Travel Blog Success Review

Think blogs are just for keeping your friends & family updated on your travels? Think again. The rise of travel bloggers has grown so much that World Hum called 2009 the “Year of the Travel Blogger”.

“Sure, travel bloggers—like travel blogs—have been around for years. But this year, travel bloggers began organizing in new and increasingly prominent ways—and as never before, they were treated to many of the same perks (and some of the same scrutiny) as traditional big media travel journalists.”      - World Hum

So if you have big dreams of doing more with your travel blog, you’re in good, and very crowded, company.

How do you make yourself standout? With Travel Blog Success!

We recently shared David Lee’s career break story, and featured why we love his site, Go Backpacking. And now David has used the successes he has learned in travel blogging to help others achieve their goals.

There are a lot of great resources to help you build your blog, but you could easily spend countless hours sifting through forums, tweets, and websites trying to figure it all out. Travel Blog Success presents it all in one place.

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Favorite Website: TED Talks – Ideas Worth Spreading

In his recent guest post, Sabbaticals and the Pursuit of Happiness, Clive Prout makes reference to a video presentation on TED Talks given by Dr. Martin Seligman.

If you don’t know what TED Talks is, you should! TED is a small nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It started out as a conference bringing people together from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment, and Design (thus, the TED). During the annual conference, attendees get to hear riveting talks (18 minutes in length) by more than 50 remarkable people.

The site TED Talks grew out of the idea to give everyone on-demand access to these most inspiring voices.

The TED content has expanded to include talks on business, science, culture, arts, and global issues. Dr. Seligman’s talk is found in the Culture section under “What Makes Us Happy”. Another notable talk in this category is by Stefan Sagmeister titled “The Power of Time Off”.

Sagmeister is a notable designer based in NYC and is also known for shutting down his shop every seven years for a year sabbatical. That’s one idea we know is worth spreading! His reasoning is that we spend the first 25 years of our lives learning, the next 40 years working, and the final 15 in retirement. He wanted to intersperse some of the retirement years within the working years.

He also recognized the value of time off to rejuvenate and refresh his creative outlook. After his first sabbatical, he found that:

• His job became his calling again
• Over the long term it was financially successful
• And everything his shop designed in the seven years following the first sabbatical was originated in that year.

We highly recommend you take the 18 minutes to listen to this fascinating talk. And thank you for helping us spread the idea on career breaks and sabbaticals!

Favorite Website: Passports with Purpose

Since launching Briefcase to Backpack, we have found that the travel blog community is a very supportive network. So it’s great to see travel bloggers come together to also support a great cause.

Passports with Purpose was founded in 2008 by four well-respected travel bloggers: Beth Whitman (Wanderlust and Lipstick), Debbie Dubrow (Delicious Baby), Michelle Duffy (WanderMom), and Pam Mandel (Nerd’s Eye View). Together with over 60 bloggers they represent the “Passports”.

So what’s the “Purpose”? Raising funds for American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. The goal this year is to raise $13,000 to help build a school in rural Cambodia.

In order to raise funds, the participating travel bloggers are hosting giveaways ranging from cameras, books, hotels, and gear. A highlight of items include:

• A Flip Ultra Video Camcorder (donated by Heather on her Travels)
• A Casio Exilim Digital Camera (donated By Anil Polat – Fox Nomad)
• Five Nights at Los Suenos Resort in Costa Rica (donated by Ciao Bambino!)
• Two night stay at Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans (donated by Vera Marie Badertscher – A Travelers Library)
• A pair of Kuru shoes (donated by Donna Hull – My Itchy Travel Feet)
• A Kelty backpack (donated by Nomadic Matt)
• $100 Amazon gift card (donated by Shannon Hull Lane)

(For a complete list, visit Passports with Purpose – Donation)

For each $10 donation that you make to AAfC before December 21, you will be entered in the giveaway(s) of your choice. What a deal! Even if you don’t get the item of your choice, it’s a winning opportunity.

We love this idea and will be sure to participate in it next year. But that won’t stop us from shopping this year!

Favorite Website: Indie Travel Podcast

Since the moment I started prepping for my career break in 2006, I started listening to the Indie Travel Podcast (ITP). At the time, they were only one of two travel podcasts out there covering long-term travel around the globe. Now, the market has exploded, however I still always stay true to Craig and Linda of ITP.

Through iTunes they provide easy to download 20 min. podcasts about how to pack, how to stay in a hostel, what to do when you miss a flight, the 15 essential items you need in your bag, how to buy insurance, and a million other travel topics. And you can find three years of archived travel tips, city guides, interviews, and even videos on their website.

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Favorite Website: SmugMug

Pictures are one of the most important things on my journeys; they are my eyes, and heart; often showing the emotions of my journey that words cannot show. While traveling around the world I took about 50,000 pictures and reduced that down to about 11,000 worth keeping on my laptop. I traveled through India, Africa, remote areas of China, and I crossed bodies of water in boats; all leaving me a bit on edge as I hoped and prayed that my laptop (mainly my photography) was safe and secure.

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