When I started my blog in 2014, I never expected that after a few years this could lead to my freedom from the corporate world.
Just like the majority of us, I was a corporate worker for many years. I have always thought that life has the same path, a normal path. That after finishing college, we all go to work and retire until we’re 60. This has been the path that society has told us to follow. But something extraordinary happened in life. In my 20’s, I felt something was wrong. I realized that the life that society has been telling us to follow felt wrong. Actually, it even felt like a scam to me. I started questioning, who said that we can never be on our own? Who said that we can’t create the life that we wanted.
Press Trip in Brunei.
At that time, I asked myself, what do I want? I was still unsure of what I wanted to pursue, but all I knew is that I didn’t want to work for anyone. I don’t want to be an employee. I don’t want to have a boss, telling me what I should do and monitoring my every move. I want freedom from everything corporate.
During that time, I wanted to write. So that’s what I did, I started a travel blog and hoped for the best while still working on my day job.
It took me 5 long years of writing on my blog before I finally felt that the blog started to get views and traction. It has been 5 years of hustling between my day job and passion. In 2019, I finally decided to quit my corporate job and focus on writing.
What I learned from being a blogger
Press Trip in Samar
If there is one thing that my blogging journey has taught me is definitely consistency. From the moment I decided to launch my travel blog, I’ve committed myself to it.
No matter how difficult it is to juggle my office job and writing, I didn’t give up. Even though I was so tired from my day job, I still work at night for my personal goals. My job was my way for me to pay the bills and survive. While the blog was my ticket to my personal and far bigger goals. The blog served as a reminder that I can do more than my usual 9 to 5 job.
During our travel to Cebu and Bohol with international travel bloggers via Oceanjet business class
Blogging is sheer hard work. If you want to succeed at blogging, you have to be willing to put in the work. It is important to do something each day that will grow your blog, be it working on your online presence or creating content.
After a few years, more invitations and opportunities came in, so collaboration with stakeholders, brands, and fellow bloggers is also essential. By being a blogger, I also learned more skills like social media marketing, content marketing, and SEO. It was definitely a worthwhile journey.
My Final Thoughts
I have grown so much as a blogger and writer in the past years. The most immense growth happened when I decided to share my writings online through my travel blog. Practicing the craft is good, but being open and sharing yourself with the world is a different case. Growth happens when you’re willing to share what you’ve created.
I also became patient. Patience, so much patience, will also play a big role in the blogging journey. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get any good results in just a year or 2 years of blogging. Blogging takes time. You have to be willing to do this long-term with consistency and hard work.
