- Image by Bright Meadow via Flickr
Here’s the final part of the changes I’m making to make for a better journey as I near the mid-point of month 1.
Blogging & writing – for the first week or so, I didn’t.
Lesson #1: Make time.
Reasons, excuses, whatever. For the first week, most of my writing was signing my name to dinner checks. Now that the trip is underway, I’ll be writing more.
Lesson #2: Not every post has to be epic.
Part of what scares me away from writing is that I always feel like each post should be a grand observation on the universe, humanity and my place within it. Just to clarify, that’s a crock of shit. Expect to see many more posts of me and my random thoughts, which is how my brain works best.
Lesson #3: This is a personal blog, not a travel blog.
I certainly have travel stories and advice I can and will share occasionally, but this isn’t going to be the place where people pop in to find out the 10 best restaurants in Lille. Because really, when you’re eating pain du chocolat two meals a day, where you’re eating it isn’t all that important.
Lesson #4: Now that the adrenaline has subsided a bit, it’s time to get working.
I think I was entitled to treat the first 10 days more like a vacation than travel with intent. Now that I’ve settled in to my lifestyle a bit, it’s time to get cracking on some of the goals I laid out.
That’s about it for now – more regular posts are on their way!
Sometimes I struggle with your second point as well. Good reminder.
Keith´s last [type] ..Win a Kit Full of AXE Travel Products
Thanks Keith – the more I get into this, the more I realize “epic” posts aren’t my style at all, anyway!
I also struggle with point 2. You’re right every post doesn’t have to be epic. My most recent post was a big disappointment in terms of its “epicness” and traffic. I still connected with some people on it, so not a total loss…
Yeah, I definitely needed the reminder that I just need to keep writing and that should be the end goal. The “masterpieces” will come – but never will if I don’t keep writing.
Point #2 is why I stopped blogging over a year ago. Time to pick that up again. Thanks for shining a light on it and reminding us that its ok to post the little things.
To put it in perspective, just because we don’t know about it doesn’t mean Shakespeare didn’t write a lot of stuff that sucked. I bet his first few plays BLEW and never made it to the stage.
Totally agree with you, I was spending far too much time on posts but then realized they didn’t all have to be perfect.
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10 days… I’m @ 200+ and still not posting!
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Point # 2, It seems to be a common struggle, and something I deal with. Thinking that every post has to be a life changing event.
It’s usually the simple posts that resonate with the most people.
Ah, point #2, “perfectionist syndrome” as I like to call it. I know it well. It can cripple you. Sometimes, the short attention span of Internet surfers can work to our advantage when it comes to just popping out a brief blog post with a cool picture attached. And yes, I need to take my own advice.
Dude. I’m so w/ you on Lesson #3. I have always thought of myself as a travel blogger, but now that I’m like, 95% stationary in Spain, I totally do not run a travel blog, but a personal one.
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