How to Start Your Own Travel Blog

I like making people laugh, so telling stories came naturally to me. It was something I’ve enjoyed since high school. I think this is the reason why, as far as I can remember, I love documenting my experiences and funny conversations. It only makes sense that I would want to start a blog.

I’ve been blogging for more than 10 years now, but I only started a “professional” blog back in 2015. (I’m forever grateful to the two beautiful women who inspired me to get my writing out there: Erin of Hainrihi’s Discoveries and Daphne of Metamorphosis.) 

At that time, I just discovered the beauty of traveling to new places and exploring unfamiliar communities. I visited the breathtaking province of Batanes where I witnessed how tourism can have a significant impact on a community’s economy. I badly wanted to share my experiences to promote this beautiful province to entice more Filipinos to visit the Batanes group of islands. This is why I decided to build my own travel blog.

If you’re thinking of building your own blog and don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll try my best to tell you everything you need to know to start a travel blog.

Let’s start with the basics.

What medium are you most comfortable in?

If you’re like me who loves to read and write, it’s always a good idea to have a good ol’ blog. It’s much more flexible because you can have a platform where you can share words, pictures, or videos. (I’ll write about how to build your own blog soon.)

Do you like talking? Do you feel confident speaking in front of a camera? Does shooting and editing videos often sound like something you’d want to do every day? If that’s you, go with a vlog! There are many platforms you can use, such as YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. 

Don’t like writing or talking too much? You can still share your experiences on Instagram! This is a promising website for content creators in the travel niche because it’s a visual platform, and it can be more engaging for your audience.

For the rest of the article, we’ll be talking about how to start a travel blog.

What is your purpose?

Before you set out to write, you need to know what your purpose is. What’s your “why”? Why should people listen to you? If you want to stand out, or if you want to sustain that drive you have now in growing your blog, you’ll have to know your purpose. 

Before I had this blog in 2014, I had a couple of personal projects: a Google Photo Album where I shared all my “Turista Tuesdays” photos (from a time when I had Tuesdays off at work and I spent it going on mini trips near Manila) and my history page on Facebook. 

These two projects instilled in me a deep sense of nationalism, and I was obsessed with the idea of promoting every province in the Philippines and its unique cultures. These two pages were the ones that influenced my decision to start a travel blog. I wanted to tell fellow Filipino youths that our country is worth exploring. 

What is your brand?

How do you want to be perceived? What do you want to be known for? These are good questions to ask yourself to get an idea of what your brand is. This will guide you in deciding how your blog or social media profile will look and feel. 

(Don’t know how to start? Here’s a colorful guide on personal branding from PwC.)

How do you choose a blog title?

I know it can be challenging to get started, so here are some tips you can keep in mind as you decide on your blog title.

Do you have the materials?

If you have enough materials or ideas for at least five posts, go for it. What stories do you want to tell? I strongly recommend that you prepare a list of the articles that you want to write about before you sign up for your own website.

What are you waiting for?

You might be thinking, “but there are just too many travel blogs out there. How the heck am I supposed to start in a saturated niche?” Stop right there. You’ve got stories to tell that no one else in the world can ever tell. You have unique experiences that will never be duplicated. That’s what the world needs to read about. 🙂

So stop sitting on your hands and start writing! 

(Stay tuned for my next post on how to build your own website from scratch!)

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