A Look Back at The Voyageer in 2020, 2021, and 2022

Happy New Year! It goes without saying that the past three years were a rollercoaster for many reasons. Many millions of words have been written about the pandemic and the different ways it touched each crevice of different business sectors. It reached every corner of everyday life.

The world abruptly shut down due to Covid just as we arrived back from a long weekend in Seattle. With everything going on, I couldn’t bring myself to think about travel blogging, read anything about travel, or even watch any TV shows about travel. I curled up like a little hermit crab in its shell and only bit by bit did I start considering the day that I could start exploring the world again. The little scared crab (me) started poking its head out eventually, posting here and there. However, with the toll of lost human life continually making headlines for two years in a row, it felt irresponsible to travel and to write posts encouraging others to travel. Only once the vaccine rollout had become available to everyone and the transmission of the virus was more well-understood, did I feel ready to start writing again.

Moving on!

That’s a bit of a grim introduction. Sorry! Anyway, as I did in 2017, 2018, and 2019, I would like to take a few moments to do a year-in-review for The Voyageer‘s past few years.

This site was founded in January 2017 with the goal of inspiring others to travel. I’ve continued my strategy of writing about destinations near and far in order to inspire you. Find something unique in your own backyard, or check off a bucket list destination—both are great ways to explore the world around you. This year I finally feel comfortable planning a big trip so I’m definitely going to bring you along for the ride. We’re back baby!

Who is Staci, The Voyageer? Get to know me here. 

Visitors

I see headline after headline announcing the same thing: “blogs are dead.” I am not convinced of this statement! This site traffic grew consistently in 2017, 2018, and 2019, even with the number of posts declining each year. The first two months of January and February started out strong and then as with almost everything worldwide, the blog (and traffic) slammed on the brakes in March. I was not in a headspace to post travel content (even though we had just gotten back from a nice trip in Seattle). Despite not posting, many of my previous posts continued to get healthy traffic the last two years!

Nevertheless, I am so happy that I continue to get visitors from every corner of the world. In 2022, I had hits from 97 countries! A big Thank You to my US, Mexico and UK readers, making up the top three.

Guest posts

From The Voyageer’s inception, it’s been my goal to open this blog to new voices in addition to my own. I am very sad to note that I only hosted one guest post since the pandemic! I am always, always, always looking for guests to post here. One person can’t possibly visit every corner of the US or of the world; not to mention that everyone has their own lens through which they approach the world. A huge thank you to those who have written for me in the past. Don’t forget you can contact me to join the contributor team.

All posts

As it turns out, the past three years have only resulted in 10 blog posts. (Sad trombone noise here). My past year-in-review post (2019) had lots of upbeat language about writing a lot of posts for 2020, and we see how that went! However, I think I can safely say that 2023 will result in much more writing: topical, personal, and informative.

Here are all the posts from the last 3 years, starting in 2020 and moving forward chronologically.

1. 2 Days in Belfast, Northern Ireland (2020)
2. Is Visiting the Titanic Belfast Museum Worth It? (2020)
3. Visiting Martin Guitar Factory (2020) (Guest post by Angela)
4. Hotel Cleanliness in 2020 (2020)
5. How to Use The CBX (Updated for 2021) (2021)
6. My 2020 Quaran-cation: Graduate Tempe, near Phoenix, AZ (2021)
7. Hotel El Ganzo Review: Artsy Hotel in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico (2022)
8. Visiting The Strand, a Famous New York Bookstore (2022)
9. Dia De Muertos in Morelia and Pátzcuaro, Mexico (2022)
10. Tis the Season to Book 2023 Travel! (2022)

Transparency

Here’s the part where it has the potential to sound like one of those NPR pledge drives.

I started The Voyageer with the goal of making money doing what I love (which is travel writing). Blogging is not my full-time career… I work for myself selling real estate which can be all-consuming. My next paycheck depends on my hustle! That said, the content creation here at The Voyageer slowed down a lot for many reasons — some outside of my control and some within my control. That said, I am coming to 2023 with a lot of renewed energy and a lot of posts that haven’t been written yet. I’m very optimistic.

Some bloggers I follow have transparency policies where they share how much they’ve earned blogging. I like the idea so here you go: My grand total for 2020-2022 is $15 earned from affiliate links, $0 from sponsored posts, $180 from personalized trip itineraries, and $446 from booking.com commissions. I’ve almost broken even on web hosting for the past 3 years.

I am committed to bringing you high-quality travel content regardless of whether or not I generate income. However, running a website takes money and I am trying my best to reach and then surpass my break-even point. If you would like to support me, you can book your hotels through my booking.com links (bookmark bit.ly/VoyageerHotels or use the tool in the sidebar) or, you can shop with one of my affiliates including but not limited to:

In conclusion…

I want to thank everyone who has followed along since the beginning and also those of you who have just joined me recently. Thanks for all your support! Cheers to the new year!