Given the fact that I’ve spent Christmas in Bali, in 30 degrees Celsius, by the pool, I didn’t actually feel the Christmas spirit at all.
For me, Christmas is all about family, cold weather, snow and traditional food. Well, I had none. My family was far away, in Romania along with all the tasty, traditional food and the winter doesn’t seem to like Bali that much. So here I am, stuck in paradise with a lot of work to do and nowhere to go.
The good thing is that working during the holidays made January my best month in terms of blog traffic but more about that later. Now, let’s talk about where I’ve been this month.
Travel
Although we’ve spent the past year on the road, we haven’t been traveling continuously. After every three-four months of travel, we stopped in Bali for a break to catch up with all the content.
The goal of this trip was not only to travel the world but to also create a sustainable source of income in the long term. This means that I have to invest a lot of time in my blog and Dan in his Youtube channel.
For us, January was mostly work and 0 travel.
Although for the moment Bali is our home, we haven’t seen that much of it and this needs to change in February. We are planning a few exciting trips to some incredible places so stay tuned and follow this blog and my Instagram.
Meanwhile, you can read more about Bali here.
Blog, Instagram & YouTube
I’ve been working really hard throughout the holidays and January was the month when it all paid off. My blog’s traffic skyrocketed (32,000 page views!!!), I’ve posted an awesome Lightroom tutorial on YouTube aaaand I haven’t been that active on Instagram.
I’m going to tell you from the start – I don’t really like Instagram. I think it’s shallow and I hate the constant battle with the algorithm. I hate it so much that I actually decided that Instagram is not worth fighting for. I’ve wrote a few ideas here about the reasons why I decided to switch my focus from Instagram to my blog.
The good thing is that focusing on my blog is finally paying off. I see a steady increase in traffic and sharing my travels with you brings me so much joy. I love sharing travel stories, tips & tricks and itineraries with you along with my favorite photos from my trips.
I am a bit behind, I haven’t written anything about South Korea and Japan yet but slowly I’ll be catching up. I have the motivation, I just need more time.
Others
Raise a hand if you know where I’m from! I’m from Romania and finding fellow Romanian travelers during my journey has been a though challenge. In Romania, there is no such thing as traveling full time. When you tell somebody that you plan to travel the world, they look at you like you’re some kind of lunatic from another planet.
However, we were lucky enough to meet another Romanian couple who’s also been traveling the world for the past year. The best part is that they were also staying in Bali, right across the street from our accommodation! Thanks to Instagram, we’ve met and became friends instantly.
It’s hard to connect with people when on the road mostly because everyone is following their own journey. I’m happy we’ve met Alina and Radu and now that they left Bali I kinda miss them.
One of my goals for this year is to socialize more. Most of the time I get so caught up in all the work and travel that I forget how important human relations are. So, if you ever find yourself in the same place as me, give me a sign and let’s meet! 🙂
That’s all for January. It wasn’t an exciting month travel wise but it surely was a productive one. See you next month with more stories!
May the travel bug bite you!
Read more:
Pin it for later!
Aurelia Teslaru is a professional travel blogger and the writer behind Daily Travel Pill. With a 4-year experience as a travel writer and photographer, Aurelia only shares travel guides about destinations that she visited.
She has been to more than 40 countries during the past 10 years and aims to explore 50 countries before turning 30 years old. Aurelia is a digital nomad who transformed her passion for travel into a lifestyle. Read more about her here.
To follow her adventures, check out her Instagram and Facebook pages!