Travel Blogging from Home: How to Sustain a Travel Site When You Aren’t Traveling

Travel blogging in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic feels almost like a revolutionary act. Giving advice for travel and talking globally is hard when you are not really exploring the globe. However, if you want to sustain a travel blog when you aren’t traveling, there are several ways you can do so.

Believe it or not, more people than you think are already traveling, and travel information is now more relevant than ever. Travel blogs need to be current and up-to-date, so the job of travel bloggers is not over once you are not traveling.

Even as a third-party visa service, we have had to adapt our content and strategy to meet the new times, so we decided we could share some tips with those travel bloggers who are finding difficulty in doing their jobs in the middle of the pandemic.

So, if you are not sure what to do to stay fresh and provide interesting content to your readers globally, here is what you have to do to sustain a travel blog when you are not traveling.

How to sustain a travel blog when you are not traveling

The first thing that you have to know is that traveling has changed, and thus travel blogging has changed too. The way we write and the content that we produce is different now than it was before. This is good since it is in fact an excuse to create all types of content again, with a new perspective.

Here’s also a piece of advice: now and before, you can, in fact, maintain a travel blog even when you’re not traveling. But it does take some solid experience, a lot of determination and just a tiny little bit of creativity.

What can you do to sustain a travel blog when you are not traveling? Have a look at these tips and tricks.

Give your site a makeover

As we told you earlier, the times have changed and the posts have done the same. If you struggle to find new topics or just cannot produce as much fresh content as you did before, use that spare time to have a look at the product you have already created, and give it a twist.

Try optimizing your old posts to make them current and up-to-date. Give them a SEO makeover, add affiliate links, change old pictures and use better ones, update some information about the destination you are talking about… there are a lot of things that you can do to improve content that is already working (and more importantly, make that other content that is not engaging readers work).

Also, refresh your “about” page. It is probably a long, long time since you didn’t visit your “about” page, and maybe you will be surprised once you get there and have a look at it. This page will instantly keep you busy while you update all the information and make it more appealing.

Pace your posts

One of the main problems when travel blogging when you are not traveling is that you don’t have that much content to write about. If that’s the case for you, try giving your content a different pace.

So you just came back from a trip to Greece and want to write all about it in one single post. Be smarter and try to create several pieces of content from that experience. Split up your stories and give your readers more quality content from that single journey. Give your content different formats, try new perspectives… think about all the content that you could’ve used before going on that trip and start creating it.

It is very important that you are realistic about how much content you can provide at a monthly rate, and be consistent. Always post at a rate that you can sustain in time. If you need to readapt your periodicity to these new times, then do so.

Also, create content knowing that there will come times when you can create more content, but also some other times when you will not be able to create that much content. Think ahead of time and save some of that content as a stash for those times when you can’t really create interesting content for your audience.

Expand your content

This is the perfect time to do things differently, but also to do different things. Explore new possibilities and get your creativity to the next level. Do that piece of content you once thought you were not able to create, because you needed more time, or just because you think it was something that was not going to work.

Think outside the box, pivot and get creative. Give your blog a different perspective. Maybe it’s time to start a new section, or to take a whole different route. Do not fear. The time for change is now, and exploring is also a nice way to use your time as a travel blogger.

You can try and experiment with new topics. For example, maybe you can create content that is highly focused on photos (now that visual content is increasing in popularity), or you can create a different storytelling article where you talk about your memories of a past trip.

Still looking for that piece of amazing content? Why not write about the actual place you live in? Explore your own city, and make interesting content for people who might be dreaming of traveling to your home place. There are no better traveling tips than those that come from the people who actually live in the place you are visiting.

Expand your network

Maybe you can’t invest so much time in creating content as you did before the coronavirus, but you can definitely take that time and grow your blog with other strategies.

Strengthen your connection with other bloggers. Interact with those other content creators who you feel affinity for and create a strong connection that you can then transform to collaborations and, eventually, more visibility.

The possibilities of working with other bloggers are many. Write a guest post, ask them for an interview where they can talk about a specific topic the feel specially attached to, write a piece of content in collaboration with other bloggers, or even organise an “advent calendar” with content from different bloggers.

Collaboration is key to grow in the travel blogging atmosphere, and you want to create genuine relationships with those that are growing with you. The more creative you get, the stronger the bonds that you will have with other bloggers that share your passion for traveling.

Learn new skills to improve your blog

Another great strategy that you may follow if you want to improve your travel blogging while you can’t create more content is learning new skills and investing in yourself.

Work ahead of time and learn more about blog strategy. Also, apply that knowledge to plan and prepare your blog for the new era. Develop a blog strategy that keeps adapting to the times and the trends that just can’t stop changing.

You can also learn or improve other skills that are equally relevant to the travel blogging job, like photography. You don’t have to travel to keep practicing photography. You can make great improvements if you only dedicate some time to learning new techniques and instruments to implement when you want to take amazing photos in the future.

Stay inspired

The best tip that we can give you is: don’t lose hope. This job is made of positivity and good vibes, and you need to stay inspired in order to keep inspiring other people to travel and live amazing experiences.

Remember: the future is bright. Every forecaster will tell you that and you better believe it. Companies are investing in travel as they know this pandemic will pass and people will act as globally as ever.

Take a deep breath and think of what your audience is going to need once this period has passed and the travel industry has transformed and adapted to the new era. Brainstorm future tips for the new times, figure out what the new trends will look like, and what type of content may become viral when the time comes. Prepare for what’s to come and get ready to be in the front of the line.

To sum up, there are a whole bunch of things that you can do to sustain a travel blog when you aren’t traveling. Whatever you do, know that variety is always a plus.

Try new things. Take a new perspective when doing the things that you already do. Go a different route and create new and challenging content. And don’t forget the main principle of this job: have fun with it! Remember why you started in the first place and look ahead in the future to see the “me” that you want to be when the time comes.

Just keep going. If you are already here it is because you have what it takes to be an amazing travel blogger. You already are. And you won’t believe in the writer you will become in the future.