Publisher Interview: Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse

Today on the blog, we’re offering an publisher spotlight interview with Kristin Addis of the gorgeous solo female travel blog, Be My Travel Muse. This MVP paused from her rockstar world travels to speak with us from her years of blogging experience.

You’re going to be seeing a lot more of this type of spotlight post, like this one with Melanie Gunnel of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. We want to highlight as many of our awesome publishers as we can, so you may be receiving an interview request email from us.

Now, on to Kristin!

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, and your everyday life.

I’m a native Californian who has been traveling, largely on her own, for the last five years. I’ve been to six out of seven continents and have hitchhiked on all of them, I have camped on most of them, and absolutely love the great outdoors.

How did you get started blogging?

I quit my job as an investment banker and really wanted to take a sabbatical, but I’m also incapable of not having a project so I started the blog out of a deep desire to be a travel writer. It’s something I always fantasized about as a kid and so I finally set out to make my dream come true.

How do you think blogging has changed since you started?

I remember when I started, the way to make money was to have a bunch of niche sites and to have ads on them, or to sell links, and Twitter was the hottest social network. Instagram was brand new back then. Since then a lot of people have come and gone from travel blogging but I think the same things remain true: good content will always be king, or queen, actually.

What’s the best part of the blog world for you?

I really love the connections it has allowed me to make, both with other bloggers and with readers and people from the industry. I have learned so much and I’m so grateful for the ride it has taken me on.

What’s the worst part of blogging for you?

Blogging can be really catty. In a lot of ways it feels like junior high or high school. It’s easy enough to just unplug and disconnect by not going on social media and just focusing on my own plot of land, if you know what I mean. As long as I am honing in on my unique gifts this part of the industry doesn’t have to affect me. Easier said than done but it gets easier with each passing day.

Who are your FAVORITE bloggers? Who inspires you? Why do you like them?

Nomadic Matt was the first blog that I ever read about long-term traveling and it made me realize that it could be a reality. Now I have a column on his site about solo female travel so it’s kind of cool how that worked out. I often read thebloggess.com as well because she’s just so funny and reminds me of the importance of being relatable.

What are your top 3 posts on your blog?

https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-prepare-for-trekking-in-patagonia/ https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-take-travel-selfies/ https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/iceland-packing-list/

What are your 3 FAVORITE posts on your blog?

https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/be-my-travel-muse-tours/ https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/destinations-solo-female-travel/ https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-much-does-it-cost-travel-the-world/

What tools and resources do you use to manage your blog?

All kinds, from journaling every day to set an intention to WordPress and the help of my lovely assistant.

What is your biggest traffic source?

Google

What strategies have you used to make that your top traffic source?

I’m always learning about SEO and keeping it in mind when I am writing.

Do you have any advice for bloggers on how to grow their traffic?

The biggest thing is being original. Go deep into a niche and do the things that other people are not doing. At first that means you’re going to be pushing it further and working harder but the more that you can think outside the box the more likely you are to have success.

Anything else you’d like to add to help other bloggers grow?

At first, get the lay of the land and see what everyone else is doing, but then stop paying attention to your competitors and logging onto social media and focus on yourself and your brand and your unique gifts.

What’s the one thing on any restaurant menu you MUST order?

Oysters on the half shell!

Thank you, Kristin! I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been inspired to pull out the atlas and plan my next trip. Where are you headed? Maybe we’ll meet Kristin out there.