Blogging anniversaries, like all anniversaries in life, come with a lot of pressure–pressure to be great, to be meaningful, to be memorable.
I feel it’s my duty on this, the one-year anniversary of hitting “Publish” on my very first blog post, to say something profound. I feel as though I owe it to you to impart the wisdom I’ve gained throughout this process, to let you in on secrets I’ve uncovered in this quest of self-discovery.
Only problem is, uh, I’m kind of at a loss for words.
And despite what my hundred-something posts may suggest, it’s not the first time.
Little did I know when I entered the world of travel blogging last year that I was diving into an ultra-saturated, cut-throat, competitive market. At the time, I didn’t much care–I just wanted to tell my stories, in my voice, from my perspective.
But the longer I wrote and the more I read other travel blogs, the more I started to see how easy it was to become entrenched in certain travel blogging paradigms, so swiftly and so deeply that one would have to practically claw their way back out, back to a place of sincerity and originality, back to a place where their voice was their own and not tailored to suit the tastes of the masses.
Often I would set out to write about a topic only to realize that it’d been written about extensively by others before me–I’d stare blankly at the screen trying to decide how to make it unique to my own experiences only to trash the idea in frustration.
My writing has changed and matured in a lot of ways (I think) over the last year, as has the type of content I’m choosing to create. I have slid dangerously in the direction of the dreaded “Every Blog” on a handful of occasions, each time silently wondering if the spikes in visitors and page views were worth the consequent guilt.
This year has given me plenty of time to reflect on what I like about certain travel blogs and what I despise about others; it has opened my eyes to what I want for my own blog and what I don’t.
I just want to tell my stories.
My writing is, hands down, the most important aspect of this blog. My photography is amateur at best, I couldn’t put together a city guide if my life depended on it, and I’m no savvy budgeter.
The blogs that spew out a constant stream of sponsored posts or lists of the “TOP 10 WHATEVER TO SEE AROUND THE WORLD” when they’ve clearly never visited a single whatever are the kind of blogs that nauseate me and make me more than a tad wary of this industry, and for the record I will NEVER be one of those blogs.
What I do have going for me is that I’m stupidly passionate about travel and I have the desire to share that stupid passion with you. I would never say in as many words that I want to inspire people; to me that sounds a bit arrogant. I don’t know better than anyone, and in fact I’m clumsily stumbling through this existence as clueless as the next guy.
If I do inspire a few people along the way, that’s fantastic. The world is a magical place, and if by painting pretty word pictures and taking the occasional nice photo to share with you inspires you to get out and see it for yourself, I really couldn’t ask for anything more.
What I do hope is that you can learn from my mistakes, find the courage to do the thing you want to do no matter how much it scares you, and follow your heart even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense at first.
I don’t want to tell you how to travel.
Petty competitiveness and condescension are alive and well in the travel blogging industry. Many people are of the opinion that one style of traveling is somehow superior to other styles and will not hesitate to tell you so.
I am not one of those people. I think all travel experiences are valuable, and it is never my intention to suggest that my style of travel is the best, or better than another, or suitable for everyone.
Further, many an opinionated blogger will tell you exactly what to do on your next trip, how to get there, and where to stay unless you want to have the WORST trip of your life.
Travel tips, travel hacks and the BEST things to do in X country certainly have their place–most people searching for travel blogs are after practical information to help them plan or to make their trip run more smoothly, after all, and I will incorporate posts on such topics from time to time.
All the while, though, I hope to present this practical information through stories and never in a patronizing tone. I never want my recommendations to serve as the be-all, end-all; rather, mere suggestions to be taken with a grain of salt.
And I’m always more than happy to answer questions and provide recommendations upon request.
I do plan to monetize.
I’m not one of those people who set out with intentions to make money blogging. If I was, I’d probably be making at least a few pennies by now. The fact of the matter is, I started this blog for the sheer love of it, and that love has only grown over the past year.
And while I’m on a roll with the honesty, I’ll admit that I truly admire the bloggers who’ve used their talents and creativity to turn blogging into a successful career. It takes a ton of hard work, dedication, and TIME before seeing even the smallest monetary rewards from these efforts.
I don’t necessarily want to be blogging full-time; if you’ve been with me for awhile now, you may recall my goal from earlier this year to be completely location independent within the year. Since I’m already putting in the time to maintain this blog, it only makes sense to use it as a small income stream to aid me in achieving that goal.
Will I be one of the “sellouts,” one of those blogs spewing nothing but sponsored content? In case I wasn’t clear enough before, HELL NO. If I ever accept sponsored content it will be relevant to you, relevant to the topics I regularly cover, and you’ll always know about it. Period.
I hope you can appreciate me being honest and forthcoming with this, and if my blog ever starts to suck, just remember that you’re under no obligation to stick around.
I just want to tell my stories.
And that’s what I’ll continue to do.
A one-year commitment to anything is a big step for me these days…I think I’ll have to celebrate! As always, thanks for coming along for the ride.
