INTERVIEW
"Maintain excellent
standards in your
writing, publicise your
blog on social media,
and interact with
your readers and with
other bloggers. "
Ireland. What’s yours? (We know you
love road trips!)
It’s a recent drive my husband and I did
from Queenstown to Milford Sound.
Although all of New Zealand is one big
amazing road trip (we drove for almost
4000 km over two weeks there), this
route was something special. The entire
drive was on narrow, winding roads,
along snowcapped mountains, sometimes
along lakes, sometimes along fjords (the
Fiorland National Park), and always
stretches of greenery. And in the second
part of the journey, we drove through the
Southern Alps. Truly spectacular!
Young people dream about setting up a
travel blog so they can roam the world
for free. What would you say to them?
There is no such thing as travelling the
world for free–bloggers who get to see
the world work very hard in creating
good quality content that draws in
thousands of readers every month. So, I
Italy
would say to them: maintain excellent
standards in your writing, publicise your
blog on social media and interact with
your readers and with other bloggers.
And soon–if you write really well, and
become a travel influencer–you will
also be on you way to your dream
destination.
what makes a great travel post?
A great travel post is one that is funny,
engaging and informative at the same
time. It should be like reading a story
– the reader should want to travel with
you and know what happened to you
next. And of course, it should have great
photographs to go with it. My tips:
1. Write about offbeat travel topics as
much as possible. By that, I don’t mean
just offbeat destinations; even if you go
to the old tried and tested places, think
of something new and interesting
to blog about. For instance, I have
blogged about the street booksellers of
Paris and archery matches in Bhutan.
2. I personally don’t like lists, but they
really connect with readers. So, in
between long posts, write pithy lists
(10 things to do in, How to spend a
weekend in, 5 must-eats in and so on)
3. Pay attention to photographs.To
be a really good blogger, work on
improving your photography skills.
Attractive visuals immediately make a
blog popular.
If you were to be confined to one
country for a year, which country
would it be?
Without any hesitation, I would say
Italy. I am a history and culture buff and
Italy has an unsurpassed wealth of riches
that really appeals to my sensibilities.
Then, of course, there is the beauty of
the Cinque Terre region, the mystique
of Venice, the sophistication of Milan. I
could go on and on…
September-October 2015 Travel Secrets 63