Travel

I decided to pursue my own blog. Here’s why

So this is it. This is really it!

Disclaimer: Not very interesting to read but you might learn something from it, really. So maybe, you can just close your browser now.

Hey, you didn’t! So you really want to continue reading?

Great! Thanks! You’re awesome!

Okay here it goes.

It took me a while to post this because I had been pondering whether to pursue my blog or not. I am surrounded by blogger friends and I belong to a couple of travel groups. I am a self-proclaimed traveler (Do I sound like a braggart? I hope not). So everybody travels and owns a travel blog. So I was thinking, why should I even continue doing something that everybody else is already doing? It doesn’t make any sense.

But I also have in me a passion for writing. Since I was a little kid, I was always writing. I like writing my thoughts on pieces of paper and I keep diaries. Back then it was more of a hobby, then one night, during my first travel abroad I met a guy that fueled my desire to follow my passion for writing. I wrote an article about him, which I submitted as an entry to a writing competition in a blog. Said article was published on that blog. After it got published, some people started sending me messages that they found my article, romantic. At the back of my mind, I thought, maybe I should write more. So I followed it up with two more articles about my ex-boyfriend.

From this, you can already sense that what I write mostly about love, relationships, and heartbreaks. I like to think I’m pretty good at it because I write from the heart, I based it all from my own experience. After that one published article, I decided to push my luck and apply as a writer in the same famous blog. I thought it would be helpful, that it would inspire me to be more creative when it comes to my writing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I expected. As a matter of fact, I endured being pressured to write three articles per month. This would have been okay if I was being paid, but no. Period. 

When I think about it, I admit that it was my fault somehow because I actually didn’t complain. I was always that kind of girl, the one who doesn’t get mad, the one who gets abused for my kindness. I may be a little stupid back then that even my friends would tell me so. About this gig, I’m going to write a blog post it soon (To my friends who’ve been waiting for it, this year won’t end without that story, ha ha ha… You know me!) Moving forward.

Secondly, I like traveling. I’ve always had itchy feet, that tickled adrenaline to pack up my backpack and just go where my feet take me. This year, I promised myself to make a short trip every month so why not write something about it; I love telling my travel stories anyway, particularly about my misadventures and all that come with it be it inside or outside the Philippines. So far, I have not failed myself yet, ha ha! How about a round of applause there?

Thirdly, well, this is not very reasonable to include but I’m telling you anyway. As I’ve mentioned earlier, some of my friends are bloggers/writers and when I say they are, I mean to say they absolutely are. They are prominent, write great articles, have tons of followers, they guest at some special events, and get sponsored trips. No kidding. I read, follow their blogs, and I support them wholeheartedly. Every time I read their blogs, I get hooked that I couldn’t help but wish that I can also be like them, to have an awesome blog like theirs. I do not envy them, do not get me wrong; to envy your successful friends is unhealthy. As luck would have it, they are very helpful and supportive and always reminding to start up my own blog soon. Aren’t they the most supportive friends? One of them is Cai, author of travelosyo.com. He really helps me when it comes to the design of my blog and always reminds me to be hands on when it comes to managing it. I followed his advice that one time, I spent the whole day designing and scraping the fuck out of it, and I almost gave up. So I realized it’s not easy, but that’s okay. I just needed time and courage to start it up. Yes, courage. You heard me right, I needed to have the nerve. I don’t want to be called a blogger just because I have a blog, I want to be called a blogger because I have something to write and share to people, something that’s from my heart. I want to share my real experience, and hopefully in the process, find meaning in what I do instead of copying other people’s ideas.

Another thing, you can earn some bucks by writing, right? Why not? If an opportunity knocks then I would absolutely grab it.

Lastly, well, this is the most crucial part, every time there is an event, such as a music festival, day tour, sponsored hotel accommodation, I always volunteer myself to attend them but shame on me, I don’t really find time to write the articles. Until now, I owe them articles. I always say that I can and I know that I can, but honestly speaking I still have some pending articles that I haven’t even finalized yet. In fact, this article that you’re reading right now is one living proof that I am work shy most of the time. Thank God, they have already been drafted so all I need to do is to check the grammar and construction so in one more kick, I’ll do it, I promise.

So there you go. Here I am right now. Those are the reasons why I am putting up my own blog. Reasons that I thought at first were not important, but they sure do in the grand scheme of things.

There is one thing that I want to share with you that I learned while I was writing this down. When you want to start up something, just do it. No laziness, no excuses, no buts or ifs. I figured that laziness will lead you to nothing. Trust me, I have been there. I’ve been an idle girl in all forms that I even thought of getting my own personal assistant for doing stuff that I can’t do or don’t want to do. But that’s lazy and I don’t want to be lazy anymore. I want to take charge of my life, and that goes the same with my blog.

So if like you have moments when you think you can’t do it, believe me, you can. It only takes trusting yourself and believe that you definitely can. Whatever it is, whichever way, take all the possible steps on how you can accomplish things. You are your own writer. You are the owner of your notes and pens. You can do it. This actually works for me!

escapes20

Thanks for reading! You’re amazing! Gimme a high five!

 

Born, raised, and forever loyal to the Philippines. Catherine is a teacher and a BA in Mass Communication graduate who loves anything child-friendly. She loves writing in her diary every day and is in love with beaches, books, Safari, and Tokyo. Her ultimate dream destinations are Madagascar, Mongolia, and Hawaii. Check out her van camping adventures in Europe at vancampingguide.com.

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *