How I Afford Travel Blogger Burnout

Last Updated on July 13, 2023 by Christine Kaaloa


Announcement & How I Afford Travel Blogger Burnout

 

.

As a travel blogger, it probably wouldn’t sound right if I say I’m tired of travel. But as travel blogging is my job, I’ve found it changes the way I see/experience travel.

Knowing I have a responsibility to my blog followers,… to keep things interesting, keep content fresh, informational and exciting, sometimes, I feel I only partially traveling for yourself. This might still be okay, I guess, if I could afford to travel often. But  what happens if I’m barely affording my own lifestyle? In that case, fatigue, frustration and worry can quickly enter the picture.

I’m leaving on a trip in a few days and hmmm… I’m very stressed about it. It took me a while to warm to the idea I’d be on the road again. Today’s video and post will explain why.

 

Is one woman doing it all alone… enough?

Not at the moment.

Juggling all the creative skills, tools and expenses to implement a successful travel blog, YouTube channel and Instagram about female solo travel takes more energy than one person can put out.

Especially if I’m splitting my focus/energies/time on job hunting and surviving a lifestyle in the U.S.

How to achieve blogger burnout

Rather than quitting GRRRLTRAVELER (a 60+ hour unpaid work week)  to focus on finding full-time employment and detour blog burn out, I downsized my writing workload –a band-aid solution. The reality is, my burnout hit so bad this year, I’ve come to loathe writing.  A visual artist, I’ve long held a love-hate with words. When I’ve spent hours to days on a post only to get a few reads or likes, it’s felt like my dead end 9-5 ball and chain.

To alleviate the burden so that I can still continue my blog,  I turned to a creative outlet I absolutely love, … video.  Producing creative weekly videos is still a lot of work and my equipment is nowhere cheaper, but the creative challenges of video, inspire the creator in me to keep going.

Through weekly videos on my YouTube channel,  I can take you inside travel to demystify the solo experience! My goal is to inspire you, share travel tips and to show you, that you can travel and not only survive it but have the time of your life! But pumping out quality solo travel videos weekly is not easy. It take a lot of time to film, edit and promote my videos to audiences and video is not a hobby for me. Camera, tech gear and maintenance repair is also an expense (Check out my gear bag). I have had  my DSLR react badly to Thailand humidity and had to buy a point and shoot camera while traveling.

Personally, I want to keep making travel videos to inspire and get more of you out there living your travel dreams! But I can no longer do that all alone.

Read 11 Best Vlogging Cameras for Travel Blogging and YouTube

How do I afford travel and my YouTube lifestyle?

Simply put, I juggle jobs outside my blog. My outside work has to fund my American lifestyle, my blog/YouTube maintenance (and all it requires in equipment), as well as, fund my travels. Meanwhile, I also have to find creative ways to navigate and film my travels safely and alone, based on a scant budget.. It’s a lot of pressure to juggle.  At my age, I want more than to just narrowly get by.

I’ve had many past jobs that paid me to travel. Travel blogging and YouTube is not one of them.  In many ways, my blog is similar to the 9-5 cubicle job that many want to escape from. I have regular responsibilities and have to perform with quality content. With one big difference though… I don’t get a paycheck for my work hours. It’s hard not to want to hate myself for doing that to myself… for being a slave to you, to myself, to this blog entity that’s swallowed my life and free time.

But I also believe in what I’m doing to encouraging confidence in female solo travel and empowering independent travelers.

This obviously isn’t a smart or sustainable business model for GRRRLTRAVELER (since 2008) as a source of inspiration, empowerment and information for many travelers and solo traveling women.

 Read about how much I would make as a freelance videographer and host 

travel blogger burnout, How i afford travel blogger burnout
How i afford travel blogger burnout

 

I’m coming up on a trip and for the first time, I’m stressed and reluctant about traveling.  I’ve chosen inexpensive countries, but my  budget still affords few options outside of cheap and occasionally unsafe choices!  And if I’m going to attempt any sort of video editing on the road, it will require stretches of down time held up in my accommodations. Without proper funding in general, my creativity will be stretched thin, juggling budget/safe options, solo safety and video creation…I know I’ll burn out quickly.

How can you help me continue making videos?

I’m running a Patreon campaign. It’s an ongoing, monthly fan funding campaign to help GRRRLTRAVELER be more self-sustaining. You control how much you want to donate, how often and when to quit. I’ve set up some milestone goals to reach for.  In the future, I’d like to run workshops and tours, but at the moment, it’s hard to see I’d last GRRRLTRAVELER, if she can’t start pulling some of her own weight.  If you prefer making a one-time donation you can Buy me a coffee via Paypal

If you are not financially healthy, then please do not donate.

  • There are other ways to keep me on the road (See this list)
  • Share, comment and like my videos on YouTube.
  • Offer to translate my YouTube videos in another language so others can enjoy it and it travels farther!

One girl can’t do it all alone. She needs help. Support, share and like my campaign and help me inspire women and soloists towards their travel dreams!

donate to grrrltraveler, support grrrltraveler
Support the work I do at GRRRLTRAVELER

 

 

   My Travel Survival Cheat Sheet

 

download checklist 25 travel tips for solo travelers

Download my 25 Solo Travel Mistakes to AVOID Checklist

And Get my Travel Survival Blog Updates

Related Posts

Travel Blogging Business Tips, Travel Influencer Tips, Travel Vlogging