NEWS : TRAVEL BLOG UPDATE
YOUTUBE, BLOG LIFE & HOLIDAYS
OUT OF OFFICE
“Out of Office!”
Haven’t thought about that in a long time.
In fact the benefit of being on a mid life gap year is you can travel without the pesky worry of going back to work after. I’m still not sure how long I can drag this “year” out for, but its fast approaching its fourth anniversary ha ha!
Even so I have made a commitment to being a Travel Blogger and that in itself is a bit like work.
Coming up with ideas; writing content; sorting through a thousand photos and having to pick out just a handful of the best ones; editing it all together.
There are people who make this look easy, but it has really been a lot more effort than I ever imagined. I love it!
But it takes time and that is a bit short this week.
So this is a slightly different style of blog, because in between typing I’m also getting my packing together. I’m finally going on my first holiday of 2023.
PLAYA BLANCA, LANZAROTE
So in a Travel Blog news update I’m off to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote.
Lanzarote is one of the Canary Islands, where us Brits like to go for some winter sun. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.
I have actually visited the island about five times already, both calling in as a port of call and also staying at a couple of resorts.
The resort of Playa Blanca is a new one for me.
I’m excited to be taking photos, videos and exploring a new place again.
This time I’m going with a travel blogger’s eyes to gather content too. Its almost like a work trip.
NOT A CRUISE???
Yes, wonders will never cease, but I’m not going on a cruise ship this time.
In fairness I have been on seven cruises almost in a row (I did squeeze in a Dublin city break).
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic low cruise prices offered some amazing bargains.
However the travel industry is finally recovering and so are the prices of holidays.
It has put me in a strange position because there are a bunch of cruise itineraries that I would love to try.
The USA and Caribbean are high on my list. There seem to be plenty of bargains to be had sailing from America. But the cost of transatlantic flights and staying in the port resorts is just pushing them out of my price range for now.
Meanwhile some of the more affordable cruises are going to places I have already been to quite recently. I don’t just want to cruise for the sake of cruising.
I have said it before, itinerary is everything to me.
Back to bargain hunting I think. At least for now I do have the flexibility to travel at a moments notice.
I’ll of course update any new travel news on my blog.
BEACH HOLIDAY ADVENTURE
There’s another reason why I’ve gone for a beach holiday this time though.
I was starting to feel a bit like I was losing my sense of adventure.
Even after more than 20 years as a solo traveller I still have to psych myself up to go on holiday by myself.
I’ve previously chosen cruises because they are perfect for solo travellers. You have a wide itinerary of places to explore. All of your food and accommodation are included. There is a captive audience of potential new friends and you aren’t really ever alone.
Nowadays cruising is easy.
Explore safely
Cruises feel safe.
Safety is always my main concern. I would never choose to travel anywhere it wasn’t to be expected. In fact a number of places were crossed off the list for that exact reason while I was planning this holiday.
Choosing to go to a resort by myself though just feels a bit different, while still being a controlled environment.
Yes, I’m travelling with an established company, to a hotel with plenty of 4 and 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor.
But the days are my own.
I have research to do on places to visit. Buses to catch. Maybe even ferries…
The nights are my own too. The option of eating out in local restaurants or enjoying the hotel’s take on local specialities.
Finding the nightlife on warm balmy nights.
Just generally exploring.
You’ll have to come back to find out how Playa Blanca goes.
All booked
Travelling somewhere different, alone, is not new. I had much bigger journeys, that I organised myself, in the USA, Asia and Australia at the start of my “gap year”.
But the idea of doing more of these was starting to feel a bit scary again due to lack of practice.
I have some big ideas for future travels, so its time I kick started that sense of adventure again.
Lanzarote is one small step back onto that path.
TRAVEL BLOG NEWS
Holidays are not the only news I have to update, there’s genuine Travel Blog news too.
YOUTUBE
The big exciting news is that 8 months into my Travel Blog journey I can now show updates on You Tube too.
If I thought a travel blog was complicated, learning about writing, SEO, email and website development, YouTube takes it up another notch.
Now I’m learning about video editing, music, copyright and content creation.
Its quite funny how being a Travel Blogger does change the way you look at the World.
For the past 8 months I have been looking at my journeys wondering what would make a good photo or story to tell.
What piece of information would someone else find useful or at least vaguely interesting.
Now I need to do all that, but capture some of it on video.
I have always taken short videos of things I’ve found interesting or exciting on my tours. YouTube offers me somewhere to showcase them.
Last week I was adding music to a video for one of the first times. It took me ages, making sure the transitions between tracks matched the images on screen.
Then I turned on the TV for a bit of light relief. A reality series I’ve been binge watching. All I could hear was the background music. How they used silence and dramatic music, and sound effects.
I had never even noticed they had music before!
The next step is Vlogging. I just need to pluck up the courage to put myself on camera.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE
… to the Blog
There have been a small number of subscribers to this blog for a while now.
They get a weekly email to let them know of new content on the site.
On top of that I’ve learnt about the search algorithms on Google and Bing. I’ve just passed the “20 clicks in 28 days” milestone on Google.
I know that doesn’t sound a lot, but that is 20 people who found gary-travels.com on a Google search and thought it interesting enough to come and have a look.
That means I’m making progress.
You can sign up in the box on the sidebar. I promise you won’t be bombarded with spam.
Oh and by the way “Welcome”, whether you are a new or returning reader!!
… and to Gary Travels… on YouTube
The YouTube algorithm is a whole different ball game.
You gain prominence from having subscribers (so if you watch things on YouTube and would like to subscribe that would be much appreciated).
But actually it turns out a subscriber who never watches is less useful, algorithmically, than someone who finds a piece of content and watches to the end. Or watches one video, likes your content, so watches a second.
My job it turns out is to make sure I’m creating stuff that people want to watch.
No pressure then!!
If you have time please have a look for my YouTube channel Gary Travels…
Let me know in the comments what you think. I’m always open to constructive feedback.
BRANDING
Starting a YouTube channel led to me thinking about what I wanted my videos to look like.
I’ve since watched a bunch of YouTube creator videos which suggest I’m doing it wrong!!
However in creating thumbnail images to identify my videos I felt like I wanted something that identified them as mine.
How to do it? Well I asked a couple of creators I already followed which software they used.
They came back with Canva.com that offers free templates, as well as its premium content. Helpfully I was already using this for some of my Pinterest posts. I found something almost straight away that I knew I could work with.
A bit of editing and a few tweeks of my own and the Gary Travels… logo was born.
With a quick colour change it gave me a way to distinguish a new video, whilst keeping the same general theme.
Personally I like the way my YouTube videos stand out on my channel.
Whether that translates to views and recommendations on YouTube is a very different question.
I’m two weeks into this YouTube journey, so only time will tell.
Anyway with a brand for YouTube it made sense to add this to the banner on my Blog website. The travel blog news update email is branded too.
If you are a returning visitor I hope you like the new look.
My brother suggested I should get some “merch”. Now that is an idea!!!
TIME TO PACK
My holiday countdown is currently on as I write this. So my Travel Blog news update is done for now.
Its time I went to pack.
By the time this is published there will no doubt have been plenty of sneak peaks of my holiday on Instagram or Twitter.
With a corner of my brain now dedicated to thinking about future content, I’ve already got a lot of ideas for Lanzarote related stories.
In the meantime if I’ve given you a taste for planning your own travel adventures why not click on the blog link in the menu.
Or check out the pins on the World Map, for some travel inspiration.
