Going travelling? You must write a blog!

Why must we? Why must we write a blog? Who says so ………………..

Well it seems like everyone says so. I’m not sure if you are actually allowed to travel or visit multiple exotic locations without having a blog and telling funny yet poignant stories of exploits and escapades. Can’t you just go and not write anything about it, just go and enjoy going perhaps? Of course you can. I bet there are thousands of backpackers and casedraggers who just go and don’t write.

But, I like a blog especially a travel blog. There are some amazing ones around like Nomadic Matt and 501 Places that are really worth looking at, I have spent so much time wandering around their sites.

It seems to me that there are a few different ways of travel blogging that loosely fall into three categories.

1. Professional travel advice type blogs.

These sites are full of proper travelling advice and hints. They look almost like professional travel company sites in fact. Great for research and getting links to other places that supply financial, medical, global and local advice but not great for just surfing and reading generally.

2. Travel Experience type blogs.

I would put these halfway between the professional advice sites and the personal diaries. You get the daily stories and adventures but also a lot of specific help and useful tips. Not as serious as the professional ones either. Depending on the authors these can be either amazing or just a little jumbled as they sometimes try to do too much. Some of these types of blogs are the best on the internet, but conversely a lot are just worth avoiding.

3. Travel diary type blogs.

Now these are the diaries and stories of everyone else. Not a lot of serious advice on what to do or how to do but regular entries on what they did and when. Much more personal than the other types above and in my opinion much more interesting. They don’t have the bells and whistles and fancy formatting but usually have bags of character and personality. My favourites to just wander around.

I’m not sure how this blog will turn out as we have absolutely no experience. I guess it will evolve as we learn and develop our own style. I think the eventual aim would be for it to be the second type with a mix of information. We’ll see ………………..

Choosing a travel blog name was difficult enough. It’s something that really needs to be thought about carefully and considered, don’t rush into choosing a name. There are so many bloggers that have had to redesign and relaunch their blogs because they decided that they needed a new name. It’s so much better to take your time to begin with and get it right. Part of that decision may be whether you want to try and make a living from blogging or just record your travels for posterity.