Ways To Keep Your Travel Blog Safe When You’re Traveling
Those of you with travel blogs know that they don’t usually go down, get filled with nasty comments, or have the design fall apart…that is until you’re not in front of it for a day or two. There are some easy ways to maintain and lock up your travel blog when you’re traveling and keep things running smoothly until you return..
Depending on how you host your blog, some of these precautions may or may not apply.
Comment Moderation
Unless you already moderate all of your comments, when you can’t be at your travel blog for a few days it’s a good idea not to allow every comment to be posted until you get a chance to approve them. I know that for many this might make you worry about slowing or discouraging conversations but it can save you a headache from filtering out spam, off-topic, and nasty comments when you return.
Change Your Password
Create a long (at least 10 character) randomly generated password for your blog before you leave on your trip. The Gibson Research Corporation has a free random password generator you can use. Write it down and keep it with you so you can log in to your account once you can bum a wi-fi signal.
- I also recommend using the Login Lockdown plugin if you use WordPress. It locks out access to your WordPress blog login for 60 minutes attempts after 3 incorrect attempts. It’s a good deterrent against brute force attacks on your blog password.
Ask A Blog Buddy
Find someone who you know is online quite a bit to check in to your blog from time to time to see if it’s up and running well. Make sure you really trust the friend or family member and give them the instructions and (newly created random server and blog) passwords to reset things in case your blog decides to hiccup while you’re hiking in the Andes.
- It’s a good idea to change your passwords when you return, preferably still using longer, randomly-generated passwords.
Wait To Make Those Design Changes
New plugins, themes, and other design changes should be avoided right before you go. This can be tough because many times right before traveling you have free time to tinker with your blog after preparing some quick things to write when you’re traveling. I’d also recommend carefully editing and rereading the posts you’ve prepared, you don’t want to write about a raping flight attendant instead of a rapping one like I did. (Guess when that happened – when I was traveling and couldn’t fix it right away.)
What Steps Do You Take, Any?
I got the idea to write this post after misreading somewhere else ‘How to Keep Your Bags Safe’ for “blogs safe”. It got me thinking about our little virtual homes that people all over the world can visit while we travel. Bloggers, what precautions or preparations do you make to maintain your travel blog when you know you won’t be right in front of it for a few days, if anything?
[photo by: Looking Glass, US Army Korea - IMCOM]
Guest Post: Hidden Ankara
August 3, 2009 by Anil P.
Filed under Guest Post
It was fun to write about a city I spent much of my childhood in as a guest post for Anja Mutic on her blog Ever the Nomad. If you’ve ever lived in a city that’s overlooked in the bright lights of a big brother I think you’ll enjoy my post Hidden Ankara.
Anja has been running a series of guest posts about the places where some great writers have lived including Nigeria, Cuba, and Sweden. Thank you again Anja for giving me the opportunity to guest post.
Exploring Lanzarote: Cesars Empire
August 3, 2009 by Anil P.
Filed under Guest Post
This is a guest post by Nick Ball, the editor of the in-depth island information guide Lanzarote Guidebook. Visit their site to download a 96 page guidebook to Lanzarote – free of charge.
Lanzarote is one of the seven Spanish owned islands that comprise the Canarian archipelago, which are located about 80 miles off the West African coast of Morocco. This privileged position that creates a clement climate all year round. Characterized by very low rainfall (as you’d expect so close to the Sahara) and average temperatures of 20 Celsius – even in the depths of winter.
These climatic conditions have helped the Canaries to secure a position as one of the most popular holiday destinations in Spain. Collectively accounting for around 9.5 million foreign visitors during the course of 2008 alone.
Yet despite the popularity of the islands, some, such as Lanzarote, which is at the eastern most end of the chain, have managed to retain much of their original charm.
Here for example visitors will not encounter any high rise buildings or hotels – as these were all banned during the 1970´s. The same goes for ad hoardings and billboards – also conspicuous by their absence. Whilst outside of the three main resorts of Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca island life seems to carry on much as it has for centuries. At a slow, rural pace.
So what is Lanzarote´s secret? How does an island that relies almost totally on tourism for its economic survival remain so untouched?
For the answer we have to turn to a local artist – who first came to prominence at the vanguard of the Spanish surrealist movement in the 1950´s.
Before moving to New York to rub shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol under the patronage of the wealthy Rockefeller clan.
César Manrique was born in the island capital of Arrecife in 1919 and developed an intense love for his birthplace from a very young age. The legacy of family holidays to breathtaking natural beauty spots such as the huge beach and bay at Famara and Lanzarote´s awe inspiring volcanic region. Which was created by a huge wave of seismic activity that shook the island during the 1730´s.
Manrique´s love of nature made him an ecologist long before the term gained common credence. Aware of the fact that the Spanish dictator General Franco planned to open the Canaries and the Costas up to tourist development in order to help revive the nations flagging economy Manrique returned to Lanzarote in the late 1960´s to fight for the islands survival.
Fortunately an old family friend – Pepin Ramirez – occupied the position of island governor. A like minded soul who shared Manrique´s concerns about the future. And whilst both accepted that a degree of tourist development was vital for Lanzarote´s economy the pair fought to ensure that – as far as possible – this would be achieved in harmony with the islands natural, volcanic beauty.
Against the odds they secured the ban on high rise buildings and advertising hoardings. Manrique then went on to develop alternative attractions for visitors to the golf courses and water parks springing up elsewhere in Spain. In order to illuminate an alternative path for the evolution of tourism on the island.
The first real expression of this philosophy was the transformation of a huge, collapsed lava tube called the Jameos del Agua. Which with the help of local architect Jesus Soto, Manrique turned into a dramatic subterranean lagoon, nightclub and concert venue.
This creation was so impressive that it won international plaudits and acclaim. So putting Lanzarote on the map as the hot new holiday destination and drawing in a host of VIP visitors and Hollywood actors, such as Peter Sellers, Omar Sharif and Rita Heyworth.
Manrique went on to create a total of eight different tourist sites. All of which remain the most popular visitor attractions on Lanzarote to this day. Whilst also helping to secure UNESCO protected biosphere status for the island in 1994, two years after his untimely death.
[photos by: envisionpublicidad, txerra_c, @ LaRs NoW @]
