5 reasons why I will never become a successful travel blogger

Take a look again at the photo above. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? And if not, I will analyze these 5 reasons in more detail on the lines below. At the same time, I’m returning to the format that this blog was from the beginning – my own diary and recording my thoughts. And why did I actually leave this writing style? Well, because I wanted to be a famous and successful travel blogger!

(Warning: This post contains a good dose of self-irony)

But despite all the (vain) effort I know I will never be, and over time I have figured out the reasons why.

1. My blog is a “catdog”

Even though I’ve – according to rule No.1 of all bloggers guidelines – finally stuck to one blog niche (no more mixing up Switzerland travels with DIY), sticking to the No.2 rule (finding my “audience”) is quite difficult. By writing the blog in three languages, I’ve made a rod for my own back. Not only that writing one post takes logically three times more time than writing one post. But overall, it takes a lot of work to try to grow (understand getting followers, likes, hearts, patting on the back…insert any) on three language fronts. But of course, I can only blame myself 🙂

2. I don’t have time for that

Although I hear from a lot of people, “I admire you where you take the time to blog when you have three children,” the truth is that I don’t have so much time to do all I need to do to have a successful travel blog.

I love writing my blog and would like to spend every free minute writing. But that is not possible. I have a household, a husband and three children, who, of course, I love and with whom I would like to spend meaningful time (well, sometimes I would like to move somewhere for a week to put down all the thoughts I have in my mind but it is simply not possible).

Some might argue that we can always find the time for what we enjoy. Well, yeah, it’s always just about priorities 🙂

3. I don’t have an “Instagram husband”

If you’re not familiar with this term I will try to shortly explain it. This is a boyfriend/husband who runs behind you with a camera or cell phone and takes pictures of you in the best poses and at the best “instagrammable” places. And you, as a model/travel blogger/influencer, among all those smiles in the lens, are scolding him through your teeth, at what angle he should take pictures of you. And since the blogging visual page has moved to Instagram in recent years, this new “animal species” has got its name. Having such an “Instagram husband” is a must if you don’t have the money to hire your own photographer. Maybe this video will give you a better idea (Btw. until now, I am sorry that I did not take a picture of the girl with the boyfriend who was performing this role in Alberobello in front of the amused eyes of German pensioners as an example).

My husband knows I’m writing a blog, taking and editing photos, and he is sometimes my “editor in chief” when it comes to the “life in Switzerland” posts, but otherwise, he’s totally unaffected by the world of social media. She has neither Facebook nor Instagram. So when I complained to him some time ago that both social networks changed the algorithm and as a result, my follower wouldn’t be able to see my photos, he didn’t have any clue what I was talking about.

But you know what, I totally get it. When he is sometimes telling me what he does at work, I don’t always understand what he is trying to tell me. He has his own field of expertise, and I am also not going to help him with making analyses and budgets.

Btw. this is how it turns out when my husband takes pictures. Elegant poses? Phew, forget it! He’d rather take a picture of me when I need to scratch my leg 😀

4. I don’t have any pro-equipment

It took me quite a while to understand that my cell phone photos are not enough for my blog. That is why I decided to invest (after a loooong decision-making process) into a Mirrorless Digital Camera. So it’s not a professional camera, but it’s enough for my purposes. But I’m not a professional photographer. I don’t take any selfie stick, tripod and “cannon” lens with us on our hikes, and I don’t pack a drone when going on holiday.

I know that if I bought all the necessary things for professionals, it would bring me a bit closer to successful travel bloggers with high-quality photos. BUT!

Sometimes it happens that I spend our trips and vacations behind the camera, a few meters IN FRONT OF/BEHIND my family, instead of being WITH them and enjoying watching the snails on the road. And I’m getting more and more annoyed about this fact.

5. I can’t do self-promotion or beg

Although I have a lot of qualities and skills definitely not self-promotion ability. I’m more of a kind of a person sitting quietly in the corner and praying and waiting to be noticed. I know it’s completely contrary to how I should perform, but I just can’t do it.

I do not have the proper amount of boldness to sit down to my computer and write a mail offering cooperation with a brand/hotel/service. In addition, I feel panicky that my mail may be circulating somewhere on the Internet with comments about “modern beggars who should rather find a proper job”, as happened in the recent (and much debated) case of one influencer and Filipino hotelier.

I don’t want this post to sound like some self-pity lamentation. I really don’t want to. They are just the facts I have accepted. And I’m happy where I am. If someone told me a few years ago that I would be where I am now, I wouldn’t believe him.

I have my little blogging microcosm, I have achieved greater or lesser successes, the importance of which is only important to me or the community of my blogging friends. But that is enough for my happiness.