Travel Blogger For Hire.
That one is for Google so that some silly sod might employ me on future Travel Blogging Trips/Junkets when they do a keyword search!
No seriously – I learnt a lot about Travel Writing/Blogging From the Road on my recent month long trip to Indonesia.
I loved every single second of this trip. However, I learnt so much about the practicalities of Travel Writing in a challenging environment that I wanted to pass on some tips to others who are lucky enough to experience the same thing!
As with all trips I undertake, I decided to be ruthless with my backpack weight and not take a laptop (that was the Tight Arse Personality Type coming out), and either a) create all my posts from Internet cafe’s or 2) use the local bloggers computer.
Most of the time, I was using the Internet Cafe. And in Indonesia, that was certainly an experience.
There are pros and cons of taking/not taking computers with you on a Travel Writing/Blogging trip. For me, the con of extra weight was enough for me to place faith in the Internet Cafe system of a third world country.
I’m pretty anal when I come to backpack weight, and I try to keep this down to about 12-13 kilograms, or about 20 pounds. I hate looking and feeling like an overweight tortoise whilst locals are trying to convince me to board their barely roadworthy form of transport!
Anyway, here are some valuable lessons that I will use in the future, and that I’d like to pass on to others.
Lesson 1. Without The Internet Working, You’re Totally Crippled
Sounds obvious, but when you’re travelling in third world countries, expect the Internet to cut out for any unknown reason. There were numerous times where I was uploading photos, or about to push ‘Publish’ where all of a sudden, my entire post crashed, almost forcing me to scream with frustration.
Couple that with the odd power outage, and you’ll be pressing the ‘Save Draft’ button every 5 seconds, just like I was.
Lesson 2. Even With The Internet Working, It’s Still Challenging To Write!
Internet speeds can vary dramatically. It might take you anywhere from 10 seconds to 5 minutes to upload a photograph. But try doing this activity for a few hours, sitting next to 11 year old boys smoking away (no joke) on their high tar cigarettes, whilst your eyes are stinging from the combusted tobacco wafting into your face.
I think I also have industrial deafness now – most of these 11 year olds were playing computer games that involved blasting the crap out of their friends sitting next to them – which included exuberant celebrations when someone was killed off.
The term ‘Fire In The Hole’ is now embedded forever in my grey matter.
And because of the smoking, you smell like a well cured salami when you walk out of the Internet Cafe. Ironic, because I have Italian heritage as well.
Another Internet Cafe hazard, especially in Indonesia, is that there is a chance that an earthquake will hit when you are writing something critical. I was in Banda Aceh when the tragic Padang earthquake hit Sumatra, and the whole room shook, including my chair, for about half a minute.
Banda Aceh was 400 km away, and I must admit, the Tsunami word did enter my head. However, none of the smoking 11 year olds were too concerned and carried on playing their computer games as if earthquakes happen every day.
Lesson 3. It’s really hard to fix annoying Word Press Bugs
When you are a techo gumby like me, the simplest Word Press bugs (for those who aren’t familiar, this is the software that powers the website) become almost insurmountable when you are challenged by internet speeds.
I had a problem with my visual editor which did not let me schedule posts when I wanted to. So I had to go to an Internet Cafe and physically push the ‘Publish’ button when I needed to.
Not ideal, but I got away with it. I only found out how to fix this bug when I got home. It would have taken me hours to fix it in Indonesia because of the Internet speeds.
Lesson 4. It Really Sucks When Your Hosting Provider Stops Hosting Your Site – In The Middle Of The Trip
You should try harrassing your Internet Host when you are out of one of their base countries.
Of course, I had to go to the Intenet Cafe and send a barrage of emails to try and get my site back online considering that a lot of the travel world was watching. I even had to organise people in Australia to do this for me!
I also used Twitter to draw attention to the problem!
In the end, the site was down for a day, and everything has been fine since.
Lesson 5. Extremely Hospitable People = Less Time To Write!
The reason I love going to Indonesia is because of their people. I’ve always had a great time there because they are so willing to show me their world.
The flip side to this is that it’s hard to drag yourself away from all of the great cultural experiences you are having with them so you can write!
But it’s a great problem to have, and I’m not complaining! I gained so much material to write that this may keep The Travel Tart going for a bit longer before I have to travel again!
So there you go, there are some of the Pitfalls of being a Travel Blogger and Travel Writing From The Road.
These are some of the issues that can happen when you travel without your own laptop!
Just think of this post next time you want to be a Travel Blogger For Hire!
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Twitter: TravelWriting
Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Wow Anthony – sounds like you had some frustrating moments – glad you got it all worked out! Seems like our most memorable trips are like that – full of highs and lows.
One thing you might consider on your next backpacking trek (if you still don’t want to carry a laptop) is a tool & service my brother (who is a long-distance hiker) uses – it’s a PocketMail device. It’s about the size of a checkbook cover but thicker, and very light. It’s used to compose email, which you can then send using any phone line – no internet required.
Wordpress has a great feature that you can enable and configure easily, which is that it will accept blog posts via email – your email subject line becomes your Post Title, and the email message body is your blog post.
Something to consider…
Trisha Miller´s last blog ..FTC Site Compliance – Blogger Disclosure Guidelines
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Twitter: theplanetd
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November 13th, 2009 at 5:57 am
We are going to be in your shoes soon and have to admit, not looking forward to the Blogging part of our travels. Africa was difficult, but we weren’t serious bloggers then and if our post didn’t get up, we didn’t really care. Now however is a different story.
I remember your site going down, I think that I would have been freaking out if it was me. But I will have to prepare myself for anything and in the end realise that people will hopefully understand that things happen:
We are bringing our laptops and are a little worried about the extra weight, but I don’t think at this point we will be able to work without them. I will let you know.
Glad everything worked out and your time in Indonesia really did look like an incredible experience.
Dave and Deb´s last blog ..This Weeks Adventure’s in Blogging
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Twitter: theplanetd
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November 13th, 2009 at 6:00 am
I should clarify what I said about not looking forward to blogging, we are looking forward to Blogging, but worried about all of the pitfalls that you mentioned above. Ah, if only we could travel around with our highspeed wifi in our back pockets:)
Dave and Deb´s last blog ..This Weeks Adventure’s in Blogging
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Twitter: ShannonRTW
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November 15th, 2009 at 12:03 am
All of these frustrations you outlined are so spot on. A lot of future RTW travelers email me asking if they should start a blog before they go – and I have to keep pointing out these little facts. It was so frustrating for me trying to get anything done when I only had power for 8 hours a day in Nepal…and some of it was in the dead of night! But, that being said, can’t imagine leaving my laptop behind! Good for you being so ruthless with your weight limits
Shannon´s last blog ..A Little Contemplation…Readjusting to a Dose of Reality
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December 9th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Wordpress has a great feature that you can enable and configure easily, which is that it will accept blog posts via email – your email subject line becomes your Post Title, and the email message body is your blog post. I am going to read your all lesson and try to find some thing new in that.
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Twitter: suzannita
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December 19th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
wow… that’s nice tips and trick … that’s can be a good learning to make a trip and make a travel blog
suzan´s last blog ..From Bandung With Sickness
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Twitter: travelsofadam
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December 22nd, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Whoa… these are great tips! Thanks for sharing because I’m going to find myself in the same boat in a few months. As long as I still enjoy writing, I’m hoping I’ll overcome all the frustrating parts.
Adam´s last blog ..How to be Semi-Successful at Your Job
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February 1st, 2010 at 2:36 pm
How to Start a WordPress Travel Blog go to: http://thetravelersnotebook.com/featured/how-to-start-a-wordpress-travel-blog/
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Twitter: JohnnyVagabond
Says:
February 10th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Really helpful stuff, Anthony — thanks! I think the hardest part of starting my RTW trip will be internet detox.;)
Johnny Vagabond´s last blog ..Vagabond Travel Tip #2 — Never Trust a Monkey
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anthony Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Enjoy the trip, and don’t spend the entire time in an Internet Cafe!
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March 1st, 2010 at 7:20 am
you supposed to go on sightseeing and not too much time on internet cafe.
freshwater Aquarium´s last blog ..The Importance of Freshwater Aquarium Temperature
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March 1st, 2010 at 11:24 pm
This is excellent and exactly what good blogging is all about. Interesting and witty writing that allows us to escape from our daily lives and learn something in the process.
As a blog writing tutor I often get asked about how to write a travel blog. Well, from now on, as part of my answer I shall refer my students to this blog.
If I can make just one tiny suggestion, it would be to place all your text on a plain background. The pics you’ve used here are excellent but they don’t carry the text well and as a result some paragraphs are hard to read.
Good luck with your career as a travel writing blogger.
Bruce
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anthony Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:22 am
Hi Bruce, thanks for the feedback, it’s much appreciated!
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March 6th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Nice post. In Indonesian, people called this fruits as “Durian Montong”.
Looking forward to your next post..
Andre´s last blog ..Inconsistency Blogging
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