How to write a travel blog. Lesson 1

After we got back mid-October, we had lots of nice comments from people who had followed our journey on this blog and said how much they enjoyed reading it. "Not too long and just the right amount of pictures," was the most common comment.

So, I figured it might be worth sharing some ideas on how I went about it, in case this is something you're thinking about.

Plan ahead

Nothing complicated about this first point, but it is worth thinking about how you'll access your blog when you're travelling and how you'll upload images. I used Google Blogger and here's why:

1. I could access my blog from my iPhone and iPad using the Google Blogger app. The app is easy to use and once it's set up, is a snack to use on either device.
2. I used a camera that has an SD card for storage. Using the SD card reader plugged into my iPad gave me immediate access to all the photos on the card. I selected four or five (more about this later) and saved them to a folder on Photos on the iPad.
3. I also used the iPad's photo filter option to effect some of the photos. While there are not as many filter options as Instagram - I was able to create some nice effects.
4. Once I had the photos on my iPad I could then write the text.

Whatever blogging platform you chose, make sure it's easily accessible from dodgy locations. (One modification I had to make was to tell Blogger the maximum image size to display. This seems to be a problem with the current version, but I was able to find help on-line. )

What do I write about?

I don't find this hard at all, but here's how I decide;

1. Start with the day's best experience and write in a simple, easy to read style
2. Write about what was exciting or different or memorable to you. (See my blog for examples)
3. Don't make it a list of what you did during the day
4. Keep it tight. This is hard - but no one wants to read your ramblings
5. Edit if necessary and check spelling, typos etc. (I always found a typo after it was published ... )
6. Pick a catchy headline, not 'Day One'. 

Next post - how to chose the right photos