A Look Back at The Voyageer in 2023

Approximately a 4 minute read

Happy New Year! Like I’ve done every, year, so, far I would like to take a few moments to summarize my 2023 Voyageer year in review.

Every time I sit down to write these end-of-year reviews, I look back and dwell on why I started my site. This site was founded in January 2017 with the goal of inspiring others to travel. I write about destinations near and far, even though this year the posts skew quite far from my home here in California.

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

Visitors

Last year, I had a reflective moment writing about “the death of blogs” due to the rise of video content on youtube, instagram, and tiktok. While I do watch travel content on all of those channels, my traffic has recovered from the pandemic back to 2019 levels and continues to increase. The power of the written word that you can go back and reference, instead of a short and snappy video, is still useful and relevant. In fact, now I am seeing think-pieces on various sites that say the pendulum may swing away from video and back to blogging. We shall see, but the truth of the matter is, I’m awful on camera and I love writing, so The Voyageer is here to stay as a written blog. Leave a comment on what you would like to see more of!

Nevertheless, I am so happy that I continue to get visitors from every corner of the world. In 2023, I had hits from over 100 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. This year I had one beloved contributor write two posts, which you can see below. I am always looking for travel lovers 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

This year, unsurprisingly, focused mostly on Japan, Japan, Japan, since I finally got to experience my bucket list trip that I dreamed of for over a decade. However, I did have a few more topics up my sleeve…

Here are all the posts from 2023 from January through December.

1. Japan 2023: Preview
2. The SoCal Gal’s Guide to Packing for Cold Weather
3. FBF: My Downtown San Diego Staycation & Staypineapple Hotel Z Review
4. 10 Hot Travel Destinations for 2023
5. My TWA Hotel Experience (New York City)
6. Ace Hotel New York: Stylish Hotel in Midtown Manhattan
7. Back from Japan: General Impressions & Things that Stood Out
8. Spending Three days in Kyoto + Where to Stay
9. Attending a Japanese Baseball Game as a Foreigner (Guest post by Doug)
10. Hotel Resol Trinity in Kyoto, Japan
11. Exploring the Best of Osaka in Two Days + Where to Stay
12. Himeji: Day Trip from Osaka
13. HOTEL THE FLAG Shinsaibashi in Osaka, Japan
14. Nara: Day Trip from Kyoto or Osaka
15. Culture Clues & How-To’s: Japanese Onsen (Guest post by Doug)
16. A Fun and Relaxing Visit to Beppu, Japan
17. Yufuin No Mori: Dreamy Sightseeing Train in Japan
18. Relaxing Hot Spring Hotel: NagomiTsuki in Beppu, Japan

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, but content creation here at The Voyageer is a fun and creative outlet that I enjoy doing, but making a little money to break even and cover web hosting helps motivate me to write, research, and recommend more travel posts here.

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 2023 is $33.72 earned from affiliate links, $0 from sponsored posts, $0 from personalized trip itineraries, and $291 from booking.com commissions. This was finally my first year to break even on web hosting!

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 (included on most posts).

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!