The challenge for me as a blogger has always been to gradually migrate my readership away from the pure travel genre and towards the topics that I'm interested in enough to write about, as given in the subtitle at the top of the blog. Somehow I have to do this without knowing much about my readers or where they come from; most readers probably still come from RV travel blogs.
A cross-category blog is inherently difficult to match with readers. Perhaps that's why most blogs are "pure-breeds", such as news, politics, financial, vacation-like travel, sports, friends and family, etc.
Imagine the disappointment of a the standard armchair traveler/RV wannabee who stumbles onto my blog. He wants escapist dreams and pretty pictures to help numb the pain of having four more years to go, in his cubicle prison; there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I do here. Offering anything but sugary fantasies will come off as being overly-earnest at best, or negative and cynical at worst.
I take independent, non-stereotypical, living and thinking seriously, but I doubt that the average armchair traveler does. But how do I find the right readers? "Alternative lifestyle" is a keyword that matches various wacko stereotypes. "Independence" matches people looking to stay out of nursing homes for another year.
Travel-based experiences are important to me, but that does not mean routine sightseeing, not that there's anything evil with it; but it's too easy and predictable. A real travel experience doesn't take place at arm's length from the windshield; it comes from pushing your envelope both physically and mentally.
There is an old saying in the movie biz that a movie can not be any better than its villain. Similarly, a book-novel has a protagonist and an antagonist; there is a conflict, and resolving that conflict is what the story is all about. An independent and alternative lifestyle should also be a drama about the conflicts between the protagonist (the individualist) and the antagonist (mainstream society and its shackles). A drama is a lot different from an escapist fantasy.
Trying to escape the travel blog pigeonhole has been frustrating, which then causes me to lash out at the mainstream RV traveler, whose supposed "alternative lifestyle" turns out to be false advertising. Recall that 'a cynic is just an idealist who has been disappointed once too often'.
A cross-category blog is inherently difficult to match with readers. Perhaps that's why most blogs are "pure-breeds", such as news, politics, financial, vacation-like travel, sports, friends and family, etc.
Imagine the disappointment of a the standard armchair traveler/RV wannabee who stumbles onto my blog. He wants escapist dreams and pretty pictures to help numb the pain of having four more years to go, in his cubicle prison; there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I do here. Offering anything but sugary fantasies will come off as being overly-earnest at best, or negative and cynical at worst.
I take independent, non-stereotypical, living and thinking seriously, but I doubt that the average armchair traveler does. But how do I find the right readers? "Alternative lifestyle" is a keyword that matches various wacko stereotypes. "Independence" matches people looking to stay out of nursing homes for another year.
Travel-based experiences are important to me, but that does not mean routine sightseeing, not that there's anything evil with it; but it's too easy and predictable. A real travel experience doesn't take place at arm's length from the windshield; it comes from pushing your envelope both physically and mentally.
There is an old saying in the movie biz that a movie can not be any better than its villain. Similarly, a book-novel has a protagonist and an antagonist; there is a conflict, and resolving that conflict is what the story is all about. An independent and alternative lifestyle should also be a drama about the conflicts between the protagonist (the individualist) and the antagonist (mainstream society and its shackles). A drama is a lot different from an escapist fantasy.
Trying to escape the travel blog pigeonhole has been frustrating, which then causes me to lash out at the mainstream RV traveler, whose supposed "alternative lifestyle" turns out to be false advertising. Recall that 'a cynic is just an idealist who has been disappointed once too often'.
Comments
Sure, I use "escapist fantasy" to escape Life's dramas... the ones that beat you up. What's wrong with that? Not everyone can run free and wild 24/7.
And look! I took compassion and didn't even use a single dot dot dot! :)
Always enjoy your wide range of interests and topics. Keep it up