7 Stages of Travel Blogging in My 7 Links.

Steve Jobs once said that we can connect the dots of our life only in hindsight. When Angela Corrias of Chasing the Unexpected nominated me for Tripbase‘s My 7 Links project, I began to flip through my blog posts, and in the process, began to unravel and connect the phases of travel blogging addiction I’ve been through.

1. Fantasy. Ask anyone on the street and they’ll tell you that travel writing is the coolest job in the world. You agree, chew some coffee, read some travel blogs, but never think you could get paid to travel someday. Your most popular post is not even related to travel, because as a newbie, you didn’t know at the inception of your blog that its title will be Google’s best friend.

My most popular post: Wish upon a Shooting Star.

shooting star

I wrote my post on the origins of shooting stars and the tradition of wishing upon them, as an obligation to the title of my blog. Google loved it, resulting in 42,000 page views and counting.

2. Desire.ย You find yourself in a sticky situation, and are overwhelmed by the support of the online community. Strangers are reading what you have to say, and you begin to feel you owe them the best of what you know, what you’ve seen, and what you’ve felt. You want to take them with you virtually on your journeys and let them see the world with you, if only to thank them for their altruism.

My most controversial post: On Social Media & free speech.

free speech

I wrote about a restaurant threatening to sue me for writing a negative review on social media. I received messages from tweeps and bloggers from all around the world, sympathizing with my situation and encouraging me to fight the battle. Calvin Timo of The Foodelicious World even wrote about the fiasco on his food blog.

3. Conviction. You start taking baby steps into the world of travel blogging, and just when fatigue is about to set in, you receive your first guest blogging offer. You think of it as your first big break, and you wake up anxiously every morning to see your travel writing on someone else’s travel site. Your post is published and well-received, and voila, you start thinking of yourself as a travel writer.

My most helpful post:ย 5 offbeat travel destinations in Southeast Asia.

Bunaken, offbeat travel, southeast asia

I originally wrote this post for GotSaga, as the start of my niche in travel blogging. I developed an aversion to popular tourist destinations, swamped with crowds of people, and started to seek places that few have been to and even fewer have written about.

4. Realization. Let’s face it. Travel writing is a lot more than an offer to guest blog. You start to churn out content that you are proud of, but you haven’t yet gone the extra mile(s) to sell it. You are yet to build your network, and you realize gradually that you have a long way to go till you reach the popularity of all the travel bloggers you’ve been reading.

A post I feelย didnโ€™t get the attentionย it deserved: Gargnano; life or something like it in Italy.

Gargnano, Italy, offbeat travel

I wrote about Gargnano (a little village in northern Italy) with as much love as the village showered on me, and honestly, I was quite moved by my own words. I almost felt sad that not many of my readers seemed to resonate with the beauty of traveling to an undiscovered place and feeling right at home. Perhaps, the initial title didn’t sell it well enough for people to want to read.

5. Surprise. You make a concentrated effort to balance good travel stories with networking, and when the ride is going smooth, you receive a little surprise; an encouraging string of complements, a range of guest blogging requests, and your very first paid assignment. Posts that you admit might interest only a handful, surprise you too.

A post whose success surprised me: Will your travel memories be someone else’s travel disappointments?

responsible travel

Despite the numerous articles on responsible travel online, I wrote a post about it from my own experiences in Spiti. I intended it more as a note-to-self to remind me of the implications of traveling, and assumed that most people would’ve either read something similar before or couldn’t be bothered to read something so preachy at all. I was pleasantly surprised by how strongly my fellow travelers feel towards traveling responsibly, the amount of thought they put in to their travel habits, and their desire to get it right.

6. Pride. You begin to feel a sense of accomplishment with every post you publish and every comment it receives. You obsess over your site stats, and watch the bars grow in satisfaction. You proudly distribute your blog url, and swell each time a silent reader of your blog reveals himself.

The post that I am mostย proudย of: Traveling alone in India: Am I crazy?

india, solo travel, female travel, spiti, offbeat travel

My pride comes from the accomplishment behind the post. Solo female travel in India was unfathomable for me at some point. I’ve come a long way since then.

7. Love. Pride aside, you begin to fall in love with your own travelogues, just the way you fell in love with traveling. Each time you’re on the road, a part of you is subconsciously thinking of describing the experience in words. Essentially, you’re traveling twice, once physically, and once with your readers. You’d like to get paid for what you write, but you write for the love of travel and for the love of travel writing.

My most beautiful post: Travel tales from Spiti: Kaza’s garden lady.

Spiti, Kaza, India, offbeat travel

It was in Spiti that I discovered the people aspect of travel, and began to write stories about my interaction with the locals. I was very touched by my experience with Kaza’s garden lady, and I’ve tried to convey atleast a tenth of its beauty in this post.

As per the rules of the My 7 Links project, I tag William ofย My Walk About 40,ย Claire ofย Travel Funny Travel Light,ย Medieval Maiden, Manchitra ofย My Memoirsย & Adnan ofย The Delirious Outburtsย to take the plunge.


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14 Comments

  1. manchitra says:

    I love your posts…Well written, and good photography. Each travelogue is fresh and shows how much you enjoy travelling and communicating about that. You deserve all the accolades you receive. Thanks for the tag. I shall take it up..thanks.

    1. Thanks Chitra! I’m glad you enjoy my travels virtually. Looking forward to your 7 links!

  2. Great posts! I’m glad you took part in the project, you have a very nice blog ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Thanks Angela ๐Ÿ™‚ And so do you! Thanks again for the tag. It was fun digging through past posts.

  3. Not that I don’t enjoy your travel blogs, but you have altogether stopped posting anything about books. I remember the last time I was here there was a tab about books you had read and also reviews on some of them.

    Anyways, keep blogging & travelling ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. It’s true. I’m trying to concentrate solely on travel writing ๐Ÿ™‚

      But each time you ask, I shall do a mini review exclusively for you! I’ve recently been reading ‘The End of Poverty’ by Jeffery Sachs, who is a special economic advisor to the UN secretary general. He writes about the economic crisis facing the world and the stages of economic evolution that developing & developed countries have been through; and all in layman language. I studied Economics in school, but I’ve learnt more from his book than 3.5 years in college. It’s a must read for everyone.

  4. midaevalmaiden says:

    I think you actualy have the best dream job ever. I wish I could be doing it. ๐Ÿ™‚ Did I ever introduce myself to you? I’m not sure, it’s Sara. Its always nice to have a name behind the blog. Thank you for the linking. Thats so nice of you.

    1. Glad I have a name to the blog ๐Ÿ™‚ I don’t actually have ‘the dream job’, it’s mostly self-facilitated. Looking forward to reading your 7 links!

  5. Yeah! Thanks for the tag Shivya! I will get to work on it asap. I like how you did this post-your writing is very poignant. I identify with many of the same feelings and emotions you describe about yourself as you evolve as a writer.

    1. Thanks Claire! It’s interesting to see the evolution in retrospect. I’m looking forward to your 7 links as a crisp introduction to your blog ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. “Each time youโ€™re on the road, a part of you is subconsciously thinking of describing the experience in words. Essentially, youโ€™re traveling twice, once physically, and once with your readers.” I love this so much!

  7. hey Shivya,
    I have recently started to blog about my passion for travelling. Your blog is an inspiration for many!! Great writeup ๐Ÿ™‚

  8. Hey Shiva,
    Loved your writing. You have an amazing command over words that do not let the reader get bored at any point. It was one after the other that I kept reading your posts.
    You are an inspiration to many alike me who have this dream to write but nil guidance as how to begin. Thank you for everything you wrote.

    Much love and wishes to you. ๐Ÿ™‚

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