The end of the year has a way of slowing things down for many travel blogs, not to mention the travel bloggers behind them. With all of the holidays, New Year, and distractions that follow, you might be wondering if it’s worth posting anything to your travel blog during the last few weeks of the year. The keys to figuring out whether or not to take a break require determining what you’re trying to accomplish and what value you’ll save with the time off.

Putting Worth In A Post

When trying to decide whether a posting is “worth it” you should define how you view that worth. For most, it’s a matter of traffic, so not posting is thought to maximize the publication of a new article when your readers are likely to be online. Useful posts tend to have a good shelf life though and exactly when they’re posted isn’t as important as the content itself. Whether or not to hold off on hitting publish depends on your readers more than anything.

Where Is Your Primary Audience?

Using Alexa, you can get a rough idea of which countries your travel blog is most popular in. Combined with Google Analytics, you can gather information about trends around holidays in those particular places.

For example, American audiences tend to be very active right before (but not on) major holidays and Swedes celebrate Christmas on the 24th. Those small details about your specific audience can help you time your posts just when people are looking to read (or waste time at work as it were) without leaving them a cluttered inbox of RSS feed after an offline break.

Don’t Post For Posting’s Sake

While the holidays do have special peak moments for many travel blogs; don’t simply post something just for the sake of having new content up. If you’re really struggling to come up with something (holiday-related material works well) perhaps you can direct your readers to something older you’ve written. That gives new life to your older posts that are still a good read rather than giving a wide-eyed audience lackluster content.

Have Posts Reflect Your Moods

Around the end of the year (or whenever holiday time happens to be for you), things can get personally hectic – having you look for a bit of light entertainment for a breath of fresh air. A good segment of your audience is likely to be feeling the same way and by easing up for a bit, you might be doing them and yourself a favor.

[photos by: Jessica Bee (rubber ducky with glasses), Peter Baer (feet on work desk)]

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Copyright @2012 Travel Blog Advice

When it comes down to managing your travel blog over the long haul, you need a good schedule. It’s much easier to maintain and motivate yourself with a weekly posting schedule but the problem is that even the best posting schedule can be disrupted, by everything else that comes along with travel blogging. Staying on top of Twitter, email, your RSS reader, and keeping the blog itself up to date can overwhelm you to the point of blogger burnout.

You can break down what seems like a mammoth undertaking (at least after a while) by prioritizing and tackling your travel blogging duties using a 5-pronged approach.

1. Your Content Is Priority

Whenever you’re scheduling out your week or day, make writing blog posts the priority. It lifts a large weight off of your shoulders to do other things once you know your blog is ready. I’d recommend doing a weeks worth of blog posts in a sitting or two, getting them all out of the way to free up the rest of your time to travel or do other work. All of your ideas are out at once and blog posts tend to flow better this way. If you get bored of typing a series of longer posts your readers probably will feel the same way when reading.

• When writing you should turn off your email, lay off the Twitter, and force yourself to write and get a post done.

Of all the 5 prongs, this is the most important one and should come before anything else.

2. Blog Feedback

This is a second priority, more than marketing or promoting, to nurture your travel blog. Respond to comments to generate discussion, reply to emails, and add that new about page you’ve been holding off on. Focus on your blog and create your community there; social media is important but the most important social network for your travel blog is the blog itself.

3. Social Networking (Twitter)

Now that you’ve got your blog squared away you can dive into social networking, which really encompasses a lot of things. Spend a few minutes throughout the day on Twitter, which if you aren’t using you need to be. You can use Twitter to jump start your travel blog and don’t need to over-complicate the process. Put out some tweets about what you’re doing but make them interesting. Connect with people and engage in conversation, tweet some of your posts and retweet other posts you find useful or worth reading.

4. Use Your RSS Reader

Twitter isn’t the only way to engage with other travel bloggers and readers – meet them on their blog as well. The easiest way to keep track of them is to use RSS (here’s what that is) and get a feel for what your peers are writing. There are so many good travel blogs out there, each with their own style and niches that can enrich you with writing and travel ideas. It’s also important to interact with the travel blogs you’re reading. If you have an opinion on a particular post, leave a comment to that effect; offer suggestions about the topic, or answer the questions the author has posed.

• Blogs are personal and one of the best ways to make a connection with other travel bloggers.

You can combine reading and commenting on other blogs through an RSS reader with another important aspect of social networking, StumbleUpon.

5. Get Stumbling

If you’re still confused by StumbleUpon (SU) – don’t worry, many of us were at first – check out a very basic travel blogger’s guide to StumbleUpon. Once you’ve got a grasp of SU, you can begin stumbling some of the posts you like as they pop up in your RSS reader. Along with the stumbling you can even incorporate #3 on this list and tweet some of those posts using http://su.pr to drive some additional traffic to a given post.

Open Up The Time

These are some pillars to incorporate into your weekly blogging schedule and can also be broken down into daily increments. Either way it’s best to force yourself to sit down and get a blog post done, as difficult as it can be, it will really free you up mentally for everything else. You can of course add other tasks to this approach or combine some to keep it to 5 major tasks. Splitting up your travel blogging duties too much will just make it more difficult to do several things well. Focus on the things that bear the most fruit which is much easier if you schedule it that way.

I’m curious, what’s your blogging schedule like or do you have one at all? I’d love to hear about how you manage your blogging time and would appreciate your comments.

[photos by: svenwerk (number 5), Eduardo Deboni (helping hand)]

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Copyright @2012 Travel Blog Advice

As ironic as it seems, traveling, and blogging about travel can be more difficult when you’re actually traveling. That’s a common sentiment anyway, but when it comes down to it traveling may be a bit harder on you but it’s great for your travel blog. There are of course quite a few quick things you can post on your travel blog when you’re traveling too much to write, but the road is still your blog’s best friend. Don’t dread or neglect your blog when you’re traveling, with just a slight amount of prior planning you can turn even the simplest trip into a content generator that will ease your blogging duties for weeks to come.

Write Ahead

Writing a single blog post that’s well edited, linked to other relevant posts on your site and elsewhere, with photos or video to compliment the article takes time. Writing a second blog post right after doesn’t take nearly as much time. You can even break up the single post, expand on one of the points, or run a poll after or before the article and use it as material. That takes off the primary pressure of writing when you don’t know where your next wi-fi signal, clean table, or power outlet will be. The best practice is to write as far in advance as you can to the next point where you know you’ll have the magic ingredients any blogger needs – a reliable Internet connection and electricity.

Everything Is A Potential Post

Once you’re not consuming your mind obsessing over what you have (or haven’t written) you can focus on the world around you and how to write about it. There are ideas within topics around ideas everywhere. Traveling is the source of your writing passion, the driving force behind your blog. Don’t pass over the opportunity to use your travels for your travel blog. It’s when you don’t plan ahead that you bump into problems, you’ve got to focus forward, not backwards.

Experiment

For those of you who’ve never made a travel video, interviewed a hostel owner, or done a photo essay, a trip is a good time to invest in some new mediums for your blog. The element that traveling takes away from your blog is time, once you resolve that issue you are free to move in new directions and generate content on top of new content in different ways.

Enjoy The Game

As I sit here typing this in a hostel in Berlin, among loud people enjoying a drink in a bar that’s filling up rapidly, I’m watching a number of stories unfold before me. The most difficult thing I, and you face when traveling and blogging is the physical act of writing and getting online. Don’t over-complicate the process of travel blogging and neglect the most important part – you. When you do find a good connection and a little bit of time, work and write so you can use the rest of the time to actually travel. It’s one of the best things you can do for your travel blog.

[photos by: mbowiersr, Tiago Daniel]

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1. Quick Things To Post On Your Travel Blog When You’re Traveling Too Much To Write

Copyright @2012 Travel Blog Advice

Stephanie runs Twenty-Something Travel, a travel blog dedicated to assisting new or young travelers with the skills, resources and opportunities available to them for travel abroad. When not traveling the world she lives in Washington DC.

Taking up travel blogging is a lot like falling in love. At first it’s all exciting and new. Posting to your blog makes you feel euphoric and all of a sudden it’s all you can think about. You talk about it constantly until your friends beg you to shut-up.

Then, one day you wake up and the honeymoon is over. You start to notice all of your travel blog’s faults and resent the many hours you must spend with it. You don’t want to break up, but you are tired.

It was at almost exactly the 6-month mark that I hit the wall. I had worked incredibly hard during that time, and had achieved moderate success but I was getting seriously burnt out. I was starting to resent the amount of time I spent with my blog, and miss my social life. I had trips to plan, courses to take and I was stressed and overwhelmed.

Here is what I did to fix my ennui, and some steps you can take to fall in love with your travel blog all over again:

• Line up some guest posters. Posting 4 times a week was getting to be too much for me but I felt like cutting back was letting my readers down. Instead I put up a simple call on twitter for guest posters and got an overwhelming response. I decided to start a series to feature one guest poster every week.  Not only did it cut down on my responsibility level, it gave me a chance to showcase new authors and include different points of view on my blog. Everybody wins.
• Take a new direction. If you mainly write destination pieces try your hand at something a little more philosophical. If you usually talk about yourself try interviewing someone new. Run a contest. Run a photo piece. Experimentation can make you look at your blog in a whole new light.
• Write something non-travel related. Can’t possibly think of another single thing to say about travel? Sometimes it helps to stretch your writing muscles by writing on a new topic. See if you can guest blog somewhere unexpected. This will remind you that you love writing.
• Do SOMETHING else. If you really can’t stand the thought of sitting down to write today, then don’t force yourself. Go outside and take a walk. Go to the movies. Read a novel. Just stop thinking about it for a few hours. Your blog will still be here when you get back.

Most important of all is to keep your eye on the big picture. Just because you don’t like blogging TODAY doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. Use your frustrations as an opportunity to re-asses what you love about blogging. That’s the path to a healthy, long-term relationship.

I’d also recommend taking a look at setting a weekly posting schedule, quick things to post on your travel blog, and selecting smart breaks from your travel blog to keep your mind (and travel blog) fresh. Thank you very much for the guest post Stephanie. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter @20sTravel and follow her blog at Twenty-Something Travel.

[photos by: MarkKelly, Gabriela Camerotti]

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No matter how efficient you are or great your writing is, maintaining a regular travel blog is very time consuming. Whether you travel full time or have a day job you will continually be balancing the time you spend on your blog and everyone else. Your spouse, significant others, and friends may have difficulty understanding the rigors of blogging, networking, and managing a travel blog.

A big part of that is because you don’t realize how much work a travel blog is until your site grows a bit, you’re spending hours everyday answering emails, exchanging links, and using social networks to expand your travel blog.

Realizing The Wave

At some point if you stick with your travel blog you may begin to feel the “wave”. That’s the moment when you find your travel blog is causing more stress not only on yourself but on your personal relationships. You want to go out for dinner with a friend, hang out with your husband, and do all sorts of things but…you can’t. That is when you get hit with the wave – and it comes in the form of stress.

Set Limits and A Schedule

The single most important thing I’ve done for any of my travel blogs is to set myself a blogging schedule. I treat all of my blogging like a business with defined times for writing, social networking, and everything else. By doing so I end up with more free time and enjoying my friends and family when I’m with them. It goes both ways though, when it’s time to blog it’s like sitting in front of a computer in any corporate office – time for business.

• Separate your travel blog from yourself and create a schedule. That way you can focus 100% on the task at hand. By setting deadlines for yourself you’ll also force yourself to get more done in less time.

Ride The Wave

When you set your blogging schedule, try to keep in mind some of your personal commitments. Schedule around the things you want to do or have planned in your personal life so you’re not struggling to finish a post 5 minutes before your best friend’s wedding. Add variety to the length of your posts, take smart breaks, and use some of these quick post ideas.

In a company, the boss gives their employees time off. You’re the boss of your travel blog so it’s your responsibility to be good to your workers – in other words yourself.

Bring Them Along

Tell your family and friends some of your travel blogging goals and objects to help them quantify what it is you do sitting in front of a computer typing away so long. It might even work that someone you know wants to help contribute with written or photographic content, or behind the scenes with design or something as simple as signing up for your newsletter.

Some Things You Won’t Always Avoid, and That’s OK

Inevitably your travel blog is going to, from time to time, put a dent in your social life. You’ll just have to accept that unless you happen to be an exceptional planner that can do no wrong. Accept that there are some things you won’t be able to avoid.

Put boundaries on your blog so it doesn’t start consuming the other parts of what make you happy or prevent you from having fun with those around you.

[photos by: Mattong, Michael Dawes]

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1. Selecting Smart Breaks From Travel Blogging

Copyright @2012 Travel Blog Advice

Traveling and blogging are often in conflict with one another and it can be stressful for you as a travel blogger to maintain your writing when you’re active on the road. It’s important, especially if you want to establish and expand your travel blog, to maintain a weekly posting schedule by writing posts in advance so they’ll be up on your site even if you’re not in front of a computer. You can make better use of your scheduled posts by taking advantage of some “Internet slow time” and stretching out your blogging calendar.

Travel bloggers don’t often get many opportunities to take breaks from their blogs and rather than abruptly stopping your regular schedule as soon as your travel schedule picks up, choose some smart breaks from travel blogging.

Use The Right Holidays

You don’t want to write posts when people are unlikely to be reading. Using Google Analytics you can find out from which countries your readers are coming from and when they themselves are probably taking a break. A large majority of foXnoMad readers are based in the US, which is why I tend not to write on major American holidays. I’ve also found that many other English websites have a significant drop in traffic on days like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t stress yourself out trying to write on these days and wait until the holiday is over to post your best stuff.

When You Guest Post

A day or two after a guest post of yours appears on another blog use the opportunity to take a break on your own site. You’ve written a post that will hopefully bring some new readers to your site and you can use the opportunity for a break if you need it. Taking the break a day or two after you guest post lets your new subscribers see some fresh material so you don’t lose them in those critical first few days.

Look At Your Last Few Posts

Sometimes you end up spending so much time obsessing on the posts to come that you don’t take a look back to see what you’ve recently been writing. Having a series of longer posts sets up a good opportunity for a break or a simple post with some links recapping those longer articles. It’s much better to link back to good past posts rather than put up crappy new ones.

Margin Of Error

Look at your blogging schedule, whether it’s once a week or 5 times a day and give yourself at least a 5-10% margin of error. That is, out of 100 posts you’ll take 5 or 10 breaks here and there. It’s an acceptable amount and one that’s no going to stress you out or significantly hurt your readership.

• Plan those breaks into your schedule in advance.

Why Take Breaks?

Many travel bloggers don’t start out with set schedules but once you get on track with one you may feel enormous pressure to deliver. On foXnoMad, I write once every weekday and before I organized my blogging schedule about 2 years ago, I’d find myself often struggling to write for the next day. I’d end up putting posts up that I didn’t think were of the best quality and my frustration writing them would show in the post. (Remember if you don’t like your posts your readers probably won’t either.) I’d dread blogging when I was traveling when it should be the opposite way around.

Travel Blogging Isn’t All Writing

We all need breaks and taking them improves the quantity of your posts and can be a good time to focus on other aspects of your blog that don’t involve writing posts (jotting down ideas, setting goals, etc). There are also plenty of quick things to post on your travel blog when you’re traveling too much to write.

Taking breaks from your travel blog can be a good thing if you choose your breaks wisely. Your travel blog won’t fall apart and everyone won’t forget you. The worst thing to do if you’re going to take a break is to not enjoy it, recharge, and worry about blogging the next day.

[photos by: notanartist, floodllama, Francesco Rachello]

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1. Balancing Travel Blogging And Your Personal Relationships

Copyright @2012 Travel Blog Advice