There a number of mixed emotions that come out when you first tell someone you’re going to write a travel blog. You can see the thoughts running through people’s minds. I like to think these are mainly positive things, such as, ‘This will be a really good way to store your memories and keep in contact with people from back home’ and ‘What a fun way to create something which will inspire and inform other travellers’
But there are also darker thoughts.
These are the thoughts that creep up on some people who may not be having the best of days when you break the news. They had probably just came to terms with the fact you were leaving to travel the world and now you are telling them that there will be a place on the internet where they can be reminded of this at any time of the day. These thoughts will go more like this;
‘First they tell us they are going travelling, now they want us to read about all the fun they are having and how f*cking fantastic their life. What a pair of Egotistical ****s!’
I know this is true. I have friends who have been travelling and I remember the feeling you get when you arrive at work on a Monday morning after fighting your way through traffic in the pouring rain, not being able to find a parking space, having to drive 10 minutes away from your office only to realise you don’t have a umbrella and end up sitting at your desk, sodding wet, ready to face another stress filled week. At this point you turn on your phone and see 20 updates on Facebook from your friends who are lying on a beach in Thailand surrounded by empty cocktail glasses complaining because the weather is too hot. Surly these narcissists can’t be your friends!
We have decided that it is important that this blog does not come across as another condescending and pretentious travel blog. So if it’s not a way to brag and moan what exactly are the reasons behind us starting a blog?
We have made a list.
1. Something to do whilst on the road
It is safe to say that when travelling for any long period of time there will be moments when you feel bored. After working 10 hours a day for years the sudden amount of free time which becomes available can be daunting. Obviously, most of this time will be filled with the activities which travelling entails, but in-between are long bus/train/boat/aeroplane journeys and days when you just can’t bring yourself to look at another temple. Also, if you aren’t restricted by an end date it is sensible to travel slower as this can work out cheaper. Having a project such has the blog to work on can help to fill those free days and potentially add many more onto your journey.
2. Record memories
I have a tattoo on my back which supposedly says ‘memories last forever’ in Thai. As I get older I realise this is not necessarily true. I look back at photographs and don’t know what country they were taken in, never mind trying to remember the name of the town or the people I’m with.
When I came back from my first trip to India I made a scrap book. I cut out the pages from the Lonely Planet guide of the places I had been to and stuck these next to the photographs, along with any tickets, leaflets ect which had been picked up along the way. I love this book so much, and every time I look at it, it brings back all those precious moments. To me this blog is the modern way to keep a scrap book.
3. Keep in contact with friends and family
Of course we want to share our experiences with our friends and family, and there is only so much you can fit into a Skype call. We plan on travelling for as long as our budget will allow us. The downside of travelling is you can’t take all the people you love with you. This blog allows our friends and family to be able to keep in contact and see what we are up to.
That’s if they want to read it.
4. Further our skills
Travelling will undoubtedly enrich your understanding of the world and broaden you mind, but what else can we learn on the way? Karl works in IT and wanted to develop his skills in website creation and design and we are both keen to learn how to become travel writers. A much as we would like to, we are not going to be travelling forever. We will be going back to work. It is therefore important that we keep learning skills which we can apply professionally. Spending a year or more travelling the world isn’t necessarily a bad thing on your CV, but having a tangible end product which is something that you have created will help to show future employers that you didn’t just spend the entire time starfished on a sun lounger drinking beer.
5. Make some cash?
There are numerous website and books out there which tell you how you can make money from writing blogs. Over the years people have been able to make a living out of successful travel blogs which have enabled them to travel longer and open up further business opportunities. This is certainly not our aspiration, however, we would not turn down the opportunity to make a bit of cash while on the road.
If your only driver is to make cash from the blog then you need to treat it like a business. You need to understand your target market, and be willing to put a lot of hours into developing it. I think we both want to enjoy the freedom from responsibilities too much to commit ourselves to doing this just yet, but it’s always an option for the future.
