A quick Google search for “travel blogs” will reveal just how many people out their are documenting their travels. From those who write about a few vacation per year to bloggers who are traveling full time with no home base, there are thousands of people blogging about travel, and new travel blogs are going live every day. Some bloggers just share their stories with friends and family; others are read by tens of thousands of people, often get free travel and other perks, and claim to fun their travels through their blog.
With such easy access to free blogging platforms, and availability of cheap internet connections all over the world, the question may seem like a no-brainer. Of course, you’d want to blog about your trip! You can easily share your travels with loved ones back home, you’ll have a wonderful record of your trip to look back on, and if you can make a little money from the blog, why not?
But while it’s easy to start a travel blog, it’s not as easy to start a successful one. What you may not be prepared for is the amount of work it takes to blog from the road. Internet connections aren’t always available and in some places, it will cost a good chunk of change to upload your text and photos. Do you really want to spend your time in front of a computer screen instead of seeing the world? If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to create a blog on your trip, there’s still no guarantee of success. The best RTW blogs are well-written, engaging, and beautifully designed. If you don’t have the technological skills and the writing prowess to hook your audience, you’ll have a hard time growing your site. And even if you do have an awesome site, you need to spend time promoting it, spreading the world on social media, building your audience, and connecting with advertisers. If you want your blog to be a business, you have to treat it like one, and while some travelers are happy to invest the time, others would rather concentrate on what they set out to do in the first place – travel and experience new things.
If you are serious about starting a blog before your trip and want to make it more than a personal journal to share with loved ones, consider attending a travel bloggers conference or joining some groups to meet fellow bloggers and learn from them. The good news is that, as with travelers, travel bloggers tend to be a social bunch, more than willing to trade tips and tricks with like-minded people.
A travel blog is a great way to record your experiences and share your adventures with the world, just know that if you’re hoping to fund your travels through blogging, you’ll need to be ready to put in the time and effort to make your site a success.
Photo by TBoard