We blog because adventure travel is our passion, and we are just as devoted to writing about it. We love travel so much we want to share it with others. The travel blog is the media we chose to broadcast our love, our helpful information, and our stories to others. Sometimes though we go overboard and become an obsessive travel blogger.
An obsessive travel blogger catches all the crazy moments
Travel blogging is a very healthy activity. Just like any activity, if one becomes too engrossed in it, it becomes an obsession. An obsession is not considered healthy. Here are five signs you may be a travel blog junkie listed in order of severity. If you find yourself doing the yellow light warnings, you are safe. Anyone who is passionate is going to straddle the fence of obsession; However, if you find yourself hitting the red lights – get help.
Five warning signs you are an obsessive travel blogger
5. Every experience is framed in how you would blog it – Yellow light
When you meet a really cool person on the road instead of saying “what a cool life experience,” you think, “what a great post.” Even non-travel related experiences or important news events become possible nuggets to post on your travel blog. You bring a camera with you everywhere in order to not miss out on opportunities for your next great post.
4. You click on your travel blog on multiple computers each day – Yellow light
You have two home computers and each day you start by googling your home page, on each computer (this helps your google page rank), and click on your travel blog. While waiting in line for coffee you get out your iPhone and click on your travel blog. You arrive at work, say hello to co-workers, and the first thing you do at work is to click on your travel blog from your work computer.
I was once banished to a hole for being an obsessive travel blogger
3. You talk about your blog constantly – Yellow light
One of the first things I tell people I meet is that I write a travel blog. I do this because it is a hobby I am proud of. Plus, it interests people. When I say I write a travel blog they usually ask questions like what is the URL, where have you been, what are your favorite places.
On the other hand, if you tell people unsolicited how many twitter followers you have, what your Klout score is, and your Alexa rank, then you might be becoming a bore. If you begin every sentence with “I wrote a travel blog entry once,” you may successfully be making travel talk boring, which is very difficult. You are getting close to becoming an obsessive travel blogger.
Be careful bloggers, next two are red lights if you are an obsessive travel blogger
2. You visit the library just to get page views – Red light
You visit the local library not to check out books, but to use their computers (all twenty of them) in order to visit your website. Each one you stay on your site for over five minutes and visit multiple links to improve bounce rate and average time on site. Yes, you are a slave to google analytics, and you are an obsessive travel blogger.
1. Setting your travel blog as your home page – Red light
If you set your travel blog as your home page on your home computer, this is okay, although possibly a little odd. However, if you compulsively set your travel blog as the home page on other people’s computer when visiting then you may be going overboard with your google rank, page views, and Alexa score, not to mention a little devious. You have become an obsessive travel blogger.
Adventure on!
The goal of Traveling Ted is to inspire people to outdoor adventure travel and then provide tips on where and how to go. If you liked this post then enter your email in the box to get email notifications for each new entry. Daily travel photos are excluded from your email in order to not flood you with posts. There is no spam and email information will not be shared. Other e-follow options include Facebook (click on the like box to the right) or twitter (click on the pretty bird on the rainbow above).
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I only do #5 so I am safe! 🙂 I thought this list was going to make me look much worse than that!
Jeremy Branham recently posted..Is immigration a bigger threat to the world than terrorism?
Thank goodness I didn’t get to the red light!
LOL! Only #5 is applicable to me. Thank goodness!
Micamyx|Senyorita recently posted..Breakfast with the Bagobo Tribe – Tibolo Village, Davao del Sur
Oh no Ted, I qualify under just about every point 😛 Actually, in all seriousness this was a really thought provoking article. I think it’s not easy at times to determine whether something is a hobby or an obsession. I believe one test would be how you react when you’re not able to contribute or view your blog – for example, if you went on a three day hiking trip and worried that your alexa and google analytics were plummeting instead of enjoying the experience and living in the moment.
Nomadic Samuel recently posted..Camel Teeth | Jaisalmer, India | Travel Photo
Haha nice post 😉 Surprisingly, for how much I blog, I don’t really do any of these… but I am a slave to Google Analytics. LOVE it.
And… your social life is dominated by blogger events 🙂 Ted, I love any post you write that has that man dancing in a coconut bikini top.
Leslie recently posted..Review: ‘Art in the Streets’ exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles (photos)
LOL thanks for the good laugh Ted! I only do about two of those, which happen to be yellow lights. But hey, I think you gave me extra ideas! 😉 Haha thanks man great post
I’m ignorant. I thought analytics were there to keep track of blog activity, not a function to boost. I’ve been trying to NOT impact my readership, so the numbers were useful! Duh. What am I missing?
Guilty of #1
Pure truth here..
Cheers..
Charles Higgins recently posted..Hooters Casino files for bankruptcy
You know when you’re in trouble when someone says to you, “So wht do you do?”, and all you want to respond with is “I’m a blogger”.
Larry Lewis recently posted..Use Self Reflection to Get Some Direction
Very humorous post that could also be very sad 🙁 So far I haven’t done any of them but have thought about some that commentors have suggested! Is that bad?
Dang, what happened to me ><. I have been in denial lol. I have become a travel blogging addict. I haven't gotten to threat level red yet but I have contemplated them.
Leif Harum recently posted..How To Work On A Luxury Yacht
You brought a smile to my face with this post.
Leigh recently posted..Johannesburg, South Africa – Would You Travel There??
#6 You’re thinking about it during sex.
#7 You’re starving in the morning yet still the first thing to do even before taking a pee is to check you’re bog.
#8 You’re getting angry about all this points knowing they are all true.
🙂
Luke recently posted..Highest Paying Degrees
These thing never even entered my mind-lol.
great post… though i havent done any of those… i do always check my layout… maybe im more obsessive on how my blog looks LOL
flipnomad recently posted..Comment on $1.25 Buffet in Luang Prabang by Ed
This made me laugh today. I’m still safe. Still in the yellow zone. But tomorrow, I might hit those public libraries! 😉
Phew! I’m safe 🙂
Enjoyed the post Ted and will bear these warning signs in mind.
Too funny, Ted. Thanks for some unknown suggestions (our library is within walking distance!)
I always do number 5, but as I writer I tend to think in terms of “oh that would make a good post/article/story, etc” whenever I see something interesting. And number four I kind do because I often check my blog at school, and at home, but I never do it for the pr – I actually didn’t even know that helped.
Not sure how to break this to you.
Your examples are not merely “obsessive.” We’re talking severe obsessive compulsive disorder territory here.
Maybe you need a vacation. 😉
So true, I am on vacation now, although I am blogging about it. This bears in mind the question if travel bloggers are ever on vacation?
I didn’t get to red light, but I had 2 yellow’s. In particular, I am frequently thinking about how an event/picture/situation can be turned into a blog post.
Almost obsessed….almost. Loved the list 🙂
Alicia-joy recently posted..Solo Travel & The Stickiness Of Solitude
Thanks Alicia,
It is funny how blogging changes your perspective not only of traveling, but life as well.