As some of you may have noticed I haven’t been as actively writing for Travelettes this past year as I used to be, because I had a baby and that kept me busy. Reeeaaallly busy.
Mind you, it did not keep me from traveling and so my little guy, at 15 months old, has already been to 11 countries and spent half his life abroad in places like Thailand, Portugal or the Maldives. Now that he is a year old it is time for him to start daycare, make friends and begin his life outside of mom’s arms while I get to go back to finding a new normal, a cross between my old life and my new one as a mother.
I am super excited for this next stage as for the first time I will do something that many dream of but not many can actually manage – i will work as a blogger full time. Now what exactly does this mean, you may wonder? The truth is that I have been a professional blogger for a few years already, but I’ve never really made most of my income through my blogs. Instead I worked jobs I got via my exposure on the blog. Things like social media for different companies, or photography gigs for various magazines. There was always some income directly coming in directly from the blog but not enough to live on. This is changing now.
Shortly after I had my son I knew I wanted to explore the full potential Travelettes.net held. We have a strong readership, a big social media following and exciting growth prospects for the future. Most importantly we really believe in Travelettes and in the importance of encourageing young women around the world to travel more and differently. I therefore hired Kathi to work on scaling Travelettes full time, to publish rad content but also to establish better business relations with brands who have always been interested in working with us and who we feel make a good fit for us. That was a year ago. Now that I have time to get back into work fully I will be the main person in charge of growing Travelettes into a proper business and hopefully soon we will be able to offer you a lot more than just a 6 or 7 good blogposts a week.
How would you like it if we organized monthly meetups for other travelers like you, in major cities around the world? If we doubled, or even tripled our content output? If we developed our shop, and maybe even started our own series of T-shirts and other branded items? We would love to hear your feedback and input on this.
Why do I want to turn my blog into my full-time job? Because I love it! And who doesn’t like to get paid for something they truly love and enjoy doing each day. To kick-start my new, old career I decided to spend the month of September in New York. I had a couple of meetings lined up with potential investors, I wanted to meet with some of the US-based agencies we work with and I wanted to get a feel for the blogging business in the States. This meant spending a lot of time in coffeeshops working on presentations, on the subway rushing to meetings and of course exploring New York City with my little guy Atlas. My constant friend during that time? The brandnew Asus Zenpad. After the Asus Transformerbook T100 had been my trusty companion during our Thailand trip back in February, this time I was glad to have the new Zenpad with me because it’s light, compact and great at multi-tasking.
Where did it come in handy?
- Presentations for clients and PR’s
- games for my son
- taking photos and videos while exploring New York
- blogging on the go
- reading on the subway
- keeping up with social media around the clock
I really enjoy working with the Zenpad 8.0 for its sleek design, its vivid colors and its incredible light weight. 64GB of built-in storage come in handy when you’re looking to store a couple of movies on there for longer journeys or unexpected train delays. Those six hours battery power (when used continuously) are magic and would surely have been enough to carry me through even the longest work/family day. That is if I had not had the magical power case that adds on a whopping 16(!) hours of battery life. All in all a great tool to have, especially considering the great price of €199, easily beating the competiton who might be able to rival the features but not the cost.
It may take a village to raise a child but it takes a great tablet to raise a business. Well sort of.
What project are you currently working on? Tell us in the comments for a chance to win a brandnew Asus Zenpad 8.0 for yourself!
*This post was crated in collaboration with ASUS.
Yay for blogging and traveling mums. My daughter has been to 5 countries now that she is 18 months old, but I have a daytime job that keeps me pretty much glued to Germany. But traveling with children is so much fun, I simply don't understand why some people stop doing it.
Linda, Libra, Loca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking
Love stories with well-travelled babies! They will grow up to be amazing world citizens, very aware of other cultures and full of compassion, understanding, friendliness and happiness!
I love travelling and, after I realised that I learnt more from the people I met during my travels than from my university courses, I started a blog. Unfortunately, I stopped publishing now, while I concentrate on my final year; and hopefully I'll pick it up after my graduation and make a career out of my passion.
Lots of love :) X
My current project??? Re-thinking, Re-imagining my life/career/future. The inklings of starting a blog are forming in the back of my mind.... and travel is always in the forefront of my mind!! The years are passing quickly and I want to explore and make memories with my family as much as possible. Figuring out a job/career that lets me travel while working is on the top of the list! Going to checkout that ZenPad!
I love it! My current project is actually defining my life project. I'm taking next year as a gap year, and I hope to decide, once and for all, what I want to do next. It would be great to go into something that allows me to travel as much as possible, and writing about it is also in my plans. That ZenPad would be really useful!
Big hug!
my current project? planning more travels for 2016 ;-)
and getting pictures of old ones organized, archived and printed-out.
My newest project is a food blog called Neu Foods. I've been casually blogging for a few years now but I want this to take off as a business venture. I love talking about, trying out and making good food and I want to share that with the world.
I'm inspired that you still traveled as a new mother. I hear the horror stories of traveling with infants and it seems intimidating.
My next project is to build a marketing business i can run from anywhere so i can take to the road and travel. I'm 33 and feel the need to do it now, but its lovely to hear that its still an option if babies do come along in the future.
I currently use an Acer Iconia laptop that detaches into a tablet, it runs full windows but is a bit heavy in tablet mode. I might check out the Zenpad.
I love the idea of travellette meet ups and branded travel accessories. Good luck with the next phase of your adventure Katja!
I just came from a conference called "The Power of Storytelling" which had incredible speakers that presented so many interesting things about how to write a good story.
And it made me thinking: I haven't read "stories" in articles in such a long time, that made me think not just about the beautiful places and great pictures that are inserted in the articles, but about the story behind the places, the people and the happenings. I am an IT person, I program stuff, I am not a journalist or someone who has studies in writing things. But I've learned that creativity and writing are exercised, and like in any domain practice makes perfect. Plus...I was told I am not bad at writing things...
Therefore, my current project is reading and do lots of creating writing so I can publish nice articles of my travels and my experiences. I'm looking for stories. :)
Ooh, I'd love to read some posts about your experiences of travelling with your adorable son! I don't have kids yet but when I do get there, I love the idea of travelling with them, even when they're young! Good luck with your new ventures!
After years of travelling, I'm going back to grad school in January. Meanwhile, I'm working hard on my humble freelance career as a content writer. That ZenPad seems to be very useful, indeed.
Good luck!
I'm in the planning stages of getting ready for the next round of travel; I was stationary for the last 4 years starting/working on my culinary career, but have been trying (and failing miserably) to blog more. My current project is work on my confectionery side project/candy store, which will all be flavors of candy and other sweets inspired by my travels, both places I've been, and places I have yet to go! A tablet could replace my chicken scrawled recipes!
My current project is building a travel blog with my sister in preparation for our big trip to Australia. My other, personal, project is getting myself settled living and working in Guatemala. I have been exploring options of how to take less tech on my trips, and this seems to be a great tablet!
I love to read your blog-posts, and I really find it admirable that you travel with such a small kid! (I don't have kids yet, but who knows...) My current project is actually more than just one. On the one hand, I try to get back to more blogging on my tech blog for non-techies, techgefluester.de, where it was rather quiet those last months as I was "resetting" my business after a few... let me call it "wrong turns". On the other hand, I am working out online courses for people who want to learn to write. And at the moment I'm so looking forward to a short trip to London in november - only a short one, but I need to get away at least a few days every year, even when money is tight. As I just screwed up my laptop, the Zenpad would come in handy (and it would make a great review article on my blog).
Loving your plans to expand! Especially organising meet ups around the world - such a great opportunity to meet even more people and keep the travel inspiration going.
My current project: I've been living/working in NZ for 17 months, now I have 6 months to see every inch of the country. Then I should finally, after nearly 4 years, go home to the UK.. Or just work out a way to fund myself while I keep travelling the world forever!!
My current project? REGIMENTAL VINTAGE. My boyfriend and I opened a vintage fashion boutique in trendy Shoreditch, East London, back in August and everyday we've been going from strength to strength. We took a somewhat-sparse shop and in just two months crammed it full of random taxidermy - ram skulls, tiny birds perched on antlers, magpies, deer - and antiques, added more designer ladieswear and vintage fur, and today I'm visiting a couture designer's studio to pick up a whole collection of bespoke evening gowns to add to the boutique. It's less of a current project than an labour of love that keeps evolving! x
Jasiminne | Posh, Broke, & Bored
I think it is so great how much you have travelled with Atlas - I really hope to do something similar one day for my future (hopefully!) children. I would love to learn more about how the last year has went with you to help prepare one day!
I feel like I have so many in progress projects that it is hard to keep track of them! We just bought a house, so a big one is to settle in an renovate and decorate. The hardest part is to manage the opposing urges to nest or to pack up and move somewhere new. In between there is blogging and improving my writing, scrap booking, and lots of around-the-house DIY projects, while managing a full time job.
I love that you are combing both now and I admire you for that. I have taken a year out at work and have now made my dream of travelling the world, voluteering in various projects, blogging, taking pictures and reflecting about life come true. So far I have taught in Sri Lanka and am now doing fundrasing in a project in Soweto, South Africa! I will be all around the southern African continent for 3 more months before hearing to New Zealand, Australia and many places in Asia for 7 more months. It has turned out that blogging helps me manage all the exeriences I make on the journey and I love it.
Nice post!!! I wanna read more about this new adventure with your blog!! Good luck!!!
That’s amazing, congratulations on your family and your work!
My own big project really began yesterday, when I said goodbye to my family (again) and got on a bus to Spain... except this time I know I won’t be back until a few years.
I gave up my sedentary life last May and have already been travelling non-stop for several months, but now the real adventure begins: I’m travelling through Spain, down to the Canary islands, and then catching a ship to Brazil (9 days across the ocean!!). Then I’ll travel (and volunteer through Workaway) in Argentina and Chile for a couple of months...
Then comes the challenge: I want to reach New Zealand without flying, so my best option is to catch a freighter ship (!!) in Panama next March (it will take at least 3 weeks to reach Auckland). I’m still debating if I should venture into Central America (I’m really worried about Colombia), and also trying to figure out how I will afford the trip across the Pacific on a cargo ship - but I’m really determined to make it work ;)
Oh and then I’ll spend a year in New Zealand on a working holiday visa.
I can’t wait to capture all of it with my brand new GoPro and share it through my blog/FB/Twitter/Instagram... ;)
Thank you "Travelettes" for inspiring other nomadic girls - all the best with your new life as a mum/full-time blogger!
Project Getaway! Putting myself out there. Start, dream, explore, see, wonder, love, experience - this world is a miracle. Constant change of heart and mind. I want to capture all of it! <3 Would really love to win the Zenpad!
My biggest project right now is mentally preparing myself for our upcoming move from the bustling NYC to Vail, Colorado, to live more peaceful life and explore the area more. That comes with crossing off bucket list items in the Northeast and it seems like the list is growing rather than decreasing!! :)
Congrats on becoming a full time blogger :) sounds like you and the team have some really exciting things lined up. I personally would be interested in meet ups - it's always nice to connect with like minded individuals with similar interests. (I'm from Toronto!)
I would be highly interested in meetups particularly in Europe. I have started a blog to document my travels and am studying Tourism in school so hopefully I can get into the industry in a few years. Small steps to big changes :D
It would be really nice to have Travelettes meet ups around the world. I know that some girls already met spontaniously but making it more "official" would be like an event we are excited about and take time to go ! :)
Great article.
My current project : take as many ideas as possible while travelling to work in a project of opening a hostel in southwest of France. This gap year travelling around the world is just inspiring every day. I'm blogging as well, so I can share my expérience and remember all the details that makes me love this life!
Congratulations Katja for being such a cool mom! My son came with me to 3 countries only and went to kindergarten, first grades of school and later, 2 years of high school in various countries. After that he went back to Budapest and is happy there ever since, only takes occasional trips.
Every now and then, I was doubting that it was really a good thing for me to "drag him around", for he didn't seem to have strong enough roots, friendships, had to redo year in school, because of the different standards, etc. My life was always quite random and sometimes dramatic in good and bad ways, and my little boy went through them with me. Now he is a university student, he doesn't have such an itching for travel as Mom has, but not a long ago when I told him about my plan, that now when I don't really have anybody or anything that would tie me down to one place, I would just "move into a suitcase" and live on the road, he only said: "Good idea". And either I go to visit him every now and then, or he comes to the city wherever in the world I am so that we can meet.
Another big validation was that a few months ago he shared somebody else's blog post on Facebook, a young mom writing about what has her son learnt so far from going to school in 3 different countries. It was very positive, and obviously important for my son, for he is hardly ever posting on FB.
I only wanted to share all this to encourage you and other parents to travel with their kids, whenever it is possible.
And congrats to your new career of fulltime blogging! I bumped into Travelettes a few hours ago, on a Budapest post, and browsed quite a bit since then. Already one of my favorite ever travel blogs! So thank you very much for all this work you are putting into it.
And as a few other visitors already said, I could also imagine meetups, and yes, first of all in Europe.
As for my project: I always have things running simultaneously. Right now it's:
A. After having imported my old blogs onto a new platform, bringing them into shape and building my official website, and streamlining them so that everything that I do, will be represented properly and effectively (singing, photography, travel, writing, health), although working myself through the thousands and thousands of photos and creating art works of them seems to be an everlasting project;
B. Creating and promoting the debut album with our trio; it's half-done already, the rest is online work;
C. Sorting out a serious issue with my legs (which shouldn't allow me sitting here by a desk computer, so a precious Asus thing would be terrific);
D. Getting ready for living a fully mobilized, pick up & go life, optimizing my wardrobe, accessories, gears and other items for being able to travel anytime and for any length of time - again, a Zenpad would be just awesome :-) I only have computer access at the places wherever else I am staying, if I do. My Asus netbook is practically dead and I my phone is getting there soon, too. Actually, I am looking at some Transformer, I simply LOVE keyboards.
E. GET ON THE ROAD and enjoy some warmer places finally, I guess in Southern Europe, haven't decided yet where exactly - too many destinations calling...
Well, you asked :-)
Thank you again and bon voyage!
The 'project' I am working on is my (almost) round the world trip! I leave this Wednesday for India and don't return until next August! I will be blogging but from my trusty (albeit slightly cracked) iPhone, although I would have loved to have taken a tablet.