We went to Big Bend, White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns, then I came back and started this site!
The first 6 months…
This is my 6 month travel blog update. I realized that I have been doing this website for 6 months. So, I’ve decided to keep track of the progress I’ve made during that time. When I was in college, I took a html class and had a personal website for a while. Also, I love travel and I missed having a website. I remember at school, I thought it was the coolest thing ever when I found out one of my friends had created his own website. It is funny to think that I spent that time learning html, when now you just use a WordPress.
Anyway, at the 6 month mark, I have published about 90 pages, mostly location reviews, but also some articles. I’ve uploaded over 1000 pictures to my site. Additionally, I have really enjoyed going back over my travels and writing about them. I’ve learned a lot about WordPress, SEO and google analytics, but I’m still only a beginner level of understanding.
From a time perspective, I would say I probably spend about 2-3 hours on each post between editing the photos, organizing the page and writing the content. That is 180-270 hours or about 1-1.5 hours per day on average. To be honest, that is a lot more than I was anticipating. However, this adventure is new and there are so many past vacations to write about. Also, moving forward, I expect to slow down a little, spend less time writing and more time with my family. However, hopefully I will provide better content as I’m now 6 months more experienced.
A picture of our family on our last trip to Acadia!
The Next 6 months…
To be honest, like most people who start a website or blog these days, there is the hope that someday this endeavor will produce some sort of income. However, I did not create the website primarily for making money, nor did I expect to make a lot of money from it. Also, I enjoy my day job and am not looking to travel full time or quit my real job. I do a lot of planning for my vacations, so it makes sense (to me) to be able to pass along some of that information.
On a good day, I’ll get around 20 unique page views and am close to about 300 per month. That is not a lot, but it is exciting to know that there are people out there coming across my little page. Additionally, I use Dream Host for my server and have a 3 year subscription. It was $140 for 3 full years. That is less than $50 per year, which is not a lot. I look forward to see where I’m at one year, I feel like I have done a lot in 6 months!
If you are starting out on creating your own website and have any questions on this site, feel free to send me a message at: