When I tell people that I’m a travel writer and photographer it’s generally met with the same response – “wow thats really awesome” or “that must be a great job”.
To some extent they’re right too, it is a god position to be in, but like any job there’s also a heap of things that aren’t so fun too! So I thought I’d give you a slight insight into the ups and downs of working on the road;
My Top 10 Things I Love and Loathe About Travel Blogging…
- I LOVE being in hot climates, nothing beats escaping the dreary weather of the UK to soak up the sunshine in some far off destination
- But on the other hand I LOATHE having to bounce around all the time. Sometimes it’s nice to chill out in one place for a while, actually unpack your stuff and have a base for more than 3 days!
- I LOVE freebies. Yup I’m not going to lie I do get some pretty good perks with the job! Everything from my awesome ENO Hammock through to free accommodation and discounts on stuff
- I LOATHE SEO – that’s search engine optimisation for anyone not in the know! It’s what gets you higher in Google basically! I hate it, I dont really understand it either, luckily my buddy Dan from Adventures With Dan is a whizz and helps me out!
- I LOVE hostel life. As mad as it sounds living in hostels is great fun, you meet heaps of random amazing people, cause all kinds of chaos and have epic times – I do enjoy a private room every so often though to chill out!
- I LOATHE the internal politics of the travel blog community. I try not to get involved and ignore most of it!haha! Don’t get me wrong the travel bloggers of the world are generally a great bunch of people and I’ve made some good friends – but like any group of people there’s a few I don’t want to mingle with! Toni from Reclaiming My Future had a great rant about it recently!
- I LOVE passing on the travel stoke and getting feedback from my readers – it’s those kinds of emails that make me keep doing what I’m doing and are heaps good to read. Feel free to drop me an email anytime guys…and keep the comments coming!
- I LOATHE the unpredictability of my income. Some months I’ll make more than enough to cover my expenses and treat myself, some months I make sod all, but hey I can’t complain too much – I make money through traveling!
- I LOVE the fact I have no idea where the hell everything is going! My travel plans are constantly changing, I have no idea when/if I’ll ever come back to the UK and I only have a loose plan on where I’ll be over the next few years!
- I LOATHE – and most bloggers will agree – spam advertisers and being undervalued! No I don’t want your free unique content (I can write my own thank you very much!) no I don’t care if it’s free, no you won’t be getting any kind of link for your efforts, and no we won’t be working with each other long term. My blog is my business, my rates are what they are and no I won’t make an exception for the multi million dollar company you represent because it’ll bring more traffic to my site! ARRRRGGHHH! Rant over!
Ha nice rant. My cousins hates me when I’m writing a post and I tell her “I’m working”, but honestly it’s a lot more work than it looks. But it definitely has it’s perks, big time!
yeah i get that reaction too – but we all put heaps of work into them so we deserve the rewards!
I hate that a lot of people think it’s a breeze to make a living this way. It’s damn hard work! Especially SEO…. I REALLY don’t get SEO….
does anyone really get SEO?!
Had 3 ‘free content’ emails already this week #rage #boreoff
oh the joys…i’ve given up even replying to them now…waste of time!
There are internal politics in travel blogging??? Clearly I’m right in not considering myself a travel blogger yet. And perhaps better off as well.
I also noticed that most of your “loathes” involved the business side of things. And I can’t say I disagree with you.
hahaha Daniel – ignorance is definately bliss with the politics, check out Tonis article for the low down! Yup the business side of things isn’t the greatest, but it’s worth the trade off for the lifestyle :)
Definite agree about number 10!!!
How about loving that the banter with fellow backpackers…..wait that’s the name of your blog!!
oh the joys of spam hey Ed…I’ve been getting some rather amusing ones recently!
And banter with backpackers…think that goes without mentioning :P
Good stuff. I think most travel bloggers would agree with this! The pros definitely out-weigh the cons – and SEO is the biggest negative in my opinion! I wish solid content would be enough!
yeah its a shame google went and made everything so complex!haha!
Hey Chris, interesting points. Glad to hear you love hostel life – me too :).
nothing beats sleeping with 10 strangers a night hey Sophie!?
Completely agree with this, people think we just live it up all day long but there can be some seriously tough times that come along with the lifestyle. Don’t you ever crave being cold again for just one day though? emphasis on the ‘just one day’! Thats one thing about the UK we definitely don’t miss often. Great Blog.
indeed…take now for example…it’s 30 something degrees outside but I’m inside, replying to emails and writing a few posts!
Can’t say I crave being cold though, 2012 is an endless summer for me!
Loving your blog too – some epic photography skills!
thanks dude, appreciate the look. hey how long did it take before your blog was properly supplementing your travels?
our photography is our main source of income right now. We’re hoping the blogging will pick up speed later in the year if we keep at it hard.
well it started as a personal thing…and then i relaunched it after a year as the current branding, already had a good base following and some good contacts, but it’s only since I left in Jan that it’s been a serious financial support – so about 10 months after relaunching
The photography is supplementing me too!
well the blog is well designed i must say. real easy to navigate with good content. I always try to learn a little from every blog i visit. yours looks like its on a good track. keep up the good work. maybe we’ll cross paths in thailand.
thanks!
I did my best to make it user friendly! Let me know when you’re over this way!
Great post. I guess I’m lucky my blog is no more than a hobby to get me from trip to trip.
You are right- Toni’s post was epic, especially how some of the people she was referring to even commented without knowing it was them who had set her off. Priceless.
That’s how mine started Erik – if you keep at it it’ll grow and grow!
I love Toni’s posts, and yes your right on the comment front ;)
Not so much of lover of the hot climate, this weather really makes me do just nothing sometimes :/
Yeah its indeed the thing one can only do and continue doing if ones love the process, I am directly connected but yeah can relate some parts thanks for sharing :)