Traveling around the world, eating exotic foods, seeing iconic sights, making new friends all over the world... these are the things that most people think of when I tell them I'm a travel blogger. While I do get to enjoy those incredible aspects of travel blogging about three to four months out of the year, what happens in the other eight to nine months when I'm not traveling? There is a LOT more that goes into travel blogging than just traveling.
I've never really discussed the behind-the-scene aspects of what I do, but I'm happy to show you what it's like. I recently tracked a full day of exactly what I did, and here's how my day went!
6:00 am
I wake up early every day. It's curse, but it allows me more time to be productive, so I'll take it. As soon as I woke up, I immediately looked at emails on my phone and was on a mission to respond to all of them before I got up. Emails are a bit of an obsession for me. I probably check my emails 50 times a day, no joke.
7:00 am
After I responded to all emails, I got in the shower and started getting ready for the day.
8:30 am
I drank a smoothie (I have one every single day) and returned to the email inbox. By this point, I had two sponsored blog posts ready to publish on my site. In case you're unfamiliar with what a sponsored blog post is, let me explain. Sometimes companies will reach out to me and want me to put a blog post that they write (or sometimes they want me to write it) on my site in exchange for payment. Within the blog post, it will mention their company. They're hoping to get click-throughs to their site and build their domain authority (DA).
I edited both blog posts, found appropriate photos for them, and uploaded them to my blog. It usually only takes about 30 minutes to an hour per post, depending on the article and requirements.
10:00 am
I try to write content for my blog for at least one to two hours every day. Since I can't type on my MacBook, I type all articles on my iPhone. Yes, it takes longer, but I've become pretty fast at typing on the iPhone.
11:30 am
After spending about an hour and a half writing, I decided to edit photos from a recent trip. This is always my favorite part of blogging (aside from the actual traveling, of course) because it allows me a chance to look back on photos from the trip and reflect.
12:30 pm
I went to eat lunch with a friend.
2:00 pm
Once I was back home, I had to schedule some social media posts for Facebook and Instagram. I try to stay on top of things and schedule my social content at least a few days in advance. While scheduling, I took some time to respond to Facebook and Instagram comments and messages.
3:15 pm
Being my own boss means that I have to seek out partnerships and publicity constantly. If I want my business to grow, I need all the publicity I can get.
I subscribe to sources like HARO (Help A Reporter Out), where reporters/journalists can list what articles they're working on, and if I'm a fit, I can pitch them and maybe be interviewed for their article. HARO sends three email blasts per day, so I always look them over to see if I could be a potential interview subject for any journalists.
I also pitch myself to different outlets for interviews/features (outside of HARO). One out of ten are usually successful and work out, so I try to pitch at least 10 per week. Want to see everywhere that I've been featured? Check out my media page.
4:30 pm
It's Spanish lesson time! I started learning Spanish through Rosetta Stone a few months ago and I try to do it for an hour every day. This year, I have trips around South America and Costa Rica planned. I'm hoping to at least be able to hold a conversation in Spanish.
5:30 pm
I responded to more emails that accumulated in my inbox for the final time on this day.
6:30 pm
Dinner time! And this happened to be my favorite meal: tacos!
7:30 pm
I had a Skype call with a company on the west coast about speaking at an upcoming conference. It went very well and I'm now confirmed to speak there this summer! Yay! I love speaking publicly about traveling as a wheelchair user. Blogging is amazing and helps me reach a lot of people, but when people can actually see me in person, I think it has an even bigger impact. I'm hoping to do many more speaking gigs this year.
8:30 pm
That's a wrap on work for the day and now it's time for a Netflix binge.
As you can see, when I'm not on the road traveling, a lot goes into travel blogging. On this particular day that I tracked, I worked about 14 hours. I 100% believe that I have the best job in the world, but most people thing that it's easy-breezy and I just travel and have fun all the time. I hope that this article has been informative and if you've ever considered getting into blogging, I hope this gave you an idea of what to expect.
Thanks so much for reading!
About the Author
After being diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy at the age of two, Cory Lee's thirst for adventure never ceased. He went on many trips around the U.S. when he was younger, and then started taking things internationally when he turned 15. Since then, Cory has traveled to 21 countries across six continents, all while managing to start up his travel blog Curb Free with Cory Lee, where he shares his accessible, and sometimes not-so-accessible travel adventures with others. Cory is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA). He has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, in a nationwide segment for CBS News, Lonely Planet, and many others. His blog won the 2017 Best Travel Blog Gold Lowell Thomas Award. He hopes to inspire other wheelchair users to roll out of their comfort zone and see all of the beauty that the world has to offer.
Cory Lee's ride is a Quickie QM-710.
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