Tips for How to Start a Travel Blog

After living in Asia for several years, I have been reflecting on my blogging experiences — notably, what I wish I had known before I started blogging. I’ve recently deleted my first blog from the internet (some of the content is being edited for my memoir instead), and have been confronted with an alarming reflection. I constantly ask myself ‘did I really write that’ and even worse: ‘how on earth did I share that?’ But now that the emotions have settled, I feel calm in my decision to take a blogging hiatus to focus on improving my craft. Recently, I had a call with a friend preparing to move abroad who was seeking advice on how to start his own travel blog. I rattled off a list of “I wish I knew” and then thought I may as well share this content. These are my seven tips I wish I could have given myself back when I first started blogging.

Critically read travel bloggers

While reading travel bloggers (both travelers in your host country as well as citizens from your host country traveling internationally), keep a notepad open to jot down your thoughts. Ensure that you have a diversity of perspectives which reflect race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and languages spoken. Reflect on who might be missing in your reading and actively read more travel bloggers from that background.

Subscribe to their blogs; read their work as it’s released. Keep a notepad of what you enjoyed (as well as disliked) about blog quality and website aesthetics. For the writing, record notes about article length, tone of voice, diction, quotation, integrated research, anecdotes, form, and style. Regarding website aesthetics, compare/contrast the type of website (Wordpress, Blogger, Wix, Medium), the implementation of images/video, color scheme, subscription ease, and overall visual appeal.

Begin blogging before you leave

A tip that’s given to study abroad students prior to returning to their home country is to explore their hometown like it’s a city they’re studying in. Though this is an act to reduce reverse culture shock, it can also be an effective tool prior to going abroad. Brainstorm a list of potential blog posts to write about your current location (be it hometown, college town, or current residence). I’ll give you two prompts:

What do you enjoy about the place? Paint us a day through your favorite places and intersperse some research about the history, social, and cultural context of the region. Brownie points for photographs or other visual creatives.

Identify and go to 3 places that you’d like to go to; one of these should be some place that you normally wouldn’t go to. Another place can be somewhere you’ve been to previously but write about with a refreshed perspective. The third place can be a non-place: what is something about the local culture(s), cuisine, literature, or art that you can write about?

Whether or not you post these to your blog, I strongly encourage you to write about these perspectives. In case you do post before you go, it also gives you the advantage of building an audience early.

Write regularly

Try this exercise (no, actually — right now). Write down three things you saw in the past 24 hours. Now, write down three things you smelled yesterday. Now, write down three things you heard the day before last. Go back one more day and write down three things you tasted. Finally, go back one more day and write down three things you touched. It gets more difficult over time, no? For an added challenge, you can try writing three memories for five days retrospectively for each sense.

When we’re living in another country, we will experience sensory overload. Though it may seem like we’ll never forget the incredible details from that one spirited conversation with a stranger-soon-turned-friend on the bus, the truth is that the specifics of the conversation will fade within days. That’s how the human mind works. We’re not supposed to keep all this information stored. My strong suggestion is to keep a regular journal and fill it daily — whether it’s a bullet list of the day’s highlights or a longform response, you’ll thank yourself for this later. (Trust me, I’m writing a memoir and I would have given up the project if I hadn’t kept journals over the years).

Find a writing routine that works for you. Personally, I’ve committed myself to writing 2,000 words a day since October 2019; I begin this practice first thing every morning alongside my first gaiwan of tea. When I was a student in China, I kept a handwritten journal in my target language at night. Often, this was the last thing I did, pen still in hand, glasses pushed aside, when I fell asleep; my roommate was kind enough to turn off the lights when I fell asleep in this desperate (dedicated?) position. Find a dedicated time and/or space, set your target (time-based or word-based) and write away!

Identify your goals as a blogger

Why do you want to write a blog? Why does it matter to you and why does it matter now? Reflect on your personal, professional, creative, and social goals. Jotted them down? Great.

These could easily become the theme for your blog.

In Nevertheless Away, I prioritize language learning stories, intercultural dialogue, creative writing, tea, and domestic violence awareness. As such, most of my posts rotate between these themes. I don’t do what bloggers are advised: write only about one thing. While I technically could create a separate blog for each of these topics, I know that these are all interrelated and I’m not willing to splinter my experiences over several blogs. For those who manage to do this, kudos to you. Any approach is fine but identify what resonates with you and let that reflect within your blog.

Post regularly

Building reader trust is dependent on posting regularly. Posting regularly allows your audience to know when to expect another post. When you meet this timeline, trust is developed. For new bloggers, try setting a timeline which both challenges you as well as is achievable (such as every Friday, the first Tuesday of each month, etc); you can always adjust it later. You can decide how frequently this will be: weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Respect local people and places

Read how colonization, racism, sexism, religion, and capitalism have adversely impacted your host community. Be aware of cultural taboos, societal norms, and prepare to be a responsible global citizen. Ideally, you should become familiar with the host country’s literature, film, art, sports, language(s), economy (whatever your niche is) scene before arriving. During your travels, reflect on how your presence is a privilege. Be eager and humble to learn.

When writing narratives or details on your blog, ask permission to write someone’s name or anonymize their names in the post. If you have visited a hidden gem, never tag or locate the place. Reflect on whether you should even post the blog at all. I’ve personally witnessed a hidden gem of a beach in South Goa, India be destroyed over several months. What was once an “untouched beach” became filled with litter — all because one influencer posted photos and tagged them on Instagram. Now, shacks are being built in a space, trees have been cut, and a waterfall has dwindled down to being practically nonexistent. Some damage can never be repaired.

Finally, be cognizant of the photos and/or videos you share. Specifically, travelers should not post photos with children’s faces (this is especially true for all the white teachers posting with young children they taught abroad. It’s racist, problematic, and your white saviorism has detrimental impacts; stop).

Reflect on Long Term Implications

Your writing as well as your blog will not only represent you and your identities, but will also represent your nationality, community, and institutions (school, work, scholarships, volunteer organizations, etc). I have personally kept a disclaimer on my blog to let readers know that my opinions are mine alone. Something I enjoy writing about are language learning experiences (opportunities to laugh at myself), even at the risk of portraying a lower proficiency than what I hold. I’m aware of how I have been and will continue to be a cultural ambassador. Be forewarned that this journey never ends: we must continue to educate ourselves, learn from others, and be humble enough to adapt over and over again.

Something I realized a bit too late was that content posted on your blog is considered previously published. I used to post twice weekly: a poem on Tuesdays and a travel post on Saturdays. Once I realized that poetry posted on my blog could not be accepted to literary magazines and journals, I reduced the frequency of my posts and instead focused on honing my craft. Regardless of the form, if you have an idea of an experience that you want to write about and send to a reputable publication, consider writing it and keeping it to yourself until you find a home for it.

These are my main tips for how to start an engaging and respectful travel blog. But I am still learning. What are some of the tips you would give yourself if you could go back in time and give yourself advice before starting out? Or, for those of you just starting, what has been helpful so far?