The idea of being a travel blogger sounds like a dream right? You write about different places for two hours or so and get paid to do it, all while travelling the world. Honestly, that’s what I thought too. I immediately jumped at the opportunity thinking this will allow me to leave my 9-5 job and turn my life into a beautiful adventurous fairytale. However, even just starting out as a serious travel blogger for a mere 4 months, I quickly realized that may not be the case. Below are 7 harsh truths about being a travel blogger that you may not know about.
Photo by Clarisse Meyer from Unsplash
1. It Takes A LOT of Time and Energy
One of the best things about 9-5 jobs is just that, it’s from 9am – 5pm. You start work at 9am and clock out at 5pm, so you can spend the rest of the evening with your friends and family. It’s a common structure that allows you to have a work-life balance. At least that’s what I had in mind when I blocked off some time to write my first blog in February of 2021.
I planned on writing from 8am – 11am thinking it will only take 3 hours and then I can create graphics and promote it all over social media. The maximum time I planned was 5 hours to get this particular blog completed and published for the world to read. How exciting! However, based on how this article is going, I’m sure you realized that that was not the case. I started writing my blog at 8am, my family went out for the day since it was a Saturday, and no joke, I hit “publish” at 8pm. It took 12 hours! 7 hours more than what I had originally planned. Needless to say, my family was surprised and amused to see me still typing away when they came back home that night.
2. There’s A LOT That Goes Into Your Blog Post
So you’re probably wondering, why did it take me 12 hours to write my first blog? Well, there’s quite a bit that goes into your blog. It’s not just about writing content and hitting “publish,” there’s a lot more things that needs to be done before doing that, such as:
- A lot of research
- Listing all your sources
- Coming up with the right headline for your SEO
- Finding the right copyright free images that match your content
- Adding the correct “tags” so your readers can find you on Google
- Creating graphics to promote your post
- Making sure your post looks pleasing to read
- Proofreading your post
- Adding a certain amount of ads so you can make some money
- And the list goes on.
I never considered the amount of time and effort it takes till I wrote and published my first blog post. After that, not only did I have a newfound respect for bloggers, but I also knew that this isn’t just a passion project that I’m pursuing, it’s a full-on job. There are tasks that I have to do that I don’t enjoy, and there are tasks that I really enjoy. This is similar to any job, it’s realistic and no job is perfect.
Photo by Anete Lūsiņa from Unsplash
3. Always Thinking What to Write About
Another realization I had was I would always be thinking about blog post topics, even when I’m not working. When I travelled to Vancouver recently, I found myself considering the location or my travel experience as a blog post and attempt to create a headline out of it. I would constantly open my notes application on my phone and type many different blog post ideas and headlines for future posts. It starts from: my hotel room amenities, to what I had for breakfast, to the first location I travelled, to lunch, to another location, to another location, then dinner, then dessert, what souvenirs to buy, and the list just goes on and on. There really is no “off switch,” because once you have an idea, it’s important to type it out or write it down no matter the time of day so you don’t forget.
This isn’t a bad thing, however I found myself thinking of future blog posts instead of living in the moment at certain times.
4. Sometimes It’s a Struggle to Complete Just One Blog Post
This one certainly hit me hard. My plan originally was to write 3 blog posts per week, that’s approximately 2 days for each blog post with 1 day left to spare. However, there was this 1 particular post that took not 2 days, not 12 days, not 20 days, but 30 days to complete. It was the 5 Unique Souvenir Ideas For Your Next Vacation post. The amount of research it took to back up my ideas, being busy with my full-time job, and coming up with unique ideas and proofreading my post took quite a bit of time. Also, originally the post was supposed to have 10 unique souvenir ideas, but I just couldn’t get myself to type everything out, so I published 5 ideas for now that I was satisfied with. Part 2 with the remaining 5 ideas will eventually be published in the future.
I guess that’s how life is sometimes, it doesn’t always go according to plan.
5. There May Be A Lot of Second Guessing After Hitting “Publish”
After spending so many hours writing a blog post, I finally managed to hit “publish.” That in itself is an achievement. I often get excited for the world to read it, but I also second guess myself a lot. I end up wondering if the blog post is good enough or should I have changed the title, the photos, the ideas, the grammar, and so forth. It’s hard to be satisfied with what you put out to the world sometimes, but I also know that it will never be perfect. It took a while to realize this, and unfortunately I deleted my very first travel blog post because I felt like it wasn’t good enough. However now, if I think a post is not good enough, I just plan on going back to it and making the necessary changes instead of deleting it altogether. Lesson learned!
6. There Is No Money.. For Awhile
This one was interesting. I read so many income reports mentioning that bloggers make $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, even $200,000+ a month on their blog! It sounded too good to be true, but I also knew that it was true. Two Wandering Soles made $14,179 a month, and It’s A Lovely Life made $208,588.17 a month, which is amazing. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to be a travel blogger. I loved the idea of making endless money through my website, the flexible work hours, learning to become a better writer, and travelling around the world. However, the reality is it does take years and countless amounts of blog posts to make this much income.
I started blogging in February of 2021 and so far I have made $25.41 through ads on my website. It was all through trial and error and figuring out my niche as well as my target audience. I used to write blogs about home decor but then I realized I didn’t have much to write about, nor was I really passionate about it. Then I started travel blogging and I ended up having enough ideas to write about for many years to come. I was also very excited to become a travel blogger.
To be honest, I am one of the few lucky ones who started seeing money come in during the early stages. Within the first month in February of 2021, I received $2.16 and that’s when I realized that this can be a possible business. It’s nice to wake up and see that money is coming in while you’re sleeping, even if it’s just a few dollars. Some bloggers don’t see even a penny for a few months or years, however consistency is definitely key to see money rolling in. You don’t know which blog post will become viral that has the potential to make a lot of money, or who will read your blog post, and what opportunities you will receive in the future.
I will post my 2021 income report soon which will show how much money I made throughout the months.
Photo by sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash
7. It Takes Awhile to Grow Your Audience
Just like it takes a while for income to roll in, it takes awhile for readers to roll in as well. I was expecting hundreds of readers to read my blog posts daily at the beginning, however reality hit me, and I average around 2-3 readers a day. It’s a start. I soon realized that the more blog posts I write, the more audience I will receive.
I hope this blog post doesn’t discourage you in any way, it’s just a few realistic things to consider if you want to become a blogger. I promise, if you put in the effort and are consistent, you will be successful. Let me know if you have any other pointers or if you want to share your experience in the comments below.
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