The story behind The Red Phone Box travels blog

red telephone boxes, London
I love red telephone boxes

Why did I launch The Red Phone Box travels blog five and a half years ago? There were a few good reasons. I needed a distraction from my everyday life. And I felt that I needed a new audience for my travel stories because I had a sneaky feeling that my friends were getting bored of my travel escapades. Also, I was in a difficult personal situation at the time and I needed something positive to occupy my mind.

I didn’t have a clue about blogging or how to set up a blog ( I still don’t know much about SEO). I’d 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 while I told my best friend and my husband. Later, I mentioned my travel blog to other people too but to this day I still feel more comfortable with the idea of strangers reading and commenting on my posts than my friends.

What’s in a name, you might ask? 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. I have lived in England for a while after university but my primary goal was to write about my numerous visits to London and my other travels around Europe. I decided to write in English and not in my mother tongue Croatian because I wanted to connect with the world.

my blog’s profile photo:) a photo from my last visit to London back in 2016!!

Most of my blog posts are personal travel stories while some can be considered as travel guides. For instance, I wrote about my trips to Portugal, Scotland, Vienna, not just about London. I joined many travel linkups and photography challenges. I wrote tips for visiting Bologna, Budapest, San Marino, just to name a few of the places I blogged about. Over the years I started to blog about Croatia too. Perhaps you can find some inspiration for your future visit to Croatia here. Of course, I shared some of my life stories too.

A lot has changed in my personal life since 2015. Now, I have two young kids and less and less time to blog. Also, due to the big changes in my life in the past three years and more recently because of the worldwide pandemic I haven’t travelled that much as I used to. It saddens me to say this, but travel might not even be my top priority anymore. However, I’m still deeply in love with London. Nothing could change that. And I still love travel. I want to show my kids the places I’ve fallen in love with and discover some new places with them too.

I’m very grateful to my readers and followers for their continual support over the years. I have met some truly exceptional people via my blog and I’ve made some new friends. If you want to know more about me you can check this post or this recent interview by a fellow travel blogger.

I write for my own selfish pleasure. But I’ve also managed to do some collaborations and paid work. Nevertheless, this travel blog is just my hobby. Sometimes I dislike my writing and I want to quit blogging altogether because I feel like I don’t have anything to write about since I travel less and less. On the other hand, this blog makes me happy. So, I guess I’ll continue to blog for as long as it makes me happy.

This post is written for February’s 2021 travel link up hosted by Adventures of a London Kiwi, SilverSpoon London, Binnys Food and Travel Diaries and  Summers Holiyay. The topic is the story of your blog name and how you came to start blogging.

 

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43 thoughts

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  5. I am happy I found your blog. I started blogging to record my travel adventures. Loved our time in Croatia and hoping to return soon . We have a friend named Tanja from Croatia but lives here now in Canada. Like many in the world we cannot get back to travelling now ..thanks to Covid. Thanks Tanja ..stay safe,

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  8. Great to read your story! I am exactly the same, love writing up my travel stories, purely as a hobby, and at the same time sharing a few of the best tips I’ve found along the road. The pandemic has been tricky, but I have to say I’ve been doing a lot of research into places I want to go when we are allowed out again, and making 2 back up plans for our summer holidays just in case.
    I only recently noticed that the London phone box was so iconic. It is pretty cool, isn’t it? #travellinkup

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  10. Blogs definitely change over time, I think it should always be a hobby (or something you enjoy) first and foremost though.

    Looking forward to reading more of your posts and seeing where you’ve stumbled across those red phone boxes 🙂

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  11. Hi Tanja, Really enjoyed reading how you came about blogging.Please don’t give up as I really love reading your posts and you write from the heart. I have read some of your Croatia content too and would reach out to you when I visit one day. I love the name too and just instantly reminds me of London!

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  12. I loved reading this! I could relate so much t your evolvement too. We as people evolve and change, so it is only natural that our blogs do. Especially if we write them purely for pleasure. I enjoy your blog, and LOVE your name. I share your love of London so it always makes me smile xx

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  13. Blogs change, because people change. I’ve had my blog for almost five years and, while it’s more-or-less remained a travel blog, there has been a shift in the type of posts I write pertaining to travel. In my earlier years, I focused a lot more on the philosophy behind travel and destination posts recounting the places I’d been to recently. But now as I’ve settled down and work a 9-to-5 job (and COVID-19), I haven’t been able to travel like crazy like when I was younger. Priorities are different, but that doesn’t make our blog lesser than it was before. It’s just different, and I believe that by writing about what you want to write about, regardless or not it’s travel, the right bloggers will be drawn to you for a sustainable audience in the future. 🙂

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  15. I love reading your posts. I would wish you continue blogging. Loved reading about the story behind your blog. I understand the thought “ I write for selfish reason. “ You write for yourself, for your pleasure and I do it too. But as I said I love reading your posts. , so I would love for you to keep writing.

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  16. I feel the same way about blogging now that I have a daughter, plus the pandemic. It’s just a hobby for me but one that I love and makes me feel like me – especially, I think, with a daughter and pandemic. It’s nice to have something that is purely for me. I also feel much more comfortable with strangers reading than friends!

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  18. I totally understand being more comfortable with the idea of strangers reading your blog rather than friends – very few of mine actually know about it! I loved reading about this story and I hope you won’t give up blogging! We are not here just for the traveling, but for the person behind the posts as well! 😊

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