Life is short. This common expression is generally used to persuade people to take a chance to do something that might be reckless but if done with diligence and caution could lead to endless rewards. Many people in their youth are fascinated with the vastness of the world we live in and plan to eventually find time to travel. With all the pressure that comes with deciding what to do with the rest of your life and working towards it, some people decide to take a risk and dedicate themselves to becoming a travel blogger. Whether before/after college, the middle of your career, or when you’re an empty nester, becoming a travel blogger is always a possibility, so if you ever want to change things up, try travel blogging because- why not-life is short.

     One of the many perks about travel blogging, is that you work for yourself. It’s practically creating your own business online. You make your own deadlines and are in charge of your own schedule. However, this doesn’t mean that you can slack off whenever you want. Travel blogging for a living is incredibly demanding and requires lots of endurance. Don’t expect anything but hard work for the first year as you try to make a name for yourself and your website. 

     A common assumption most people make about writing a blog post is that it’ll only take an hour or two to write; however, it really takes most bloggers a lot longer than that. It might take days just to write one post because the post must contain information about how the readers can travel. The post must tell how a regular person can plan an amazing trip in all the tiny details.

     Keeping a website updated is key in this line of work. It takes a lot of planning to set up an accessible website that delivers a message to viewers that you want them to see. The website reflects what tone your posts will be and should be an expression of yourself. This website and the name of it becomes your brand and making decisions regarding it is not something to take lightly. 

     To become a success in this field, you really have to promote yourself and be a skilled writer. Set yourself apart from the crowd. Blogging has become a super crowded industry, but most people either give up early, or their website quality is lacking. So if you take the time and effort to present subjects in a unique way and don’t follow the trends of other bloggers, you’ll stand out and have a better chance of success. For example, if other bloggers are writing text, then make videos. If they are writing seriously, then write with humor. If they are going on historical trips, go on adventurous ones. Promotion for your website on social media is also a huge portion of the work of a travel blogger. Keeping in touch with the viewer means answering tons of questions and commenting back on social media. The pressure of travel blogging is having people know the ins and outs of your personal life expectancies. Many bloggers find themselves doing everything for their viewers rather than themselves. 

     Don’t just write. Being a travel blogger can include making videos and selling products. If you really want this to be your career, then you’ll have to invest in your website. Create products that allow people to support your website and the work you do. Invest in designers, video and audio editors, SEO auditors, and much more. This will increase overall quality and bring more traffic to your website. While cutting corners is something to avoid, if by chance you were already experienced in another freelancer field such as photography or linguistics, those skills can be applied to your website, and you can continue that work while blogging.

     Travel blogging is a lot of work, but the payoff of life experiences makes going through everything worthwhile. How else could you take a year trip around the world for work?

Endless possibilities of travel destinations and experiences.

Reality of work.

Photos courtesy of Earth Trekkers and google images.