Happy Wednesday, ladies! I’ve officially been home now for a week. But there’s no adjusting yet. I had a few days of relaxing, but then it was back to the hustle and grind. I’ll explain it all later, but you’ll soon understand why this year has been so absolutely nuts. Anyway, it was quite fun and engaging to write my last blogging post, so here’s another! I thought it would be fun to share some of the biggest lessons and takeaways I have from blogging in Peru. I kept them in the context of travel, but they apply even if you’re just always busy!

TARGET T-SHIRT (SOLD OUT, ALSO CUTE) // NORTH FACE BACKPACK (SIMILAR) // SIMILAR LUGGAGE

BE PREPARED IN ADVANCE – IT WILL SAVE YOUR (BLOGGING) LIFE

Getting ready for this trip was a handful because there was also a lot going on back home at the time. But I knew if I wanted the blog to stay active while I was gone, I was going to have to find a way to make it work. For one, I prepared three months of my editorial calendar in advance. I knew every single post and what day it was going to be posted all the way up until the end of April, before I left. I specifically planned that far because I knew I would want to spend time with family and catching up when I got back, so I wanted to have the posts laid out in advance.

I’m not saying you should plan three months in advance, because it can be a challenge to stay current. But you should have an idea of the kinds of blog posts you might do in some kind of hard copy form. It also helps prevent blogger’s block. Do what’s best for you and your blog.

Then, I did my best to shoot all the photos I would need for all of those posts. And this was hard because when the weather was cooperating, we were too busy to shoot. In the end, I shot most of the photos myself with a tripod and remote, inside too unfortunately (but like I said, make it work!). It was something like 10 posts in one day and was exhausting (especially with a puppy who wanted to get in the way!), but I’m so glad I did because those photos are more valuable (sharable and descriptive) than a collage would have been!

EXPECT THINGS TO TAKE LONGER THAN USUAL

You never know how strong your internet connection will be, that’s the simplest fact. But you also don’t know if you’ll be distracted more easily, or only have tiny portions of time to work on everything. So if a blog post typically takes you about 3 hours to write, expect it to take closer to 4 or 5. My Curl Tutorial post took two weeks because I was fighting internet connection, a slow computer, and a respiratory infection. Granted, that was a long post, but with everything going right, it would have only taken two days.

So plan accordingly. There’s no way I could have managed more than 3 posts per week on this trip. I had to put the Chic in Seconds newsletter on hiatus as well, because producing that content takes exponentially longer with connection issues. If anything, I’ve learned to be really honest with myself about how much time things take and how much I can afford to allot to any given project.

BUT DON’T TRY TO WORK TOO FAR HEAD

Being prepared is all well and good, but not all content lends itself to being written early. Some posts can write themselves months in advance, especially beauty posts with products that are always (or usually) in stock. But some you’ll have to wait for, to make sure what your sharing is still relevant. For example, my Spring Wish List post was one that I knew the details of a month in advance (a month, y’all); but I didn’t want to actually sit down and make the graphics and edit the post until two days before it went live, because Spring styles sell out like hot cakes.

So keep in mind your content and the details within your content to make sure it was stay fresh (or active or available) all the way until the post is published and for a few weeks afterward.

BACK THINGS UP EVERYWHERE

Not just because you might lose it, but because you never know what device may be working or not working. Charged or not charged. And Wi-Fi is not always available

I use Dropbox for this. I have it on my computers and my phone and have everything set to sync automatically when there’s a connection. But I also save files to my phone or desktop that I think I might need for the next few posts. That way, if the wireless crashes, I can still get some work done. Even it it means editing photos and typing posts in a word processor. Make sure your always syncing your files whenever you have a connection – just in case.

You should also copy/paste into a word processor your post before saving, juuuuust in case your internet craps out in the process. Saved me so much the last few weeks!

How do y’all like these blogging posts? And bloggers, how do you manage your blog on travel?

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