The Questions of Life...and Blogging
I’m in the process of having my blog redesigned and hence reorganized. I love the idea of the website getting a facelift; I can’t do anything about my own wrinkles, but I can do something about my blogs wrinkles. However this is digital facelift – so it means digging through wordpress themes, looking at other peoples websites and deciding what I like. I look at widgets as if I’m Heidi Klum watching a Project Runway competition – “You are either in, or you are out”. I dream about what is possible and imagine my website being prettier, having more personality, and being about 15 pounds lighter.
As much as I love the process of dreaming about a new blog design – I equally hate it. Not because it’s a lot of work (and it is), but because it makes me ask that question I try to avoid. The question that sits deep down inside of me I try to repress and not think about as it leads to a spiral of confusion.
“Who am I?”
Am I a blog or am I an information site? Am I a photographer or a writer? Am I a writer or a blogger? Do I write about travel or do I write about my life? Do I write reviews or do I write how to’s and lists? Am I a vagabond or an expat? Do I try to relate to women in my age group or all extended travelers?
It’s enough to drive me crazy; I don’t have the answers and I feel like I should after 4 years of blogging; this should be clear – right? The problem is my life continues to evolve and change and therefore my website often feels like a patchwork quilt of my life’s changes, successes, and failures. I never had a plan when I started this blog and it kind of shows. Tags and categories have grown out of control. The style has evolved as has my writing topics, suitcases, and beds.
So how do I work through these struggles?
A Mother’s Love
I am struggling on how to organize all of the 543 posts from 4 years of traveling, writing, and photography. Like a protective blogging mother, I don’t want to get rid of or bury any of them. I love them all equally and feel like everyone else must love them too. However since I’m not actually a mother, I also realize that only mothers really love to read about and see tons of pictures of their kids (this is true…the rest of us aren’t nearly as excited about your kids as you are); and so my readers probably don’t care about my old posts either. And then I get an email out of the blue from a stranger who found my site, and IS reading the whole blog from start to finish! Just when I’m ready to give them up and bury the old posts, they breath new life!
The Cool Kids
Comparing is not really the answer either. In fact it drives me crazy and sucks up hours and hours I’ll never get back. Looking at other sites to see how they organize content seems to confuse me. I certainly don’t fit the model of big informational site like Bootsnall, Matador, or Vagabondish where multiple people write content. I’m not even a midsize site with multiple posters like GoBackpacking, Art of Backpacking, or Indie Travel Podast. Yet I don’t feel like a simple blog either. That’s the problem; I want to believe I’m unique and don’t fit any mold. Delusional…yes, probably.
Solicitation
I think most of all, my blog represents my personality…a little scatterbrain, spontaneous, an overachiever and very diverse. But readers don’t want scatterbrain, spontaneous and diverse content…do they? If I were a big corporation, I would reach out and ask my customers what they wanted I suppose. So – maybe what I need to do is ask you…my readers. Why do you come to Ottsworld…and what keeps you coming back?
I’m my own boss
Hold on a second…maybe I don’t really want to know what you think. Maybe I’m better with blinders on; simply writing and organizing what I want in whatever style I want. After all, I’m not a big corporation, I’m a single person. What attracted me to blogging in the first place was that it was a replacement for my personal hand-written journal while I was traveling. Then people started reading it and I started worrying about what they thought. I told myself I wasn’t going to follow any trends and I would simply be me…quirky, Aquarius me.
The Superhighway
Ah – but then there’s that small problem of traffic…I need it if I want to keep traveling and funding my travels and attracting the occasional advertiser.
The real me...
So – you can see my dilemma here…I’m indecisive, I’m protective of my work, and I still don’t know how to organize my blog. If you thought this post was frustrating…then try living inside my head for a bit – you’d never last.
Here’s the one thing I do know…I have a mission…and that’s important.
I want to make people aware of the many different and acceptable ways to live your life. I want to raise that awareness by sharing information /photography from other cultures as well as showing you how I choose to live my life personally. I want to open people’s eyes to what’s possible – you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing or even what your culture seems to dictate. The world and it’s various cultures are a great teacher.
In blog terms I guess it boils down to this…
Travel. Photography. Life.
David Robert Hogg of My Little Nomads is kindly doing all of the redesign work…stay tuned to see how it all turns out in 2011!
Oh Sherry! I swear I wrote this exact same post a while ago too! Where Do I Go From Here? I struggled with not fitting into a niche – I’m not only an expat blog, but not really a travel blog. I like writing about food and photography but where does that fit? Etc.
I think when you’ve been writing a blog for a few years it grows and changes by necessity. Because you as the writer (and the bog’s personality) grow and change too. But I think that’s what makes your blog so special and interesting to read – it reflects you!
I think the best blogs don’t conform to a niche, they represent the people who write them. I say, don’t bury your old posts because they can still be useful to people. Move forward with your blog but don’t forget where you came from!
Thanks Allison! Yes – I think many of us struggle with these questions, but by simply writing about the confusion it helps me sort it out a bit; get it out of my head. Currently I’m sketching on pieces of paper trying to reorganize my navigation; it kind of resembles the chalk board from A Beautiful Mind! Based on the feedback on this post – I will keep the old posts and try to highlight some of the key ones in a way. Thanks so much and please give Buddy a big scratch from me!
Well, if you’re having trouble…it’s no wonder I had trouble when I redesigned just last month. I know ‘they’ say that you’re supposed to write for your ‘niche’ and all…you have a niche…you write what moves you, and lead by example of how to live a full, generous life while stepping out and making your dreams come true. Don’t bury anything – embrace it! Cheers!
Thanks Gillian! I love your new look…so I think you’re advice is sound!
It seems several of us often have the same dilemma of having so many ideas that it makes a head spin. I told someone the other day that my head is a constant spinning wheel, and that sometimes I have to make myself try to declutter thoughts! I as well have been going through themes to change the feel to match my personality, and it is all a bit overwhelming!
I would agree with Allison that you shouldn’t bury your old posts. As I was getting to know you through your blog, some of these posts are where I started. They gave me a better idea of who you were, and how much you had learned from your travels!
Thanks Alisha! I’m hoping to be able to highlight some key old posts so that new visitors can get to know who I am and where I came from. Are you redesigning your blog too?
I think many of us share this difficulty of knowing exactly who we are and want to be with our blogs (and even our lives, for some of us). The organizational part can be tricky. How do I know what’s intuitive for other people when it comes to searching? It’s also really hard when you’re exposed to what so many others are doing and you like what they’re doing and you start mulling over the possibilities…but it can become paralyzing too, that constant “should I do this? should I do that?”. I’ve thought of running a poll on my site asking readers what they want me to do…but then I realized: What if the answer was something I don’t want to do? Then it wouldn’t be fun any more, and I only want to keep doing this if it’s fun. Do what feels comfortable to you, don’t worry about what other people are doing, and it’ll work itself out in the end.
Gray – thanks for your input. I share the same fears – as much as I want to know what people think, I also don’t want to know what people think! Mainly because I’m afraid I’ll hear something that will make it all less fun for me and instead seem like work.
Thanks for helping me formulate a direction for my blog facelift!
Hi Sherry,
I’ve subscribed to plenty of travel blogs over the last 12 months (strangely enough, right about the time I moved to the middle of nowhere!) and have unsubscribed to every last one of them – except yours!! There’s something about your writing & your photos that just keeps me coming back for more. So whatever direction your blog takes in the future, just make sure it’s “you”. xx
I’ve been reading your blog for a little while now. As a stay-at-home mum living (temporarily) in outback Australia I suppose I’m living vicariously through you, somewhat.
Thank you Sam – it’s so wonderful to hear from people like yourself. I love blogging – but at times you do wonder who is really out there reading it. Knowing that there are people like yourself reading really motivates me. How temporary is your outback adventure?! Sounds like a really unique opportunity!
Thanks to the nice feedback I have been receiving on this post it has helped me really consider my direction for this blog facelift!
Sherry
Yes, a very unique opportunity. We’re 15 months into my husband’s 3 year contract. We haven’t explored as much as I would have liked (yet!) but now that the adjustment phase seems to be over, I hope to do more of that next year.
Sherry,
The comments from Sam should make you very proud that you are a blog survivor. You must be doing some things right. I think all the advice you got is good and you should not discard the things that made you what you are. But you know me I do not like to discard the things that make me happy. When we have a bad day, we can always look back as some of those happy things and it makes us glad and raises our spirits. At any rate I will keep reading to see what you are thinking and where you are. Maybe out of duty also!! Ha!
DAD
I think the tricky things is that travel blogs (and most others) emerge and morph rather than being created and developed from a carefully constructed plan. Hence looking back at them if looking at a re-design means you have to work out what they stand for, what the goals are and how the information in them is sorted. As you say, not easy…
I’d agree with what folks before me have said. My general feeling is we’re here because we enjoy it, regardless of whether it fits a pattern or adheres to some convention. Keep doing what you’re doing!
PS – I really liked this post. Getting some insight to the stuff going on in your head makes me (and probably the rest of us) feel like we’re not alone.
Are you sure you are not a Virgo?
Once again we share similar questions and worries. I am always trying to stay true to myself and keep up with the blog because I enjoy it and want to share with and inspire others; not just to keep up with the “online Joneses.”
I’m really excited to see your new site! It sounds like you are way ahead of me in this process…but again, i’m not surprised we are both re-designing at the same time!
Miss you here!
LL
Sherry: I can SO relate to this whole scenario you are going through. It literally took me three years to figure out who I was and what my blog was all about. Was I a baby boomer traveler, a solo traveler, a budget traveler, a backpacker, a spiritual traveler…I touched on all these subjects but none of them really defined me until I realized that the common thread running through all my writing was culture. I think our styles and subjects are very similar, as are our life views, and it sounds to me like you’re on the right track. Looking forward to seeing your new design!
I’ve come across the old posts question too since I had a full year or more of writing about whatever came to mind. I left them and figured they’re there if anyone wants to see the change of the site over time.
Two things I love about your blog are the photography and personality. You’ve been blogging and traveling as a digital nomad longer than most and *are* a resource and inspiration for so many others. That’s what will keep readers here and some SEO tweaking can help the influx of new ones
I love the photography here myself, and I know that no matter how the structure or presentation changes, your essence and personality will continue to translate beautifully in the new setup. Excited to see it.
Thanks for the kind comments Roxanne! The redesign is always stressful – but hopefully it ends up in a better place. I’m really looking forward to offering a much larger Photo of the Week – will be a big improvement!
Wow, Sherry are you speaking to me! Just going through the same kind of redesign (with the same guy, as it happens
) and the way that I made it work was to..er, well, I haven’t. I’m still scratching my head…Let me know when you find the answer!
What finally helped me is that I made a whole wire frame in powerpoint and used that as a way to capture my thoughts and lay out areas of the site so I could kind of see how it all fit together. David was good at reminding me to try to keep it simple. I just tried to tell myself that only I am the most interested in every detail of my life…other people really don’t care that much! Best of luck and let me know how it goes!