Hard life of travel bloggers
This article is for all non-travel bloggers which is most of you guys, my family, friends, many people on my facebook, my ex-school mates, my ex boyfriends and just the rest of you. In the following post you can find out more about how to earn money with a travel blog.
I want to make something clear in here. It is necessary, trust me!
When you look at my personal facebook or my crazy sexy fun traveler facebook fanpage , most of you just see all those thousands of photos where I am just showing off my bum each time at a different beach from around the world, or every month posting statuses ”hi from …” with a different town/country in them, or relaxing in a hammock wherever.
Yes, that is my life and it is true.
enjoying swimming pool in Totem Hotel Beach Resort in Costa Rica
I do visit all those places and I do so because I want to.
But you don’t know anything that is behind it all.
You don’t know what I have to do to be able to do all this.
Back home, in my home town Snina, the people just know I don’t live there because I travel. I have heard many stupid stories that people say, such as that my dad who is the owner of a pub Stupavska krcma back home is the person paying for all my trips.
To be honest I don’t care what people say about me back home. I learned to be resistant to all that bullshit (sorry for the expression!)
I do not care but it’s simply not fair at all.
Why?
Because I work my ass off online to earn money and keep traveling!
I won’t lie. I do wish it was my dad paying for my trips, it would be much easier for me and I could finally consider traveling as holidays, and not as work as I do now every day. It would be way easier …
It just hurts that people think I do nothing and just travel and get money from my parents.
Because that is so NOT true!
I won’t say they never pay for anything, but they only do when I am at home in Slovakia. Some food, road trips, or sauna here and there. However, hardly ever outside of my home country.
Actually, it is me who invites my mum on holidays or around Slovakia, to Italy or to all incusive holidays in Egypt.
It is me paying for all my trips outside Slovakia.
And for most of them in my home country, too.
This is the first thing I want you to understand when reading this article.
Now you are maybe asking where I get money for all my trips. And this is the second thing to make clear in here.
I do my best. Since March 2011, since I am officially unemployed (it was my own decision to quit cabin crew job), I have never worked manually. And I don’t think I will ever do again. That’s just not my thing.
But I do work.
I work online.
This is my work.
This website is my job.
Another 2 blogs We Travel Around the World and Fit when Traveling are my job, too.
And I make living doing other 7 secrets things.
working in an ice cream place in Cochabamba in Bolivia
Each time I meet new people when traveling and we get somehow to my travel blog, first they start making faces like ”What’s that?” … Then they ask me what I actually do for living.
Now I am the one with the faces ”I am telling you, the travel blog.”
Afterwards, they all say it is the best job ever even if they still do not understand it a bit! But I do agree.
Being a professional travel blogger is the best job in the world!
For me, travel blogging IS the best job in the world.
I am when and where I want to be, the biggest cliche, but so true! I have so much freedom.
I do what I want and when I want.
I decide when I work and for how long.
I am my own boss and that’s something to love, for sure!
But on the other hand, I am also the one who has to work.
Travel blogging is NOT easy.
Life of travel bloggers is anything but easy.
Sometimes I spend too much time on internet. Like now, I just sent 37 emails in the last 2 hours. And I have another 1,300 to reply to.
Yes, it takes a lot of time to build a website, a lot of time to build audience, a lot of time to write articles, a lot of time to deal with the photos and videos. And it takes time to get advertisers and sponsors. It all takes a huge amount of time. Way more than you could ever imagine!
Us, the travel bloggers, spend a lot of time online doing all these activities.
So if you think I am just here somewhere in the Caribbean lying at the beach and doing nothing, you are wrong. I may be at the beach, yes, for a couple of hours, but the end of the day when you all go partying or to bed, I am online working, answering emails, resizing photos and writing articles.
Yes, it is THE life that I chose… the life I want to live.
But it doesn’t mean I do nothing. If you ever happen to travel with me, then you know how much effort it all takes. So please don’t ask me when I am going to work again.
I do work more than most of you with 9 to 5 jobs. There are days when I am in front of my laptop for even 16 hours. There are also days when I work ”outside” taking photos, notes, videos and getting information and then at night I need to write it all down.
But at the same time I enjoy life where and when I want to be.
working in my deluxe suite in Palma Royal hotel in Panama a week before
When I wrote this article in May 2012, I was in an all inclusive 5 star hotel on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica for the first time since I started blogging – finally proper holidays after a year and a half! Then going back to Europe for a couple of months :)
Pursuing To Hapiness
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From stewardess to travel blogger…that is something that others can’t understand… Quitting JOB and Chasing your dreams… Doing what you love… Pursuing into the things that brings happiness into your soul and into your heart, that makes you complete… ”I live to travel, I travel to live.” – Alexandra Kovacova a.k.a. crazy sexy fun traveler
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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I know not many people have enough courage to pursue their dreams so it always makes me happy to see others who have done it or at least appreciate it :)
vishnu
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Thanks a lot,am not much into travelling but i wish to do and u r the only travel blogger i have been following ,its really inspiring articles u give us all the time …keep going all the best wishes for u ,prayers
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Oh, I’ve noticed you’ve been liking my Facebook posts and photos. Thanks so much for all the compliments and hope you will be able to travel one day, too ;)
David Rainey
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Hard working, passionate, independent, inspirational, and beautiful. The first I expected the others I already knew. Peace and admiration.
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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Aw, that’s so sweet of you, thanks!
Sebastian
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I totally believe you that it is not easy and that it requires a lot of work. I recently started my own website writing on articles almost every day and it is a lot of work but I totally love it.
I just tell a few people about my dreams and the things I want to accomplish with my website because there are so many people out there who will just laugh and don’t take you serious when you tell them you want to earn a living with a website and you want to live in various places on the world.
But as you said, if it is the life you want to live, and it is definitely the life I want to live, it is work and enjoyment at the same time.
Moncika
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Mohla by si napisat viac o tom, ako pride ten cash, hladas sponzorov?
Akosi tomu nerozumiem. Isla si do prvej destinacie ako? V prvej kontaktujes hotely do druhej destinacie, predstavis sa im, kto si a oni ta nechaju prenocovat u nich ako zivu reklamu na hotel?
Viem, ze vela ludi takto funguje, nepochopila som len, ze ako provozuju.
Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler
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To je na dlho, a robim veci roznymi sposobmi, podla krajin, miest, rocneho obdobia, sezony, vzdy inak a trvalo mi to dlho prist na to, co je najlepsie a co kedy a kde funguje, takze o detailoch nehovorim verejne. Do prvej destinacie myslis ktoru? Ja uz cestujem odmalicka, tak tazko na toto odpovedat :D Ano, vela ludi tak funguje, ale nikto verejne nehovori ako presne, lebo ako hovorim, bolo by to na dlho, a tiez, preco by sme vsetkym mali hovorit, co maju robit, aby to bolo potom tazsie aj pre nas, co sme na to prisli sami? Niekedy kontaktujem hotely 3 dni dopredu, niekedy pol roka, v tejto praci nie je ziadne pravidlo, a o to ide ;)
Crazy sexy fun traveler
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Comment@ Jill:
Thanks, Jill. Wishing you good luck with your dreams :)
Jill
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I love your website!! So glad my bf found it when we traveled to Thailand. We needed to look fun places to go to and we found all sorts of gem thanks to you! I’m a flight attendant and yoga instructor! So I know how you feel. To be a travel blogger is my dream too
Crazy sexy fun traveler
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Comment@ Suzanne (Travelbunny):
I have many of those ”working holidays” too haha. Replying to work emails even at 2 or 3 am :D
Suzanne (Travelbunny)
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Well said! I work in events and sometimes don’t step outside the hotel for a week, grab lunch on the run, get up at 6 and work til 1am – then my Mum says ‘is this a working holiday?’ Holiday? Waaahhhhh!! Love the blog :)
crazy sexy fun traveler
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Comment@ ardun:
I know, I am leaving all those jealous people to do what they want cos my hard work doesn’t leave me any free time to be jealous of anyone :D
ardun
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Great insight Alex! Looks like all your hard work is paying off. There will always be people who are jealous or don’t believe you, leave them in the dust and enjoy yourself :)