Travel Blogging as a Couple
-
We have several blogs that we admire and we often wonder how they manage to stay ahead of the game so well.
Most of the travel blogs out there seem to be solo travelers. They travel the world and manage to post quality articles while staying connected to their community and running an appealing blog.
Dave and I are lucky, We Travel Blog as a Couple
We can split the workload. While it may seem to some that Deb does the bulk of the work because she writes the posts, that is only one portion of running a successful travel blog.
We thought that we would share with you what the roles are of Dave and Deb at theplanetd travel blog.
Since Deb is obvious, let’s start with Dave.
Dave’s Roll on thePlanetD Blog
Dave’s main focus lies in three areas of the blog.
1. Photography
He takes travel photos that not only complement Deb’s writing but enhances the piece. He puts his photos into the blog post and formats the page. We also posts his photo gallery at www.picturetheplanet.com
While photography brings him accolades, it is his behind the scenes work that really plays an important role in Canada’s Adventure Couple.
Dave proofreads and edits all of Deb’s posts and chooses the photos to go with the articles that she write.
2. Code and Website Design
Do you see the layout of this blog? Well, Dave has sat at the computer for hours on end learning code and reformatting the website. From the little things like adding sponsors and advertisers to changing the look of pages, sidebars and even the colour of the blog he has become a self taught web designer.
It may seem easy when you look at it, but each area of the blog has delicate coding to deal with and Dave does it all.
Dave makes changes to theplanetd blog regularly. It is hard to believe that our little box stating “connect with us” contains a lot of code and can’t just be done through widgets and plugins.
3. Business of Travel Blogging
People contact us regularly to advertise on the site. Dave deals with the business aspect of theplanetd blog. He fields emails, writes proposals and sets up our rate structure. While we would love to take all the money and run, Dave screens advertisers to see if they are right for our site. He has a strict code that other blogs may not follow regarding price and content. We won’t bring our price down just to get more advertisers on our site. We have a minimum amount that we will take for an ad and we stick to it no matter how badly we may need the money. Content must also fit with the content on our blog.
Quality is always better than quantity.
Deb’s Roll at thePlanetD Travel Blog
-
Travel Blogging on the road, It's a tough life
Deb’s work is directed to the creative, marketing and social side of the blog.
1. Writing
Deb comes up with ideas for articles and writes the content. It can be exhausting during travels to constantly look for the story, but Deb keeps us moving to the next adventure. Once she has run out of content, it is time to move on to another destination. Deb looks for the story at every destination that we visit and come up with a unique spin on an article to capture the readers.
2. Networking
Deb is also the social force behind the blog. She visits other sites to comment on their content, give them a tweet or stumble and helps to advertise her friend’s content. She is the person that keeps our presence alive in the Internet universe. It may seem like she is simply having fun spending time on social media sites (which actually is fun) but it is a very important aspect of travel blogging to spend time at other travel blogs and social sites.
3. Marketing
Deb works on building relationships and getting the word out about theplanetd. She contributes guest articles to other websites and sends queries to newspapers. She has also mastered social media, working hard at building followers on twitter, stumbleupon and creating links through unique article wizard and ezine. Deb is also never too proud to hand out a business card and tell everyone that they run a popular travel blog. Networking is the key to success and getting new readers to our blog is the most important thing that a Blogger can have.
Blogging Together as a Couple.
This blog is run together and it is a team effort.
1. Brainstorming
Dave and Deb brainstorm story ideas and decide whether people will be interested in what they have to say or not. We check for key words and search engine optimization together. We also make sure that the blog stays focused to our niche of adventure couples travel. (something we are still working on)
2. Video
Dave is by far the more technical savvy of the two and he has set up the entire system of editing. He is in charge of transferring files to the computer and keeping it organized.
Editing is a team effort that takes a lot of time. We have fallen behind I am afraid, but are working to catch up. We feel that video is a very important aspect of any travel blog and we are looking to add more videos in the future to our website.
3. Planning
We plan our itinerary together. Believe it or not, we plan our travels around the blog. We would love to sit at the beach for weeks on end, but that would not make for interesting writing. We choose locations and adventures that we feel people will interested in. We climb mountains and go on safari’s because that is the adventure.
Summing up Blogging as a Couple
So there you have it. Dave and I have our separate roles, but we also work together. Just like traveling as a couple, blogging as a couple requires communication, compromise and adaptability. We are lucky to be able to split the workload, but we also need to be able to have the patience with each other to get across what we both want to our readers. This can sometimes be a challenge, but as time goes on, we are both developing a similar vision for theplanetd.
We admire the solo travelers out there that keep such great blogs going and have no idea how they manage.
We will stick with travel blogging together. It works for us and besides, we are already overwhelmed with the workload and we have double the man power!
29 Responses to Travel Blogging as a Couple
Leave a Reply
Sponsors
The Planet D on TV!
Posts
- Sunset on the Island of Rab, Croatia on June 2, 2012 by debndave - 2 Comments
- I Know a Secret Restaurant in Barcelona but Don’t Tell on June 1, 2012 by debndave - 5 Comments
- Wildlife Photography – Vultures in the Pyrenees on May 31, 2012 by debndave - 7 Comments
- Kayaking Through Croatia for Free- Our Rewarding Experience on May 30, 2012 by debndave - 28 Comments
- Honesty, Fear and Triumph – Dear Reader on May 27, 2011 by debndave - 166 Comments
- Petra by Night in Photos on May 4, 2011 by debndave - 150 Comments
- What’s With All the Hatin’ in Travel Blogging? on October 29, 2011 by debndave - 127 Comments
- So You Want to Be a Pro Blogger in The Travel Business on November 14, 2011 by debndave - 127 Comments
As Seen On
Partner with Us
Make your travel products or services stand out on the Internet by partnering with ThePlanetD. ThePlanetD is one of the top travel blogs on the web attracting a large engaged audience interested in world travel. To discuss ways to advertise, sponsor or partner please Contact Us for more details and to receive our media package. Or you can visit our Media/Advertise page for more details and to download our Media Package instantly. Travel Resources
Connect with Us
Log in -
Development by MWL Development -
Designed by Gabfire Themes
Google+
It is nice to split the workload, I can agree with that! From a writing perspective, though, it is sometimes hard to have a consistent voice and opinion between the 2 of us. It’s good to see other traveling couples out there!
.-= Kyle´s last blog ..Let’s Do the Time Warp, Bowling Style =-.
Hi Kyle, Thanks for the comment. It is difficult to keep it consistent for sure. Luckily Dave and I feel the same about most situations and places. While I write the posts, he proofreads and tells me to add some things that I may have forgotten or that he felt strongly about. While it is my words, it is definitely both of our perspectives and feelings combined. I am a little bias, but I think that Dave’s photographs speak in volumes about the experience as well:) Happy Travels.
It is much easier with a partner, even here in Bulgaria, I need to chop the wood, cook, blog, clean, and do everything else.
But we can say there are positives and negatives to being single and being a couple.
I do know that I would rather travel single that with someone unless I know them very well.
Happy trails
.-= Shawn´s last blog ..Keep in Balance, Identify Within, Euripldes =-.
Shawn, So true, unless you are very compatible it is difficult to travel with someone. I could only travel with Dave, he is the only person that could put up with me!
I sometimes wonder how other blogs out there are able to do it with just one person. It certainly helps us to have two people to share responsibilities and roles. While we both take photos and write (and serve as each other’s editor), we each have our duties beyond that. Sometimes it’s good to change things around, but there are certain skills that Dan has that would take me ages to learn and vice versa, so those roles usually stay the same. Sounds like you’ve come up with a good balance and working routine!
Both of us enjoy traveling, but neither of us really enjoys the logistical planning. We tend to fix anchor dates (i.e., where we need to be on what date for a project/meet someone/obligation) and come up with a list of locations we want to visit. Then we leave it fluid so that we can take the advice of people we meet and change course if we don’t like a place. One of the great things about slow and bus travel – you don’t have to commit to anything (i.e., airline tickets) in advance.
.-= Audrey´s last blog ..Gringo Monologues: Conspiracy Theories in the Valley of Longevity =-.
Hi Audrey, I agree. Traveling slow is so much easier than having a time line. When we hear about an excellent place that someone has suggested we have the opportunity to go and check it out where others don’t. We find that we like to have a plan starting out because otherwise we wouldn’t know where to begin, but we then always go where the wind takes us. I have to learn more about the technical aspects of the blog, we just never seem to find the time to have Dave sit down with me to show me. I am scared to death of changing code and then having the entire site go blank or something. But I really have to step it up and get to know it when we settle down for a little bit.
We like splitting up the work. I love to write and Dave loves photography so it works out well.
I think blogs benefit from having two eyes on the business and writing aspects of everything. It’s also easier in many regards when both people in a relationship are involved in the blogging as you can share the time. I do all of the work for my sites and it’s a delicate balance personally and in marriage.
.-= Anil´s last blog ..Rating Dublin’s Popular Tourist Attractions =-.
I can’t imagine working on multiple sites. We had this notion that Dave would be able to keep up his photography blog while I focused on theplanetd and it just isn’t possible for us yet. Having two eyes on everything is a huge bonus. We talk about how much to charge for ads, we split the emails, Dave formats the posts when he uploads the photos, we have started splitting the social networking and answering of comments and things are starting to get much easier. soon we might be organized enough to get picturetheplanet up and running at full force rather than just using it as our gallery.
Job well done!
I agree that having a partner in blogging will probably is better than solo blogging. You can definitely tell from the quality of your content here. Even with constant moving and going during your travel, you are still able to produce consistent, high quality blog posts. 
.-= Amy @ The Q Family´s last blog ..Family Travel Tips: How to Survive 4 Hours Delay at the Airport =-.
Thanks Amy, that means a lot to us. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We decided before leaving that we wanted to post daily. So much happens during our travels that we just want to share it all.
Looks like I better get out and find a blogging partner! Valentine’s day is coming up, anyone out there looking for a blogger valentine – I could sure use the help!
Nice post guys – always love your content. I’ve often thought about how hard it is to do all of this on my own while working and living abroad – it’s a good thing I don’t require much sleep!
Keep up the great work!
.-= Sherry Ott´s last blog ..Beware of Falling Rocks =-.
Sherry, you amaze me! I don’t know how you do it either. Especially with your briefcase to backpack blog and your articles outside of ottsworld. You are lucky you don’t need a lot of sleep, Dave and I are one of those couples that need our sleep, luckily we can split the work load or we would get nothing done.
I can’t claim a solo effort on Briefcase to Backpack – I have a biz partner on that one as there’s no way that I’d be able to pull it off! So – I guess I do both. I have a solo site and a partner site, and the partner one is much easier for me to deal with mainly because we split work & it’s someone to bounce ideas off of and tell me my ideas are stupid and won’t work. This saves me from putting them out there and seeing them crash and burn! Just kidding – but blogging is a creative process, and it’s wonderful when you can go thru that process with others! Especially when there’s ‘blogging with benefits’ like you guys!
Happy Vday!
.-= Sherry Ott´s last blog ..Health Insurance for American Travelers =-.
Haha, yes we have fun Sherry! Yes, you are right, I should have mentioned that you had a partner with briefcase to backpack. Still, both your sites are amazing! And bouncing ideas is a good thing. I sometimes come up with duds, that sound funny to me, but when I tell them to Dave, he shows me just how bad they are and visaversa. At the same time, Dave comes up with excellent ideas.
Great info Dave and Deb. Thanks for sharing your work flow. I agree with Anil. Blogging is hard on a relationship when only one of the spouses is involved. My husband contributes photography to my blog, as well as works on the trip planning. But it’s still hard for him to understand why I’m at my computer so many hours of the day. This year, I’m involving him more as well as giving him a greater visible presence on the blog. We’ll see if that helps.
.-= Donna Hull´s last blog ..Traveling with Parents =-.
That is amazing Donna. It is very true. We are on the computer so much that if one of us wasn’t involved, the other would definitely become frustrated with the amount of time online. I am even embarrassed (when we find a hotel with wifi) when I see hotel owners and employees watching us and wondering what we are doing on our computers so often. Shouldn’t we be drinking a beer or suntanning? When we are not doing an activity or adventure, we are working. Dave is working on becoming more involved with the social networking now. He is really starting to like it too! Now that our blog is pretty much designed how we like it he has more time to get involved and talk to people. We were changing layout and design and fiddling with code until well into India so he had his hands full!
Pingback: uberVU - social comments
It’s a truism: write what you know. I’d like to add to this write what you imagine and what you feel. And it looks as if the both of you do just this. Keep it up ’cause time flies! Faster than you’ll ever imagine.
Geotravel
Hey Mr. Beer Lao! I also just wore my beer lao shirt on Saturday!
We really have to meet up in future & wherever that will be… we’ll have to try to drink a beer lao together. What do you say?
.-= Melvin´s last blog ..Rooms for rent in Barrio norte! =-.
This is a great post – I was wondering how you to manage to work together and travel together…..and stay sane.
Mostly though I’m impressed at your generosity toward your readers…..it’s humbling to know that you are willing to give up laying around on a beach for weeks on end just to keep us entertained….wow!
.-= Trisha Miller´s last blog ..Hosted Trips: It’s All a Matter of Principle =-.
I love seeing how you guys have managed to balance out the workload and just who is doing what behind each of the posts. I second Sherry – With V-Day around the corner I’m still open!
Props to both of you on the split because it’s working really well on enabling you to produce such great articles for us to read and follow 
.-= Shannon OD´s last blog ..A Little Cozy…Peat Fireplaces, Rugged Ireland, & Something Special =-.
Thanks Shannon, Fingers crossed for you and Sherry:) You have done amazing things with your blog I don’t know how you keep up and write ebooks and travel at the same time!
Fun article to read…my husband and I also work together for a lot of different publications, he as a photographer and I as a writer (and sometimes also doing adventure-y things together!). Not on a website yet, but we’re creating one now, actually, and our roles with that are turning out to be very similar to yours on your blog! I too feel lucky to be able to use our skills together in a manner that allows us to lead the lifestyle we want to lead–and I have much respect for the solo travelers/writers/photogs (and their partners) out there doing it all alone. Continued good luck to you both!
Hi Laura, thanks for the reply. Nice to see other people split it up the same way as we do. We find focusing on the things that we are good at enjoy helps the most. There is no sense in Dave trying to write and article when he can be doing so many other things for the blog and more efficiently and there is no sense in me picking up the camera to go out and learn how to take great photos or work on code. (it would just waste a lot of time learning the process) Although when we settle down from moving so often, we have it high on our list to learn each others expertise. We are spoiled at the moment that we can split all of the work!
Pingback: TwittLink - Your headlines on Twitter
Very insightful post, Deb and Dave
When we first set out with Gourmantic, the idea was to share some of the work, particularly the writing. Months into it and Mr G is yet to complete writing an article though he contributes to some of the photographs. You’re lucky that you’re both sharing the load as I’m sure at times it feels like a job.
.-= Gourmantic´s last blog ..Globalisation and the Changing Face of Travel =-.
Reading this just made me realize all the solo blogger has to do, and how you guys have it good to be able to split tasks and bounce ideas off each other.
I’m glad I have a technical background or the blogging and technology related aspects of it may have stopped me. But nowadays things are so much easier and blogging is an open platform for anyone who can use a mouse and keyboard and follow instructions.
.-= brian | No Debt World Travel´s last blog ..Help a New Solo Traveler on her trip to Spain =-.
Great post. I seem to do the majority of the work with Adela not even taking much interest! Hopefully that will all change as we gather a bit of momentum going forward. Cheers for sharing.
Good luck with splitting the work load. Dave and I started off with me doing the majority of the work. My job didn’t require as long of hours so before we left for India in 2009, I worked mostly as a solo writer on the blog since Dave was so busy.. It wasn’t until we left for our trip that we started working as a team and we have never looked back!.