Whether you travel often or are taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip, get yourself a blog and post regular travel journals. You can use a general blog site or one that is designed especially for travel journals.
Do it for you. Keep a personal trip journal and include anything you want during your trip. It can be handwritten or typed, but make it for your eyes only. Now use this personal journal as the starting point for your blog content.
First things first. Use first person. Really, there’s no other way to do it. It’s your blog post. It’s your trip. It’s your experience. That said, don’t OVER use the “I” word. Don’t start every paragraph with “I”.
Not just the facts, ma’am. To even the playing field for your readers, you should briefly touch on the things that people generally know about where you are, such as the Louvre as the most famous art museum in Paris. Do some research online or use guidebooks to supplement your story with some history or background, but not too much. For instance, not many know the Louvre was built as a fortress surrounding Paris in the late 1100’s. But the majority of your writing should be about things that are most meaningful to you, such as how delicate and detailed the wings of the Nike statue are, or how beautifully the sidewalk artist rendered the Mona Lisa in chalk outside.
Personify. Write about the people you meet in your travels. Saying you saw the Mona Lisa is fine, but more interesting is the fact that you met Jacques at a café afterward along with his father the Portuguese fisherman. The people stories will be one of the best-loved parts of your travel blog. Be kind, too. Don’t insult or make fun of the people you are describing in your blog post. Make them lovable.
Ya gotta eat. Beef up your blog content to include some of the interesting food you encounter. Whether it was delicious or weird, people want to read about it. Local cuisine is one of the major characteristics of any place you may go. Write about how wonderful the warm French bread was you bought from the little bakery. Or about how ugly the truffles looked in the market stalls.
They’re worth a thousand words. Illustrate your blog post with photos. Use a digital camera or at least a mobile phone with a camera. Have an easy way to download your pix, whether it’s emailing from your phone or using a USB cable attached to your camera. Include at least one or two photos in your travel blog. People love to look at the pictures. Post pictures of yourself with the sights you see and the new friends you make.
There you have it. Incorporate some of these ideas into your travel blog content and you will attract a regular audience in no time.
Karren T is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments. WriterAccess is powered by ideaLaunch.
