Starting a travel blog is the best way to share your love of wandering the world with others.
You can write on the go as long as you’ve got a laptop in your bag and a wifi connection available. What could be a better use of your time? Plus, you’ll have the chance to start making a bit of money on the side – that means many more adventures in the future!
But there’s no point building a blog and only uploading every now and then. If you want your travel blog to stand out and become a success, you need to be serious about creating unique and valuable content for it.
You want people to come to your blog for advice regarding their travel dreams. Anyone with a bit of wanderlust could use your posts to plan their next trip. And the more eye-catching your content, the bigger an audience you’re going to build.
With all that in mind, here’s some advice on travel blogging. As long as you’ve got the distance and experience, you can create an online persona around it.
Decide Your Travel Niche
So, what kind of travel do you want to be known for? Luxury cruises? Island hopping on a budget? Long term hostel stays and getting to know the locals? Now’s the time to pick the one line you love traveling down and base your content around. Well, the bulk of it at least.
Every now and then you can write about how the other side travels, but make sure you’ve got a strong history in one specific type of travel first. For parents with young children this could mean family vacations, or for singletons on a budget it could all be about making money go as far as possible in various destinations.
Pick a Catchy Name
You want people to know what your blog is about from the moment they see or hear the name. The same goes for your social media page. While most people just write under their own name, it’s good to have a ‘brand’ name to keep your personal and public pages separate from each other.
So choose a catchy name that describes the kind of travel you like. For example, if you’re never seen without a coffee in your hand, filter that into the title. Or if you’ve got a lucky charm you take everywhere, that could be part of your brand name as well.
Move to Social Media
Now you’ve got a blog up and running, it’s time to throw social media into the mix. Don’t worry, this isn’t as scary as it sounds! When you write something, you can link to it on social media, to make the content more accessible and easy to consume. Similarly, you can place buttons on your blog pages to make it easy for your audience to follow you in more than one place.
When you’ve got a strong social media presence as well, you have a much better chance of reaching a relevant audience, strengthening your SEO, and simply giving your followers more to do. This is also where you can run competitions and giveaways, and go ‘live’ for Q&A sessions while you’re on your travels.
Write as You Go
If you write as you go, the story you want to create will be fresh in your mind. On day one, find somewhere to set up with your laptop or tablet and make an outline. If you’ve got an itinerary to follow, you can outline each section according to it and then fill in the blanks at the end of each specific day. Cut out the busywork by using simple page structure, and then just save yourself an hour or so before you hit the hay to write up your report of the day’s adventure.
Travel with a Drone for Amazing Social Media Shots
The higher you can get, the wider the landscape you can capture. The best way to do this is using a drone, like the Mini 4 Pro, which is pretty easy to fit in both a suitcase and a backpack. Sweeping, dramatic shots that showcase your destination for the tropical paradise or grungy urban backdrop full of character it really is works well on social media.
You can even record long form video content and edit clips together for interesting reels on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Video content is king in the online sphere at the moment, as it’s a lot easier to digest and delivers a punchy message better than a long stream of words.
But when you combine these shots with incredible blog content, you’ll hit the nail on the head every time. There’s a little something for everyone, from the most casual visitor to your page to the avid fan who loves to hear what you’re up to.
Scrapbook with Travel Memorabilia
This isn’t necessarily content you can make for an online audience, but it’ll be a big help to you when you want to create content later on. If you can’t write in the moment, you shouldn’t worry about forgetting the fun and interesting parts of the day! After all, you can buy a scrapbook, fill it with old flight passes, tickets, wristbands, etc., and you’ll have plenty to reflect on when the time comes to make new blog posts, videos, and stories.
Think of it as a storyboard; you can create narrative flows, decide on the best angles, and find the perfect photos to illustrate a new post. Plus, it’s just fun to make something physical out of your travel memories. Include an activity like this in your content creation strategy, alongside tracking hashtags and ensuring you’re posting regularly.
The more you can relate to your audience over your sense of adventure, and the more whimsy in what you post, the easier it’s going to be to build a following that understands and interacts.
What Makes Your Content Unique?
What kind of perspective do you offer? How do you use your words to get the point across about what you’ve seen, done, and experienced? What do you do to bring someone in, and make them feel like they were on the adventure with you? It’s all about your specific tone of voice and the style you want to write in.
Get on a Posting Schedule
It’s important you have a posting schedule – a content calendar saves you from accidentally running into a dry month! Consider how much content you can create and how that’ll affect how often you can post something.
Start a Travel Blog of Your Own
If you love adventuring, you should start a travel blog. Write all about your travels, post some amazing content that’ll inspire even the most stubborn of home bodies, and bring in some extra cash when you really need it.
The more content you create, the more your name and style gets out there. When people can spot you by reputation alone, thanks to just how involved and interactive your feed is, you can call your travel blog a success!
It’ll take time, and you’ll need to be in your most adventurous mood. But if you already get away at least twice a year to parts unknown, it’s worth it to let your audience know what you’re up to. Be real, be relatable, and choose your travel niche carefully – the better you can align with what your followers want, the more they’ll come back for where you go next.