They say that time flies when you’re having fun, and boy are “they” right! One year ago, I hit that “publish” button on my very first blog post. At the time, I didn’t really know what I was doing or what the goal was. My only desire was to get a platform to share my travel stories and get storage for my many pictures. Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane. James Kimani of Golf Adventures Kenya (who was my boss in my previous job) came to my desk and asked me, “All these pictures you upload on Facebook, why don’t you get a website and store them there?” I did not understand what he meant exactly. A week later, he noticed that I had posted a long post on Facebook -you know those posts you start off with a disclaimer “long post alert” to prepare your friends for a rather long read?- and he came to me again and said “Eliud, you should get a blog.” Then it hit me. In that statement, I saw a solution to my desire of storytelling. After deliberating with myself for 3 days, I remembered a Marketing Manager at my former company by the name Claire Chege. She was working hard to establish a company travel blog that would describe the hotels and packages that we had on offer. She wanted the blog section to be named TravelwithEliud, because it would share my experiences in those facilities. Since this did not materialize, I took the blog name and ran with it! Now that I had a name, domain name, colleagues’ support and a story in line, how do I get a website? A friend of mine called Tony Wanaswa (currently the Digital Marketing Manager at Nation Media Group) offered to do a website for me free of charge. I was ecstatic but I kept calm, prepared my first story and in 2 days, the website was ready! As if that was not enough, I got a volunteer editor by the name Njeri Kagwi! On 21st July, 2016, I published my first article “How to travel on a budget-my way”. A week later, the site developed a few issues, so I had to repost the articles again and that’s why there is a variation of dates on this article. I did not know what the next story would be, I just started. That is the secret, ‘Just start’! During this year I have managed to travel for discovery. Some destinations have made it in the blog while others have not. I realized that people are interested in what I write, only if there is something in there for them too. I also noticed one interesting thing: The more I get “personal” the better. What was my experience like? What happened to me? Did I have fun? Would I recommend it? What has become clear is that people like informative/useful posts, true, but they also appreciate when I put my face out there. A good number of people have visited the destinations featured on my blog and credited or tagged me. This has been so encouraging and has kept me going. If you have not been following my posts, you do not know what you have been missing. Kenya is really beautiful and there are so many places to visit and experience. I have been sharing experiences to help you understand the destinations better and make an informed decision. Other articles such as “As I walk through the valley of enjoyment” are meant to help you discover hidden gems that are affordable and accessible. The goal is to have as many people as possible travelling around Kenya and appreciating her beauty. A big thank you to everyone who has been visiting www.travelwitheliud.com to check for what is new when I take long to share on social media. I have been sharing links to various articles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter; kindly follow and you will always be the first to read new articles. Overall it’s been a very rewarding, challenging and an exciting learning curve. I am rapt to have the first year under our belt, and I have no plans of stopping just yet. I’m looking forward to the future and I promise I will put all my effort in keeping you entertained, providing something valuable (even if only with a laugh) but I’m mostly looking forward to interacting with you, exchanging Ideas and sharing our travel dreams together!
So raise your glasses and let’s clink to a year of this journey. Kindly click on "comments" below to comment
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