Is Travel Blogging Dead?

Have you always dreamed about travel blogging? Was your dream pre-COVID-19 to become a travel blogger, travel influencer, or start a travel blog?

Or was it perhaps to spend more time traveling, living a digital nomad lifestyle, roadschooling or worldschooling children, and writing about your experiences on your blog as a side hustle?

And then, wham! Coronavirus hit. Borders closed. Airlines ceased flying. And the death of your travel blogging and travel dreams came all too quickly into sight?!

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Travel Bloggers Have Taken a Hit, But Blogging is Alive

There’s no denying the fact that the travel industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. This includes travel bloggers and travel influencers, many of whom live full-time or make good supplemental income off of their blogs or social media influence.

But the good news is that blogging is still alive.

And wanderlust isn’t something that a virus can destroy. Sure, it can take away a lot of the ways to act on that wanderlust, and may temporarily discourage travel dreams and travel careers, but explorers and dreamers are never going to stop exploring and dreaming.

The Future of Travel May Look Different, But Travel Blogging is Not Dead

Travel bloggers are creative and resourceful. That’s sorta–kinda–almost a “job” requirement…that is, if there was such a requirement for a travel blogger. 😉

So, if your dream is to be a travel blogger don’t give into the naysayers. Just get creative!

Maybe you’ll need to tweak your blog a bit to make it relevant for the times and audience interest, however, that’s what bloggers are used to doing anyway.

READ MORE: How to Leverage Pinterest to Grow Your Blog

Why I’m Convinced That You Can Still Become a Travel Blogger

Many, many moons ago, shortly after having my first child, I realized that I wanted to write more. This was before the major explosion in blogging or social media. Back when I still had and used Yahoo for my email (for your reference and imagination).

I remember reading this local, new travel writer’s article in a community newspaper. And then, curious me, I found her website online and emailed her about it. I told her I was inspired by her article and hoped to write in this area someday.

She was kind enough to reply to my email, but her words were pretty discouraging. I don’t remember the exact words, but if I had to guess, there were probably something like:

“Pick a different area to write about because travel isn’t a growing niche–it’s not going anywhere.“

“Becoming a freelance writer is hard, making money is nearly impossible, don’t consider writing as a way to earn a living.”

Whatever her exact words were, they stung for a long time. It took me years before I ever penned a travel related piece or post.

There’s a Big Difference Between Impossible and Challenging

But what I learned is there is a big difference between something that’s impossible and something that is really challenging.

The face and means of travel may look different in world dealing with a pandemic, but making a travel dream like travel blogging happen is not impossible.

For example, rather than writing about your summer experiences in Paris, you might have to simply tell your story of how you were going to Paris and what you planned to do. Canceled travel dream stories are relatable. And people are still out there dreaming of Paris, just like you.

Anytime anyone has a dream, there’s at least one discouraging person ready to pounce on that dream. Sure, it may be that you seemingly have an entire world squeezing the life out of your travel blogging dream right now, but the days of being a travel blogger are no way extinct. I don’t even think travel blogging rises to the endangered list. 🙂

My Travel Blog Traffic is Growing

Since the global pandemic came smack into life’s focus, my travel blog traffic (number of visitors and repeat visitors) has grown.

I think part of this reason is because my travel blog covers broader travel-related topics like homeschooling and roadschooling. Plus, it sort of helps that #vanlife and #rvlife have exploded in popularity during the pandemic.

Moreover, I don’t believe for a second that travel blogging is dead.

I also think change is good. It is critical to creativity.

Just like with anything in life, you simply have to be adaptable and willing to adapt to what’s going on around you. This includes blogging when you’re a blogger.

Algorithms, trends, analytics, reader interests and habits, are constantly changing. There are never any guarantees of a blog’s success–or that what you write, post, or share today will be popular tomorrow.

Life is Unpredictable, So Deal with It and Keep Dreaming

So, if your dream is to be a travel blogger or travel influencer, write your damn travel blog! Pour your heart into it. Be passionate about it.

Do what Spartan’s Joe De Sena says and FFIO!

Tell your story. Share your dreams. Unleash your creativity to fit the times.

Brainstorm creative travel ideas to write about.

Determination and drive is what will make your travel blog successful. It’s what made bloggers successful before COVID-19. It’s what will make them successful during it. And it’s what will make blogs successful long after the pandemic.

READ MORE: How to Become a Midlife Blogger and Influencer

A Final Thought

lt wasn’t long ago that the idea of remote work or telework was a new concept–and one resisted by many employers (even in recent pre-COVID memory) as being impossible for running a successful company.

Employers seemed to think that it would be impossible to get employees to be productive at home, to retain control over them, and impossible to run a business if employees didn’t report to work onsite each day. Yet, this didn’t stop lots of employees from having creative visions of the possibility — or dreaming about telework arrangements. Or digital nomad lifestyles!

And look where we are now? Working from home is a real thing. And companies are surviving–and thriving. Some are even moving toward permanent remote work.

Yet, more proof that impossible is not the same as challenging.

Don’t let anyone tell you travel blogging is dead.

It’s time to get creative, bloggers and dreamers! Get to work and make your travel blog dream real.

READ MORE: 20 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging

Happy Blogging,

Julie

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P.S. Also, if you have a travel blog, won’t you please share a comment below with your travel blog mention. I’d love to check it out (and I know my readers would too)! 🙂

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