HOW TO BLOG AWAY FROM HOME

. TIPS FOR BLOGGING ABROAD .

Now I actually wrote a whole feature on tips for blogging whilst on holiday a few weeks back which you can read here, but I thought for todays post I’d focus more on actually blogging whilst you’re away, opposed to the pre-planning side of things. As i’m currently on a two week holiday in the middle east, and blogging daily from my trip, I thought i’d share my key tips for both managing to actually blog but also optimising your time so it doesn’t take over your holiday.

So assuming you’ve not been able to schedule posts in advance, heres my five key tips for blogging away from home!

. SUSS OUT LOCATIONS & TIME OF DAY .

When it comes to blogging abroad, and particularly taking outfit pictures, there are definitely perks but also obstacles. The perk of course if that you’re in a fab new location, likely to be in the sunshine or if not hopefully less grizzly than the UK and most importantly have time away from work to get your shots. The con also of course is that you need to find your perfect spot, suss out the new daylight hours & work out when is best (but also possible) to shoot your pics.

I’m currently using my tripod and remote to shoot my outfits whilst i’m out here, so you’ll notice they’ve mostly been in and around the same area. Given I can’t set up a tripod in the middle of Dubai or Abu Dhabi city, i found myself a quiet little spot with a beautiful back drop which has perfect lighting first thing in the morning and importantly is super convenient to my hotel.

The absolute dream of course would be having someone who could take outfit pictures whilst your out and about exploring the city / country, but of course it’s not always possible (plus you don’t want the whole holiday to become about blogging).

. BLOCK OUT TIME .

As I mentioned above, I found that the morning was the perfect time to shoot allowing for perfect lighting, not too much heat (we’re currently at around 35 degrees by midday) but also a time that wouldn’t interrupt our plans for the day.

On day 1 I sussed out my location and lighting, fortunately I had managed to schedule a post for day 1, allowing me 24 hours to get planning. I didn’t want to be taking outfit pictures every single day, that would have just been annoying, so across the 11 day holiday i’ve set aside 3 mornings to shoot around 3 looks at a time. Much more manageable & also consumes far less time overall!

. USE QUIET TIME TO SCHEDULE .

Every evening either pre or post dinner / going out, there’s usually a bit of a getting ready lull. The sun’s setting, and I may find myself with a cheeky 30 minutes to spare. Some nights I haven’t, and so bed time has become my opportune time. But either way, find yourself a spare 30 – 60 minutes each day or a couple of times throughout your trip where you can simply sit and write. Get all your content loaded and scheduled … ideally as many posts as possible in one go so that you can spend more time enjoying your holiday than blogging.

I’ve been using bed time as a great time to work on my content, it doesn’t interrupt my trip (albeit it is tiring) but means that I can get the next day (or days) posts scheduled ready for live, giving me a stress free morning!

. PROMOTE AS AND WHEN .

If you’re like me and like to promote your new blog posts via your social channels, whether that be twitter, instagram, Facebook or bloglovin etc, then optimise your time throughout the day to do this. I find sporadically hopping onto wifi whilst having lunch, a cocktail or out in evening a great opportunity to quickly share and promote your post, without interrupting your day too much.

Also of course, don’t forget in times like this, scheduling sites like Buffer can be your absolute best friend. Once my post goes live I tend to spend around 10 minutes arranging for some scheduled tweets to go live throughout the day, as there’s no guarantee i’ll have wifi / be awake at the right time / remember to support it otherwise.

. KEEP CHILLED .

You’re on holiday, if you miss a day who cares, if your post is late, no bother. Don’t forget a holiday is meant to be a break, so don’t spend your whole trip worrying about how, when, where and what you’re going to be blogging each day, if when it comes to it you simply can’t be bothered or can’t manage to fit it in, then c’est la vie. 

Do you have any tips for blogging away from home?