“Are you employed?”
“Yes, I’m self-employed. I’m a…blogger…” I say nervously, knowing that my answer will be met with the usual blank expression. “I’m a travel blogger,” I added with a little more conviction.
“What’s a blogger…? That’s your job…?”
I understand the drill now. Her expression changes from confusion to intrigue as she starts asking about 400 questions (which, by the way, she can answer to any of them). Or, pretending to understand that this is a legitimate job, she might try to brush off her question with an “Ah… Okay…” She writes it down on the form and she quickly moves on.
I’ve been filling out a lot of paperwork lately because I have so much to do when I have a baby. I don’t know why my employment status would be relevant when having a baby, but it kept coming up and made me think a lot about what a blog actually is. I’ve been asked this many times recently!
It also gave me an opportunity to think about what my blog is all about.
For me, blogging is really personal. This is the part of the internet where you can share anything you like. It feels like your own personal online home. Your home will be filled with photos, trinkets, favorite things, souvenirs, letters, postcards, and memos that make you feel good and bring back memories.
Opening a blog for the first time is like walking through someone’s front door. You step into their lives, their personal spaces, their happy and safe places.
I think this is why so many people love blogging. I feel that I am creating something of value and something that will last for a long time. It can be enjoyed by others, but ultimately it’s something you do for yourself. It’s an outlet for creativity and a way to preserve memories and thoughts, a bit like a modern-day version of scrapbooking.
But so many people, myself included, stop seeing their blogs as online scrapbooks once they start reading them. And you feel inwardly terrified when you think that many people will start reading it and that they are paying attention to your personal scrapbook. I mean, you’ve been saying stupid things for years, but now real people are going to read it. So I change my voice, change my tone, and start blogging about normal things and things that people Google. By writing lists and copying other bloggers, you will increase your page views. And I feel proud and surprised that so many people read your blog…but that’s not necessarily true.
Things have changed and it doesn’t matter to you anymore. It’s about everything that surrounds you, but not yourself.
And I feel like I’m completely hooked on wanting this website to be everything to me. Will people care? But that’s why they started doing this in the first place…?
According to Google (the fountain of all knowledge), a blog is “a regularly updated website or web page, usually run by an individual or small group, written in an informal or conversational format. “is.”
So I think it’s time to start a little more conversation on this blog.
I loved every minute of working on this blog. I love the small team that has joined me and love working on great travel projects and campaigns with them. This was all a lot of fun, but now it’s time to get personal and show us who we really are. I don’t just want to talk about our adventures, I want to talk about us. My favorite blogs are those that detail not only what they actually do, but also the people behind it.
So you’ll start to see more personal posts on The Travel Hack. There will be more video blogs that give you a peek into my home life and what we actually do please do not worry. Never lose focus of your trip. We already have some exciting trips planned for 2017!
An exciting announcement
Yes, we’ll be seeing more of her Vlogs on The Travel Hack. As a start, I’m going to start her Vlogmas!
For those who haven’t heard of Vlogmas, Vlogmas is YouTube where Vloggers create videos every day leading up to Christmas. Some vloggers start on December 1st and continue until Christmas Day, while others continue all month long.
Elle and Char will also be doing their first Vlogmas, so be sure to check out their YouTube channels as well. This will be her second year doing vlogmas as Elizabeth has done all this before.
If you want a behind-the-scenes look at my life, subscribe to my YouTube channel for daily videos.
For me, Vlogmas is more than just creating videos every day. It’s about learning new skills and challenging yourself to stretch yourself creatively. I’ve been blogging for a long time and it came to me very naturally and easily. This is great, but it’s been a while since I’ve pushed the boundaries and done something really new and creative.
I miss the early days when I nervously clicked “Publish” and then sat down and hit “Refresh” to see how many people read my posts. Everything I did took hours and I thought about the whole process. Everything was very new and scary, but also exciting and challenging. I loved this so much, I want that feeling again. And making a video definitely gives you this feeling!
The second reason I’m interested in video production is for memories. I love using photos as a way to record memories, but videos are even better. Every detail can be seen in the video: the early bird calls, the first laugh, the first words, even the sizzle of a steak frying in a hot skillet. I’m already excited to make videos just to look back on in a few years because videos really bring the memories to life.