My 1 year of travel blogging

I did a sunglasses review recently 🙂

First of all a big THANK YOU to all who have stumbled upon my blog, who have read my posts, who have left a comment or liked something I wrote. I’m especially grateful to all of you who are following my blog here or on Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin’and Google+ (yes, I just recently opened a Google+ account).

How it all started

My blog will be 1 year old this Wednesday! I am not computer savvy or in any way knowledgeable about blogging. So why did I start this travel blog of mine a year ago? There were a few good reasons. I needed a distraction from my everyday life and I needed something to occupy my mind so that I don’t think all the time about one wish that can’t be fulfilled that easily. And I needed a new audience for my travel stories because I felt that my friends were getting bored of my travel escapades that couldn’t match their baby stories.Or at least I felt that way.

 I’ve been reading several blogs at the time and after a while I got a nagging idea in my head that maybe I could write about my travels too. When I set up my blog I didn’t tell a soul about it. After a month or so I told my best friend and then my husband. After a few more months I told my other two closest friends and recently I mentioned it to a few more people but I haven’t really shared it much among my friends. I feel more comfortable knowing that strangers read and judge me than my friends. I know that’s odd but that’s how I feel.

About this travel blog

I have always been crazy about London and the UK so I wanted to show that in my blog’s name. For me the red telephone box is one of the most famous British icons so I chose it as my blog name. Of course, this blog just had to be written in English. It never even occurred to me that I could write in my own native language:Croatian. I wanted to write about my numerous visits to London and my other travels around Europe which I did. Also, I was lucky enough to have spent a few months in England on a work visa 8 years ago. However, I still haven’t written much about the places that I’ve visited in England ( I did write about Scotland).

Most of my blog posts are personal travel stories while some can be considered as guides. If any of my travel posts inspired you to visit a certain place or gave you some new or valuable information that’s great. If I haven’t accomplished that, that’s also fine, because this is my own space and I write for my own selfish pleasure.

in London this May

Blog love

My first blog post was about my love for London. After a few months I received a lot of blog love from fellow travel bloggers. I was nominated for The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers, Liebster Award and The Sunshine Blogger Award. I was very delighted when I received them. Once again I want to thank all the nice bloggers for my nominations 🙂

My most popular blog posts in 2015 were: BRUSSELS (April 2015), Exploring Belém-Lisbon (Sep 2014), My favourite things about travel (Travel Link Up), The festive season in Nice (France), A cat & Christmas

My most popular blog posts in 2016 (in first six months!) are: What are my greatest adventures? (travel linkup), Hello London!Have you missed me?, How many times have YOU visited London?, Unexpected places (June Travel Link Up) and Wandering around London in 72 hours (part I).

My most popular post so far is:What has travel taught me?(#TravelLinkup)

The most viewed posts so far are: Vasa Museum, Stockholm, How many times have YOU visited London? A guide to Menton, France, Visiting a Cat café in Nice, France and Snapshots from London (May 2016).

I have met a lot of really kind and helpful travel bloggers with whom I exchanged a lot of comments and from whom I got even more travel inspiration. I have also joined a lot of linkups that helped me to gain more readers. In this past year I have joined these travel linkups: Travel Tuesday, Travel Linkup, Weekend Wanderlust, Weekend Travel Inspiration, The Weekly Postcard, Photo Friday, Travel Photo Thursday, Wordless Wednesday (on a Tuesday), Animal Tales, Monday Escapes, City Tripping and Wanderful Wednesday. I’d like to thank all of the hosts and co-hosts of these wonderful linkups.

I was also very pleased when I got asked from a few bloggers to give my input for their blog posts (e.g Tourists vs.travellers) and I still need to do a guest post for a lovely Greek blogger:)

Most recently, I joined the Monthly Travel Linkup as a co-host for September! I am co-hosting with Emma, Angie and Jessie!

This month’s topic is:your most meaningful/interesting food experience. So do join and link your post from 1st-7th September!:)

in Stockholm this April

Blogging benefits

I don’t want to sound cheesy but writing this travel blog has actually helped me a lot. 2016 has been a very difficult year for me. From my mum’s serious health scare and my own health predicaments to job insecurity (that’s not new!) and all the boring household chores writing this travel blog has definitely given me a new focus.

Blogging is my new hobby:) However, If anyone offered me a stay in a hotel for free I’d happily write a review in exchange;)  I was very surprised when GPSmyCity offered me to do a giveaway for their self-guided city walks app and then when they contacted me again to do a travel article app. If a lot of people decide to upgrade my travel article apps then I would earn a few cents but even if they don’t, it’s still pretty cool to see my apps on iTunes store! Also, I recently received free sunglasses in an exchange for a review which was great (GlassesShop)! Who knows, maybe blogging for a second year will bring me even more benefits!:)

2 year of travel blogging

I will continue to blog about my past and current travels. At the moment I don’t have any new trips booked but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a lot of material to write about. Even though a lot of you fellow travel bloggers rave about Croatia’s beauty I as a Croatian who actually lives in Croatia haven’t written anything about my own homeland. That’s something I need to do in my second year of blogging.:) But I still prefer to write about London:) There are a lot of new posts I need to publish! I hope you noticed that I bought my own domain!It only took me a year to do so!:) I also just recently joined Google+ so please do follow me there too! I know I should have an Instagram account but my mobile phone has a crappy camera and almost no memory so I can’t do that at the moment. Maybe I’ll open a Pinterest account but I still find it too complicated to do it now. And who knows what will the second year of blogging bring…..

St.Katherine's dock, London
St.Katherine’s dock, London

so follow along.. Facebook / Twitter / Bloglovin’  / Google+ 

thanks

Xoxo

Tanja

31 thoughts

  1. Pingback: My 7 years of travel blogging – the Red Phone Box travels
  2. Pingback: A TRUE LOVE LASTS A LIFETIME….THE STORY OF MY LONDON – the Red Phone Box travels

  3. Hi!
    I loved reading about how you began your blog! My boyfriend, James, and I have just begun a blog ourselves writing about our adventures in travel. We know absolutely nothing about blogging, but are always eager to learn more. This may seem like a silly question, but I was wondering what “Link ups” are exactly? We’re looking to drive more readers to our site and strive to be as successful with our blog as you are with yours one day!

    – James & Danielle

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    1. thanks:) well, some bloggers host linkups. they have a certain theme (or just travel related) and publish a post about it and then other bloggers publish a post on their own blog and link to the host’s blog! then you read other blogs which were linked too and leave a comment and other ppl come to your blog to read your linked post:) does it make sense? it’s a great way to meet new bloggers and to attract more readers:)

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  5. Happy blogiversary! I loved reading about why you created this blog and learning more about you! I hope this next year of blogging brings you many more perks and rewards!

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Pingback: Monthly Blog Overview:August 2016 – the Red Phone Box travels

  8. Congratulations, Tanja! I’ve loved reading about your travel escapades over the last year and a bit. My favourite has been the one in Hampstead when you bumped into Emma Thompson and Mr Bean – I still chuckle over that one! Cx

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  14. Congratulations on one year of blogging. You have accomplished a lot. I always enjoy reading your blog. It is nice to know there is someone out there who is just as crazy about London as I am. I do think some posts about Croatia sound interesting as well since you can’t go to London all the time, much as you might want to.

    I haven’t told people about my blog either though I might start to. I think it might just baffle some people or they might be completely uninterested and that would be discouraging.

    I think blogging starts out as a bit of a hobby but then it becomes a bit of an obsession. That can be good, it gives an interest and focus and can be a distraction from difficult things.

    I am sure you will have many more years of successful blogging.

    Liked by 1 person

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    2. thank you very much for your kind words!:) Yes, blogging can be a happy thing but it also made me stressed and frustrated at times too!:) When you tell other people they might be curious at first but later they probably won’t read your posts diligently:) and that’s just something you need to accept, they are no less friends because of that. it’s just that we all lead busy lives..I like your blog! Especially the London/England posts:))

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  15. Hello! You got started almost exactly the same way that I did and for the same reasons! I wanted a way to talk about travel without boring those around me or making them think I was bragging. I have been a lot of places and when I talk about them, it is never bragging-it’s my passion! It’s my life! People talk about what they like and I talk about travel. Now I have an audience who actually wants to read what I have to say and if nothing else, that makes it worth it to blog for me. I am definitely trying to make it more but for now (I just started in May this year), it is a wonderful hobby and I am really enjoying writing about my travel experiences. And it is exciting to see my stats rise and my number of followers increase. I wish you the best of luck with your own blog and congrats on 1 year! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. thank you very much! yes, it’s exciting to see people following you and being genuinely interested in your travel stories! good luck with your blog too!:) thanks for stopping by!

      Liked by 1 person

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