I’ve been away from the blogosphere for a few weeks now. Here’s why…
Like everything in life, there are good times and bad times, and blogging is no exception.
For months at a time, you’ll be living out your dreams when it comes to travel blogging. I am filled with passion and inspiration, and the words of every blog post spill easily from my fingertips onto the page. Travel to new and exciting places and come home full of ideas and hundreds of photos to share. If you have time to keep up with all the latest from your favorite travel blogs and update your social media channels daily, you’ll start thinking of yourself as a blog ninja.
And as soon as I start getting a little cocky, this happy little blog bubble bursts.
All the excited energy I used to have for blogging has been sucked out of me like a Dementor and I can’t bring myself to log into my WordPress account or write anything.
You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much over the past few weeks, but that’s because I’ve been going through one of those little bubble burst phases.
There are countless reasons why it exploded, but it’s safe to say it exploded again a few weeks ago during the World Travel Market (WTM.
World Travel Market
WTM is a major week-long conference for people working in the travel industry. In recent years, a focus on social media has begun to open its doors to travel bloggers, discovering new ways to share travel experiences. Unsurprisingly, this has been a great week for me!
Not only did I attend many interesting talks, but I also had the opportunity to interact with some of the world’s best travel bloggers and meet up with old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. The week he spent talking to me about travel, social media, and blogging turned out to be exactly what I needed and I can safely say it got my blogging mojo back.
HostelBookers Awards
Another thing that helped add to my bubble was winning an award at a HostelBookers party. Yes, this is me looking ridiculously excited (and drunk) after winning my first ever blogging award.
This was a huge boost for me as I competed against the likes of Neil from Backpacksandbunkbeds.com, Oneika from oneika-the-traveller.com, Justin from 48houradventure.com, and Jayne from 40before30.com. The award was a nice surprise. I can’t wait to take part in the photography course that is part of the prize.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted for me, I really appreciate it!
Morocco
Immediately after WTM, I headed to Morocco. It was a work trip, but it turned out to be one of the best weeks ever. It was a week of meeting new friends, laughing until tears rolled down my cheeks, trying new foods, experiencing a whole new culture, and being overwhelmed by the beauty of Morocco. Of course, I’ll be sharing the rest of my trip soon.
The Travel Hack gets Hacked
Unfortunately, my blog was hacked while I was in Morocco. I’m a complete no-no when it comes to technology (I still can’t believe I was able to start a blog on my own!), but thankfully Chris from RTW Labs helped me out, I was able to get my blog up and running in no time.
Note to all bloggers: This scary little experience reminded me how important it is to back up your blog and keep your plugins up to date. Check out Chris’ post on basic WordPress security tips.
Future plans
Now that my blog is up and running again, what can we expect from it?
I’m going to Canada next month. This is also a work trip, but I also have some play time to explore Vancouver and go skiing. After snowboarding in Andorra earlier this year, I vowed never to hit the slopes again, but I’m hoping skiing will be less of a responsibility.
I’m planning to go to India in the new year – finally! This is something I’ve been talking about for so long that I’m starting to get bored of it myself, but I’m finally going to do it. I’ll be spending a few weeks in Rajasthan, so if you have any tips, I’d love to hear them!