laying partially under a rock on a sunny beach on Sunday
I never really post about my plans for the blog. Part of the reason is that I never really had any (ha!) and the other part honestly is that I feel kinda awkward since I know that people from my personal circle now read here and will probably be so confused. Thankfully, as my 30’s progress, I care way less about what others think. So, while I usually dont do this, I thought I’d write a post about the blog, its evolution and my plans. Spoiler: No I’m not going anywhere, this isn’t a goodbye post.
I took several long breaks from blogging over the last couple years and I think I finally realized why. The way I was blogging wasn’t ‘me’ anymore. When I started blogging 5 years ago, I was a junior attorney in my 20’s, single/going through a breakup, my sister had just passed away, and I used blogging as an escape from reality. I posted all the random things, did all the blog link ups, threw up all the gifs and memes and never missed a Confessions Wednesday (still the best btw). I regret nothing. I started blogging on the tail end of the really good blogging days when it was about community then and I really loved that.
In the last 5 years, I’ve dealt with even more breakups, gained a bunch of weight, lost it and gained more, grew in my career a lot – to a point where I’d cringe if a Client read one of my older posts, got engaged and married, I travelled even more than before (although Ive always travelled) and I became more comfortable with who I am. I wouldn’t say I changed, but a lot of my personal circumstances did change.
As a result my blogging voice changed….
What I blogged about also changed…
And lets just admit that the climate of blogging also changed.
Blogging has become somewhat of a business and in order to stand out
or get anywhere, it seems you must check off certain things off the
list. A simple blog post now requires editing of photos, keywords, links
you name it. I was stuck and honestly didn’t know what to do with this space, if anything, because while I wasn’t the girl throwing up gifs anymore, I also was not planning on leaving my job and career dreams to be a full time
blogger.
I still don’t plan to, but I also want my blog at least be read – so that I could justify spending as much time as I do on it. I wanted a happy medium. Some posts of fun loving me and then some posts that
would who could justify spending hours working on the blog. Last June/July when I came back after my last long break I think I found my happy blogging medium and its one that I plan on sticking with in 2019, though perhaps a bit more regimented. The thing is, I put a lot of effort into this space (Ive worked on my photography and started editing my photos) and while I do want it to do well, I also always want to remain true to the things I love, and be able to share my life in an authentic way.
So, all the babbling aside, as it was since mid 2018, the blog will focus on two things: Travel and Lifestyle. I cant see that ever changing. I’m comfortable now.
As for travel, this is the biggest change since I post way more of it now. I know that travel posts aren’t the most popular but that’s what makes me happiest (see above about being 30-somthing now and not really giving two hoots about opinions). I feel like I’m in such a unique position being in the Caribbean, married to a European with a sister in Australia and extended family in the US, Canada and all over the world really. Basically travel is an integral part of my life and always has been and I want to write about my trips through the Caribbean and Europe and wherever else. I want to travel more. I want to explore our world. And I want to write about that.
On the Lifestyle front, I want to share random recipes I made, what I’m currently loving, what I read, and my general life. Basically everything that’s listed in the Lifestyle tab above.
So in 2019 the goal is two or three posts a week: One post will most definitely be a travel post and one will definitely be a lifestyle post of some kind. If I post three times in a week, which I hope is most weeks, the third post will be a wild card – either travel or lifestyle, whatever is buzzing in my head at the moment. I’ve been doing this for the most part since June/July but I wanted to clearly state that that’s why I have posted so much travel and made other changes.
Anyway, this post probably wasn’t necessary. Im an advocate of “just do what you’re doing” but I really wanted to document the shift.
