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It’s been another trip around the sun, and this crazy fact is still sinking in: I’ve now had my blog for six years. I started Fueled By Wanderlust on a whim in January of 2018, just before turning 28 shortly after booking my first international trip. I hadn’t even realized that people could turn a blog into a full-time income.
Before starting this journey, I was a pretty conventional gal, but I was yearning to try something bold. 2018 turned out to be a crossroads year where I was feeling comfortable, but bored with my career. Yet, I thought my next move would be getting a master’s degree in tax (even though I was feeling a bit trapped and constricted on that career path).
That all changed when I got invited to attend a wedding in France and realized the semester fell during that time. I pretty much dropped the whole master’s degree idea and bought flights for a two-week trip to Europe.
Little did I know that a few years later I’d be dropping my tax career entirely for something completely new and unexpected. Every year since then has brought me new challenges and opportunities. There have been times of struggle and times of great achievement.
With that, here’s what went down in my 6th year navigating this unique world of travel blogging.
Recap of My Sixth Full Year of Blogging
Rode Out Super Low Ad Income
I know that travel blogging from the outside might look like a cakewalk. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s not for the faint of heart. I’ll touch on other reasons below, but one main one is that so much is outside of your control.
Last year, ad income in particular was lower than normal. It was less about lower traffic to my website than it was about lower rates for ad placements. I usually look forward to a nice boost at the end of each year, which is during the holiday shopping frenzy as companies are simultaneously using up their advertising budgets for the year.
Well, those late 2022 rates never came. Then at the beginning of the next year, which is a time notorious for low ad income rates, they were even smaller amounts than is typical. This really scared me and had me thinking my blog income was not as reliable as I had thought.
After lots of anxiety, I steadied myself and began to see reason. I wrote down on one of my spreadsheets: just because the year is starting out slow does not mean that it will end slow. I also decided that I would go back to tax work the next winter so that I’d have a cushion to fall back on.
Had an Unexpectedly Awesome Fall
Even though St. John, US Virgin Islands really is one of my favorite places and I talk about the beauty of the Caribbean so much on this blog, I really am a four seasons kind of gal. I’m from northeast Ohio and have always loved watching the autumn leaves change and the excitement of waking up to a fresh snowfall on Christmas day.
Fall this year was really one for the books. First off, I had awesome blog income in September and October. What are usually lower income months for me ended up being the best of the year! This is due to writing some more fall content in order to round out my blog.
Second, Aaron and I took some amazing trips. After spending the summer at home in Ohio (trust me, summer is gorgeous here), we spent 5 days in Napa Valley getting off the beaten path and spoiling ourselves with amazing red wine.
We had a quick weekend at home before our next trip, where we went ziplining for the first time (despite my fear of heights). Then we were off to northern Maine with our yorkie, Bennie, in tow. We hiked the scenic and challenging Beehive Trail and saw bioluminescence for the first time during a chilly night kayaking session.
Then we rolled into the holidays where I enjoyed time at home baking new recipes in my kitchen. After Thanksgiving, we were off once again to St. John, as well as Vieques, Puerto Rico. We were only back in town for a few days before I was taking off on a solo trip to Montreal. I love visiting francophone countries where I can practice speaking French.
Stayed Curious and Committed
In late 2022, I was hit by a Google algorithm update that affected my blog traffic. Some articles that used to be incredibly successful for me were simply not getting the views they used to, resulting in less overall income.
I spent the cold months at the beginning of 2023 looking under the hood of my blog for ways to improve it, as well as seeking new income opportunities. I took the time to update a lot of old blog posts to make them current, and thus more helpful as well. Pinterest also came back into focus, as I made loads of new pins and posted as consistently as I could.
I started making YouTube videos to supplement my already existing blog content. I also began a couple new affiliate relationships for lodging or tours that are booked through my blog post links. Things definitely didn’t improve overnight and I always wish I could be doing better. What matters though is that I kept my blog afloat and it is chugging right along into 2024.
Had My Writing Published in Big Outlets for the First Time
Continuing to innovate and find new ways to put myself out there in 2023 led to some amazing new opportunities that I had always dreamed of.
It all started when Outside reached out to me in 2022 to write an article for them about Virgin Islands National Park. That particular opportunity fell through, but the editor who’d originally contacted me encouraged me to send her more ideas. So I did.
Before I knew it, I was published in print for the first time ever as part of a larger piece. Then I accepted my first whole entire article for their website.
I did not want to stop my freelancing momentum, so decided to join a mentorship program aimed at improving my pitches. This paid off big time, as I got five more opportunities in Outside, Fodor’s, Atlas Obscura, Insider, and Matador Network (I’ve shared links to the published articles on my Twitter account).
I will be attending a conference for freelance writers in 2024, so am really curious what new opportunities may come from that experience.
Learned That the Only Supporter I Need is Myself
I’m not gonna lie – I’ve always yearned for others to see my vision and understand what I do. However, after six years of blogging, many people that purport to know and support me still seem to not get it.
First off, the fact that I have an Instagram account seems to be a distraction for people. Let me make this clear – I don’t make any money on that platform and posting on there is usually at the bottom of my priority list. I mostly post to connect with friends who live afar and share my beautiful photos with the awesome supporters and fellow travel lovers who are in my audience.
That said, many people I know and even love still seem under the impression that my job is Instagram. This is the last time I will say this: my job is not Instagram. I am not a professional influencer.
That’s not to say I don’t respect people who do make the bulk of their income off of Instagram. Those individuals simply have talents and interests that I do not possess. Social media isn’t my strength and I don’t care much for it at the end of the day.
What I really do, and what I quit my accounting career to pursue, is blogging and writing. I am also an amateur photographer who largely plays around with my camera. Above all, I am a curious individual who loves travel and can’t believe that I can channel this passion into making an income. I am also a CPA who will likely do tax accounting from time to time to make budgeting my life less stressful and maybe afford the occasional splurge on cute boots.
Still, I know that this will unfortunately mostly fall on deaf ears. I will continue getting comments from those close to me that indicate I do not work or otherwise diminish my accomplishments. This will hurt me, but it will hurt less over time.
All I know is that this is the last year I will have sought approval or validation from those parties. It no longer matters to me if I am told I’m unemployed. I might even go along with it because I am tired. I know who I am and what I do and so does my husband. I no longer have time or energy to entertain chatter from the cheap seats.
Revisited Places I Love
Some years are for visiting new places, but in 2023 I craved returning to some of my favorites. This led to return trips to Charleston, Savannah, Boston, Maine, Barcelona, Paris, Napa Valley, St. John, and Puerto Rico (visited twice in 2023).
Of course, I typically end up doing a bunch of new things in the places I revisit, like taking a Charleston to Savannah road trip with a stop in Beaufort, SC or hiking at Acadia National Park. Even in St. John (which I’ve visited a dozen times) I still did a new hike and checked out a new restaurant. That said, I also did visit some entirely new destinations, like the Netherlands and Montreal, Quebec.
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That does it for another year with blogging and travel writing as my full-time job. Will blogging last forever? It will as long as I keep writing, and I have no intentions of stopping anytime soon. Google traffic fluctuations be damned, I am still here for the ride and there’s never any telling what the future might hold. That’s part of the excitement!
