It’s a celebration day today… this is the 100th post of the blog!!
I wanted to do something special for this post. My first idea was to write a personal post about me, but then I remembered that I already answered a lot of personal questions when I received the Liebster award.
So today I won’t talk about me, I’ll talk about my blog. And I say “blog” instead of “Dream Travel Girl” because this blog was born with a different name, “Colibrist”. But let’s start form the beginning…
Memories
The blog was born when I decided to take a sabbatical leave to travel around the world. I wanted to keep family and friends updated, and share the experience. The first posts were about the decision, the organization of the trip and the “test” trip, my first solo trip.
Three months after the launch, I took a plane and started the biggest adventure of my life.
For one year the blog was filled with experiences across India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay.
And then the trip finished.
At that point, I realized that the trip had changed my life, and I couldn’t go back to my previous job. I wanted to start a new life, and thought that the blog could be an important part of it.
I changed the platform, I changed the name, I made it more professional, and have been working full time on this for the last 7 months.
Since I’m not traveling full time, the blog has not been in chronological order anymore. It’s been a mix of the last months in South America, the ups and downs of solo and long term travel, some practical information about budget and packing, and my recent short trip to Thailand.
And today, more than one year and a half later… my blog hits 100 posts!
To celebrate, let’s look at the best posts, comments and commenters (yes, because this blog is not only about me, it’s about you too!).
Best of the blog
These are the most popular posts of the blog: the most visited and the most commented.
Top posts: the most visited
- Border crossing Chiang Khong (Thailand) – Huay Xai (Laos) and Border crossing Laos – Cambodia
- Munroe island, a hidden gem in the backwaters of Kerala
- Kapas island: the beauty of a lesser known tropical paradise
- Jervis Bay: beautiful beaches and cute kangaroos
- How to travel around the world with carry on luggage only
Top posts: the most commented
- A beautiful, pleasant walk in Abel Tasman National Park
- Hiking in Mordor (Tongariro Alpine Crossing)
- RTW month 3: reflections about being lucky
- A letter from Santiago de Chile
- Luang Prabang in 4 layers
Best comments and commenters
Why do I include the comments here?
Because in a blog, comments are as important as posts. Without comments, I’d be talking alone. And there’s nothing sadder than spending hours writing and editing photos and getting no feedback. You get the feeling that nobody is reading.
So this is why I’d like to thank all the people who have left me a comment or has sent me a personal email.
THANKS A LOT!!!!
And I’d like to give a special mention to the top commenters of this blog:
- In Colibrist
- Rosemary from Le Chic en Rose
- Jo from Restlessjo
- Adelina from Pack Me To
- Ruth from Tanama Tales
- Luzia from Evozeta
- In Dream Travel Girl
- Diana from Traviajar
- Diana from Diana Speaks
- Carolina from Enkuentrat
- Frank from The travels of BBQ boy and Spanky
- Tere from Las Orejas de Dumbo
A selection of comments
This is a non exhaustive selection of 8 comments that made me happy 🙂
Your feedback needed please 🙂
I’ll be honest: lately I find it hard to write in the blog. I lost some motivation. For the last 6 months I’ve been working full time on this, and it’s not working. It’s not growing. Sometimes I think I should just stop. On my positive days, though, I think I should try harder and make it better.
For this reason I need your help, please. I need your feedback about my blog.
What do you like the most? What could I improve? For example:
- Do you like the design?
- Do you like the photos?
- Are my posts too long, or too short?
- Do I put too many photos?
- Should I be funnier, or more serious?
- Do you like that I write personal stories?
- Or would you prefer list posts, like “Highlights of…” “What to see/do in…” ?
- Or more practical ones?
- Would you like more stories about the people I meet (and add their photo, if possible)?
- Would you like that I appear more in the photos (or less)?
- Did you find it more interesting while I was traveling long term?
- Other things?
I’d really appreciate it if you could give me some feedback. That would help me a lot!
You can answer in the comments below or, if you prefer, you can send me an email through the contact form (link here). To make it easier: no need to write in English, you can write in any language I know (English, Spanish, Catalan, French).
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Nice post Laia and thanks again for the mention!
I honestly enjoy your blog and think you have the right mix of personal stories and place-specific posts. Personal stories usually get more comments but too much of it, or written wrong, and it comes across as a diary…I think you write well in that it’s personal yet informative for others who may be thinking of doing the same one day. In the end people have to see how your personal story can relate to them.
I can’t suggest doing anything better on the content as I think you’re doing well. There are a lot of extremely boring blogs out there and you are not one of them. I think my biggest tip on content to anyone is to write what you want and don’t censor yourself…it’s your blog. In the end it’s about your voice.
Blogging can be frustrating because there are a million other blogs out there. Especially when starting out, social media and commenting on other blogs is important. And I can only recommend working more on that aspect in order to improve your visibility. It takes a while and lots of hard work – I would say only 50% of the work you spend blogging is actually spent on the blog. But don’t go overboard either or you can spin your wheels on social media without anything to show for it. Write enough good posts and eventually google will be your friend 🙂
Frank (bbqboy)
Thank you so much Frank for your encouraging comment!
I’m very happy that you enjoy my blog and find the content interesting. I’m also happy to hear that it’s good to write what I want without censoring myself… sometimes I wonder if I should do what other people are doing, but then it wouldn’t be my voice. I’ll keep my posts personal and informative. I’ll remember that people need to relate to them, and find the necessary information in case they want to visit the same place. Thanks for the advice.
I definitely need to improve my social media and comment more on other blogs… I never seem to find the time to do it though as you say it’s an important part! I’ll make it a priority.
Thanks again for your feedback! 🙂
M’encanta el blog i les fotos! em recorda llocs per on he passat, i em fa somiar per llocs on anar.
Les fotos de paisatges son super xules!
Jo també hi posaria fotos on sortís gent, tant tu com la gent que et trobes pel camí (amb el seu permís).
Potser seria xulo també entrevistar a gent que tingui alguna història per explicar sobre el lloc o la cultura.
endavant amb el blog!
Moltes gràcies David!!
M’alegro molt que t’agradin les fotos! Aiiii posar més fotos de gent és una assignatura pendent, és que em fa vergonya fer fotos de gent! Però estic d’acord amb tu que complementaria molt bé les fotos de paisatges i les històries de gent. Bona idea això de les entrevistes, pensaré com ho podria fer.
Tindré en compte tot això en el proper viatge 🙂
Hola guapa,
Primero que todo felicitarte por haber llegado al número 100, es genial en Traviajar, que es mi blog más nuevo, estoy próxima a llegar a esa cifra, los otros ya la pasaron hace rato y nunca he realizado un reporte tan detallado y maravilloso y creo que viene genial. Lo pensaré para el aniversario de los blogs que será pronto 🙂
Bueno, sobre tus preguntas, se dice que es necesario que los posts sean largos, todo el mundo te lo recomienda y es lo que ves, pero yo particularmente ando pensando últimamente que con la cantidad de información que hay ahora en Internet los textos tan largos se pierden, porque la gente no está leyendo, quiere información rápida y precisa y no leer 1500 palabras o 2000 que a veces es demasiado.
Eso sí, todo depende del tema que trates, claro, a veces es imposible escribir menos 🙂
Perder la motivación es normal, todos hemos pasado por ello alguna vez, el tema es, si esto de verdad te gusta y crees que puede ser tu pasión, buscar la manera de hacerlo divertido, que no sea una obligación, porque ahí es donde las cosas se ponen feas 🙂
Así que analiza my dentro de ti si ser blogger es lo tuyo y luego busca la pasión y la motivación nunca fallará 🙂
Un abrazo preciosa y muchas felicidades 😉
Muchas gracias Diana por tus ánimos y tu opinión!
A mi también me sorprende que se recomienden los artículos largos cuando la gente no tiene mucho tiempo. Yo intento mantenerme alrededor de las 1000 palabras, 1200 máximo. Aunque es verdad que a veces es complicado 😉
Ayyyy la motivación. Ando pensando que el blog es mi pasión, pero como hobby.
Tengo un amigo ingeniero que hace teatro, y le dedica muchas horas, fines de semana incluidos. Una vez le preguntamos si no le hubiera gustado estudiar para ser actor en vez de ingeniero, y dijo que no. Que el teatro era su pasión, pero como hobby, porque hacerlo de forma profesional no es lo mismo. Creo que a mi con el blog me pasa algo parecido. Así que voy a seguir con el blog, pero no sé si de forma profesional o como pasatiempo. El tiempo dirá.
Un abrazo guapa 🙂
Felicidades Laia por haber llegado a tus 100 post, esperando que continúes por más y si puedes colocarlos en español también sería muy bueno.
Muchas gracias Amparo!
Jaja lo del español lo he pensado, pero de momento lo he dejado de lado porque sería mucho más trabajo y ahora mismo no tengo el tiempo. Pero lo tengo en mente 🙂
Laia es la primera vez que leo uno de tus posts y la verdad me alegra mucho que haya empezado por el número 100, ya me pondré al día con los 99 restantes.
Te cuento que estoy estudiando inglés y leer tu blog será de gran ayuda para mí, en las próximas oportunidades trataré de comentarte en inglés (te lo prometo).
Es cierto lo que dices, los comentarios son el complemento perfecto de cada post, sin ellos, la información expuesta quedaría incompleta, y además saber que hay alguien al otro lado abrazándose a nuestras palabras es algo fantástico.
De acuerdo a tus preguntas me gusta mucho el diseño de tu blog, las fotos (estuve leyendo el de Barcelona y las fotos son sencillamente hermosas) están perfectas, particularmente me gustan los posts reflexivos, no sé si ya has escrito al respecto, pero lo iré descubriendo, me gusta saber lo que el viaje deja en ti y como te va ayudando a crecer como persona.
¡Felicidades por estos 100 y que sean 100 más!
¡Muchísimas gracias Eliana! Gracias por pasarte por aquí y gracias por darme tu feedback 🙂
Lo has descrito muy bien, recibir un comentario es como tener a alguien abrazando nuestras palabras. Que forma más hermosa de expresarlo.
Si que tengo algunos posts reflexivos, o pequeñas reflexiones dentro de los posts. Lo que más me gusta de viajar es conocer a gente, aprender de ellos y crecer. Espero que te gusten y que te ayuden con el inglés 🙂
Firstly I apologise for taking so long (like, months!) to leave a comment. I never seem to find time to read posts when they’re actually published; I have a list saved in Pocket as long as the list of cities, towns, and countries I want to travel to!
Personally I love the quality of both your writing and your photos (you deserve to have thousands of followers on Instagram, not hundreds!) and I always find your posts really engaging and interesting. I wouldn’t change anything especially but I would definitely love to read personal stories about the people you’ve met on your travels. I always like to learn about the people in the countries I visit 🙂
Thanks so much Kiara! Don’t worry, I also have difficulties to follow all the blogs I like and to leave meaningful comments (I really like your comments!).
I appreciate a lot your feedback, thank you! Happy to hear that my posts are engaging and interesting, and that you’d be interested in the stories of the people I meet 🙂