What Traveling through Scotland Taught Me about Blogging
Posted on 07. Apr, 2010 by Julius.
Recently a friend and I decided to travel somewhere. We didn’t really know where we wanted to go to. He actually proposed going to London but we have stayed there already and I wanted to see parts of northern Britain like Scotland where I haven’t been before. After looking for flights and talking to my friend we decided to go to Scotland. We booked the flight. We had one week to travel through Scotland.
That was almost all we did before we went to Scotland. My friend bought a map and the Lonely Planet guide for Scotland. That was it.
We arrived in Edinburgh and stayed there at a hostel. Only then did we decide where we wanted to go. The following days we simply traveled around Scotland. It was amazing.
It’s probably not as interesting to hear all this so let me get back to how this is related to blogging.
Rough Plans
One thing I learned from our trip was that you only need to have rough plans. You don’t need to have everything planned out already because it won’t give you the option of being spontaneous.
On our tour through Scotland we met a lot of people. After we arrived in Edinburgh we met a girl from Estonia who was planning on renting a car. She wanted to travel the same route we planned on traveling. So she invited us to go with her and a friend by car. So we did.
If we had everything planned then this wouldn’t have been an option for us. But since we only had rough plans we were able to go with them by car. The same thing applies to blogging or life in general. Don’t plan everything.
It’s not worth spending too much time on plans especially if you don’t follow up anyway. It’s better to take action.
Overcome Yourself
On our journey we stayed one night in Pitlochry, a rather small town surrounded by mountains. On the day we arrived there, we thought about going by foot to Queen’s View which is a great spot up in the mountains from which you have an amazing view. So we did go there by foot. When we returned we were quite tired from all the walking.
Afterwards, my friend wanted to go to one of Scotland’s most famous pubs called Moulin Inn later that day. But I actually didn’t want to go since I was tired. Eventually I decided to go with him to the pub.
And guess what. It was one of the best decisions I made. The pub was really worth visiting and we had a great time talking to some Scottish people.
It is always that way in life. Sometimes we simply need to overcome ourselves, our inner obstacles. And if you do it’s usually one of the most rewarding experiences in your life.
Go ahead and work on your blog. Do something which you never wanted to do but which is important. You will be glad you did it afterwards.
Connect with Other People
This is probably the most important thing I’ve learned from this trip. Be open and connect to other people. It’s always such a great opportunity to learn something new.
When we, for example, talked to some Scottish people they told us about all the great dishes that we had to try. If we would have stayed in our hostel and wouldn’t have talked to people we probably would have never had the chance to try these things out.
It’s the same in blogging. You can learn so much from other people simply by talking to them. Connect to them and they will be happy to share their knowledge.
What do you think? Do you like to travel? Was this helpful at all?
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Mars Dorian
07. Apr, 2010
Cool anecdote – you always miss out if you don’t take the chances. It’s true – opportunities to connect with people are everywhere !
And eck yeah I like traveling. I used to live in Japan and Australia, and I threw myself into the strangest communities.
I lived together with Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. The wild bunch deluxe.Awesome times.
And good post Julius – I like the personal flavor you bring into your blog – it’s broadening your personal brand
jules
08. Apr, 2010
Wow so you have done a lot of traveling? I would love to go to Japan and Australia
I guess we are both doing the same thing — establishing our personal brand 
It seems to be working for both of us I guess.
eric
07. Apr, 2010
This post was something else. I like that you said just to do something even if you don’t really want to because you’ll never know the experience you might have had if you don’t.
I’m doing my first video on my blog this Friday of my best blogging tip. It’s inspired by Darren over at ProBlogger.net and I think it’s important because it goes right along with what you’ve said here: Communicate and you’ll find things out.
jules
08. Apr, 2010
Great so you are also starting to use videos. I always thought that I should create some videos too. Now that you and Mars are already starting to do some I guess I’ll have to start too.
I’ll definitely check out your blog on Friday. Keep it up man
Eric
09. Apr, 2010
Yeah I’m definitely going to be doing more videos on the future. In fact, I think videos are where it’s at. I’ll keep writing also but adding video in here and there.
What do you think?
jules
09. Apr, 2010
I personally like the idea of including videos into your blog. It does create a more personal brand and that’s what people are interested anyway. They are interested in the people behind a web site or blog. So it’s definitely a good step to take
Patrick Toerner
12. Apr, 2010
This trip sounds awesome! I have been to scotland once, it was amazing. I would love to go back. I envy this trip you made. Its cool how you related aspects of your trip to blogging as well, cool post man!
jules
12. Apr, 2010
Thanks. Yeah it was definitely worth it
Can’t wait to see whether my minisite strategy is really working. At the moment I am really doubting it 
Hesham
12. Apr, 2010
I am glad you had a good time!
I agree with you that planning everything is not going to work in most cases! so I prefer a long term plan for that cause.
I like to travel when ever there is a chance, you remind me with my 2 visits to Denmark, I meet nice people and spent a great time!
Welcome back buddy
jules
13. Apr, 2010
Thanks buddy! Of course a long term plan is great. I have one too.
I love to travel and I would like to see some other countries. I have been to several but I would love to travel to Asia. I haven’t been there at all. How did you like Denmark?
Alex Monroe
12. Apr, 2010
Great comparison Julius. We can learn a ton from traveling especially the importance of planning and connecting. I like how you stated that things wouldn’t have gone the same if you had planned the trip more. I like how different opportunities arise along the way. It happens in business, in life and in travels. Its important to always be on the lookout. Nice work my friend.
jules
13. Apr, 2010
Thanks Alex. Yeah it’s incredible how many opportunities arise along the way. Planning would have totally ruined it though and you wouldn’t have had a chance to jump at the opportunity.
Matthew Needham
12. Apr, 2010
Hi Jules, what a great post and what an excellent trip you had.
Your point is spot on. With rough plans you can be so flexible and still achieve your goals.
Plans needn’t be rigid.
Matthew
jules
13. Apr, 2010
Thanks Matthew. I believe it’s true that rough plans are sometimes better. Not always but they will allow for you to be flexible and I think that’s partly what life is about.
Selurus
13. Apr, 2010
Yeah. Blogging is definately about connecting with other people. And you and learn a lot from others considering that the rest of the world put together knows much more than you can imagine.
jules
13. Apr, 2010
Thanks Selurus. Blogging is all about connecting to other people. There is no point in blogging if you never ever get to connect to other people.
Yeah learning from others is important. You learn this through traveling as well as through blogging.
Karen
13. Apr, 2010
Hi Julius,
I’ve always wanted to travel through Scotland. You and your friend were so lucky to take a week off and just go. It sounds like you made some great memories.
I agree that sometimes the best laid plans don’t really work out all that well and that just winging it can allow you to make time for some unforgettable moments along your journey.
I have also had the experience of not really wanting to do something or have been too tired and then forcing myself to do it. Most of the time it turns out to be a fantastic experience and one that I’m glad that I didn’t miss out on. When you have no or low expectations – that’s when you can really appreciate whatever happens and can make great experiences.
Karen
jules
15. Apr, 2010
Thanks Karen. Yeah the trip was great and Scotland is a great country to visit. You should definitely go there if you get a chance to.
You touched on an interesting point there. It probably ends up being that great because your expectations were so low as you’ve said. But still nonetheless these experiences are really rewarding.