how did you start your travel blog

[bobkatmsu]

Time is getting closer for retirement. March 31st we close on selling our business. We want to be on the road by the 1st of June. We plan on being gone for 6 months before returning to Fla for the winter. The second year we plan on heading for a summer in Alaska. I am considering writing some type of "travel blog" for my family and many of our customers that have requested it. What experiences have you had? How did you get started? Any things I need to stay away from?
Thanks in advance for your help.

[subtroll]

We've used Blogger for at least six years and include lots of photos. My blog is not public but by invitation only for family and friends.

To me one of the best features is that at the end of the year, I have my entire year printed by blog-to-Print and end up with a beautiful hard copy of our year's adventures. I use them frequently to remember where we stayed and what we did.

[bobkatmsu]

Thanks for all the good info. We are down to 1 month to work, then two months before we hit the road. Plan on using those 2 months to set up blog and learn how to use the new camera. Anyone know how to hit fast forward through the next month?

[Mote]

Kaz wrote:

Jim@HiTek wrote:
...
One to stay away from is GoDaddy. They charge for everything every step of the process and are a very persistent UPGRADE SALES organization. Even calling you multiple times trying to upsell. The two years I spent with them were troubling and expensive. Unfortunately, there are many others that are now copying the GoDaddy framework so you have to do your research and only sign up for a minimum period. Bluehost is a month2month. ...

I used godaddy.com, which includes WordPress for free. I haven't seen any sales pressure. I mean like zero, nada, zippity-doo-dah. Other than the occasional e-mail reminding me that it's time to renew my domain registration, I never even hear from them.

Whatever way you go, I think you'll find that your friends and relations will love your blog and get a lot of pleasure out of following your travels. My travel accounts tend to get schmaltzed up with all sorts of random odd-ball commentary, which not only adds something to the journal, it makes the process of keeping the blog updated kinda fun. I'm sure you'll find a style that works for you.

Look forward to reading about your travels,
Skip

I've been following Skips blog for a few months now. Found it while searching for information on the motorhome he has.

[priestlake]

I would suggest www.wordpress.com you can have a free blog or pay for a upgrades blog. They will host also. It is very easy to use. It is the best in the market. Hope this helps

[Canadian_Rainbi]

We have used Blogger (blogspot.com) since October 2008 and are happy enough with it. No pressure to buy, easy to post photos.Our blog.

[fortytwo]

I have used mytripjournal for a dozen years. Not free, costs $99 per year but you get unlimited upload of photos and video, and at any resolution you choose. I think there are options now that enable you to integrate your photos in the text to tell a better story. Mytripjournal just loads your photos in a batch, which can then be used as a slide show. The text part of the journal is simply text, or at least as I use it.

I'm getting less responsible in my posting. I started the journals to record trips overseas where we joined guided tours that rented RV's in each country. On those I saved each day's photos by day, did a write-up of the day, and uploaded them to the journal as I found internet Cafe's. Started with relatively low resolution as many folks still used dial-up. I use HD resolution now which enables viewing on large screen TV's. I still have a whopping 20GB battery powered HD I bought back in 2001 to save my photos on the road. You can password protect your journals, but I abandoned that and just leave mine public, but only editable by me.

I think blogging has mostly replaced what I do, but to set in my ways to learn new things.

Lots of options, but keep a local copy of everything in a form that you can use to rebuild your site on another host. I've been very lucky. Most sites, especially free ones, go away or morph to something you don't want after a few years.

[-Gramps-]

I use Squarspace.com and they have their own domain registration thru godaddy.com.

My travel blog has a lot of pictures which is why I chose Squarespace and the Avenue template...easy for photographers to use.

\My Random Views Travel Blog

[Klueck]

We actually started ours before we sold our house. I documented the purge process and the actual sale.

We used blogger.com. It's very easy. You can add pictures, maps, links, videos....whatever you like.

You can make it private or public. I like it because I like to be able to refresh my memory on certain things...or settle a disagreement on something. haha

It's very easy. Start now, give it a try with a temporary blog to test it out and then if you like it start a real blog for your travels.

I use blogger, but I post to my blogs thru Open Live Writer. You can write thru Live Writer without internet and post blog when you have internet.

My blog is: Rv Travels With Karen and Al

It's not very interesting lately because we haven't been able to travel much due to family health issues.

[rdmike]

azdryheat wrote:
Family and friends follow us via my Facebook posts.

I do the same. I started a seperate group. Topic is only based on our travels and allows us to choose the friends and family who view.

[qtla9111]

I've been blogging since 2007. I think blogs are slowly going by the wayside and being replaced by FB and YouTube video blogs or vlogs.

Starting a blog takes about 15 minutes. I find that many people start a blog and then don't continue.

It's actually fast, easy and uploading pictures from my laptop take no time at all.

[Kaz]

Jim@HiTek wrote:
...
One to stay away from is GoDaddy. They charge for everything every step of the process and are a very persistent UPGRADE SALES organization. Even calling you multiple times trying to upsell. The two years I spent with them were troubling and expensive. Unfortunately, there are many others that are now copying the GoDaddy framework so you have to do your research and only sign up for a minimum period. Bluehost is a month2month. ...

I used godaddy.com, which includes WordPress for free. I haven't seen any sales pressure. I mean like zero, nada, zippity-doo-dah. Other than the occasional e-mail reminding me that it's time to renew my domain registration, I never even hear from them.

Whatever way you go, I think you'll find that your friends and relations will love your blog and get a lot of pleasure out of following your travels. My travel accounts tend to get schmaltzed up with all sorts of random odd-ball commentary, which not only adds something to the journal, it makes the process of keeping the blog updated kinda fun. I'm sure you'll find a style that works for you.

Look forward to reading about your travels,
Skip

[Jim]

I have used Bluehost as my host for many years. With WordPress.

I have used others and I can tell you that they change over time. Once they get to a certain size, they become difficult to deal with. Not listening to their clients usually, which allow errors to creep in. So I'm always ready to bail and move on.

One to stay away from is GoDaddy. They charge for everything every step of the process and are a very persistent UPGRADE SALES organization. Even calling you multiple times trying to upsell. The two years I spent with them were troubling and expensive. Unfortunately, there are many others that are now copying the GoDaddy framework so you have to do your research and only sign up for a minimum period. Bluehost is a month2month.

After nearly 13 years of blogging, I'm happy using Bluehost and WordPress.

[lizzie]

I have elderly relatives and some friends who do not use FB. They can access my blog through their e-mail accounts and feel more comfortable that way. I also upload photos directly from my computer to my blog. I feel the blog offers a smoother, more sequential way of telling about our travels. To each his own. lizzie

[Ivylog]

The DW did a travel blog for the last ten years but switched to FB only this summer as it's easier.