There is something I want to tell you.

This has been on my mind for 2 months now.

I couldn’t sleep at night thinking about this. It has been a very painful decision.

I’m quitting blogging.

Notice how I did not update the blog this March? I’ve only blogged once actually when I got scammed for the redesign implementation of my blog.

I guess that was the final straw. I hate programming and I hate that part of blogging but it has it to be done. But my experience last month made me question if I still wanna do this. It was so stressful. I hate depending on other people.

It has been a good run. I have seen many small successes along the way. I’ve only been blogging full-time for a year and I think I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve with the blog in such a short time.

How do I measure success in blogging, really?

It’s not traffic. It’s not the amount of comments I get on posts. Nor is it about the growth of my social media following. Nor about the fact that I’ve grown my email subscribers to over 15,000+ in a year.

It’s not about the fact that I was already getting press trip (all sponsored travel for non-blogging peeps reading this) invites 6 months after I started this blog. I’ve turned down a lot more than I accepted. Nor is it about my exclusive features in magazines, accidentally modelling for H&M or television appearances in Spain and Finland.

It’s not about getting nominated as the Most Stylish Travel Blogger at the Blogger Awards 2014 (Update: I won by the way). Although it’s nice to know that people take notice of me. Although I don’t really need anyone to tell me I’m the most stylish travel blogger. I know I am. And I don’t care if no one thinks so.

To me, success in blogging is being able to actually help thousands of you guys who have been following my journey at some point. It’s how many of you I’ve helped plan your eurotrips. It’s the amount of personal emails I get from you thanking me for one thing or another. It’s how I made you happy somehow. Or inspired you to make your dreams happen.

Because blogging is kind of a weird, lonely “job”. It’s like standing in a podium and talking to a faceless audience. You don’t know what they are thinking. And you don’t know if they are interested to stay to listen to whatever you’re talking about.

I’m a very sociable and friendly person. I’m that social butterfly hopping from one group to the next in a party. I love meeting people and I love talking to people. I wish we could all just hangout in real life and talk about travel and the good things in life instead. I can host a dinner party. Then I’m sure your attention is all mine. And I’m sure I can make you all laugh. And you will remember me. I love that instant connection you can make in a real-life setting.

This is why I find blogging weird. All this faceless strangers.

Faceless. Strangers.

Will you say hello? Can you make your presence known? The comments section is always there waiting for you.

I’m always shocked when I read people say I am their favorite travel blogger somewhere in the interwebz. Yes. ME. Amongst all the boring/idiotic/ugly/all sponsored/cheap blags out there. I’m shocked because I have never heard from these people in any of my social media channels or email (if you’re one of them, don’t be afraid to say hello!). You would think they would engage with me somehow. But they don’t. And then they write somewhere I’m their FAVORITEST.

I guess it’s true. Your most loyal followers are those that are just there in the background, reading everything but never engaging.

And then there are those who are always there. Beautiful faces among the faceless strangers. I see you all the time on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for always being there.

I’m quitting blogging.

I don’t really care about blogging every single fucking thing I do when I’m on the road. Like every single thing can be a blogpost. Every single photo can be Instagrammed. Every single moment can be a Facebook status update. And they are all swirling in my head. All the time.

My approach to blogging is very much inspired by the TV series, The Newsroom. No fluff and no sensationalized bullshit. I LOVE that show. You should watch it.

I see so many blaggers sensationalizing everything or posting so much fluff. Or like writing  “The Ultimate Travel Guides”  or like “Best whatevers” after being in a city for 3 days. Recommendations, yes. Best/Ultimate guides after visiting for 3 days? No.

And all this blaggers calling themselves social media experts. LOL. Why would I listen to someone talk about blogging when their traffic is like laughable? Why would I listen to someone talk about growing my social media following when they can’t even organically grow their own Facebook following to 2,000 likes? And have laughable engagement on social media? And then you see them up there in the podium. Giving speeches! If you’re gonna do that you should be all Beyonce and be able to say: “I talk like this coz I can back it up up up (I can back it up!)”

And then there’s the “luxury” travel bloggers. I’ve never been so suspicious of blogging until I entered this world and learned how it works. Now I see all this luxury bloggers blagging about luxury travel. “Oh myyyyy I stayed at Four Seasons look how fabulous my door knob is!” All their trips are sponsored and that’s all they blag about it makes you wonder if they can actually afford luxury travel on their own.

I don’t have problems with sponsored travel. I do it too. There are pros and cons of of it obviously but there’s no time to talk about that now.

But when a blog is just all about sponsored travel? Luxury traveler. Right.

I digress.

I’m quitting blogging.

But I’m not quitting travel.

I love travelling and I will do it until the day I die.

Are you still there? Congrats on reading this far.

Are you a faceless stranger? Don’t be. Here’s your chance to unveil yourself and tell me if this is worth continuing.

Adios.

UPDATE: Happy April Fools! I’m NOT quitting blogging anytime soon.

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DJ Yabis is the poster boy of Dream Euro Trip and a modern day renaissance man. Originally from the Philippines, he loves throwing dinner parties and stalking rock stars in music festivals. Subscribe or follow his adventures LIVE on Facebook or Instagram. Learn how to plan your own eurotrip.

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