What has happened to this travel blog?

On my most recent trip in Thailand. Welcome to the beautiful waters of Maya Bay.

If you want to know how seriously I’ve taken blogging and this travel blog over the past four years, then consider that I’m writing this very piece on my iPhone’s Notes app as I get the train into town to watch the Super Bowl.

It’s late on a Sunday evening and I’m actually only writing this piece to extend my streak of positing every week on my website since I started it back in November 2015.

This year Travelling Tom will turn eight years old and if I leave it in its current state, then approximately half of its lifespan will have been spent with little more effort than the weekly post - whether that’s something simple like this particular instance, or a page to highlight my most recent YouTube video.

But there’s still something here.

At the time of writing, I’ve been to 87 countries - the vast majority having been visited as a student, or whilst working a nine-to-five.

Whilst long-term travel is currently the flavour of the month, most people will either do long-term travel temporarily (i.e. a gap year) or not at all. It’s not compatible with the lives of most human beings, and whilst digital nomadism has been around for a couple of decades now, it is still in its growth stage.

That means there are plenty of potential eyeballs to engage with and a lot I can say when it comes to travelling a lot with restrictive work hours and budget, in addition to the topic at large.

Yet whilst I know this and understand the weight of knowledge I’ve acquired not just on my travels, but also throughout the past five years of working in the travel industry, it’s easier said than done.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve told people I’m “currently redeveloping my website,” a line I’ve used a number of times since 2019.

It’s now 2023, and whilst I’ve taken steps towards it, I need to knuckle down and actually do something about this site, because it’s a lengthy process that involves redesigning it altogether, doing an audit of everting currently on TravellingTom.com and deciding what I’ll keep and what needs to go, migrating content across to the new build and having plenty of posts written and ready to go so that there’s lots of things for new and returning visitors to see.

I hope it’s something I eventually do, because I am a travel creator in my professional life, and much like my YouTube I know that in many years, it will be great to look back on all the travels I’ve had and all the information I’ve gleaned.

In previous years, I’ve done annual recaps and said similar things to the above, yet not acted on it like I should.

I know people still come to my website, because there is some useful information still on here, but there’s also a lot more to give.

If you still visit the Travelling Tom travel blog, I’d like to thank you for doing so, and I hope that in the not-too-distant future there will be plenty more content to consume.

In the meantime, don’t forget to keep up with me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook.