Saying Goodbye to This, My Travel Blog

I published my first post on this blog on January 29, 2010, eight months after we started full-time RVing. Almost fifteen years later, I am posting this 590^th post. It is also my last.

The End of Our Travels

2018, we sold our RV and settled at Viewpoint in Phoenix, Arizona. We continued traveling via other modes, so I changed the blog title but retained the domain rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspost.com. 

These blog posts went viral (up to35,000 views) on this blog:

1. Debating the Pros and Cons of the RV Cruising Lifestyle
2. Operationalizing Phase 2 of RVing in North Carolina
3. Finding Christmas on Florida's Treasure Island
4. Going Up the East Coast
5. Turning Wounds into Wisdom: Georgia
6. Discovering More in New Mexico
7. Reliving WWII in the Philippines
8. Looking for a Base in Arizona
9. Traveling Light in an RV?
10. We RVed Fulltime for 8 Years. Here are the 10 Things We Learned
11. Leaving No Stone Unturned in the Canadian Rockies
12. 10 New Landmarks in Charming Mazatlan

The blog became a rich source of material for my two travel books: Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream and Cruising Past 70: It's Not Only About Outer Journeys. It's Also About Inner Ones.

My husband and I returned from our last trip together in May. He did not join me on a short solo trip to the Philippines in August. We also canceled our 16th-anniversary trip to Leavenworth, Washington. Yes, we will no longer be the wanderers we once were.

The Beginning of the End

In mid-2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was invited to write as an expert contributor for Travel Awaits, a travel magazine for the 50+ by the 50+. The magazine was experiencing a growth spurt at a time when no one could travel, but retirement dreams soared.

I needed more time to write for two publications, but I did not have the heart to deactivate my blog. Instead, I wrote articles for the magazine and republished them on my blog.

Of the 60+ articles I wrote, the following went viral (150,000+ clicks):

1. 6 Quaint Small Towns to Visit North of Anchorage, Alaska
2. 6 Charming Small Towns to Visit in Southern Alaska
3. 5 Things My Husband and I Practice in Retirement to Keep Us Young

Under the magazine's leadership, my writing improved. However, I discovered that having non-original content negatively impacted my blog. From 4,000 views per post, it dwindled to 1,000.

When travel returned, the magazine's readership fell. It was bought by new owners, who redefined the content with their writers. I am still on the roster but no longer actively contribute. They republished some of my articles, but all writers' retirement pieces were removed.  

As trips became less frequent, I began writing on my blog about other topics (retirement and renewal, health and longevity). After my leadership award, I also wrote about leadership and management. My views dropped to less than 300 per post. I am no longer true to my niche. My writing needs a new home.

A New Platform

While writing for Travel Awaits, I was unaware that the blogging world had also changed. The plummeting views have been traced to frequent Google algorithm changes, even for the most popular blogs. It wasn't just that I needed original content (although I am sure that contributed). Bloggers turned to newer business platforms.

Two of the most popular ones are Medium and Substack. 

Medium is a single membership model with over one million paid subscriptions. Editors recommend articles to their vast reader base. The onus is to write quality articles about in-demand topics.

On the other hand, Substack has four million paid subscribers distributed among its 20,000 or so writers, an average of 200 per writer. Writers are responsible for promoting their writing and signing up subscribers.

Gemini, Google's AI, helped me narrow my choice to one question: Should I spend my time writing quality articles or promoting my writing to subscribers? I don't have the time to do both, as I want to work on my two new book projects.

It is time to deactivate this blog, even if I have yet to decide. Goodbye, Blogspot, Google's blogging platform. Thank you for being a good home for my travel writing.

Thank you all for sticking with me through the years. I hope to see you again on my new platform or when one of my books is published. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!