I’m Not a Blogger

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Let’s just clear something up here. I’m not a blogger, it’s not something I ever set out to be, it’s just sort of happening. This site is a blog, but I see it more as a website.

I’m not a journalist, a writer, a web designer, a marketing specialist, or an SEO expert. I am a mum, a traveller, a homeschooler, a scientist, and a private human being with feelings. Those are for certain.

I never set out to be a blogger and I certainly don’t want to be an influencer.

I am an introvert. But blogging is how I make a living.

This blog feeds my family. I want to be a website owner, but not a public figure.

I'm not a blogger

Not A Blogger

I’ve found myself in a world of advertising, marketing, and blogging professionals. I feel like I have to take it further, make it bigger, and make it better.

Nobody is forcing me, I know, but it’s so tempting to see how far I can take this thing.

Seeing the viewing figures grow is addictive. Yet half of me just wants to climb back under my anonymous rock.

I don’t want to become a Twitter diva, it’s not me and I don’t know how.

I don’t want to sell advertising to companies I don’t support. I don’t want to defend the industry to ignorant individuals who think blogging is “a load of w**k”.

Somebody said that to me this week.

She probably wouldn’t think that if she could see my paychecks. What a silly woman.

I just want to live our travel dream, educate my kids, spend time with my family and have the money to do so.

Blogging is bringing money. That was a surprise at first.

I’m Not a Homeschool Blogger

I started a homeschool blog to help people out. I’ve been really involved with the homeschool community for a long time, helping and encouraging new and potential home educators.

Opting out of the school system is a big step to take, it is intimidating, but there are passionate people like me who want to spread the word and help with the transition to homeschooling, for nothing, free.

We give our time and share our ideas, because we love to do that.

I know how glad I was to find relevant blogs when I was first writing my homeschool applications. I more or less copied other people’s write-ups, there was a lot of paperwork back in Queensland.

It costs nothing to read a blog. People can read or not, their choice. Yet somebody told me blogging is “a load of **k” this week.

Rather unfair when this stuff is there to help new homeschoolers, they may just need that encouragement and support.

If I make some money from the homeschool blog one day, great. I’ll buy the kids an ice cream.

It won’t be the reader’s money, it’ll be some big company wanting to advertise to my audience, don’t begrudge me that.

I will have put many, many hours into it before that happens. So far it has cost me money.

I’m Not a Travel Blogger

Well, I wasn’t. Maybe I am now. I was listed in the Queensland Tourism top 41 Australian Travel Blogs yesterday.

Does that qualify me to be a travel blogger?

Does the fact that people want to give me money to advertise to my audience make me a blogger?

Companies are offering me free stuff to promote on my site. Does that make me a blogger?

I spend far too much time on the internet. That is what probably qualifies me most.

It’s actually starting to scare me, the blog brings money to fund our travels, but will it spoil the experience?

Will I be spending so much time online that I swap places with Dad and become the absent parent?

I still don’t feel like a real blogger, I don’t know my way around Stumble Upon and G+ is a mystery to me, but something seems to be working. People are reading.

I started this travel blog, just as a hobby, something new to explore. I’m far more interested in the technical side than the words, setting up a website from scratch was a challenge.

I did it, I felt very pleased with myself and then it just snowballed.

Put a technical challenge in my path and I’ll go and find a way to do it. I like learning.

I Didn’t Know Travel Blogging Existed

Honestly, I didn’t. I don’t think I’d ever read a travel blog before I set up World Travel Family.

I thought that what we were doing was so unusual that I should document it.

Then I started Googling and realised that there are hundreds of travelling families like ours, most of them are bloggers. So I’ve joined a gang.

Like all gangs, it takes time to be accepted.

I’m finding my feet now, many people in the blogging community have been brilliantly helpful.

So thanks for that guys. Some have been vile.

I’ve discovered that travel blogging is a huge industry, people make a good living doing it and take it very seriously indeed. Another surprise.

Anyone can be a blogger and you learn as you go. You don’t need any special skills at the beginning and you’ll find endless free resources on the internet to help you figure things out.

I’m blagging my way into blogging, trying to look like I know what I’m doing. We blag our way into most jobs, don’t we?

Thanks for reading. Maybe this has been my biggest, most self-indulgent “load of w**k” yet. That comment hurt. Maybe I should go back to writing about how great backpacking Thailand is with kids, stick to what I know. I know travel.

Maybe I should just do destination pieces and tips on taking your family around the world, maybe that’s less “w**k”. But now that I have a voice I may as well use it.

You see, a blog is not a personal diary. It’s never been about “what we did today”. A blog exists to give readers something they need.

In the case of this website, that’s travel information.

We share our knowledge. We got that knowledge by doing something other people would like to do. Then we share what we figured out. It’s helpful. We like being helpful.

We also like encouraging people to visit amazing places. We like to shatter misconceptions.

This post was first published when we were due to leave to travel the world in 8 weeks. We left, we travelled continuously for 6 or 7 full years. Then we had a year or so back in our house in Port Douglas. Then the world shut down. We will travel again, I hope that will be very soon.

Update. As you can probably tell, this post was written a long time ago, before we set off to travel. If you’re reading this in 2022, it was ten years ago. I’ve long forgotten who the woman was who said that to me. She was an Australian homeschooler but the name has gone. I am now most certainly a blogger and I love my job. I’ve learned so much and this website is our family’s main income. We also own 7 other blogs or websites on other topics we love. This blog has taken us to Tibet, Bhutan, and private island resorts. Travel blogging is our life. I am a proud blogger and this is how we make a living from blogging. Learn more about how we travel around the world here.

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About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011. Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest. A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site. Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.

7 thoughts on “I’m Not a Blogger”

  1. Some people cannot comprehend the world and possibilities outside their narrow minds and prejudice, they think they’re right about everything and nothing else exists outside their own truth. They will always reject innovations and new ways of living. I started freelancing full-time a long time ago when no one in my country (and probably in a larger part of the world) knew much about this way of living or working, it was not popular like it is now. And I remember that often when people asked me where I worked or what I did for a living, I replied that I am a freelancer, they concluded: “Oh, so you’re not working!” As if the only way of working was 9 to 5 in the office or as an employee in general. Things have changed a lot since then, but I was getting really tired of this and quite upset, to be honest. Once, I almost didn’t get a loan because of that! The clerk also concluded that I don’t work hence no income or guarantee I would be able to pay back. I agree we need to grow a thicker skin but it’s not that easy. Especially for us, introverts! Speaking of which, I am about to launch my own blog after a very extensive research and completing the basic steps of setting the website up. And I was so relieved when I read you were an introvert because I was worried how would this work out for me, as I don’t want to become too visible and public either, go for an aggressive marketing or network extensively. You gave me the confidence that one can run a successful website/blog without all of this. Thank you for your kindness and sharing all your invaluable knowledge. Love your writing and your articles! Wishing you all the best in the future.

    Reply
    • Thank you. You should have seen the hoops we had to jump through to get a mortgage last year. We already had an existing mortgage, 70% deposit, and it was so, so difficult. But we got it in the end. You’re right, they just can’t comprehend anything outside the 9-5 and its not built into their systems. But we are now proud owners of a 5 acre slice of paradise. You can do this thing. And I think introverts are best at this stuff because we can hyper-focus on what interests us, and for me, that’s SEO and website creation. Not so much writing. Good luck!

      Reply
  2. G+ is a mystery to everyone! Yours is the only travel blog I follow. And I usually enjoy your social media.

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  3. I don’t have time in my day to read a “load of w**k”….and I really enjoy your blog — the only travel blog I’m following. I also happen to have great taste. =) So there — all evidence points to him being a “w**ker” who doesn’t appreciate what he doesn’t understand. Shake it off.
    ps: 8 weeks….yikes!! =)

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  4. People are idiots Alyson, especially of things they don’t understand. You rock. ๐Ÿ™‚

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  5. Tell him to go “w**k himself off!” God, I’ve become so defensive of my blogging friends recently….ask Gabi Klaf.x Love the blogs. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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