5 Reasons Why I Blog

Last week, Stacy from Rambling Traveler tagged me with the ongoing “5 reasons why I blog” chain.

For those not in the know, it’s an opportunity for a blogger to articulate why they spend vast amounts of their time for little monetary gain. Now I can’t speak for our legions of talented guest contributors, so I’ll approach this exercise as my own.

But rather than answer with straight-forward sincerity like my peers, I figured I would take the opposite approach…with tongue firmly in cheek, of course.

So without further ado, here are my 5 reasons why I blog.

1. I can shove my travel experiences in people’s faces

If you wander through the site archives, you may have noticed the occasional place drop here and there, such as “When I was roaming through the Australian Outback,” or “While hanging out in a hammock for two weeks doing little…”

This wasn’t an accident. It was to subtly stir up envy in those readers who have never hit the open road for any length of time, or have traded those days for an office cubicle. It’s a great feeling to bask in smug glory.

2. The ludicrous perks and sponsorships

Some people think that getting invited to lavish parties thrown by various hotels and tour companies is a bad thing. They say it compromises the integrity of the travel blogger’s unbiased review.

Where do they get these ideas? What’s the harm in accepting a free night’s stay in a Presidential suite, or a gold-plated yacht in exchange for a few favourable nuances?

After all, it’s not like I’ll ever meet the legions of travelers that base their decisions on my horrendously biased reviews.

3. The adoration of women

The first marriage proposal I received in the mail was cute. The second was flattering. By the 13th proposal, the whole thing’s starting to get old.

I know that women can’t seem to resist the attraction of a bold, well-coded WordPress template, but this is just getting out of hand. Plus, my actual fiance is less than impressed.

4. The name recognition

I used to think being stopped on the street and asked for an autograph would be annoying. But that’s actually the easy part. It’s posing for all the photos that I really find gets in the way.

5. The vast money I make from Google Adsense

There’s no shortage of scam artists and snake-oil salesman promising how easy it is to make money online. Before I started this blog, I figured they were full of it.

But now, with my income topping six figures a month, I realize they were just trying to spread the gospel of pay-per-click. Google’s commissions are much higher than a expected, and my readers love telling me how useful those strips of advertising enhance their enjoyment of the blog.

So there you have it. 5 reasons why I blog.

I would pass this chain along to other travel blogger’s but I think most of them have been tagged already.

Except my buddy Rick Steves. Whaddya say Rick, care to join in the fun?

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler, and co-founder of the blogging community TravelBlogger. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.