My 8 years of travel blogging

that’s me In Helsinki, June, 2023:)

My 8 years of travel blogging have gone by in a flash! I am astonished that my blog The Red Phone box travels is 8 years old! When I started blogging I didn’t have any long time plans for my blog. I just wanted to share my travel stories and impressions with the world. I couldn’t imagine that I’d be blogging for 8 years. And I don’t plan to stop!

Sure, blogging has changed a lot since my first blog post in 2015. Many of my favourite bloggers stopped blogging in the meantime and some have turned professional. I’ve come across other bloggers and formed some blogging friendships and some have even became real life friendships too. I had to go through many WordPress changes and get my head around new (unnecessary) ways of editing and posting. I went from a free plan to a domain owner and a paid plan.

I love travelling and I love London. These two facts haven’t changed in the last 8 years but everything else has changed. In fact our entire world has changed, and I don’t just refer to pandemic years. My personal life has changed greatly too. I was married but childless when I started blogging. Now, I have an almost 6 year old son and an almost 4 year daughter. Our cat, which is our first (fur) baby, is still with us at and it’s 10 years old. If you want to know more about me, you can check this old post.

Through all the changes in my life I kept blogging sometimes more, sometimes less. I wrote about London, about our trips around Europe (trips as a couple, my solo trips, trips with my best friend, our family trips with kids). I can’t be sure why I persisted with blogging and what made me not quit. I guess I found inspiration and support in my blogging community. Blogging about travel has also been my outlet and practically the only thing besides travel that was genuinely me, that didn’t change or disappear or diminish that much with motherhood.

I finally went back to London last year, after 6 years ( I used to visit it once a year at least). Furthermore, I’ve already booked my flights for London for my birthday this December :). I’ll be 40 years old before Christmas. I’m very excited to cross off a few more places on my London bucket list.

I’m excited about my next Lodon trip but I love our family trips. Our kids have travelled with us to many places in Croatia such as Brijuni islands, Trakošćan castle (photo below) and many more and to a few places abroad like Italy and Slovenia (just search for family travel posts for all the fun places to take your kids to in Croatia). We have yet to take them on a trip by plane. They love exploring castles like me and eating out at restaurants (fancy brats!:)).

I’ve visited a couple of new countries in the last few years such as Malta, Poland, Germany and most recently Finland. This year has been especially fruitful regarding travel. We’ve been travelling somewhere practically every month from spring to summer. I’m eager to share with you my travel stories from these past trips, so, bear with me and you’ll read these posts eventually (I mentioned in my last year’s blogiversary post how I need to write about visiting my best friend in Germany, and hey, I posted about that last month!).

visiting Trakošćan castle with my family this April

8 years of blogging, 477 posts published. Some got more likes and views and comments than others. Some are still popular even after a couple of years after I posted them, some probably disappeared in the oblivion immediately. I have a lot of drafts in my folder and I’ve finally started to publish some real travel posts lately, not just photo posts.

It’s difficult to choose my personal favorites from all the blog posts I published here. I’m more satisfied with some than others, but honestly I didn’t pick my favorites because they are well written but because they remind me of some very special experiences. Since a true love never dies and because I fell in love with London through books and movies even before my first visit, I like most of my London posts. I like some of my Christmas themed posts because Christmas season brings me joy. Bruges is still probably the best day trip I’ve ever had and San Marino was a gem and our first family trip. These are just some of my favourites, I could list some other too but it’s not that important.

What’s next? Travel posts about my top 10 experiences in Malta, best sights in Krakow and a walk around Helsinki and more of my popular Christmas ornaments and mugs posts. As well as a few more London posts:)

Cheers to the next 8 years of blogging!

Thank You so much for all your support, comments and likes!

xoxo

Tanja

ps. first guest post will be posted soon!

57 thoughts on “My 8 years of travel blogging”

  14. Congrats! You have such a similar blogging story to mine, and I agree it’s a hobby that’s easy(ish) to keep up even with kids. Though at a slower pace! (What isn’t easy is when they make those unnecessary editor changes!) I’m happy your blog is still here, inspiring us to travel! Cin cin!

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  15. Wow, that’s a fantastic milestone. Congratulations on eight years of blogging, Tanja! I find that whether your blog is about to hit its one-year anniversary or its tenth, your “blogiversary” is a moment to celebrate. It’s an ideal time to revisit the posts your readers liked best during the past year, recognize the people who’ve helped your blog succeed, and maybe try something new. Thanks for sharing and here’s to many more years of traveling and blogging 🙂 Aiva xx

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  25. Congratulations on eight years of blogging, Tanja! Time really flies by when you’re traveling AND writing about travel! A lot can change in eight years, from having kids to new priorities in life…but what has stayed constant is your love for London and travel. Even though I’ve only followed along in the past three(?) years or so, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading your adventures in your native Croatia and beyond. Here’s to more years of blogging, and I smell your 10 years of blogging just around the corner!

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