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Everyone has travel challenges, but how these bloggers overcame theirs is truly inspiring

I debated for a while on which story to share with you today - the one of my getting terrible food poisoning in Nepal and breaking my toe as a result or the one of my husband getting bitten by a monkey in Thailand and having to chase down 6 rabies shots in 4 countries after that. Then I decided that the story I want to write today is not about the details, its about the bigger picture of the challenges we face when traveling and writing.

Chez sick in Nepal   Such a bad idea

Image Source: Lowkey Adventures

 

It was a simple task, really, to keep a travel blog for my family and friends. Aside from the time commitments and challenges related to being a blogger, there were all kinds of other challenges related specifically to writing and traveling.

There were many times I was thankful that I did not have 20,000 fans waiting for my next story or update. It was hard enough to keep my crappy little blog going and, let’s be honest, the only people reading it were my family members. Keeping them happy was all I could handle.

We have found some stories from professional travel bloggers about their most challenging travel writing situations and how they dealt with them. Enjoy!

#1. Serious Injury in a Remote Location

"The only way in or out was either by plane or several days on a boat. This was as remote as it gets.” -Deb

pic

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, on what was a relatively safe adventure, Dave slipped and broke his back.

“It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. We were nearing the farthest distance from civilization of our voyage and storms were circling above. Planes weren’t flying out of Iquitos and we were stuck waiting for four hours before salvation finally came.”

Traveler Tip: Deb says to always carry insurance with you when you travel (Tweet This!). Do what you need to do to take care of the situation. If that’s to head home and stay in one place for a while, do it! Whatever you need its OK. And maybe take a few pics. Perhaps it’s not the story you set out to write, but it’s the one that happened and is your experience.

Read on to see how Dave got out of the jungle and how he is doing now: Dave's Broken Back and a Little Healing Time
Open Letter Travel Family

#2: Forgetting the Best Parts

“A common travel writing challenge I ran into at the beginning of my career was letting too much time pass before sitting down to write, and forgetting details which surrounded the experience.” - Megan

Sure, it's easy enough to find facts on just about anything online and photos from a trip can easily help place you back in a certain moment, but really great travel writing is about capturing more than just the facts of an experience or recounting the events of the day.

Really great travel writing is about capturing how an activity made you feel and putting that adrenaline rush into words. It's about documenting the smells, tastes and sounds of a destination and creating an image based off more than just the physical appearance of a place. It's about phrasing an article so that the reader is right there with you and gets an overwhelming sense of what it is actually like to be standing there instead of you.

 

 

Photo: Transcribing my (Megan's) experiences from climbing Kilimanjaro from my notebook to my computer. I now use a voice recorder which is much smaller and more convenient.

Traveler Tip: Travel with a voice recorder and make vocal notes as you travel so you don't end up forgetting vital information along the way (Tweet This!). You're not always going to have access to a computer or laptop abroad, so it's imperative to come up with a way to keep a record of your ideas, thoughts and feelings so they don't get lost by the end of the week or day.

 

#3: Being able to Actually Relax

http://www.aworldtotravel.com/yala-national-park-wildlife-nature/

We all talk about the life-work balance. But what if your life work is traveling the world? I mean, would you ever want to stop working and take a day off?

“I love what I do indeed!”...“I have to confess traveling as I do is everything but a relaxing vacation.” - Inma

When you travel and write for a living, it is a big commitment and taking personal days while traveling is tough for bloggers. Usually, they are traveling specifically to have adventures worth writing about.

Inma from A World To Travel lists uncountable plane, bus, train and taxi rides, getting sick twice, having a phone stolen and breaking a tooth, all intermixed with having a great time, staying in the best hotels and, of course, having amazing adventures in 6 countries in the last 2 months!

Traveler Tip: Take some time off! She took a week off in Sri Lanka to relax. Turns out, its OK to slow down and take the time for yourself. You will still have a story at the end and you’ll feel well rested. 

#4. Being Told you are not Doing Enough for the World

There are critics out there. Some people think that blogging and traveling is selfish, that if someone has all that free time, they should do more with it, like volunteer or get a “real” job, which is precisely, I am pretty sure, what our bloggers are trying to get away from.

“The criticism I receive most often from readers is: ‘You’re not doing anything to make the world a better place.’” - Camille, This American Girl

Taking it with grace, Camille reminds us that whatever we do in life, it has to be a personal choice. She reminds us to “be the change we want to see”. There are many ways to live life and the truth is that she does change the world. By posting about How Cambodia Broke Her Heart and by posting about countries that many of us would never have considered visiting, she opens them up to us.

Travel bloggers make places seem less scary by sharing their stories with us. They bring an understanding of a place and it’s people to those of us who may not have even known that we were harboring preconceived notions or prejudices. And if that creates a world where we better understand and respect each other, the world is definitely a better place!

Traveler Tip: Don’t be afraid of how some may judge the career of travel writing. Go for it and share your stories! By visiting places off the beaten path and showing the rest of us that kind people are everywhere on this planet, the world does become better.

#5. Dangers of Traveling Alone - How Far will you Go?

Sometimes journalists and bloggers need to travel far and wide to find a good story. While journalists are usually looking to report news or lifestyle pieces, our bloggers are similar in that their desire for new content takes them further and further abroad, sometimes into dangerous or highly remote places.

From being kidnapped and held in Somalia for over 400 days, as Amanda Lindhout so beautifully shared with us, to the troubles of traveling solo as a female, the dangers are real. Men share troubles too. From being solicited to buy drugs in Kathmandu (which happened to my husband at least 4 times in a few hours) to getting involved in partying that goes wrong on Koh Phangan, it pays to be careful.

7 Tourists Die in Speed Boat Disaster at Full Moon Party

When you travel alone, there is not someone there to watch your back while you sleep or walk home with you to your hostel. Many places in this world are safe, but unfortunately there have been too many cases of the innocent tourist being taken advantage of.

source: YouTube

 

Traveler Tip: Do your homework and take it seriously. If no one else has been where you want to go, perhaps it not wise to be the first to do so. Also, read up on travel advice. There is a ton of it out there, including how to stay safe while sleeping on trains, how to dress as a woman in more conservative countries, what to do when offered drugs on the street and so on. Solo travel is a wonderful, mind-opening experience and when done right it can be safe and rewarding.

#6. Your Health

“The point is, no one wants to get parasites when he or she’s volunteering in Africa… ” - Turner Wright, of Once A Traveler.

We all know what is lurking out there: when you travel, you might get sick. And if you are unlucky like most of us, you might get really sick.

Aside from getting one of the top ten worst traveling sicknesses, you might also have a deadline. For example, when I was in Nepal, it wasn’t just that I was behind on my blog, but I also had a plane to catch and couldn’t leave the bathroom. As you can see, this was a problem.

Source: Vagabondish

Griffin got bit by a monkey at Monkey Beach in Koh Phi Phi. Pretty much, there was a banana frenzy with the fattest monkeys you have ever seen, they got rowdy and one did a drive by biting. Nothing life-threatening, but it was deep enough to bleed and bad enough to require 6 rabies shots in 4 different countries.

source: LowKey Adventures

Traveler Tip: Figure out what you are ill with and how serious it is. Take the proper precautions, don’t mess with the serious ones and get vaccinated.

#7. Travel Delays and Lost Luggage

“‘Dude, Where’s My Passport?!’ That’s exactly what I asked the Thai embassy in Chicago. And also the postmaster’s office. After hours on the phone with each, both disavow any knowledge of my most valued travel possession.” - Greg Rogers, Vagabond Life

So you had a plan. It was perfect. You timed it all to avoid the rainy season in one place but catch the nice weather somewhere else. Or perhaps your schedule is more tight because of an event, like the World Cup or a tour, that you paid a lot of money for, to see Patagonia.

And then it happens - your flight is canceled. You lost your passport. Your luggage went to a different country.

source: Travel & Leisure

Traveler Tip: Turns out, there is usually not much you can do, but throwing a tantrum is definitely not the way. Be persistent yet polite and try to not get too worked up.

I remember when I arrived in Kenya 10 years ago and our flight was over 10 hours delayed. This is well before many people had cell phones and email there. I arrived exhausted and apologized profusely. “How long have you been waiting?” they asked. “Since last night. But please, it is no problem. This is the airport. It happens,” I said. Seems to me like people in other countries are more accustomed to delays and while it’s polite to do what you can, it’s also not worth stressing out about it.

#8. There Just wasn’t a Story There

Sometimes there are big expectations.

“The place [Koh Phi Phi] itself is stunning, but unfortunately the mass tourism ruined it completely.” - Clelia of Keep Calm and Travel

Not all destinations are what you expect.

source: Getting Stamped

But sometimes even if the story you wanted wasn’t there, another one is. Karisa of Flirting with the Globe thought Malta was a Mistake, but she not only found happiness there, she also got some fun pics and stories.

Traveler Tip: There is always a story, even if it’s not what you set out to write. Being flexible and seeing a place for what it is can help open up the writing and blogging.

#9. Weather Ruined our Photos

Source: Intrepid Escape

How he got so lucky to get this sunshine picture, I don’t know. It rains more there than anywhere! (On average, 182 days per year).

And now, the award winning images I took from the same place:

source: LowKey Adventures

Here’s another image from my blog in Hawaii (Kaui) to see this great canyon and it was so stupidly foggy. It gets like 400+ inches of rain per year!!

Traveler Tip: Take the photos anyway. You’ll be happy to have the memory and you just might take something great.

#10. You’ll Always have Regrets

“My biggest regrets come from my deepest desires, the things I miss in my heart of hearts. So when I say my regrets it will usually revolve around a loss of some kind in my previous life.” - Josh, Travel With Bender

The grass is always greener. When you travel, you inevitably meet someone who did something you missed out on or went to a country you decided to skip and now you regret it. Not only are there regrets from missing stories, there are regrets from missing other aspects of life.

There are several things we take for granted while not traveling, such as children interacting with extended family, overall health, the familiarity of having “stuff” and just being in a place you know.

source: The Professional Hobo

Traveler Tip: Regrets or not, make the most of whatever you are doing, as you are meant to be exactly where you are now (Tweet This!).

Want more travel writing challenges? Nora of the Professional Hobo sums it up really nicely for us. From breaking up while traveling (yikes!) to head-on car accidents, landslides, creepy critters, being sick and much, much more. Brace Yourself, Travel Isn't All Roses and Lollipops

But the bottom line? She keeps traveling and keeps blogging and continues to share her adventures and mishaps with us because that is what travel writing is all about. It isn’t always about being the best or finding the most unique stories. Sometimes, it’s just about life abroad and how we are all human, no matter where in the world we are.

Comments

Once A Traveler:

Didn’t see this until now :P Thanks for the push!

Aug 22, 2015

cathy:

the most obvious – break your computer – did this on a bus in Turkey – it fell off the seat next to me – very careless of me!

Mar 24, 2015

Trevor Barre:

great post with lots to think about, thanks

Mar 18, 2015

Meg Jerrard:

Great compilation of challenges and tips here – especially relate to the weather ruining photos!! Though totally agree that even if your photos can’t be used in an article or travel piece, they’re worthwhile if just for the memories themselves, and often a photo can evoke memories and take you back to the moment in time so you can write more accurately :)

Mar 18, 2015

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