Why You Should Start Writing About Your Favorite Destination

Unless, of course, you ENJOY shooting thousands of dollars into the wind when you travel.

©Kristi Keller - Parrottee Beach, Jamaica

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY needs to see that photo of my feet up there, but I’m using it to prove a point. I’ll tell you how it relates a little further down the page.

First things first.

If you’re the type of traveller who keeps visiting the same destination over and over because you can’t seem to get enough, you’re probably exhausted over the financial drain of ALWAYS wanting to be there.

But hear this:

Chances are, if you’ve been to the same place a few times, you know a few things about it, right?

If you want to stop spending travel dollars, all you need to do is turn your love and knowledge of a particular destination into a legit hustle…because that’s how every epic pursuit begins. Long live the side hustle!

This pursuit isn’t going to earn you money in the beginning but it WILL start earning you free travel perks in a matter of months. I promise. And it’s waaaay easier to execute than you think.

You don’t even need a professional website to pull this off but you do need some form of online real estate. A simple blog will suffice. You could even get away with using Substack if you invest in a custom domain name and you’re willing to settle for lack of prettiness.

Why does a destination lover need a blog?

Because you could know every single little thing there is to know about the locale you’re in love with but if you don’t have a landing spot for your knowledge and travel diaries, nobody knows, and sorry but nobody cares.

Having said that, maybe now you’re freaking out over how the hell you could write blog posts often enough and engagingly enough to sustain a whole blog.

Patience, grasshopper. That’s what I’m here for and hopefully, it’s what you’re here for.

If I could keep writing about one small island for ten years, you can also do it with ANY destination.

You will never run out of content about your destination if you follow my tutelage (That’s Bridgerton-speak for coaching 😁)

Here’s why you should start blogging about your favorite vacation spot:

1. You need a place to direct people when they ask you for destination advice.

Trust me, they WILL be asking you for the same piece of advice….over and over until forever, amen.

If you’ve been to the same place a few times or you already live there, I’m willing to bet this is already happening to you.

Your friends regularly ask you for advice on where to stay, what the exchange rate is, and where they should go for a party, a dolphin, a burrito, or a rooftop bar.

If you don’t have answers parked in a dedicated space online that you can direct them to you’ll be typing the same emails and answering the same questions until the end of time.

Your destination blog is a spot where you can publish tidbits of information ONCE and you’ll forever have anchored links to send to anyone who’s asking.

It’s a time and sanity saver. Believe that.

2. A destination blog builds trust and authority.

This is something a regular website doesn’t necessarily do.

Anyone can claim to be an expert or specialist in anything, but without the backitive to prove it, they’re invisible.

I could set up a website about Barbados right now with some pretty beach pictures without ever having been there. But unless I can tell a good story about Barbados, how is anyone going to trust my opinions and advice?

A website without a blog is like Amazon without customer reviews. Pics and stories, or it didn’t happen.

People who may potentially become your customers and supporters need to know you’ve got some skin in the game. And they should definitely know insider tips such as…it’s illegal to wear camouflage in Barbados (true story). Even better if you’ve been arrested for it and have jail pics as proof. (Joking! Don’t do this!)

They want to trust your opinions and recommendations. Especially with travel.

They want to know about all the mistakes you’ve made so they don’t have to make them.

3. A destination blog demonstrates longevity and reliability.

I could merely tell you that I had explored and tested out every single nook and cranny Jamaica has to offer.

But it was so much more gratifying when Googlers in 2017 could find something I blogged about in 2009 and realize, “Holy shit, she wasn’t lying. She really HAS invested years of her life into this. I trust her!”

It proves you’re not a flight risk. You have a genuine love for what you do and are sticking around for the long haul—hence the trust and authority I mentioned earlier.

This is attractive when you’re trying to launch money-making business endeavours in the future. And you WILL be doing so because I’ll tell you what they are and how to execute every single one of them as we proceed.

A crappy little starter blog that grew and eventually flourished is what established my credibility as a Jamaica expert, even though I was notoriously known for getting hopelessly lost. In my beginnings, I didn’t know squat about Jamaica except how to overindulge in Appleton rum.

Over time, my travel escapades paved the way to expertise which then paved the way to sponsorships and partnerships and boosted every destination-based business idea I had ever dreamed up.

Throughout the 15 years I spent in Jamaica, I met hundreds of ex-pats and locals running businesses. Many of them struggled due to lack of visibility, and many of them came to me…the lady with the popular Jamaica blog, for help.

And that, my friends? Is a testimony of what publishing enjoyable and informative journal entries about one destination can do for you and your future amazing lifestyle.

4. You have NO idea what people are Googling, but it’ll blow your mind when you find out.

This will probably make you laugh and cringe simultaneously, but it’s also important.

One of the top search results that landed people on my blog was the phrase, “40-Legs.” I dare you to Google it.

A 40-Leg is what Jamaicans call a giant centipede that bites like a mofo. It’ll undoubtedly send you to the hospital and I was (un)lucky enough to spot one scampering across my living room when I lived on the island.

Of course, I took a picture before I smacked it with a boot because that’s what bloggers do. 😂 We amuse online strangers with our misfortunes and make them glad it happened to us and not them!

Journaling short anecdotes about dreadful creatures is the least professional thing I can think of, yet that story was one of the highest drivers of traffic to my site for EIGHT whole years!

I blogged about that monster in 2011, and it remained steady as a #1 Google search until I retired from my blog and went off the air in 2019.

Can you imagine a loathsome critter being responsible for bringing in a significant number of readers who turned into loyal followers and future customers?

So, what do my dirty beach feet have to do with anything?

I promised to explain how my feature photo at the top of this post relates to all the advice I just gave.

That exact photo was the banner image on my Jamaica blog for many years, along with a fun little quote I Photoshopped across it:

“The journey is sweet. The rum is strong. If you need a map, you might be doing it wrong!”

Dirty beach feet, rum, and giant centipedes. It doesn’t get more UNprofessional than that. Yet, I still managed to secure partnerships with Forbes Luxury Travel Guide, tourism magazines, countless hotels, resorts, villas, and guest houses, and of course, my trusty (and always FREE) sidekick, Budget Rental Car in Jamaica.

And that’s how the empire begins!

START NOW

If this sounds remotely amusing and ooooh so possible for you, here’s what you can do today.

Take out an empty journal book - I’m sure you have at least thirteen of them lying around - and start jotting down what you know about your favorite pin on the map.

Your scribbles don’t need to be fancy or in-depth right now. Just jot a few things in point form, even if they’re ridiculous. Trust me, readers LOVE all things ridiculous (remember good old 40-Legs?).

How many points can you come up with? Don’t worry if you’ve only got a few. I have billions more for you as we mosey on down this road together.