The Honest Truth About Being a Travel Blogger

You’re always working

From the outside, it may appear that I only write blog posts, but there’s so much more to it than that. I have to edit photos (all photos should be a certain size – not too big as it will slow down your site), respond to emails, do link building (getting natural links to my website to build up my domain authority), research potential keywords and keep on top of my social media accounts.

I’m a mom to two young girls, so there really aren’t enough hours in the day to get all my tasks done. My daughters are in preschool for a couple of hours a week, and this is when I get the bulk of my writing done. But, I still need to put in extra hours every week for the stuff that requires a little less concentration, like answering emails and social media. All in, I’ll be honest, I probably work close to 20 hours per week on my blog.

It may be hard for ‘outsiders’ (people not in the travel blogging space) to understand just how much work you need to put in to make it work!

And the honest truth is that many travel bloggers give up a year after starting a blog, which is a shame, as it’s usually around the two-year point that you start to see some return on your investment. You see, Google favors ‘older’ websites – by that I mean websites that have been around a few years, and are trustworthy (your DA/ Domain Authority) also matters.

You might not get to go on any press trips or get comped stays at hotels

From my experience, unless you have a big social media following, you likely won’t be invited on many press trips or get free nights at hotels.

Now, I’ll be honest, I haven’t really approached any hotels for free stays (some bloggers do this and are successful!), but I kind of like staying at places without any obligations, and that way I can give my readers an unbiased review. Because let’s face it, if you’re getting a free stay, you’re going to feel ‘pressured’ to write a good review.

There’s a lot of technical stuff involved in setting up and running a website

Setting up a website is a headache. I’m not very tech-savvy, so my husband set ours up, and it did take him a few days to get it all going. But if you don’t have someone handy like him to help you, you will likely need to pay someone to do it.

The one piece of advice I will give you is to go self-hosted from the get-go. The main reason I say this is that because then you will have full control over your site and will have your own domain name (snaphappytravel.com instead of snaphappytravel.wordpress.com, for example). It also means that you’ll be able to host ads, install plugins, and customize your theme easily.

If you’re using a free hosting platform (like Wix), then keep in mind that your blog may be removed at any time if you don’t comply with their terms and conditions.

In short, if you plan to run your blog as a business (and make money from it), then you will need to go self-hosted.

I won’t delve into it too much here, but there are two steps to going self-hosted. First, you need to find a host (we use and LOVE BigScoots – they are so reliable, and our website load time is excellent with them). Then, you’ll need to pick a platform (we and most others use WordPress).

You likely won’t make any money in the beginning

As I said earlier, you probably won’t make any money in the first year. That’s because, as I said earlier, Google favors websites with a good track history, so you likely won’t rank on the first page until your site is at least a year old.

And as you know, when you’re ranking high with Google, that’s when your traffic increases and you can start applying to ad networks.

The same goes for Pinterest (where many travel bloggers now get a lot of their traffic, thanks to the many Google updates recently) – yep, Pinterest also favors ‘older’ accounts, so be sure to set up a Pinterest account as soon as your blog is live.

You won’t travel the way you did before

Because travel is now part of your job (pretty cool, huh?!), you will now need to treat your vacations as a potential blog post. That means taking lots of photos – you can never have enough! And anyway, Google tends to rank articles with original photos higher than those with stock photos.

You’ll also need to be doing all of the things on vacation – yep, you’re not going to write a very good blog post if you laze by the pool all vacation. So, that means your holiday will be filled with exploring every nook and cranny of a city, checking out all the best beaches in the area, and doing a few guided tours (if your budget allows).

Personal experience is so important to readers, and my blog posts about places I’ve spent a lot of time in get me the most traffic. Because readers (and Google) can tell when a blogger is knowledgeable about a destination.

You will need to invest in your website

Besides, the start-up costs – paying for a host and paying someone to design your website (if you’re not tech-savvy). You will also need to invest in your blog in other ways to ensure its success, be it paying for ads on Facebook or Google, paying for plugins, or paying someone to run your Pinterest so that you have time to focus on other things.

You will likely be paying out of your own savings for these services in the beginning, as your blog won’t be turning a profit yet.

Final thoughts on the truth about being a travel blogger!

To summarize, if you’re passionate about traveling and writing, then I say, take the leap and try travel blogging. You will likely need to keep your old job in the beginning, because remember, as I said, you probably won’t make money for the first two years. But if you keep plugging away at your website, you should start to see the fruits of your labour after the two-year mark.

And don’t let the fact that there are already heaps of travel blogs out there deter you. You can do it better – keep that positive mindset, and you should be a-okay!

If you liked this article about the truth about being a travel blogger, then you may also enjoy reading –

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Last Updated on July 2, 2025 by snaphappytravel