I started this photography and travel blog 8 years ago after a trip to New Zealand.
The blogging world was a different beast back then. It was the golden age of blogs. People went to the internet to look for educational, inspirational and entertaining content from reputable blogs and websites.
Readers were looking for high quality content to help them get better at photography, plan more trips or figure out top rated activities to do on their holidays.
in 2025, things has completely changed.
These days, there is an overwhelming amount of free information at our finger tips and from endless sources.
I mentioned in my 2024 year in review post that I’m planning to start a newsletter in 2025 to complement the Travelling Lens blog.
Today, I want to dive into this thought process more
SEO and high quality content is no longer enough
During the golden era of blogs, SEO and high quality content was king.
That’s how bloggers built and grew their blogs into 6- or 7-figure income streams.
Today, that’s no longer the playbook that works. The travel and photography online content space is hugely saturated.
- Tiktok has increased the expectation that information is fast and entertaining.
- Instagram has democratised photography and connected millions of people together.
- Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and AI travel planners has eliminated the need for search.
- The rise of short form video and AI image generation tools has made photography lose its value.
- Smart phone cameras have come leaps and bounds since the first iPhone. Today everyone is a photographer.
With fast and free access to 99% information, information has largely lost its value.
Most people no longer pay for information or imagery.
People’s attention span has also dropped.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the rapid changes in technology is a good thing for the most part. As a consumer I’ve definitely benefited from it.
But for creators and business to survive this next phase, what they do next to adapt to the rapid changes to stay relevant will be key.
And the biggest “problem” of all with social media?
You’ll be lucky that 20% of your followers even see your posts or content.
Why I’m still keeping this blog
I’ve contemplated shutting it all down at different points of my 8 year blogging journey.
But I always came back to this.
Photography and travel is a big passion of mine over the last 20 years.
I’ve made some side income from photography over the years (for which I’m very grateful for), but even without income from blog, it has helped me keep my travel and photography passion alive through thick and thin.
It’s something I could always come back to as a way to unwind, relax and re-energise myself.
This blog is a passion project that I enjoy spending time on when I have it for the pure joy of writing, sharing experiences and photos.
So instead of fighting the tide and stubbornly keep this blog going the way it is… I plan to adapt to the change.
Email newsletters could be the next era for bloggers and photographers
Email newsletters have experience a huge rise in the last few years.
For example, a popular newsletter business newsletter Morning Brew was build to 2.5 Million subscribers and sold for $75million in 2020. I’m certainly not looking to grow and sell a newsletter for millions. But I do think the next evolution is the rise of email newsletters.
In my case, creating a travel and photo newsletter to complement this blog.
Maybe people will eventually tire of AI content and the lack of personality. Maybe leading to a resurgence of personal websites and storytelling. Just like how there’s been a resurgences of film photography.
But why all the rage with newsletter?
Email newsletters bring us back to one of the fundamental features of the internet.
The ability to send emails. That means the ability to share images, stories, educational material… directly into a reader’s inbox. Bypassing algorithms and tech companies decision who gets to see what.
Readers get to choose what hits their inbox. The topics they care about.
99% of newsletter subscribers will actually see the email delivered to their inbox.
I’m a big fan of email newsletters and subscribe to dozens of newsletter myself. It’s a curated source of inspiration, education and news I care about. And I take the time each day, or every few days to read and digest that information.
I think email is also really personal way to communicate with readers, share images and offer your help.
At least that’s how I feel when I read email newsletters.
Why email newsletters for bloggers and photographers?
Here are a few reasons I’m convince it’s the next way to connect with readers
- Everyone knows email. It’s not a new platform to learn. Readers get to control what emails drop into their inbox. Bloggers, creators and photographers know what they create are being sent to people who have said yes to hearing from them.
- Easy to start a newsletter. There are tons of platforms that make it easy to keep track of a subscriber list, create good looking newsletters and send regular emails to readers.
- Slowness of email is a feature not a bug. 99% of us use email in our personal or work lives. We sit down and intentionally go through our inboxes, read or unsubscribe. This slower pace means we’re paying more focus and attention to what we’re actually consuming. Instead of the 2 second look at something on Instagram or Tiktok.
- Low to zero cost. All the popular platforms (e.g. Substack, Beehiiv, ConvertKit) make it free to start a newsletter, and often only charge when you start making money on or from your newsletter.
The secret ingredients to newsletters
Building an email audience is slow.
It needs a lot of patience, consistency and hard word.
But it’s also an amazing way to share stories, education, connect with readers on a deeper level and build a community of like-minded people. One of the reasons I started this blog 8 years ago.
Personally I’m looking forward to connecting with other photographers and bloggers in the form of newsletters.
(p.s. if you have a newsletter or blog, drop it in the comments below—would love to check it out).
I also believe creating memorable experiences is a smart use of your time and money.
The focus of the newsletter is to share things I’ve learned in the last 18 months as an expat living, travelling and documenting our travels through photography.
This newsletter will be most helpful for US-based expats aiming to maximise their vacation time to create more memorable travel experiences without breaking the time or spending hours researching. And take home some great photo memories of their time away from home.
The kind of content I’ll be sharing:
- Travel hacks and tips
- Trip recaps, stories and destination guides.
- Photography tips, how-to’s and resources to take better travel photos.
- Reviews on all things travel from personal experiences—flights, hotels, lounges, activities etc.
So even if you’re not a US-expat (or planning to become an expat), I think you’ll still gain a ton of value from joining the free newsletter if you’re a fan of travel and photography.
It’s been 12 months in the making.
At the beginning, it’ll be an experiment as I find my rhythm and voice of the newsletter.
But this experimentation mindset might just be the difference between starting and never hitting publish!
In terms of a newsletter platform, I’m exploring using Substack and/or Kit.
Substack sounds like an appealing platform for newsletters to me where I already follow a few interesting travel and photography newsletters.
In additional, their Substack Notes feature where you can share short form content also sounds interesting.
Making Travel Planning Easier (Free Template in Notion)
One of our goals of moving to the US from Australia is to take the opportunity to travel and explore more of the North America. That means being organised and intentional about locking in travel dates ahead of time so the trips actually happens.
There is a lot to juggling when travel planning—itinerary, accommodation, flight options, things to do, recommended food and drink places etc.
It’s just not possible to track all of that in my head!
I’m a big Notion fan and I use that to plan and track all our trips. I also use it for other things like meal planning, tracking my tasks and projects, and keeping track of my camera gear etc.
Notion is free to use, hyper customisable and saves you time by giving you the ability to templatise things you do often.
So you’re not reinventing the wheel each time you want to plan a new trip in Notion.
If you want to get started planning your travels in Notion, you can download my free Travel Hub Template System in Notion that’s been downloaded more than 824+ times below:
Final Thoughts
I have no plans to let go of this blog any time soon.
It’s my creative outlet, a space to share thoughts on travel and my photography. I think email newsletters is very complementary to having a blog and a social media presence like Instagram or Threads.
I’m less interested in building a huge newsletter follower count, and more interested in connecting with a community of passionate travellers and photographers.
I don’t have a set set I’ll be launching the newsletter, but I’m looking at launching it in February 2025.
So, if you’re looking to travel more without breaking the bank, maximise your vacation time and take home some great photos to cherish those travel memories, here’s what to do next:
- If you have a blog or email newsletter, drop it in the comments below—I would love to check it out!
- Come along for the ride and by join me by subscribing to the Travelling Lens Insider newsletter below
Until next time, happy travelling!
Janice.
Leave a Reply