Day in the Life of a Travel Blogger

Today we are going on a behind the scenes tour of a Day in my Life as a blogger, mom, teacher, and general juggler of all the balls. Taralyn at Keep Moving Forward with Me asked bloggers to share what they do to achieve balance (or something like it) between a running a blog and living a life. 

Every (late) night, when I crawl into bed and try to make my brain stop making lists, I promise myself that I am going to get an early start on the day. Every morning, I fail at that goal. Getting up early is a pipe dream, so I am always starting my day feeling behind. Fortunately, even when I sleep in, I am still up earlier than my kids, who are homeschooled. In the stolen moments between when I roll out of bed and when I make my kids do the same, I squeeze in as much work as possible. That means answering emails, sending out pitches, and getting my social media stream in order for the day. A good part of this morning time is spent traveling planning, and as I usually have 3-4 trips in the works at any given time, I am carefully checking my calendar and keeping constant contact with the travel partners who are helping with the trip.

Around ten, my kids get up and get breakfast-seriously, they have no idea how great their life is-and then the school part of our day starts. I really try to put blogging aside completely during our school hours of 10-2, but a little bit of work always sneaks in between the lessons in long division and the Reformation. If the lesson plan for the day includes a movie, or an audiobook, I always use that time to edit pictures or create Pinterest images, or any other mindless task. 

~Reviewing Spanish Vocabulary~

My kids have learned to work independently on a good portion of their lessons, which I think is a must for any family that homeschools, particularly when mom also works. In between answering questions, which looks a lot like a circus act most days, I am able to get in enough housecleaning and laundry to keep us in clean clothes for another day. As soon as the kids are finished with school, they escape to their rooms for a movie or some computer time. (Somebody needs to tell these kids they are living the dream.)

When school’s out for teacher, I take a look at my workload to see how to structure my afternoon. First thing on my list is to spend some time running on the treadmill. Marathon Training-yo! Then I switch back into blogging mode. If I have a particularly heavy editorial calendar, or I am behind (which is often), I set aside 30-45 minutes in the afternoon to write. I try to set a timer to keep me on track and off of Facebook. Setting the timer keeps me from getting writer’s block and encourages me just to get words on the paper. I know I can always come back later and edit and refine. This time is just for word regurgitation. I also spend a few minutes checking in with my social media, and doing any research for posts I might work on in the evening. I like to do my research in the afternoon, so my brain can spin around some ideas while I cook dinner.

The hours between dinner and bedtime fly by in a whirl of chores, kid activities, and family game time. If I am working on a deadline, I will occasionally slip away early in the evening to my favorite quiet corner of the Target Café to get a jump on my posts. If my schedule is a little clearer, I wait until my youngest hops in bed around 8 pm and then it is game on. This is when I upload my latest post, grab photos, and prepare the social media to support the post. Once I hit publish, I start a slow wind down to bedtime. After a quick snack, and a cup of tea, I turn on a favorite show and use that time to check lesson plans for the next day or to do more of those mindless blog tasks.

~This is where the real magic happens. It's hard to believe, but it is quieter here than anywhere in my house~

When it comes to blogging, there is always something else that I could be doing to grow my brand, so I try to balance my work with some downtime. Reading other blogs or the occasional novel starts to ease me out of work mode and into a state where I can actually sleep. Before I can finally call it a night, I flip on a re-run of Friends. My husband calls it my Ambien. There is something about the familiarity of the episodes that helps me relax and get ready for bed. Sometimes it’s a two Ambien kind of night, but I eventually give up the ghost and tiptoe into the darkness as the last one to sleep. Before I close my eyes, I set my alarm, promising that I will get up early tomorrow.