observations and experiences. Occasionally I add photography tips as well.

I originally began my blog to share my photography with my parents who lived 300 miles away. It has been a surprising thrill to discover that my blog is read worldwide. Now that my parents are no longer reading the blog I continue to share my images and thoughts with the many followers of my blog; what a wonderful vehicle to share my passions. I feel as though I know some of my followers as I read their blogs and we share common interests in nature and photography. It is sharing that gives back indeed.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
BlookUp intrigued me because it was an EASY way to turn my blog into book format and have a hard copy of my work. It’s always nice to physically hold a book and browse through it. The hard copy is for myself. I took advantage of the e-book format for sale because it’s affordable for readers and is more environmentally friendly (less use of paper).

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– How did you find out about BlookUp? What did you think about the making process of your blook?
I saw the ads for BlookUp while on WordPress, reading others’ blogs.  The process of making the books via BlookUp were painless and straight forward. I made two volumes to make each book more manageable in size. It was very easy for me edit out any posts that I did not want to include.

Pamela-holding-her-blooks
A happy blook owner!

Thank you so much Pamela for this interview! Don’t forget to check out her blog to see more gorgeous photos!

Interview: Art in various forms with Kathryn!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Did you miss us? Because we did! December was a pretty crazy and busy month at BlookUp ! But we won’t let it go (don’t sing it) without an interview!

Today, meet Kathryn.  A multi-formats artist and explorer, always on the road searching for inspiration, weirdness and crazy stuff! And don’t forget to click on the images in order to see mork ore Kathryn’s work!

 

First, tell us about yourself: You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…_____________________________

I’m American-born but found from my first international traveling days during college that I prefer being an Earthling to thinking of myself as strictly attached to any particular location or group of people. I love where I grew up on the Pacific Northwest coast of the US (near Seattle) and the culture there very deeply, but there are fabulous people, adventures, landscapes, and cities to be found everywhere I’ve been. So my concept of Home is portable and relates to where I’m happy, where I find the essentials for that happiness, like good company, welcoming surroundings, fine architecture, great food, magnificent scenery, superb music. As these are all among the things that give me my greatest joys, they all eventually find their ways into the blog. There I’m able to share my unique and idiosyncratic way of viewing and enjoying my life with my readers.

Kathryn's famous colored glasses!

Kathryn’s famous colored glasses!

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What is your blog about? Why? Do you have other blogs? If so, what do they talk about?

Art Colored Glasses (artcoloredglasses.com) is my only blog, and serves as my personal art-and-writing journal. My clever husband suggested, after I’d stopped teaching those topics at university for nearly two decades, that since I finally had the time and energy to return to making art and writing poetry and essays for my own enjoyment, I should document the process. Blogging is clearly a convenient way to capture my progress and share the end results of my daily creative work. The site is named for the old expression about seeing the world through “rose colored glasses”—the notion that everything is tinted with an idealized point of view reflects my belief that we all see our experiences through unique lenses, and I try to share that sense in both my factual and fantastical posts.

Kathryn's Educative Art, fishes and pencils

Kathryn's Graphite Muse Practice

Some drawings practiced with graphite.

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Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?

Online documentation in the blog served to keep me motivated and preserve a sense of purpose in my artistry, and it certainly offered a new and supportive community of readers and fellow bloggers and artists. But it, like all other technological resources, comes with no guarantees of perfectly eternal archiving. And it’s hard to curl up in bed with a blog the way that a physical book comforts me! So I wanted both the backup of a concrete object and the pleasure of leafing through a real book that I can carry nearly anywhere with me.

How did you find out about BlookUp?

I stumbled across a reference to BlookUp online when I was searching for alternative ways to publish more of my ‘regular’ books (not blog-sourced).

Kathryn's Tuna Salad & Cheese Biscuits

Well, cooking is a art form, they say! Experiment Kathryn’s tuna salad with cheese biscuits!

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What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?

The two things I would most like to see added to BlookUp’s offerings are rather simple matters of scale: I’d love to be able to easily change the size of both text and visual images to more closely reflect the ratios and relationships I work to achieve on my blog. I don’t use a blogging platform with complete autonomy in that regard; I have no desire to learn to write code or spend hours tweaking the positions and sizes of every single element I post, when I’ve already spent so much time on making and posting the artworks and writing the content, so I’m glad to use a platform that has very simple templates. But I chose the blog template I do use in order to get a particular layout and I can alter the look of it somewhat to suit the day’s offerings. If I can balance the visual layout in similar ways for my blook, it will be that much more a perfect companion to the blog.

Having said that, I’m delighted with the blook, and the ease of the process by which I can have it made. It’s a tremendous help that the content is downloaded directly from my blog, so I don’t have to cut and paste the entire thing from scratch (or, worse) to retype every word and re-import every picture). I do like being able to design and use my own front cover, which reflects this being a record of an artist’s blog. Also, the blook’s paper quality, its crisp and clear printing and accurate color capture, and the ability to compile a section of my years of blogging output into one compact archival resource all make me very glad BlookUp is available. It will take me a number of blooks to archive over 1600 posts, but it’s always good to have a new project to challenge my creative impulses, and even better when the end result is so attractive.

Do you enjoy the final result? What do your family and friends think about your blook?

Everyone’s impressed with this project!

Kathryn's Blook front cover

Kathyn’s Blook cover! There is a very nice touch to it, just like best-sellers in libraries!

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Would you recommend BlookUp?
Absolutely! I already did, and I will again. 🙂

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Thank you, Kathryn, for this interview and for allowing us to share your thoughts on BlookUp! We wish you a (late) Happy Birthday and invite all our followers to visit your blog in order to wish it to you as well!

India Travels (and more) with Sidhartha!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Sometimes, travelling is not about physical adventures in the wild, or sunbathing on a tropical island, nor about high athletics achievements from city to city, on a bike or in a sport car.

In fact,  Sometimes, travelling means wandering around, just listening to the sounds and discussions around you, share thoughts and precious moments with the people you casually encounter, enjoying the colours and the forms of the Nature that surrounds you.

Sidhartha Satpathy is one of those travellers, and he made his blook out of his travel blog. Today, we offer you to explore with us his work and his thoughts about those experiences!

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A statue of a mythological demon in India

“The beautiful Mythological demon lord Ravana, carrying the three worlds on his head. A beautiful stone carving on the walls of Halebidu in Karnataka, India. The carvings would give you a feeling of being so lively that they could come out and stand in front of you.”

St. Mary's island on the western parts of India

“The beautiful St. Mary’s island on the western part of India. A shore filled with shells, making it very unique in the vast coastal belt of India.”

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– First, tell us about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…

I basically would call myself as a wonderer. Someone who loves to explore the many aspects of life. I started to travelling a little late in my life but today it an integral part of me. I love to travel through various modes of transport. My interest and passion apart from Travel is in Photography and writing. Writing is mostly about my travels but I also write stories. So far written four short stories. Hope to write more as they unfold for me. I love to be in the lap of nature and that has intrigued me always. So most of my projects are on Travel & nature. I am planning for doing a small work on the artisans at Odisha (Eastern state of India).

Farmer taking his buffalos to the fields in India

“Farmer taking his buffalos to the fields. A very common sight in the hinterlands of Odisha.”

Cashew factory women in India

“At the Cashew factory where, despite of the difficult working conditions, there is a smile and warmth that floats around with the women who work there. They chatted up and had fun in the short time that we were there.”

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– What is your blog about? Why? Do you have other blogs? If so, what do they talk about?

I have done a few trips outside India (my motherland) but I love this country for its diversity. India is so diverse that most of the time we only get to know the parts of the country that is well shared and spoken about on the net. My website / blog (www.staryeyestravel.com) that I currently use is a travelogue. I travel to places that are of little known but carries a lot of history, architecture and geography. This blog is just a year old and I am in the process of putting in more as things unfold. I am also working on capturing my past travels.

I also have another blog page (www.ssidhi.blogspot.in). This I started eight years back with an objective to share what ever I feel or experience. Today it is focused more on stories, poetry, some of the happenings around me. Though I have currently linked it up with the main webpage but keep it separate and that gives me the space to compartmentalise and structure my thoughts.

Sidhartha's son trying the manual nut opening in India

“My little one was having a try at the manual nut opening process. Though the manual process is prevalent but these machines have started to speed up the process.”

Sidhartha in a field in India

“Me in the midst of a lusty farm land, the lands that feed the millions in our country” 

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– Why did you want to turn your India blog into a book?

Off course, web is something that one would last for ever and will be accessible to a lot of people around the world. But a book gives it a personalised feeling. The photographs on my page are all mine and I had taken care in shooting and putting them up along with my free flow of thoughts. So getting it printed and seeing them come to life is amazing. It is a treasure of places which I can share it with my friends in a physical form. It is amazing to see the content in a form that I could hold it, read it, feel it.

Put simply I just treasure it.

– How did you find out about BlookUp?

Oh, that was on FB. I have been thinking about getting my content printed and BlookUp just happened. ☺

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Winter in Chantilly, France

“The wilderness in some of the backyards at Chantilly, France. They are breath taking and one could spend months just soaking it up all”

Eiffel Tower view from Sacre Coeur

“The Eiffel Tower viewed from the Sacré Cœur. A delight for a traveller to watch the wonders from one part of the city to another while travelling.”

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– What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?

Positives:

– It is simply beautiful. I love the concept and the way it has come up.
– It is very easy to use and the transfer of content is very easy.
– Additionally what I liked was that all my hyperlinks could also be printed up.
– The paper quality of the blook is amazing.

Some thing that I would love to have:

– Realised that other languages I cannot get it print. My poetry in Hindi language at the beginning of some of the blogs were just converted to webding (Square boxes) and that kills the crux of my blog. Could those just be picked up as image if not converted. (I knew what I was getting but I wanted the outcome. I may print and paste it for future usage)
– Somewhere the layout that I had in the page it just gets distorted. Though I would say to me it did not make much of an impact but it could be worth looking at.
– The hyperlinks could get numbered and the details shared at the end of the article.
– I can’t edit anything if I want to.
– The cover page designs, may need some looking through.They are dull.. need more creativity there.
– The website has french layover. There were times when I had to go to the google translator to get the meaning of words.

Having said so I must say, “You guys just stuck to the time of delivery and is very neat. Very prompt. I got the blook bang on time. Wow, and that having got it sent from France. No follow ups, nothing. Simply fantastic”.

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Col Saheb Island Water channels and palm trees

Col Saheb Island – “The beautiful water channels offers some pretty sights for one to enjoy and shoot around. With the dark clouds looming in the vicinity, it was a delight.”

Col Saheb Island Water channel

Col Saheb Island again – “A shot of the water channels, it is really the Venice of India with all its local flavours.”

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– Do you enjoy the final result? What does your family and friends think about your blook?

I am thrilled with the outcome. A book as such as a collection and coffee table is a wow. Friends and family members are trilled by the outcome. I have been taking it around and sharing it with others.

– Would you recommend BlookUp?

Oh yes. I certainly would be using it often for some of my future creations.

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Incense sticks burning

Chateau against a setting sun in Paris

Contrasts and colors of Sidhartha’s trips: At the top, incense sticks burning at one of the Col Saheb Island’s temples; At the bottom, a beautiful Chateau against a setting sun in Paris.

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Thank you Sidhartha for answering our questions and making us travel through your captions and stunning photos! We hope that the new features coming in the future for our tool will satisfy you when you have more travel stories to tell!

Want to share you blog and BlookUp stories too? Contact us at contact@blookup.com!