On the whole, writing about my travels here is nothing but fun for me. However, it does come with its own unique set of problems. Not all of these will be true of every travel blogger, but these are my own personal #travelbloggerproblems.
The Wish List ¦¦ At any given time, I will have a wish list longer than my arm, greater than my budget and the equivalent to a decades worth of annual leave.This is thanks to reading all my fellow travel bloggers posts about the incredible, fun, scenic places they’ve been to and what fun they had there. Oh and Instagram, natch. #instagramproblems.
The shoefies ¦¦ This is related to #instagramproblems. It’s such an odd thing to take a picture of, but it’s oddly compelling. So I have become someone with shoefies on their Instagram. Halp?
The blogger poses ¦¦ Alright let’s just widen that up to blogger poses in general then. They’re so cringe, but so necessary. Amirite?
The phone notes ¦¦ Sometimes I have an idea that I think is going to make an absolutely amazing post idea. So I make a note about it on my phone. I tend to come back to these half-mad ramblings months later and wonder what on earth I was on about. Recent example: I found a note saying ‘Nobody welcomes dermatitis’.
???
Then I found this picture:
And it all made sense (?).
(Sorry, I hope nobody was eating.)
The need for wifi ¦¦ I try not to be one of Those People who is glued to their phone the entire time they’re away, but I just can’t resist sharing some of my travels in Instagram or Snapchat. Which all requires wifi.
The listicles ¦¦ I can’t be the only person who wanders around somewhere thinking about all the great things they can write about it. Usually in listicles, because Buzzfeed. I try to resist but sometimes the urge is too strong.
The packing ¦¦ I am hopeless at packing. Just useless. This shouldn’t be a big deal because the places I go to do have shops, and I mostly go for short trips anyway. But for some reason I spend ages agonising over what I should bring, what the weather will be like, what I need to wear for activity x or restaurant y, and inevitably end up at midnight panic buying things with next day delivery. I need help.
Bonus round: #travelbloggerhusbandproblems
I asked my husband what he found most annoying about me blogging about travel, and aside from spending too much time in front of the laptop (sorry…) his biggest pet peeves are as follows…
The ideas ¦¦ I keep writing about the things he wants to write about before he gets there. He likes to indulge in a bit of writing from time to time as well you see, only his writing is proper and not the unhinged ramblings of a woman disturbed (seriously, what was that dermatitis thing about?!). But he still gets miffed when I write about our trips before he gets the chance to.
The camera gear ¦¦ Carrying epic amounts of camera gear everywhere I go is bulky, annoying, and bad for my back. So usually my husband offers to lug it around for me, which is incredibly generous of him but then I end up feeling bad. Like the time I insisted we took a tripod around the Old Town of Istanbul with us (because ???) and we ended up having it temporarily confiscated in the Hagia Sophia and subject to an undisclosed ‘tripod fee’ in the Basilica Cistern. So we didn’t use it at all. Sorry, S.What are your #travelbloggerproblems?
-Rachel
All of these are so incredibly true! I can’t help but add a million different destinations to my ever growing list as soon as I read somebody else’s post about their experiences! I’m a big list person too, and I always have lists about our trips at some point in time. And how in the world are you supposed to use snapchat without wifi! This is probably the biggest thing that I’m struggling with for our trip to Europe! I try really hard to not be on my phone all the time too, but I know that I’m going to want to snap like crazy when we visit, but I also don’t want to pay for an international phone plan. #travelbloggerproblems
Maybe you could pick up a local sim card when you arrive at your destination? Your US phone number wouldn’t work but everything else would, so people at home could still contact you via email, whatsapp etc? Then you could snapchat to your hearts content and selfishly I’d like to see your snaps! When we were in Turkey I just did a lot of offline snaps and then posted them all in wifi, but that was a bit of a pain and meant I didn’t snap as much as I’d have liked.
Haha love these – great post! Definitely the ever-growing list is SUCH an issue 🙂
I’m just not sure what I can do about it! It grows far quicker than I can cross things off it…!
hehe, not a travel blogger but I still got a giggle from your list! 🙂 Well done on you for carrying the tripod around too, even if you didn’t get to use it. I have a lightweight one that compacts down and is portable but I still find it a pain and never take it anywhere. That’s why all my blog photos are in my neighbourhood, haha!
Away From The Blue Blog
I think some of them might be relevant to other bloggers too! Glad it gave you a laugh anyway. A compact tripod might be the answer to my problems, or I get better at balancing my camera on things!
Haha – great post! Up to about number 3 on your list I thought – no that isn’t me – I don’t take shoefies, make phonenotes or pose for blogger shots. Then I got to number four or five (about wifi) and realised you have described me perfectly.
Yes, whilst we all have our own problems I think there are usually one or two where we tend to overlap! I’m happy to hear my problems aren’t entirely my own, though!
the wish list, yes, a big problem!:)
Huge! Quite literally! I’m just not sure how mine is ever going to get smaller!
hahaha! mine are similar to yours! I am a perfectionist when it comes to lighting and taking pictures with my DSLR so i’ve been known to play with my ISO for ridiculous amounts of time just to make sure the lighting in the picture is *perfect*. my fiancé and i always joke about “did it for the blog”.
I’m still getting up the courage to turn my camera off ‘auto’. Shameful, I know! I’ve only had it for a year! Once I work up the nerve to do it, I’m going to be exactly the same as you. So much stuff gets done ‘for the blog’ it’s not even funny!
Oh yes – I hear ya – so of my own notes I’ve come across are bizarre to say the least!
I hope nobody else ever discovers them because some of them are worryingly bizarre!
The wish lists are usually inspired by reading too many blogs!
Yep. I blame the lot of you! That said, I recently rediscovered a book I bought way before blogs were a thing called “501 must visit cities”. So it would have happened one way or another 🙂
I wish I was better at keeping notes while traveling! I bought a journal JUST for a trip and then never used it! LOL
Oh I’ve definitely done that before, too. I should add that to the list! I have the best of intentions and then don’t want to ruin the page, ha!
Seriously though, that dermatitis thing is blogging gold. I have many similar rambles in drafts XD
Isn’t it just!? I think I was having a weird day when I found that. I mean, what a statement.
Glad it’s not just me!
My wish list is bordering on a joke now…I may as well just put ‘World’ and be done with it! 🙂
Haha, yep! That would certainly simplify things a lot!
the random notes – with you all the way there!
Phew, happy to hear I’m not the only one with that particular foible.
haha all of this. its tough out there. and i write random notes in my phone with hashtags and things i should instagram. it’s a bit nuts if you really think about it!
xoxo cheshire kat
The whole thing is totally odd, but we keep showing up regardless! I wonder what that says about us…
Maybe I won’t think about that too deeply.
Oh man I hate the travel blogger poses, I’ve totally given up on them. It’s just not me at all. I love shoefies as well but tbh I always forget to look down and around my feet is a hotspot for mosquito bites – no one wants to see them!
Great list! Jess
alrightblondie.com
Yeah I think that was my sole attempt at a blogger pose. It was so awkward to get that I can’t be bothered – also my husband refuses to take them so that settles it really. Still, try everything once… right!?
Oh no mosquito bites. I’m the same. Luckily Paris in November was not a great mosquito environment so I was all safe!
Guilty of shoefies right here, travelling or not! Like you said, there’s something oddly compelling about it … especially when there are beautiful tiles below you!
lol this is hilarious. packing is my favourite part about travelling because it involves planning and planning is my top top favourite. KC doesn’t like when I take too many photos, or when I’m always on my phone… but then when we look back on a trip he is always like i’m so glad you got a photo of this, so i win. lol.
If you decide to go to Hawaii hit me up. We’ve been about ten times now and at any point in my life I’m always anticipating a return trip so I have plenty of ideas and things to see/do/it bookmarked on my computer.