Too busy travel blogging to enjoy the moment?
Last Updated on 24th July 2020
As travel bloggers are we sometimes so preoccupied with “travel blogging” we’re unable to fully enjoy where we are at the time?
I was considering this at the ‘Traverse16’ influencer conference in Cardiff just last weekend. As well as inspiring me with new writing ideas, best practices and the many ways to improve my blog’s reach, the conference also made me realise I need to make sure to “switch off” and enjoy the places I’m visiting rather than always having to Tweet/Instagram/blog about them too!
During conversations with attendees the ubiquitous “n” word reared its head many a time, that being “niché”. Personally I’m still working on that one as I tend to take a shotgun approach to travel blogging, but if I can write about specific topics rather than absolutely everything and anything, it will allow me to enjoy the destinations I go to by NOT necessarily having to Tweet/Instagram/blog about them.
Any of these ring true for you?
So when was the last time you visited somewhere wonderful and were too preoccupied with whether:
- To take this photo or that photo?
- You should actually be taking a photo or a video?
- To choose this photo or that photo for your subsequentpost(s)
- To “Instagram” them first to make them look nicer before tweeting? … or just use the edit feature in Twitter to adjust the effect?
- In Twitter to use ‘wide’ or ‘square’ or the ‘original’ image size?
- To stuff Instagram with hashtags or add them in a second comment below?
- You should add it to your Facebook page first and then share it onto your personal one? … or just add it to one or the other?
- To do anything on Pinterest and/or YouTube too (and that’s even before considering SnapChat and TikTok)?
- You tweet while an event is still happening to get retweets/mentions or actually enjoy the event while you’re there and make more considered posts a bit later on?
- To “@” the event directly or just mention them within the Tweet
- To write a short post or a long post?
- This is actually something I need to blog about in the first place!?
… which is why the on one of my last trips to the Isle of Wight I just decided to put my phone away, talk to who I was with and actually enjoy where I was! Crazy I know. It was just like it was 2005 all over again 😉 Read my other post about looking with your eyes and not your tech!
Travel blogging food for thought?
So can you switch off from “travel blogging” mode and simply enjoy a new event/location?
Or are you always thinking “this is an opportunity I. Cannot. Miss. And. Must. Blog. About. It?
PS. I do enjoy blogging. Maybe some people simply enjoy it a bit more than I do! 🙂
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I think when I started blogging, I had a same problem of what picture should I take and thinking what to write about.
But after a while I realised blogging is only a “side gig”. I just enjoy my experience fully when I’m there and just blog with whatever pictures I’ve taken for my blog when I get home.
It’s best to enjoy the moment 🙂
Absolutely yhpchung. Do you feel the same 3 years on? Still blogging? I just have to make sure I DO actually take those photos so I do have them to use when I get back home 🙂