There’s no hiding from the fact that the way we’re travelling has changed.
Over the past 12 months we’ve gone from backpacking around East and South-East Asia to slow-travelling our way around Europe, housesittng and petsitting along the way, trying to live more like a local would at every opportunity. We’ve stayed in typical local house’s and tried to see things through their eyes, buying fresh produce at tiny markets, hunting out tofu in the small Asian supermarkets on street corners hidden down the side streets; but as our last post explained, we’ve feeling a growing urge to change the way we travel, with finding a base here in Berlin as the strongest option.
As the months have passed and our style of travel has changed, our style of blogging for the benefit of our friends and family back in our individual home countries has changed too. Initially we were writing just small pieces for the sake of a handful of people who we knew on a personal level, but slowly we started to make new friends online with other people who were either travelling themselves, were planning to start a life of living out of their backpacks, or were like-minded individuals who love to see the world just as much as we do.
One day we were writing for twenty people, the next day for one hundred – today we have more than 8000 new friends following us via our blog and all of our social media channels. We’re overcome by the support. At times, we can barely begin to appreciate just how fortunate we’ve been to welcome so many new friends to join us on our travels around the world. Sometimes it doesn’t feel quite real, and for every person who chooses to follow us we try our best to increase how much we’re delivering so that you’ve living each and every stop along the way with us in the hope that you too are inspired to hit the road no matter if it’s for a weekend or a decade of travel.
We’re At A Crossroads
We’re currently standing at a crossroads where we’re not sure of the direction to take, though we know the outcome that leads down each of the roads.
If finding a home base is what we truly want then that could be either a stop to our travels – which neither of us wants – or an adjustment to a few periods of travel per month, returning to our chosen home, and then after recuperating, doing the same the following month. As for the blog, we’re 100% sure that we don’t want it to slow down, go quite, or just die like so many travel blogs we’ve seen disappear over the past three years of our own personal reading of other people’s travel blogs who originally inspired us to quit our jobs and travel the world. We don’t want our collection of travel stories, photographs, and messages that you too can travel to just gather dust like some fantastic blogs seem to do when the travel slows down or ends; which means, we have to be pro-active to not let that happen.
Choose Our Path
We won’t let this blog die, we promise. In fact, we’ve spent the past week discussing and deciding just what we can do to keep this blog alive and we’ve come out with a few options. However, for all of the ideas we came up with there was always one thought in the back of our minds – “what do our friends want from our blog?“, which is why we’re putting the decision in your hands.
Without you there may never have ever been a travel blog, and without all of you who have joined us along the way, the blog may very well have died a long time ago, hence why we find your opinion so much more valuable than our own personal feelings towards the blog. That’s not to say that we’re not deeply in love with what we’ve crafted these past two years, just that everything we do, we do it for you – and we love it.
We have a fantastic opportunity to continue to build this travel blog into something we never dreamed of, but if that means your dissatisfaction then we don’t want to take that path. So what are the choices?
One Of Three Paths
With our travel funds now beginning to reach there end and no real income from the blog to speak of, we can keep the blog going whilst we start to think of post-travel jobs for the two of us, quite possibly here in Berlin. We’ll travel where we can, perhaps for long weekends, maybe for longer periods, but a lot of our time will of course be diverted towards whatever jobs we decide to choose for ourselves, whether that be looking into working online on social media for clients, or taking the first job that comes along, be it in a cafe or being cleaners.
The posts will keep coming, there’s no way we’ll ever let the blog drift away and be forgotten about. We’ll finally get around to writing all of those posts on places we’ve never really had the time to cover before; we may even begin to write about our lives as expats in the city of Berlin if it appeals to you?
The Second Path
If that path isn’t quite to your liking there are two more that we can follow, one of which being quite the norm in the travel blogging world.
This first path would lead towards us becoming professional travel bloggers, what does this mean exactly? For us it would mean navigating away from our slow method of travel, away from our typical way of ‘unplanning‘ of journey, not knowing what we’ll do from one day to the next, never doing something just because everyone else has it on their ‘bucket list‘. If you’ve been reading us for a while, you’ll know that’s just not us.
What would lie before us would be a life of writing and reviewing locations on behalf of tourism boards and destination marketing organisations, going to the places picked out and organised into group tours and press trips, documenting everything along the way with photos and posts here on the site on incredible locations around the world, with much of the activities being ‘sponsored‘ – an amazing opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest and most sought after locations. We’d be mad to turn it down, right?
The Third Path
We love the countries that we’ve read about and seen pictures from during the past two years that have been the centre of the few press trips we’ve seen covered during our time as travel bloggers, but one thought that always nagged with us was that on occasion we would read a post from bloggers who are on a whole other level to us in terms of quality of content and the writing they produce, that was very clearly not something they truly cared about. During the press trip they were on they most certainly had a fantastic time, but most certainly coving one part of their experiences because they were obligated to do so.
It’s a very tricky thing to be objective when you’re getting something for free, as we’ve found out first hand when documenting some experiences of our own in the past, the only difference being we seeked those places out, they never seeked for us.
So if we aren’t in favour of the most common path for professional travel bloggers, what else is there?
The Alternative Path
We feel that the only way in which we can truly become professional travel bloggers is to build our own business model, to do things in a way where we feel true to ourselves – and more importantly – true to what you expect from us.
We would like to discuss and build an opportunity where the both of us will visit a country, explore it in the same manner as we would normally (slow travel, car sharing, Couchsurfing, affordable design hostels/hotels, meeting locals, pro-animal rights, responsible travel, vegan lifestyle, etc), and review that country impartially and without anyone picking the places we visit or the places we stay for us. This way, we’re not getting preferential treatment from tour guides or hotel workers, we’re just regular travellers who are neither uber-cheap and smelly backpackers or luxury resort-staying travellers. We’re just two people who love to see the world, just like you.
Now this won’t be easy, in fact, it might fail entirely; but if we don’t try and do things in a way that feels true to ourselves and true to you fantastic people who read us, then what’s the point? If everyone is writing the same sugar-coated experience, are we really credible as travel writers?
Again, this could end in failure as we try to do something different from the norm. We’re not first to try this way by any means, but we know it’s not overly common to reach a partnership in this way with tourism boards; but we have to try. After all we’ve learned in these two years about reaching for your goals, for your hopes and for your dreams; how could we possibly not at the very least try?
The Choice Is Yours
So we’re handing the choice to you, our amazing community who we’d be nothing without. We want to provide what you want to read, what you want to see and to hear.
All of the paths work for us, either to keep blogging as a hobby when we can between ‘real life‘ jobs and travelling when we can, or as professional travel bloggers joining with some of the most amazing travel bloggers we’re so lucky to now consider not just our peers, but friends – but for us only one option, the alternative option really makes us truly happy, even if it means certain disaster and an unresponsive ear from the destinations we hope to pitch to.
Lastly, no matter what, both Franca and I want to thank you for every message of support we’ve ever received, every email, every donation to buy us lunch and pay the hosting costs for the site.
Without you, there is no angloitalianfollowus.com. Thank you.
โ Dale & Franca
Which path do you choose for us?
I know this all too well. Where to go next? Literally and figuratively. I started blogging in 2006 to keep our families posted on what was happening in our lives. Over the years the blog transformed into something much bigger than I could ever imagine. I am beyond grateful for the opportunities it has provided but at the same time have gone through many frustrations on asking myself “What to do next?” Like you, I care about quality, content, and connecting with people. I knew if I went with a niche or more informational then I could make it more ‘successful’ i.e. more money….but that isn’t necessarily true to myself. Which means my blog has remained a general ‘lifestyle blog’ more than anything else. Offers have come in but nothing on a grand scale and certainly not enough to make a living….but that also means I haven’t sold out either….such a fine line, right?
I know none of what I’m saying is helping in your decision. What I can say is that you’re not alone! More importantly, do what in your heart feels right. You may lose some followers but you may gain some too. And like I always say, in the end it will be ok. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end. =)
Heidi @BananaBuzzbomb recently posted…Antelope Canyon 50K: Training Update
It really does help us decide, honestly. It helps us understand that we’re not alone, that this process of decision making was the right choice to make and that no matter where the future lies for our simple blog of travels.
I live my life by the thoughts that no matter what your choice is, it’s the right one, whether it’s a success or not. There are no bad paths, it’s up to the individual person to look at that path and learn from it rather than with sadness or regret.
Dale recently posted…Lights & The Invisible Walls Of Berlin
As others have said, always go with what feels right and write what you’re passionate about. You’re doing a great job at that already. In terms of making money, use your blog to get regular freelance writing gigs for websites relating to your niches. I don’t rely on my blog to make money, but have used it as a platform to complement my ‘day job’ as a freelance lifestyle copywriter. I always worry that being too business minded about a personal blog can suck all of the enjoyment out of it and that what was once a true passion could become work. I really enjoy your blog for the photography and posts on street art, house sitting and food.
Alison recently posted…M&S Black Leather Bowler Bag
Thanks so much for being so kind about both our photography and our posts, it really means a lot to us both.
We’ve become more aware of the ‘portfolio’ aspect of running a blog, that it’s a platform for work like freelance writing for both on-and-offline, though that’s not something we’ve ever really thought of doing.
Dale recently posted…Lights & The Invisible Walls Of Berlin
I definitely think the best part of the blog is that you guys write about what you’re interested in. You don’t write “the absolute ultimate must-read guide to everything you need to know about —–” for a city you spent 24 hours in and then copy a lonely planet. you guys write about unique things and it definitely makes the blog interesting. I think you guys should choose to do whatever sounds the most enticing to you.
Rebekah recently posted…The Best of the Books: September
Thank you so much Rebekah, we’re just hoping that we can continue to write engaging and interesting articles in the future too ๐
Dale recently posted…Vegan Pizza By Italian Hands at Sfizy Veg, Berlin
You just need to write what you are passionate about. It won’t make a difference if you are moving around or in one location, there is always something to write about. I am sure you can even add more info on what you have already done. The personal is what makes it you, the good, the bad and anything in between.
Heidi Wagoner recently posted…Accommodation Spotlight – The Chai Lai Orchid Nature Bungalows
Thanks a lot for letting us know what you think, here’s hoping that we can continue to bring great content for everyone in the future ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion โ Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Here’s our two pence:
Do what makes you happy, follow your heart and don’t worry about making a mistake.
Your blog has to be something you enjoy too otherwise what’s the point?
Looking forward to seeing how the journey unfolds!
Much love from us here at The Vegan Food Quest, you know we’ll keep following!
Thanks you two! It’s travel blogs like yours that we wish to emulate with your fantastic vegan travel experiences ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
As an expat myself, I can tell you that having a home base to return to is great! My husband and I take a lot of weekend trips and several longer ones a year. When we’re not traveling, we’re getting to know our home city. We get to make friends with locals and other expats, develop routines, go to the movies, etc. We can receive mail. Friends and family can come visit us. I think it’s the best of both worlds.
The great thing about your blog is that it is personal. I feel like I’ve gotten to know you guys even though we haven’t met (yet!). I can relate to your slow-style of travel and enjoy your focus on street art and architecture. I tend to shy away from blogs that only do top 10 lists or have too much sponsored content. It’s just not as interesting. But I also understand that people have to earn a living. Try out one path for a while, and if it’s not working for you, try something else. Just stay true to yourselves and do what makes you most happy.
Heather recently posted…The Best Meals We Ate in Tallinn
Going to movies. I never thought I’d miss that all that much – especially after cutting it out for so long to save to travel – but being able to actually sit somewhere comfortable where the speakers are perfectly positioned and the screen is the perfect aspect ration is something I never thought I even missed until you mentioned it!
We haven’t met, yet!
We’re trying to see what paths we can go down that work for us on a financial side. Luckily there are few options open to us, but its the main alternative path that has to work for us to really be happy. If we can do it, we may have found the best compromise to make us happy for the long term, with a home of our own mixed in for good measure – oh, and cats. Lots of cats.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Decisions, decisions.
I’m happy with how you ended this article, because when you presented the “professional travel blogger” option I began screaming “No, No, No!”. Not that there is anything wrong with luxury hotels, tourist hotspots, and excursions- they are great. They just aren’t what I’ve come to love about your work. The authentic experiences- the slow travel, the connections with drivers during hitch lifts, the CS hosts- these are the things that people care about, or at least what the audience that you draw cares about. It’ll be a tough road (I feel you and I’ve been doing it for less time!), but I think you’ll regret it if you turned into a walking TripAdvisor couple. You have to do what will allow you to be satisfied with yourselves, proud of your work and the messages of inspiration you send, and of course be happy. Just don’t lose yourselves (and your awesomeness) in the process.
Good luck!
When I have to do searches for places (which isn’t all that often) I have to do a -tripadvisor.com in the Google search in order to make the results actually readable and useful.
As a business-owning friend once pointed out to me; far too many reviews are from competition companies who just leave moderate to poor reviews in order to push their own company to the top – useless for the rest of us.
We’re both hoping that if this is the road that works best for both maintaining our style of travel and the happiness of friends like yourself that it works.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Tough decision. It sounds like you feel the need to settle down, and if you stay in Berlin, it doesn’t have to be forever. As you already know, it’s so easy to get around Europe so you’ll have lots of opportunities to still see the world. Personally, I think the alternative path sounds like the best option for you guys. Since ‘paid travel’ isn’t appealing to you, this could be an excellent way to travel and still be true to yourselves which is the most important of it all. I’m sure you’ll find the right answer x
Miriam of Adventurous Miriam recently posted…There’s a little place called Gili Trawangan
We’re both hoping that should that be the path that works best for what we and our friends and family wish to see us take, that we’ll be able to make it work and deliver great adventures that people can follow us along on. And you’re right on the money about the great connections to everywhere from Berlin.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
This is a tough decision, but you should do what ultimately will make you happy! It looks like many other followers think so too, so we’d all still read no matter what!
Mary @ Green Global Travel recently posted…People-to-People Programs Offer Americans Legal Travel to Cuba
Thanks Mary. As I mentioned above; it’s great to have the support of both Bret and yourself ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Those crossroads in life are always tough. I say do what speaks to your soul if fear wasn’t there. When you follow your passion and do what feels right, money will come.
Valen-Your Own Life recently posted…LifeFest Bali Retreat
As someone who knows and has been sharing so many good thoughts of life lessons recently; it’s reassuring to have your thoughts to contribute to our own and the decision process.
Thanks Val!
Dale recently posted…Our New Plan To Call Berlin Home โ For Now
Oh wow, what a tough decision – honestly, even “safe” plans can fail. Look at all of the people in this world who chose “safe and stable” jobs (and gave up their dream ones) and then lost them when the economic crisis hit. So, if any plan can fail, might as well choose the one you’re most interested in and passionate about. I’ve still yet to follow this advice completely but it is something to think about ๐
chantae recently posted…The Worst Thing About Indonesia: The Trash Problem
I love your comment as it fits perfectly with my post-travel decision for my life which is that if I don’t at the very least try to make my dreams my reality, how can I ever be happy?
At least if they do fail I’ll have Franca beside me ๐
Dale recently posted…Why We Carry Coffee Whilst We Travel (+ Win An Aeropress!)
I have NO idea which way you should go… but I will probably still enjoy reading it regardless. Best of luck with your choice!
Thanks for supporting our decision – whichever one we make that is ๐
Dale recently posted…Ohlala โ A French Vegan Brunch in Berlin
Very interesting post!! Personally, I think that it is important to take the direction that you want to take. That being said, I would love to hear about your expat experiences. I, too, am an expat living in Taiwan and that is what my blog revolves around. I love hearing stories of how people adapt to life in a foreign country and how they have beautiful moments mingling with the locals. However, I love reading your blog and I think that is because it presents a different side to travel that is normally not featured in travel books or on blogs.
I don’t know if my rambling has helped you but one thing is for certain, I look forward to reading about your decision!!
Constance – Foreign Sanctuary recently posted…A Collection of Bee and Flower Photos (Taken in Taiwan)
You’re not rambling, you’re helping! It’s made us consider more the desire of people to know more about expat life, something we never really considered going into much detail about. So far we were just talking about the decision process, but would more knowledge of expat life in Berlin be of interest to you as an expat in Taiwan? What kind of things could we share with you that you’d be interested in?
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
Of course, it would! I love reading stories of how people adapted to life in a foreign country – for example, how did they deal with the language barrier, the whole process of finding a place to live or a job, how they responded to the food and the different way of living. Every expat’s experience is different – what I consider a positive experience someone else may respond differently to and consider it a barrier. Even though we may not be experiencing expat life in the same country, I think the process of adapting is the same (even though the challenges we face may be different.)
Hope that helps!!
Constance – Foreign Sanctuary recently posted…Thinking Out Loud: October Goals
It sounds like you’ve presented a false choice as it’s very clear what you want and don’t want to do. So just do that.
On your points though, I’ve been a travel writer for 20+ years and have never gone on a press trip to a place I wasn’t interested in. Why would that be a requirement? I seek out experiences and places I’m interested in, but I’d much rather have someone else pay for it. Sometimes that’s been the publication, usually it has been the travel companies and tourism boards. Half the time I simply wouldn’t be there if it was a matter of paying to get myself there and cover all my expenses. In general, that’s how the travel publishing world works. Those that don’t opt into that system in any way generally don’t make real money from blogging or writing about travel. It’s hard to just be a round-the-world backpacker and have a very profitable website as you’re one of thousands doing the same.
So keep it as a hobby, as something you do for fun. Talk about what’s real and what you’re doing, even if that means more of an expat focus than a travel focus. Then go get real jobs! There are far easier ways to make a living, than the creative arts, so if you’re not comfortable being a hustler, don’t try to hustle!
Tim L. recently posted…Argentina is Cheap Again (If You Follow This Advice)
Tim I really appreciate your words as someone I’ve been not only reading about frequently these past few weeks or months, but also watched and listened to via ThisWeekInTravel.
Personally, whilst we can really appreciate the point of being able to travel, explore and delve deeper into so many incredible locations around the world on someone else’s expense most certainly has its perks (as we may never have the chance to visit them any other way), we feel that we’d be doing a disservice to not only the people that read our site, but the people who trust us so much that they return week after week to read our stories.
Part of the reason that we decided to ask peoples opinions is that we felt that just going off onto some amazing trip that was all expenses paid was being dishonest as its not what people have come to expect from us over the past two years, and as study has shown in recent weeks, people are becoming less likely to either continue to read a piece or return to the publication if too much of the content appears to be too obviously sponsored or brand led (with the exception of the more notable publications where the practice is decades long).
If you were standing before me know I wouldn’t like to lie to your face and tell you that the sky is down and the sea is up, so writing it doesn’t make it seem any less dishonest. However, I’m not naive enough to understand that for the sake of marketing a brand there is a level of acceptable deception, so why is an advert okay but a ‘this was sponsored by…’ disclaimer not so?
It’s something we’re continuing to discuss each day, hence our decision to involve the people that make this site what it is.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Looks like all of your followers want YOU to choose whatever option will make you the happiest! It seems likely that the alternative route is the way to go. Even if it doesn’t work, you will never know until you try (it will most likely work though!). Good luck in your crossroads, I will be following along.
Katie recently posted…Our Stay at a Korean Love Motel
I think we’re coming to the realisation that with the incredible support we’ve been given over the past few days that it’d be criminal not to go for it and to try things in our own way, to try a method that makes us happy as happiness is more important to us than anything.
Thanks so much for coming along with us on our journey so far, we hope that we keep on taking you great places.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
I think every serious blogger comes to this point eventually. The choice seems clear to me (the alternative one), but it’s only because that’s what I would choose if I were in the same shoes as you guys. Whatever option you choose, good luck!
Aleah | SolitaryWanderer.com recently posted…The Kindly Drivers and Other Stories of Kindness on the Road
Thanks Aleah for letting us know what you think, we just hope that we make not only the best choices for ourselves, but also for everyone who’s been dropping by and leaving great messages of support like yours.
Dale recently posted…Why We Carry Coffee Whilst We Travel (+ Win An Aeropress!)
Hi couple,
I think you should do what suits you best, but the truth is, you need to have incomes to make your dreams come true. Even in cheap Berlin you need money to live, that’s how life works and I know you know that. I lived 4 years in Berlin, learned the language and made lots of friends there. But getting a good job wasn’t that easy and since I’m not an English native speaker (to teach English, that’s always an option for English native speakers) and after doing many different things I decided it was time to move on. So, if you stay there and really want to enjoy what you do (I agree with Ivana, working as a waiter/tress is not an option), you should try to do what you like best, and that’s writing about the things you both like. I see both of you as very talented individuals and I’m pretty sure you can find a great job without compromising your principles. As Marginal Boundaries wrote, you can work from your blog for others, as consultants (for hostels for example) giving ideas what’s better, trendy, what the backpacker finds more appealing when travelling, etc. There are many jobs related to travelling that you can do. I think Gomio looks for independent travellers & writers and as Gomio other Travel booking sites are looking for people like you (well, your background is amazing, so they’ll be lucky if they have you). Maybe you are not aware of how much you have both learned about many things, it is not just travelling, is a lifestyle.
I remember how I came across with this blog. I was traveling to Sarajevo and wanted to visit the Ars Aevi, and then, I found you. I’m so happy I did!
Keep on writing, moving, and if the first steps are not that easy and you feel you are not doing what you like, you can always start again!
Good luck,
You’re kidding, the Ars Aevi piece is how you found us? I’d forgotten all about that piece but as I just talked it over with Franca it brought back so many great memories from visiting it, talking with the people there, and learning all about the history. I can’t believe that was two years ago, it feels like a life time.
We both really appreciate your thoughts and are adding them to our own to help us craft an idea for ourselves for the future and where that takes us, no matter if its here in Berlin, or wherever else that sounds like its going to work to make our long-term hopes come true.
We promise to keep on writing, and thanks also for the Gomio tip. We’ll have to check that out too ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Wow! What a decision to make. Lately, I have been turning nagging thoughts into what I will do, no matter how silly or out there they seem. My whole trip to India was based on nagging thought, and has now developed into something so much bigger. Do you have any of those? What do they tell you? Of course, I would be happy to see you guys stay in Berlin, because it really is my favorite city ever, but even I had to leave Berlin and have yet to return, but Berlin is also a constant thought in my head so I know I will return (maybe soon?). But if you really can’t decide, why don’t you put yourselves out there, in all directions. Look for work in Berlin, work on monetizing your blog, AND look for press trips. See what comes, and just jump into what feels right! Good luck Dale and Franca!
Katie
p.s. I love the sign that says “get over yourself you’re just a blogger.” Once I started blogging and telling people about my blog they seemed to honor me like a mini celebrity, while I was thinking to myself, ” I’m not that special, if I can put together a website anyone can.” But, in reality, blogging to me is like modern art, anyone can do it, but they didn’t so success and “fame” to the people who do! ๐
Katie recently posted…Walnut and Zucchini Dip
Thanks Katie! We understand you completely about challenging yourself to compete and follow through on those ‘nagging thoughts’. My nagging though three years ago was that I’d die before I got to see Franca following through with her dreams and travelling the world, and as I mentioned to someone just yesterday; I can die happy in the knowledge that I contributed to making those dreams a reality.
Blogging really is an artform, hence why (just like art), only so many last more than a few months or a year, and fewer than that really make it big. Your blog is your art, and you’re making masterpieces ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
I agree with Cherieโit’s nice that you’ve opened the floor to your readers and followers for feedback, but ultimately you started the blog because you wanted to, and you’ve built it up to what it is today by producing the content you are the most excited for. I think you need to trust that if you write what you’re passionate/excited about, then an audience will find you, rather than trying to tailor your site to meet the (likely conflicting) demands of your current audience.
With that said, I think the only path I would really NOT like to see you take would be number 2 where you try to transform into the same boring pro travel bloggers that already saturate the market. Maybe it’s just that I’m not at all interested in press trips (taking them or reading about them), but I think part of what makes your site so special is the unusual way you guys travel. So much of what you see and do (and how you get there) is not at all consistent with how press trips go and you’d wind up taking a trip that 30 other people also go onโno more CouchSurfing or ridesharing, etc., I honestly believe that 99% of the people who go on press trips are doing it for themselves, not for the stories they will be able to share, and certainly not for their readers. Knowing you as I do, I don’t think you’d be happy going that route.
Tony & I have learned that it’s not easy to create your own trail, but I think it’s the only way to really be happy. There are plenty of blogs that are successfully written by expats who only travel occasionally but otherwise focus on writing about their adopted hometown. There’s no shame in having your blog evolve to reflect your new travel style; if anyone can do it, I know you guys can!
Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) recently posted…Chewing the Fat with A Cruising Couple!
I couldn’t agree more that travel blogs will change as their writers lives changed, with it making for really interesting focus points all around.
I never thought I’d be reading the stories of how one regular traveller is now a mother, or how another is going in a whole new direction from travel blogging altogether, but still keeping everyone in the loop with regular posts – it’s fantastic.
We will write new content that will be different from last year which was different from the year prior to that, we just hope that we don’t start to deliver stories that are ‘just like everyone else’. We want to write engaging pieces that inspired others to follow in our footsteps, to realise that they too can do anything they want if they put their mind to it, and that traveling isn’t nearly as scary as people think.
We’ve always tried to be informative with the stories we collect too, but its something we both feel could be better. How to do that without becoming another fact filled guide is going to prove a challenge, but one we accept.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
I somewhat agree with Tim. If you’re not looking to specifically live from direct income on your blog, then just keep your blog about your life. I don’t look at your blog as a travel blog, a vegan blog, a street art blog, or whatever. I look at it as Dale and Franca’s blog. It’s about you and what you do, what you’re interested in, whatever. It just so happens that, since you are/were nomads, that was the main “draw” of the blog. Even if you’re in Berlin, or working for someone else, it doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of “travelers” or “travel bloggers” who live in one place for longer (or forever), and plenty who work for someone else.
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I don’t read the blogs/travel blogs I do strictly because of the subject matter. I read them because I like – or am interested in – the person or people who write them. People I find off-putting or jerky do not get my support or my time, no matter how big their blog is, how famous they are, or how interesting their articles might be. Since we already travel full-time and do what we want, that might put me in a different, smaller pool of the type of person who reads these blogs, though. Being we’re not looking for advice on how to do this, etc.
That’s what I think, regardless of what you just wrote. Ha!
Viel Spaร!
Ryan from Jets Like Taxis recently posted…In Pictures: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Before we started travelling we read travel blogs for the useful information, sure, but only because we were totally in love with the person behind it all, wanting to reach their level of happiness, to step into their shoes and travel the world in their way. I can’t say I ever picked up a travel guide and said ‘oh, I want to go here because this unknown author told me so’.
One thing we did make a decision about very quickly as we talked this post over was that the blog will always be there, even if it’ll cost us a fortune in legacy hosting fees! ๐
Dale recently posted…Ohlala โ A French Vegan Brunch in Berlin
Sounds like the alternative route is what you really want to do and why not. If it doesn’t work out you can just change direction but if you don’t even try you’ll just regret it. We know what you mean about press trips, we did one and realized it wasn’t for us. But there are other ways.
A Cook Not Mad (Nat) recently posted…Parachute Coffee or how to afford that flight to Europe {COCONUT SHAKERATO}
I guess it would probably be wise of us to look at these other ways at the same time so that we can diversify our chances of success.
Everyone has been sending so many positive and reassuring words and suggestions that it’s hard to know where to start.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
I’d really love you to go for the alternative option! It’s the closest to your heart, to your style and if you start doing something different, no matter how great it sounds, you might hate it at some point as it simply won’t be “you” enough! Just follow your heart and your intuition and I’m sure amazing things will come out of that, the ones that will make you truly happy! It won’t be easy but then what is?
kami recently posted…Exploring Berlin on bike
If it was easy then everyone would be doing it ๐ Here’s hoping that we can start to bring it together as a viable option for us. Our only concern now of course is that we have the right funds, time, and positive opinions from the DMOs on our side to make it work.
If there’s one blog that makes me think of the important of ‘you’, then it’s your site Kami. It’s always you, only ever you; and I love that.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
but do you have to partner up with DMOs only? There’re lots of private hostels / tours / companies / everything else that you can try to pitch and that would be much better suit for your blog! This way you can also choose whatever you want and what works for you and you’re not forced to follow DMOs rules and request.
well, I find a lot of blogs lacking their own voice and just following current trends (hence not everyone can do what you’re planning!) – maybe they are just lazy and follow the easy way, or they just don’t have the strong personality so their voice can shine through – I don’t know, I’m not the one to judge. But bloggers who focus only on press trips are simply boring to me and I stop following them sooner than later. Your blog is definitely one of these and that’s why I don’t want you to go in this direction! But I think by now you’re so well established with your own passion that I shouldn’t worry about that ๐
and thank you *blushes* I had couple of bad periods on the blog but glad you haven’t notticed them ๐
kami recently posted…Bohemian Rio de Janeiro – Santa Teresa
Okay, so I’d definitely go with the alternative path, because I feel that’s the one that suits you the most. What’s great about your blog and your way of travel is that you seek affordable yet comfortable solutions and you’re after design, music, architecture and arts. So I think, it’s very important that you choose your locations/destinations.
Obviously, I’m not familiar with your financial situation, but I don’t think that settling down in Berlin would affect in such a drastic way the portion of your resources you can devote to travelling and blogging and the portion you would have to spend working. I believe that you can find a solution where you don’t have to travel so much less, than before.
Please, have an expat life ‘column’ on your blog, too.
I don’t know you personally, but based on the blog, doing social media for clients is not for you.
I don’t know if you are familiar with all the design magazines around the world, but I would try to find them with your articles.
Also put together a book and collaborate with interesting people, who could be bloggers or designers or manufacturers or organic producers and do awesome things together.
Again, I don’t know your financial situation, but don’t think that you must go normal to be able to survive. Keep doing what you love. You need it and we need the awesomeness you put out into the world.
Good luck!
I really appreciate not only the fact that you took the time to comment, but also consider so many angles for us to approach going forward.
We have of course at one point considered reaching out to great magazines that we used to read before we started travelling – like Wallpaper* in print, and Design Milk online – but as we’ve only ever seen this as a fun hobby to keep us and our friends and family back home entertained during our travels, we never followed it through. Maybe it’s time to finally explore that option and reach out to the great teams that work at those two publishers.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
You’re very welcome. ๐
My advice is to seek balance in all that you do. As you know, Green Global Travel and Green Travel Media are not our full-time gigs: I’m a freelance writer/editor for about 15 different magazines and websites, while Mary runs a website for an industrial psychology company and sells stuff on eBay. So for us it’s a constant balancing/juggling act between those gigs, blogging, traveling, family time and of course our charity work and other associated ventures. It’s all about finding the right mix for you, but I will say that there ARE ways to do press trips where you do not have to write puff pieces because you were paid by the destination’s marketing organization. We’ll have more on that coming soon, when we give our talk on Branding at TBEX!
Bret recently posted…People-to-People Programs Offer Americans Legal Travel to Cuba
I suppose that its those ‘puff pieces’ that we fear the most after having seen so many over the past two years of travel blogging and travel blog reading for the 12 months prior to that. We don’t want to be one of 10 other blogs all running the same piece about some event that neither excites Franca and I, or the great community of people who visit and comment on this site so frequently.
Travel blogging for the past two years has taught us a lot about work balance, something we both did in our previous jobs, but never as our owns bosses. Going forward we both realise that if we’re going to transition from hobby blog to professional travel bloggers, then we need to approach it both focused and with a diverse set of options.
Dale recently posted…Our New Plan To Call Berlin Home โ For Now
It’s really cool to open this decision up to your followers, but you need to do what feels right for you.
Press trips can be a fantastic way to travel. Sometimes there’s flexibility with the itinerary, other times you participate in the group activities and choose which suit your blog to write about. They can often be a whirlwind and ‘hard work’ but still a great experience.
Try out the press trip thing and see if it suits you – your readers won’t leave because there are a few partnered posts. Tourism boards and airline sponsors don’t always have budget to cover two people, but I guess you’ll find out once you approach them.
Cherie City recently posted…Tapas at Ocaรฑa, Barcelona
Hard work is certainly not off putting to us at all, just as long as the results make us happy enough to keep going as one of our fears is that we’ll join a press trip, put in all the effort we can muster, but in the end find that the cave diving wasn’t quite for us – not forgetting a huge waste of money for the DMO. We’d rather they put that money to better use to showcase the side of travel that we think needs representation – local people, local experiences, responsible travel, animal rights, conservation – the list goes on and on ๐
Though our hearts are set on one particular path we couldn’t happily start down it without checking with our amazing friends and family to see if they’d still like to be with us on that journey – that included new and great friends like yourself.
Dale recently posted…Why We Carry Coffee Whilst We Travel (+ Win An Aeropress!)
Stay in Berlin.
Focus on landing work-related gigs related to the blog, using the blog as a platform to land freelance gigs in writing, blogging, and social media departments. Or design departments. Whatever floats your boat.
Continue to blog about things in/around Berlin. You’ve got an infinite number of ways to do so. Our time in Cancun allowed us to create the Cancun guidebook…and all of the associated things we do with it. Half-day trips. Day trips. Tours. Custom Google maps. Helping people find apartments. ALL revenue streams.
Learn the language. Which will lead to more business opportunities.
Then, if you want, after you’ve established your revenue streams, go into the sponsored travel route. Start locally (what we did also). Trade restaurants reviews for free meals. Free stays at hotels in exchange for blog posts. Find local owners who you connect with and use them as clients. Then go to the tourism board and organize fam trips.
Get to conventions.
And more ๐
You can ALWAYS travel, but I’ve found that you can’t really “build” a business on the road. You need a stable base for at least a year or two to get the business going….from there the sky is the limit.
T.W. Anderson @ Marginal Boundaries recently posted…TBEX 2014 Cancun, Mexico โ The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
There really is something to be said for localised speciality, just as we’ve seen from some of our favourite travel bloggers who over the years of our reading and eventual travel for ourselves have continued to deliver great content from their specialist part of the world, but have also taken trips themselves to discover new green pastures that they’ve shared with us too.
Plus, living in Berlin is pretty darn amazing, so we’d be crazy not to live here anyway ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
You’ve done so much great work on your blog guys that the first path would be a pure “blogsuicide”. You would hate yourself while wiping a table or a toilet after someone, believe me.
Up till now, you’ve always followed your heart and did things you were convinced are right for you and AIFU so why to hesitate now? As people above said, we all follow you because of your way of writing and the way you are, so just keep going and decide what you truly feel to do ๐
Either it’s a press trip or your own pick, you can keep your unique voice here as before. Regarding organised trips, at the end it’s you who picks the trip according to your interests and it’s you who agrees on conditions and does his best to promote a destination/a product. I wouldn’t see a press trip as a b/w thing. You can always focus on your kind of things while being invited to any place.
Besides, you have a good nose for interesting spots and activities so just combine it with some trips where they help you logistically.
I can imagine how frustrating it feels to have a financial situation always at the background of your mind, but you can always hone your skills you are developing now and become an expert of what you like doing.
Heads up, guys, just go on YOUR way, which is the best one ๐
A big hug for both of you!
Ivana recently posted…How to Have a Blissful Finnish Sauna Experience
Thanks for the hug and for adding ‘blogsuicide’ to my list of favourite words ๐ Here’s hoping that we not only make the best choice for us, but the best choice for great writers such as yourself and Gianni who encourage us to keep going with your kind words.
As we read more thoughts on sponsored trips we see that there is some room to discover things that work for our style and our method of travel blogging, but we’re not all the way convinced that it might not at some level destroy our love for travel.
Dale recently posted…Why We Carry Coffee Whilst We Travel (+ Win An Aeropress!)
I can totally relate with all you write above, guys. We have been struggling with what road to take too this year and obviously it is not an easy choice, nor did we feel we fully had the choice as – at the end – we do need enough income to get by, right? Although we still love to travel the world and blog about it, we’ve opted to keep Amsterdam as our base for now and look for opportunities that make travelling around or staying in another country for a longer time feasible in the long run. With what we are setting up besides the blog now it seems fairly realistic to just stay in let’s say Italy for a month or more and continue working on both the blog and the other business. All services online really make these things much easier than ever. I think for me this way is at the end more sustainable, but that’s very personal of course. Also, what you said about being independent and being able to write what you please, is a very important aspect of our decision. We feel we would end up just being ‘another blog’ if we would do that only … That said .. I love your style of writing and what you write about, for me it feels this combination makes it stand out. But yes .. at the end we all need to eat and if the alternative way is your preferred route, you have to find another business model that works for you both to generate enough income. I am very curious what road you will opt for!
Lydian recently posted…Street Art Tuesday from Montpellier, France
I’m really curious which road we’ll take too as the amount of fantastic information, experiences and advice from everyone has been both heartwarming and educational.
We’re on the same page as you on trying to not only make things work, but within a short enough time period so that we’re able to really steam a path into doing it properly and long term, we just need to make that first decision and start walking down that path, one that makes us not only feel honest, but also a path that keeps our love for travel alive rather then taking the fun out it much like some bloggers we’ve read over the years who’ve hated what their blog has become and eventually turned their back on.
Dale recently posted…Ohlala โ A French Vegan Brunch in Berlin
Hi! We’re in the same boat. I want to be paid for what I do but press trips to places I’m not really interested in don’t appeal to me one bit.
I want to travel, my sort of travel, not review hotels and “vacation” trips. Plus of course, we’re a family, if I go, the kids go, I won’t compromise that one bit ( although there is a chance I’ll be taking just 1 child with me to Bhutan, we can’t afford to all go.)
Our solution is going to be work a bit, travel a bit. That way my husband is free to travel with us at least half the year and we can settle somewhere interesting while he works at his “day” job ( he’s a chef) from time to time. It’s worked out great for us in London, we’ve loved being here these last few months and I so wish we could keep this flat, but we can’t, it’s impossible.
The one “press trip” we’ve done was a family week in Italy, that was a lovely experience but very hard work. I wouldn’t turn down a few more of those from time to time, but I couldn’t keep that sort of pace up.
For you…press trips….NOOOO!
Try your plan of working with the TBs your way, and let me know if it works, it’ll be very interesting, see if we ( you, maybe me later when I work up the courage) can change the way the industry works for some of us. Good luck, I think you can do it.
Alyson recently posted…The Importance of Memories.
I think we both are on the same page that press and sponsored tours can be fantastic to see certain places or do particular things that interest you, but they may not be the best way of continuing to discover the world in the way that both you and I may enjoy and our community of friends who read our site (can you guess we don’t like to say readers? Sounds too impersonal! Wonder what name we could use instead for all of our new friends?) will enjoy.
There must be a way to make it work where everyone is happy, just like your being in London over the past few months.
With the right attitude and discussion with the DMO’s and TB’s, there’s no reason that we can’t give our preferred alternative method a try.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
Hey, you guys are such an inspiring couple! I hope maybe you guys can find a balance between this blog and travel! Ultimately just be happy really !
Cheers
We hope so too and promise to always put our happiness into the equation ๐
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin
Have you considered Patreon? https://www.patreon.com/
A video games journalist who I’ve been following for a while on Youtube turned to the service about 6 months ago in an attempt to create a sustainable income for independent reviews and it seemed to be quite successful! His own take on it is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WmOFnJBNV4
If I wanted to read hotel reviews with dubious impartiality I’d just load up Tripadvisor… the content you provide here is something quite different and I’d like to see that continue if possible!
As it happens there are a number of travel bloggers who are using the Patreon system but haven’t really seen much traction on it, either because the travel reading community just isn’t as aware of how it works – say as much as the tech or vlogging community might be – or because they haven’t quite found the way to make it work for them just yet.
It’s certainly something we’ll bare in mind just as soon as our minds are made up ๐
Dale recently posted…Ohlala โ A French Vegan Brunch in Berlin
There’s surely no choice if you’ve ended by telling us what would make your truly happy? ๐ Do the thing you want to do and people will want to read about it because they value your opinions and are interested in stories that you feel passionate about.
On a side note, I love reading about expat life equally if not more than continuous travellers. I enjoy reading in-depth pieces about places and the people there rather than skim the surface tops 10s without much detail type posts – which is one of the reasons I always read your blog anyway. Whether you’re expats or constant travellers you’ll still be talking about those issues that matter to you – veganism, culture, architecture, street art, coffee etc.
Charlie recently posted…Why Quepos is the Ideal Place to House Sit for Travellers
It’s interesting that you should raise the topic of expat-focused pieces as for whatever reason, we’ve never even considered that we’d be expats at some point in the future when we do choose our new ‘home’.
We seem to be at a point in our discussion between all of our friends here on the blog where people are supporting whatever choice, and that makes us blush so much that it’s hard to put into words.
Dale recently posted…A Beginners Guide to Enjoying Animals on Holiday รขยย Without Harming Them
I think you should do what’s going to make it work for you! I would confine reading about your adventures regardless of what you do because it’s your life! I do think though that the sponsored content approach is less appealing…
Manasi Kumar recently posted…A Villandry and Zomato competition
I can completely relate to not wanting to read too much sponsored content as it can be really hit and miss; though as some so many great people in these comments have pointed out, we can always try and make sponsored trips work for us rather than the other way around with us just being ferried around to see things that don’t really entertain us or make for interesting to read stories.
Dale recently posted…Our New Plan To Call Berlin Home โ For Now
Interesting blog post, guys!
I guess the thing about blogs is that they ARE personal, right? Or at least, that’s how I think of blogs. And maybe that’s why I enjoy your one so much. I feel like I’m getting to know you both and have fun watching your adventures as you go. And perhaps sponsored posts as organised fam trips would take away from that personal vibe us readers get from your blog.
So my biased position is that I like what you’re doing and what like to read more of it. I don’t think I mind what country you’re in, whether it’s your expat experience in Berlin, or whether you’re trekking around the world.
Jess recently posted…The Alexandra Hotel Leura
Thanks so much for being honest with us and telling exactly what it is you like about us that keeps you coming back for more.
We’re both just hoping that we make the best decision for not just ourselves, but everyone who’s been passing through our site the last two years.
Dale recently posted…The Olympiastadion – Home Of History & Hertha Berlin