I've been helping with TravelBlog for a little over 6 years now. I initially started as a reader of the site to get first-person anecdotes about what to do in places I hoped to visit. It quickly became a pleasurable break to daydream about what I might be doing by vicariously enjoying some of the great bloggers. Soon after, I began blogging and got sucked into volunteering on the site -- it's kind of like a second baby now. 😉
I don't get to travel much right now due to studying for grad school and taking care of my family, but still love reading the blogs and seeing the photos folks share.
I'm impressed with how much people comment on each other's posts and the number of people who have met in real life -- there's so much conversation (even more outside of the forums, haha) -- and such a wonderful group of warm-hearted people, quite a few of whom I'm glad to call friends both on this site and in real life!
I'm curious to hear your stories -- please share! 😊
Reply to this In response to: Msg #201289 I discovered this site back in 2012. I'd just accepted a teaching job in Zhuhai, China - a city I knew nothing about.
Blogs on this site were a great source of information about the day-to-day life of an English teacher in China. (Key lesson: Never lose your sense of humor.)
Travel blogs also provide something you won't find in guide books or on Wikipedia or whatever: the stories that go with the pictures. Why was the person there? What did he hear? What was he thinking? What crazy thing happened while he was walking around/riding the bus/sitting in the restaurant?
So, clearly, what I enjoy most about this site is - the stories.
Reply to this It is well organized and easy to get published blog, and is visited by lots of interested people.
Reply to this I've been a member since 2009. I found out about Travelblog in NatGeo's Traveler Magazine. However, it wasn't until I had to figure out what to do with 3000 slides and prints my Dad had taken when I was growing up that TB entered my life in a real way. My Dad would show us slide when us kids were growing up as we had no TV in Thailand in the 1950's and 60's. I knew all the stories about the pictures. So in 2011 I digitized all his pictures and my pictures and organized them. I wrote Travelblogs covering my travels over six decades as a legacy for my children. I soon discovered that many others were interested in my travels and that I was part of a family with a shared passion for travel. I've had the privilege of meeting many Travelbloggers over the years. I also enjoy my role as a Moderator where I use the Forums and Comments on blogs to encourage the bonds between our bloggers. I don't enjoy deleting spammers, but someone has to do it so our bloggers do not have to contend with them.
Reply to this I've been blogging on the website since 2005. I love it! I actually stumbled upon Travel Blog creator Ali's Baja blogs and thought it would be great way to organize my own travel thoughts/photos. This community is super friendly and non judgmental, and that is super important to me. There are so many modes of transport and so many styles of travel to see this great big world, so I get inspiration and ideas from reading the wide variety of bloggers we have on here. Kudos Ali and all the moderators, you've done good!
Reply to this Hi,
As a suggestion, I would like to know when particular people on my subscription list, read a blog, in much the same way that one knows when a recipient readers a text on What's Apple. Is it possible to write that into the program?
Reply to this I have been a member since 2009 or so. I started with a describing a trip to southern Italy. Since then we have returned to the south of Italy almost every year and as such I have added new entries. I give detailed travel, location, numbers, emails, websites for each place that we have visited.
My current entries number around 90 but most of these have to do with our cycling trips around North America. I have given very detailed information on rails to trails, locations from Quebec to Texas and Florida to New York. I average well over 100 visits per month, so I know that readers are using the information in my blogs.
Reply to this I started my blog back in 2008, although I didn't get serious about it until 2011. I joined for the reason many do, to share my travels with friends and family. I also had the vague idea of a long adventure percolating, and wanted a place to record it for posterity.
At the time, I had no idea that "friends" would ultimately grow to encompass people from around the world. Travelblog's greatest asset is its community of dedicated travelers, and I'm honored to be part of it.
Reply to this I started in 2007. Yes I wish that TB has an app like other platforms. But I love how easy it is to read other blogs and search by location and get good results here. When it comes to content, TB is still number one for me. That's mostly because there's a lot of good bloggers here.
Reply to this Hi all,
I've been a part of this community since around d 2009, I remember I was in my cubicle at work in Houston and I had been saving money for a couple of years before that bc I always knew I wanted to travel I just had no idea it was even possible to do that until I started reading these blogs of people, some who had sold everything they owned and just hit the road for years at a time. That was music to my ears as it REALLY sparked my interest in traveling and later becoming an ESL teacher so that I could do this travel thing full time. I've talked to so many great people here, whether just reading and commenting on their blogs or direct messaging. It's been a while since I've put up a blog, but I'll have another one pretty soon. Thanks to all of the great mods here and the awesome blogs I get lost in 😊
Reply to this I was once a guest speaker at a Rotary Club, using the techniques I learnt as a Toastmaster. Afterwards someone in the audience approached me and asked that I consider writing a book because she enjoyed my presentation very much.
That opened up a new avenue of interest which I have now combined with my love of travel.
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