So you’re going on a trip and have decided to create a Blogger account, Myspace blog, or personal web page so that your friends and family can keep up with your travels. You want them to read it don’t you?
Writing about traveling on a blog isn’t like writing an essay, but more of a newspaper article. Instead of making a 1 week trip to Cancun an epic novel, turn it into an eyewitness report so that anyone will want to read it.
1. The Upside Down Pyramid
Write about the most important and most interesting things first. Even your dear mother will stop reading after a few lines (and maybe that’s a good thing) so it’s good to get the highlights across quickly.
2. Get To The Point!
Blog writing doesn’t require a thesis or an introduction paragraph.. Just tell us what you want to say from line one and go with it.
3. Keep It Short
4. Break It Down Into Multiple Posts
You woke up and had mint tea, then talked to the rowdy Swedes rooming next door, before hailing a cab, then negotiating prices at the market…it all sounds very interesting, but it’s hard to digest all at once. Break up each noteworthy sight, event, funny story etc. into multiple posts. That way people can browse through them, focusing on the elements they find most interesting.
5. Add Pictures
Aside from bringing life to your travel stories, pictures are great to post – especially when you’re too busy traveling to write.
6. Use Dots, Numbers, and Fonts
Like newspapers do, they break text up with headlines, bullet points, and often subtitles. Take this particular post as an example, I break down travel blogging into 6 bold-font steps. Don’t let your friends and family be confronted by a solid block of text, scaring them off of ever reading anything you write about.
Generally the people reading about your travels are interested in what you’re doing already – some quick posts that get to the point with pictures will help keep their attention. You can also generate a few bucks towards your next trip by making money with your travel blog.
[photo by: occhiovivo]