Wanting To Start A Travel Blog? Here’s What You May Want To Think About

Being a blogger definitely isn’t an easy task, but the perception of us bloggers as people who simply “write stuff” is not going away anytime soon. Even though blogging is somewhat different from journalism and writing books, bloggers too suffer from writer’s block and overall lack of inspiration and/or time. Travel bloggers often have it even worse, because they need to post articles that are well written and interesting while traveling to a foreign country!

Our travel blogger article series revolved around the ins and outs of this type of writing, and we know that some of you are interested in starting their own travel blogs, but just need a nudge in the right direction. Well, the nudge is coming your way. Before you dive in, though, make sure you read the first two parts of this series, just to be up to date with the things we’re talking about.

In this article, we’re going to show you how to start your travel blogging career in just a few easy steps, as well as tell you about some of the more travel focused things you might need to know, like cameras and other gear. You know, just so you can get a head start on this travel blogging thing, right?

First things first, of course. Your travel blog needs a name that will make it stand out, and that name really needs to tell people what you’re all about. Our Sanja and her Wandering Paws blog are a prime example of this: when you hear the name, you’re probably going to associate it with dogs and traveling, which is really what the blog is all about.

Start From The Basics

Getting a great name is sometimes the hardest thing in a blogger’s life, and it strikes before you even start writing!

Some of the best advice we can give you when it comes to this is to really dig deep into your own mind, and also search the Internet and go through books. When it comes to travel blogging, you can always add your name if you think it’ll make the blog more user-friendly, like John’s Adventures, for example.

Alternatively, you can use humor and wordplay, or try a different language if English isn’t right for what you’re aiming for. At the end of the day, the name of your blog needs to be something people will remember and come back to. And while you’re at it, try to think of a name that looks good on social media too, as you’re sure going to be using it a lot once you start to blog.

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The second thing you need is really a no-brainer. It’s the .ME domain, of course, and you’re sure to make a blog that’s every bit as inspiring as it is fun with the world’s most personal domain name. Choosing .ME as your domain can also yield some interesting website names, considering that your site can now end in .ME! The best example for this is probably travel.ME, but there are tons of ideas for you to find!

Make It Your Own

Once that sweet blog of yours is up and running, you need to make it yours by giving it your own personal touch. You can do that by creating a visual identity yourself or asking a designer friend to help you, but a good looking blog will surely make the readers more interested in what you have to say. There are more than a thousand travel blog themes on Theme Forest alone so it won’t be that hard to find one you’ll enjoy the most. If you’re in a hurry, you can use a tool like Canva to help you make some last-minute adjustments to your logo, or even design a whole logo from scratch. There are also some incredible vector graphics over at Freepik, so you can take some inspiration from there.

[su_quote cite=”Catie Gard of Domestiphobia” url=”http://www.domestiphobia.net/” class=”left”]I wish I had thought to start an email list right away. When I finally started one after blogging for several years, it was disheartening to think how many readers I missed out on capturing by not having an email list from the start.[/su_quote]

Congratulations, you now have your very own blog! Before you start writing posts, though, you should really give emails a good hard look. You see, even though email is one of the oldest things online, it’s also one of the best ways to interact with your audience on a daily basis. Getting readers to subscribe to your newsletter is the first step to actually earning any money, which is what you’re here to do, after all.

I’d recommend the classic Newsletter plugin for every aspiring blogger, as it’s free and has all of the functions you need. Make sure that you follow every post with a good newsletter that you can design with a tool such as Mail Chimp so that your audience knows when you post, and what you are posting about.

The Gadgets That Make A Travel Blogger

Even though the list of things we’d advise can go on for a couple more posts, there are some things that are pretty critical for every travel blogger. Aside from your passport, you really can’t go anywhere without a good smartphone, a laptop, a good DSLR camera and another, smaller action camera.

The reasoning? Well, you need your phone to be able to post photos and videos on social media, which is pretty straightforward, as well as do some quick editing, keep up with the news and everything else you might think about. But before you set off with your shiny new iPhone 7, bear in mind these few things:

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• Battery life is extremely important, especially when abroad. That’s why it’s probably a good idea to get a high-capacity power bank, like this one from Anker regardless of your phone’s battery size. When it comes to phones, we’d recommend the newest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, simply because they take great photos and videos.
• It might not be a bad idea to get a rugged case for your phone, from a reputable manufacturer such as Spigen, to protect it from falling and all those adventures.
• If you’re from the EU, roaming is a thing of the past but bear in mind that roaming calls and data will destroy your data plan.

Photographs That Make The Blog Shine

Now the phone’s settled, let’s talk about cameras. I like to carry a larger DSLR, like the Canon EOS 700D, with me when I travel, just to get those sweet looking photos you can’t really get from a phone. Also, it’s great to be able to change lenses on the go, and a good camera with a couple of lenses will never let you down. Just make sure you have an extra battery pack on your travels!

My other weapon of choice would be an action camera because there’s only so much in life you can do without getting wet. An action camera like the GoPro hero 5 will take awesome photos and videos that you can post instantly while being tough and rugged enough to survive everything a DSLR can’t even think about.

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A laptop with a good battery life like a ThinkPad or a MacBook Pro will be the place where you’ll write on the go, so it’s imperative that it’s compact and fast, and that’s probably the one piece of hardware that will bring your blog together unlike anything else.

Once you have your site up and running, and your gadgets set up, you’re ready to start your first adventure! Before every travel Google everything about your destination, and make sure you will write about the things you’re passionate about, like beer or lakes. Once you get the hang of things, you’ll be blogging in no time and the views will just keep on coming.

We wish you the best of luck and urge you to start your blogging today on the .ME domain!