how travel blogging ruins your life

ruins

Ok, ok, I admit it’s not that dramatic…it probably won’t ruin your life, but travel blogging may ruin your travels.ย I don’t spend too much time talking about blogging, but once in a while I use Tea Was Here as an outlet to talk about it – like here about Originality vs Inspiration and What Bloggers Mean vs What They Say or Three Things I Am Sick and Tired of Reading on Travelblogs, and I don’t know if it’s just me but I’ve slowly starting to notice that travel blogging can in some ways ruin your travels.

Even before the last minute packing there are challenges you have to face, do you bring a DSLR, how many lenses or a GoPro and what about a cute Instax/Polaroid camera that time travels us back to a forgotten age of nostalgia? Shouldn’t we be spending this wasted time dreaming about hidden treasures, breathing in the new place and just getting lost in it all?

because you had a bad hair dayThen when you get there, there are things like light, rain and other people you have to worry about when making a shot. Not to forget you have to look spick and span for every selfie and photos taken from behind – inspired by World of Wanderlust starring to the world in front of you. Even if you and your hair have different life goals.

My worst thing is that I might ruin it for friends. Like dragging your friends on the 30 minute bus ride to the other side of the city just to try that one breakfast place you want to cover?

If you go to, let’s say Paris next month and end up not doing something off the beaten track which hasn’t been written about a million times (including by your blog-esis), will you fail as a travel blogger? Or can everything be saved with a clickbaity titleย (see what I did there).

Booking a stay in a boutique hotel is expensive and let’s face it, you don’t book your six nights stay there. But you can’t go for a Premier Inn or Ibis as they are not quirky enough, how can you justify that on your blog? Can we do 5 minute makeovers of cheap hotels?

A quick lunch at Subways, Mac or IHOP? You don’t worry about the calories or the lack of nutrition, but the fact that you won’t have an awesome place to include in your round-up post just bothers you. Does a place meet the “COP” standard? Is it Cool, Original and Photogenic enough to be worth mentioning?

Before you know if, you might even become THIS person โ€œDid you get to see such and such? โ€œNoโ€ โ€œSuch a shame, that was the highlight of that place! You really missed something! Here is the link to my post.”

Of course, we’re all blogging to share our love of our travels with everyone, so don’t take this too seriously, but it’s worth keeping an eye on!

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16 Comments

  1. Great post! I totally relate to this with food blogging. I feel like I don’t want to ruin the experience by snapping away at photos and trying to remember points about the meal. Rare are the days where my boyfriend and I go out for dinner and I don’t take a pic – eek! xx

  2. Food blogging is such a big thing in Sydney and there are so many cafes or restaurants to try that this post does resonate with me. Sometimes it really is just taking a step back and remembering why I am wanting to do things and if they are for the right reasons.

  3. For once, I strongly disagree with you! Although I’ll admit that the COP rule is a bit annoying, who says you have to respect it? Personally, having a motive such as a good post to publish really drives me to try and take nice pictures and to do interesting things. But of course, it’s true that once in a while, it’s refreshing to have a delicious meal without feeling the need to post it on instagram!
    Marianne XX

  4. Great post! You took the words out of my mouth and explained it perfectly! There’s something so ironic about having to think about doing the “spontaneous” types of things.

  5. This really resonated with me! Sometimes I stay in boutique hotels and blog about it, but I would never share the shitty hostel I stayed at or whatever McDonald’s I picked up because I was starving and it was familiar. Earlier this year, I was obsessed with blogging, even on the road and it certainly had a negative impact on my travels. It’s important to keep things in perspective!

  6. I hear ya girl!! Sometimes travels are dictated by ‘what will be cool to write about?’, ‘shit, what was the name/location of that cute cafe?!’, ‘damn I didn’t get enough photos of that place – can I still write about it?’. It can sometimes be really annoying as all I want to do is go on holiday and enjoy the time off, but there’s something inside me which is always thinking about what blog posts I could spin.
    Slightly frustrating (especially for my boyfriend). A lot more fun if I go with my blogging partner in crime (my sister)!

    http://SaintsOnAPlane.com

  7. It’s all a matter of taking a step back and doing your own thing instead of following the success formula of other (travel) bloggers, in my opinion.

  8. I think it all depends on the person and their mindset. If you want to enjoy everything you can, take it all in and have a positive experience travelling you will- and that will reflect through your blog! You don’t have to get caught up in taking the right photos and stress about having to cover certain things, it’s really all up to you! This was a really interesting post and definitely got me thinking about travel blogging!

    http://mylovelierdays.com

  9. You’re so right and it happens a lot! But then there’s all the good things about travel blogging, so I weigh the things and move on happily!

  10. I can totally relate to parts of this perfectly! I often feel that way when I’m photographed or when we are choosing a place to eat, but as soon as the thoughts pop in, I push them out so as it doesn’t all become just about the blog and not about our experiences (which is definitely more important!) x

  11. It’s hard to not let your travel blog not affect your travels negatively because if you have a travel blog, you’re not only traveling for yourself but also for your readers in a way. My trick is to just not put pressure myself into creating certain posts before I’ve travelled and to not put too much of a focus on having experiences and taking photos specifically so that you could put them on your blog. I definitely do keep these things in mind when I travel, but I try to not let them dictate my travels completely, to the point where I get stressed and I’m not enjoying myself. First priority is my own travel experiences, and then my blog ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. haha – this is a great post! You always make me laugh!:) I can definitely relate! I try really hard not to pull out my camera more than once at a restaurant because I know it annoys my husband so much! ha

  13. Hahahaha, dit is denk ik het dilemma van elke blogger. Ik denk hier ook over na als ik gewoon thuis ben. We kunnen niet elke week hetzelfde eten en het huis moet netjes zijn als achtergrond voor foto’s. Maar het heeft ook voordelen, want het trekt je uit je comfort zone. Iets doen voor iemand anders (je bloglezers) is soms makkelijker dan iets doen voor jezelf. Misschien ziet een groot deel van mijn huis er nu wel zo mooi uit omdat ik graag een DIY artikel wilde schrijven over mijn woonkamer. :’)

  14. I think there’s a difference between travel blogging as a hobby or travel blogging as a job. In the latter case, you simply can’t think only about your own pleasures and conveniences and should be ok with doing things for the sake of writing a great article.