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No one needs a travel blog - that's the truth, but...
If you want to share your adventure stories, potentially earn a bit of income and create a following of fans then the answer is yes! You need a travel blog!
Travel Blogs are for Sharing Information
Many travellers enjoy sharing their travel stories and those sitting at home are quite often eager to hear about the adventures their friends or family member is having. They look forward to seeing the photos and hearing all about the exciting events the travel blogger is participating in.
That’s just one very good reason to have a travel blog but there are many reasons and each of us have out own purpose for having travel blogs. Here’s a sample of one of my favourite destinations in my travel blog – Traveling to Guatemala.
Travel Blogs can Earn You Money
I would be lying if I said you couldn’t make money from a travel blog but adding to that is “You have to be prepared to work at it”.
I’m not kidding – there is a lot of work involved in making your travel blog successful. Each of us have different expectations as to what will be a success or not!
You don’t just create a travel blog one day with a few stories about your adventures and then start making money. It won’t happen. There’s a process and work that has to be done and it won’t happen over night.
Realistically, even with a ton of work don’t expect the money to start rolling in for at least 6 months to a year and that’s with constant work. Even then it won’t be exactly rolling in – more like a trickle. If you’re not prepared to work at your travel blog then it’s maybe time for you to read something else. But, if you’re ready to commit – keep reading.
How to Create a Travel Blog
One way to create a travel blog
Setting up a travel blog doesn’t have to be difficult – in fact it can be set up quickly so don’t panic. You may even find out how creative you can be and really enjoy the process.
The method below is free and has some benefits.
There are a couple of ways to do it, and the easiest and cheapest is by using WordPress or Blogger. They’re free and not too difficult to set up. Both allow you to set up your blog on their accounts using free themes, or template designs.
Your blog address would be something like yourname.blogger.com or ourname.wordpress.com. Use your imagination and create a name that relates to you and your travels. These types of blogs can be set up in a matter of hours and are easy to update.
Setting up your travel blog using WordPress.com or Blogger
Both WordPress and Blogger have clear setup instructions with videos showing you how to do each step. Another tool to learn how to set up a blog is YouTube. There are videos showing how to do almost anything you can think of. When in doubt, ask your kids or even your grandchildren – they would probably love to show off their skills.
Expanding your travel blog
If you have hopes of expanding your travel blog in the future you might want to consider self-hosting, which means you will need to find a server to host your travel blog and register your name as a domain name (web address). It’s not expensive and it gives you exclusivity to the name for as long as you pay the small yearly fee.
Owning your domain name and hosting on your own site gives you ownership of both and no one can take it away from you. If your plan is to monetize your site and hopefully make money from it you’ll need to be self-hosted. I recommend that you go that route at the beginning rather than decide later that will be your plan and then have to transfer everything over. It’s a pain!
However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a small free travel blog just to share with your friends and it can be changed in the future if you should decide you want more. So don’t put pressure on yourself.
Scheduling your blog
Don’t think of it as a chore. When I’m travelling I usually update my diary every morning, documenting what I did the day before. Updating your travel blog can be done the same way: daily, weekly or whenever you have something important or interesting to share.
You’ll quickly realize that those at home are checking your travel blog regularly and are anxious for your news. They want to know what exciting things you are seeing and how much fun you are having. That’s a good enough reason to take the time to set up your travel blog before you leave home. It’s definitely worth the effort.
Keep it simple - when creating your first travel blog
Don’t get overwhelmed! There’s no need to be worried and think you can’t create your own travel blog because you can. I’ve just spoken about wordpress.com and blogger so far and if that’s what you decide to use – that’s okay. I’ll get into more detail in my next post about using hosting and registering a domain if that’s the route you choose to follow. The secret is to be excited about your travel blog!
Do you have a travel blog? If you have anything to add or have questions please comment below – I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to share this post on your social media accounts.