11 Mistakes I Made When Starting a Travel Blog (So You Don’t Have To)

Table of Contents

Can you believe that it’s nearly 10 years since I started my travel blog? And boy can I tell you I have made so many mistakes along the way. Starting a blog alone was unheard of when I started. Like no one was blogging back then.

If you have been with me from the beginning you will know that MyBreakingViews originally started as a political blog where I wanted to talk about political issues and foreign affairs. I have always had a political mind of my own from as young as I can remember. Some of my first blog post included: The EU Referendum: In or Out? Good or Bad? and Revisiting Jesse Williams BET speech: 1 Powerful. Unapologetic. Necessary.

Starting a travel blog wasn’t what I had on my bingo card. Although, at that point I had very much established myself as someone that travelled. However, I wanted to start a political blog and so MyBreakingViews (MBV from here afterwards) was born. It’s funny looking back now, because while starting this blog I had just started my career in finance after doing an International Politics degree and at the time thought this was my God-chosen path.

I was wrong. God showed up for me like He always does and gave me my first Government role and then later into Diplomacy. A sector that I had my heart set on forever. And once I started my career in the government, diplomatic sector I knew that my political blog would need to come to an end due to impartiality. This is where I took a few years hiatus and then came back and pivoted MBV into a travel blog.

It made sense at the time because I had already travelled 25+ countries and I really did love to travel and I kind of wanted to document my experiences while working a full-time job.

Fast forward to today I’ve travelled to 60+ countries, have more than 250+ posts, grown an audience on social media, built a brand, launched e-books and a sizable affiliate income, and started my very own company Ayoviama!

Here are 11 mistakes I made when starting a travel blog, so you don’t have to…

It’s been a journey to say the least. And today I wanted to share with you some real hard truths that have cost me some years of growth. If you’re starting a travel blog now (or trying to grow one alongside a 9-5 career), this post is everything I wish someone had told me when I started my travel blog.

Mistake #1: I Started Without a Clear Niche

When I pivoted MBV into a travel blog, I wrote about everything. And I mean everything! I laugh about it now but I did not have a clear niche where I was starting a travel blog and it showed. I was terrified that I would have to many judgements if I started to talk about solo travel. I didn’t think people cared about my experiences because people weren’t really travelling like they are today.

Then there was food, but I didn’t know how to write about food and travel. .

I tried to share travel tips but they weren’t clear. For me being broad ment that I would attract people, but it really didn’t. If anything it actually confused readers and completely confused Google. Not that I knew what that ment at the time.

Looking back now, I didn’t clearly communicate what MBV stood for. Because I didn’t know what it was I was just blogging and posting cute pictures of myself.

Today I have changed and show up so differently. Here’s what I’d do differently. I now have a very very clear niche and that started to show after the pandemic where Cooking Travel Talks was kicked off (we have season 4 coming out soon). I spent a lot of time making MBV a travel foodie blog. More recently I would say my niche falls into the following buckets:

Solo travel
Black women travel experiences
Underrated destinations
Food experiences
Travelling alongside a full-time job

Lesson: People (and Google) need to instantly understand what your travel blog is about. Find a niche and stick to it for at least eight months and see what happens. And don’t be afraid to pivot.

Mistake #2: I Wrote Whatever I Felt Like (No SEO Strategy)

For years, I wrote purely based on vibes. And vibes it was no one knew what having a brand, a blog was like they do now. Today blogging travel blogging is soo structured. There are tools that help people travel blog now like Notion, Airtable and more.

Back in the days when I first started my travel blog I wrote when I felt inspired with no structure or format. And if I didn’t, I didn’t. I never once thought about what people were searching for (it didn’t occur to me), whether my content solved a real life problem and guess what that ment for me? It ment that some of my favourite posts still get zero traffic to this day.

Here’s what I’d do differently today. Start every blog post with a keyword that targets my audience like Black solo travel, foodie guides in X and so on. I make sure to research using websites like AnswerThePublic and Keyword Tool. Today, I actually try to answer a questions, provide a clear outline with a itinerary things to do and share my actual experience travelling as a Black women.

Lesson: Beautiful writing means nothing if nobody can find it online. Which nicely leads me to the next lesson.

Mistake #3: I Avoided Keyword Research for Too Long

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) scared me, like I didn’t even get it so I didn’t even bother. For me it felt way too technical. A little too tedious. Overwhelming for me so what did I do? I just avoided it. This was a huge mistake and really cost me years of growth for MBV.

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

For those that are very new to this, SEO and don’t know what it is. It is basically how you help your blog show up on Google. Think of it as yourself where you are literally typing something in Google or another search engine. If you type something like ‘budget solo in Cape Verde’ or travel tips for Houston, itineraries, or guides in Serbia, you ideally want your travel blog to appears in the results.

SEO is key because it brings you organic traffic from around the world, which means people find your blog naturally without you paying for ads.

Once I finally learned how people actually search for travel information, and began to take SEO seriously my traffic started to change.

If you are considering starting a travel blog you must make sure you learn basic keyword research from day one.

Lesson: If you want long-term blog traffic, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is not optional. Learn about SEO first and expand there afterwards, because this will change your travel blog to not being seen to being seen world wide.

Mistake #4: I Didn’t Collect Emails From Day One

I relied entirely on social media and blog traffic. Heck I didn’t even have a subscription list for people to join. At one point I gave up on the travel blog and just went and did content creating for Instagram, TikTok. This was yet again another mistake. I found that I didn’t have a an email list because I was building on platforms where my reach could disappear literally overnight.

This had to change and now I understand the value of building email lists. In fact it is actually critical. Your email list is your real audience. We all know how social media platforms change with different algorithms changing everyday.

What I do now and you should too: I started an email list immediately even if only 10 people join every other month at least I know that I am building a credible community that belongs to me.

Lesson: Your email list is an asset. Social media is rented space don’t fall for the the trap.

Mistake #5: I Waited Too Long to Monetise

I thought I had to be “big enough” to make money. Another mistake when starting a travel blog is thinking that you can’t make money which is a rookie mistake indeed. This only ment that I delayed affiliated links (because I didn’t know they excited), didn’t publish digital products, didn’t share guides (because I didn’t know people would be interest) and delayed workshops.

That cost me years of income. And I mean years of income. It was only after I decided with much hesitation, and advise from other travel bloggers to actually invest in myself and take a chance.

Heres what I do now: Monetise from the minute you get your domain and hosting. And when I say monetise I mean by doing this ethically meaning I would only share something with my community when I have used it myself.

You can do this through:

Affiliate links – TravelPayOuts, Stay22 and Asana that you can start with. There are of course many more, but these are a good start.
Trips and travel guides – use the affiliated links and add your tours, trips, cooking classes.
Workshops and digital products – sale them to your audience.

If you build enough of a community online, you will build enough trust for them to also buy from you too.

Lesson: You don’t need brand deals to make money online, you can have enough funds to fund your trips around the world.

Mistake #6: I Never Updated Old Blog Posts

I used to publish a post and never touch it again. Honestly, between you and me my old posts from 2017 and beyond have not had any engagement for years and for good reason too. I learnt in the last couple of years that despite travel content being evergreen, Google actually prefers:

fresh content
updated prices
improved structure
better internal linking

What we should all being doing now: More than I should. But I have made it my ultimate goal to start updating my old blog posts every 6-12 months if not more often. This allows me to add interlinking within my blog, building my ecosystem, and just refresh my content for my audience to have the most up to date reference.

Lesson: Your old content is a long-term asset – update it you have no idea who is clicking on it.

Mistake #7: I Posted Inconsistently

I treated blogging like a hobby. Some months I posted a lot. I recall posting three times a week, which makes me laugh now because it just wasn’t consistent. Sometimes, I would wait until I travelled and in the early days I wasn’t always travelling so I was sometimes only posting maybe once or twice a year.

Some years went by where I didn’t post anything. I would allow my blog to overload and not do anything about it. Honestly. I had given up on my travel blog, convincing myself that travel blogging was dead and that it was over saturated and no one was going to care about MBV. Boy was I wrong.

What I’d do now: I now create a realistic posting schedule I can stick to. If you can post once a week good. If you can post two or three times even better.

Lesson: Consistency beats motivation and growth hates inconsistency. Whatever you do once you start wait it out and don’t stop. And remind yourself daily why you started.

Mistake #8: I Compared Myself to Bigger Bloggers

I wasted so much time feeling behind and not feeling like I could come back because I expected more for myself. Why isn’t my traffic higher? That blogger has 1,000 of subscribers and I don’t even know where to begin. Brands haven’t noticed me in the way I want them too.

And the worst why is my blogs or content not going viral?

This was causing me more harm than good because what I didn’t see was how long others had been working on their travel blog. The teams they had built. The budget and their SEO strategies. The biggest mistake I made was comparing myself to other bloggers, which is something that cost me years of growth.

And here is what I do now: Stay in my own lane. Always and forever. I do not worry about what others are doing because it’s not for me and I have my own niche, path and lane I know what I am doing so I just stay focused on that and you should too. Don’t make the mistake of comparing yourself to other bloggers bigger or smaller.

I wrote about this a little more on Substack, which you may want to consider if you are starting out blogging before buying your host and domain.

Lesson: Your timeline is not their timeline focus on you. Have tunnel vision and you will never look back.

Mistake #9: I Didn’t Treat MBV Like a Real Business

For years, MBV was “just a blog.” And sometimes. Just sometimes. I still refer to it as “just a blog.” Years I had no strategy, funnels, monetisation plan and no product roadmap. All of these have cost me But my mindset has shifted. I decided to take it seriously in 2023 and that for me changed everything.

What you should do now: Treat it like a business from day one.

Lesson: Hobbies don’t pay for the things you love. Businesses do.

Mistake #10: I Ignored Pinterest and Long-Term Traffic

I already spoke about this earlier, but again. Despite knowing how to use Pinterest I still relied too heavily on Instagram, placing it as a my main platform. When my reach dropped, my traffic dropped. Pinterest is a game changer it’s another search engine, but with visuals. I LOVE Pinterest and use it daily not only for myself but as a learning tool.

What I’d do now: Build long-term traffic alongside social media. Sign up to Pinterest and grow traffic to your blog. You can use sites like Canva to build your pins and Tailwind to schedule your pin in advance.

Lesson: You need platforms that work while you sleep and grow your blog.

Mistake #11: I Underestimated How Long Growth Takes

I thought I’d blow up in a year. Actually I didn’t but it’s good for wishful thinking right because I didn’t blow up overnight or in a year either. For me it has taken years of writing, SEO learning and testing, content testing with maybe 10 views and whole heap of consistency and patience.

What I’d do now: Accept that slow growth is normal. Even now I would say that I am still growing, keep going showing up reminding yourself why you are doing this and be in for the long haul.

Lesson: This is a long game and not a quick fix. Show up like you would show up for your job and see it work.

Final Views

So there for you have it 11 mistakes I made when starting a travel blog, so you don’t have to. These are just some of my mistakes that I wish I knew about when I first started my travel blogging days. But we learn and we now move with intention and force.

Everyday I am learning that building slowly, brick by brick is more sustainable longer term and is more intentional. Doing this alongside a full-time career comes with it’s challenges and if you want to you can because I have so you can too.

As I move to share my journey in building my travel blog I hope I can keep being transparent and share with you the challenges I faced over the years and you can share with me too. Want to learn more then subscribe to the travel blog now and you won’t miss a beat.

As always,

Speak soon,

MBV x

Lifestyle Travel tips