8 Tips for Travel Bloggers

Blogging, since several decades ago, has been used as an additional source of income for many people who have writing skills and a laptop with an internet connection. Although lately many bloggers have complained about the issue of indexing their blogs, there are still many people who choose blogging as an activity that generates passive income.

Table of Content

1. Know the risks first!
2. Tips #1. Make travel a hobby
3. TIps #2. Start from the nearest place
4. Tips #3. Visit a friend's place
5. Tips #4. Record your entire trip
6. Tips #5. Write about places and events, not the whole city
7. Tips #6. Involve emotions in writing your travel articles
8. Tips #7. Include some photos or videos in your article
9. Tips #8. Write a focused article title

Blogging itself is basically a hobby. Lucky for those who managed to monetize their blog traffic. As a hobby, blogging can take up a lot of time, energy, ideas, and of course, money. Therefore, for those who want to start blogging, need to realize that it is not an "easy" hobby even though it looks fun. Some types of blogs are also very resource consuming, for example, travel blogs.

As you can see, my blog is a blog about the science of writing and blogging itself. I dedicate my time, energy, and money to share my knowledge and experience of writing and blogging, including a bit of web programming knowledge needed to develop a blog feature. My blog has also been monetized but, it's a secret, the income from the ads that appear on my blog is not worth the cost and effort I spent to build this blog. Not to mention that after the 2021 core update, Google is getting more and more "complicated", especially with regards to indexing blog content. Many bloggers, whose blog content is not plagiarized, myself included, are quite sad (or frustrated?) by this indexing issue. However, I didn't stop writing because I knew people out there needed information. I am fully aware that if this article is not indexed, then the chances of you finding this article are very small. But the fact that you are reading this article right now shows that my time and ideas were not wasted.

I want to share some tips with those of you who are looking to start (or have already started) a travel blog. For me, personally, travel blogs are among the most "expensive" blogs; I mean, it took a lot of time, effort, and money to develop this blog. Here's why I'm saying that, along with tips for minimizing the unexpected risks of building a travel blog.

Know the risks first!

Most travel bloggers are people who have "traveled the world" before. They have visited most of the places we have never been. They have visited historical places, tourist destinations, even haunted places. They did all that so they could get information about the place and share it with others.

My words above imply that travel bloggers have wasted a lot of money, time and effort as they have to visit faraway places, leave their place (or family), and face various risks. I know a travel blogger who was repeatedly bitten by snakes because she visited a place with a lot of snakes. Several other travel bloggers have also been scammed by people in certain places.

The money a travel blogger spends is not only on plane (or boat or train) tickets or hotel room rentals, but also other accommodation costs as well as equipment costs such as cameras. Not to mention if you do not know the area so you have to hire a guide who is not necessarily trustworthy.

Traveling is always a drain on money, time, and energy. Risks such as getting lost, being cheated, losing things, being robbed, always lurk in a travel blogger. However, a true travel blogger will not complain or be afraid of the risks. What needs to be done to minimize the risks as a travel blogger? Here are the tips.

Tips #1. Make travel a hobby

A hobby is something you enjoy the most. Psychologists say that most people choose to do their hobby over their job. This is due to the positive emotions behind a hobby. If you enjoy something, you will definitely do it well.

If you decide to start a travel blog, then you should make travel your hobby. By making travel your hobby, you will live it to your heart no matter what risks await you.

A "home lover" is not supposed to be a travel blogger. Although with the internet you can get information from anywhere you want to write on your blog, your absence there will reduce the value of your blog. For example, if you didn't have a photo of you while you were there, would you say you were there? You're not thinking about Photoshop, are you?

TIps #2. Start from the nearest place

A travel blog is a personal blog. Even if the places you tell about in your blog have been told by other travel bloggers, don't hesitate to visit those places because your perspective is very much needed in your blog. However, start from the nearest place.

You can start from the city where you live. Be a "stranger" in your own city and visit places you find interesting to discuss on your blog. Use "others eyes" to see your own city; even, photograph your school as if you never went to school there. Make a note of what you saw, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted while in that place (your city). Your notes will be indispensable when writing a description of the place.

Even if you live in a small town, that doesn't mean you can only get a little information from the city. With your creativity, you should be able to create at least five to six articles about your small town. Places in your city deserve a place on your blog.

Visit your own city or other cities close to your city. This can minimize financial risk. After all, you won't run into obstacles like getting lost, deceived, or losing a lot of time and energy, because you're visiting a nearby place, a place you know very well. Do this while saving a little money to visit other places.

Tips #3. Visit a friend's place

After filling up your travel blog with information about your city and other cities around it, it's time for you to go further afield. I highly recommend that you visit a city where your friend lives.

Call your friend and ask if he has free time to accompany you for a few days there. Say that you are going to visit his town, stay with him for a few days, and take him around town. I hope he doesn't mind.

Your friends are "assets" during the trip. By visiting the city, you may only need to spend money to buy plane, boat, or train tickets. You don't have to pay for room rent and if your friend has a private vehicle, you may only have to pay for gas. During your stay at his house, you may need to contribute to providing dinner. But if your friend is a philanthropist, I think eating is not a problem anymore.

Your friend is your guide. Ask him to take you to interesting places in his city. Get information about specific places in the city. Ask him to bring and introduce you to community leaders such as traditional elders in his place. You will need these people as sources. Your friend can also become a translator if you don't speak the language in the place.

Tips #4. Record your entire trip

Your journey, wherever it may be, may never be repeated. Therefore, you need to record your entire trip. Most travel bloggers only take photos of the places they visit. Though, they should have photographed their own trip. I will take pictures of the plane, ship, or train I'm on.

Wherever your eyes look, take a picture. Someday, you will need photos or videos recorded during your trip. The photos will "talk", reminding you of the place, of what you saw, of what you heard, and so on.

The most important photos or videos on a trip are the ones that include you in them. You can take a selfie or ask someone else (your friend) to take it for you. You also need to take pictures with other people who are in the place, as proof that you are really there.

If you're interviewing someone on your trip, you'll also need to record it. However, make sure to get his permission first. Without permission, you can get into legal trouble later on.

Record or photograph the events around you, even if they seem insignificant. For example, when your friend invites you to eat at a traditional restaurant, take a photo of that place. You can take a photo of a chef cooking, or a waitress serving food. Take photos of people passing by in traditional markets, football fields, bus stops, schools, houses of worship, and so on. Photos are also small objects hanging on the city walls, graffiti, street lamps, bridges, whatever it is that is the hallmark of the city. Any photos or videos you save will "talk" when you start writing about the city.

Tips #5. Write about places and events, not the whole city

A city you visit gives you many impressions. You have also visited many places in the city. You've also got lots of photos and videos during your trip in the city. Supposedly, your visit in a city can result in several articles for your blog.

You need to divide your experience in the city into several topics. Don't you get a different experience when you are in a traditional restaurant in the city? Do you have anything to tell from your experiences on the train? Did something unique happen while you were sitting at a bus stop in that city? What happens when you visit a historical site in the city?

With such a "microscopic memory" you will realize that there is so much you can write about the city. My advice, don't write it into an article. You can break down all your experiences into interesting topics. If you're feeling short on ideas, take a look at the photos and videos you've saved. Spontaneously your memory will come back and you will be flooded with ideas.

You need to know that a travel blog not only tells about a place but also the customs and thoughts that live in a place. The habits and lifestyle of the local people can be an interesting topic to discuss on your blog. However, you need to highlight the interesting and unique things about these people's habits. Your perspective and creativity are needed in writing your travel experiences.

Must read: Three keys to write a good descriptive text

Tips #6. Involve emotions in writing your travel articles

Articles on a travel blog are always subjective because they are based on the blogger's perspective. That is, it's okay if you get a little emotional when describing your travel experience.

When writing about a place, event, or person, don't stop at what you see and hear, but also what you feel as a traveler. I realize that it's a bit difficult to find the equivalent to describe your emotions. But you can always use a metaphor to describe it.

The emotions you engage in your travel articles will have a psychological effect on the reader; as if they had experienced it. You don't want your article to come across as flat and unfeeling. A travel blog should not only provide descriptive information about a place or city, but also how the blogger feels when he or she is in that place. This emotional information will knock on the door of the reader's heart so that they want to feel or have the same experience.

Tips #7. Include some photos or videos in your article

This is something that travel bloggers usually do. I know if you already know this. However, I must remind you that including too many photos can slow down your blog. You have to select the photo or video you want to display.

Choose a photo or video that is relevant to what you are writing about. Do not attach photos or videos of places or events that you are not describing in your article because that would be useless.

Give the photo a title so readers can see what the photo is about. If it's a video, try uploading it to YouTube and posting the video on your blog. This will speed up the loading time of the video.

If possible, compress the photo or video file before uploading it to the blog. This is important to speed up the load time of your blog page. If your uploaded photo is less than 100kb, you don't need to compress it.

Tips #8. Write a focused article title

As I mentioned that you can write many articles about a city you are visiting, be sure to provide a specific title for each article. For example, instead of writing a title like "Traditional restaurant in Ternate", it would be better if the title was "A beautiful evening in Goropa - A traditional restaurant in Ternate". Longer article titles not only create focused titles but also give you the opportunity to rank in long keywords.

A specific title will keep you from getting off topic. This of course gives you the opportunity to write more articles from just one trip. Of course, if you are fully aware, your travels in a city have given you many unique experiences; and each experience can be told in a different article.

Read also: How to write a good article for a blog

Of course, there are many more tips that a travel blogger needs to do. Some of the tips above will certainly be very helpful for a travel blogger from planning a trip to writing about his travel experience. I hope the tips above can help you to grow your travel blog. If you found this article useful, please share it with others who might be interested in starting a travel blog as one of their hobbies.