Why I Quit My Norwegian Blog and Started Writing in English

September 22, 2016

I’ve always been passionate about travel writing. I’m a woman who would rather study maps and read Bill Bryson’s novels than do whatever it is people my age normally do. The day I decided to start a blog was the day I realized just how much of a niche travel writing is in Norway. I never considered it a niche before. Everyone loves to travel, don’t they? Or so I thought.

I was soon to find out that quite a lot of people don’t care that much. Many people are happy to go on vacation maybe once a year, to the exact same place every single year, and do the exact same thing every single day until it’s time to go home. They love it, and that’s fine. But they have absolutely no interest in blogs like mine.

I wrote about my trips to places those people had never even heard of; I tried local dishes those people would never try and went on fun adventures – only to get criticized for spending too much money on “unnecessary” things. “You must be rather wealthy since you can afford all these trips” they’d say. If you hadn’t spent so much money on buying things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like, there’d be no need for you to ask questions like that, I thought in reply.

To know that someone out there fell in love with a place they didn’t even know existed before reading my post and viewing my photos–that’s the reason I’m doing this. To me, that’s what being a successful blogger is all about!

I spent my own money on doing things that made me happy, and I wanted to use my blog as a platform to share my memories and give advice to fellow Norwegian travelers. It turned out to be rather tricky, and I came to realize that it would be way easier for me to get one of my articles published in one of the two Norwegian travel magazines than become a successful blogger in my native language.

This summer I deleted my blog and created a new one. I needed a blank canvas. A fresh start. A complete makeover. I created a blog on a different platform and had all the content written in my second language, English. These big changes didn’t drastically increase the traffic to my blog, but I gained newfound motivation and readers from all over the world – even a few from Norway!

People have contacted me through my blog to tell me I inspired them to visit the places I’ve blogged about. I remember one comment in particular. One that stood out and really made my day:

“Thank you. Thank you so much for giving me a peek into a part of Europe I didn’t even know I’d be dying to go to one day”.

To know that someone out there fell in love with a place they didn’t even know existed before reading my post and viewing my photos–that’s the reason I’m doing this. To me, that’s what being a successful blogger is all about!

Why I Quit My Norwegian Blog and Started Writing in English

Writing in my second language can be a bit challenging at times, as I can’t always find the right words to express myself the way I want to. But then again, as a multi-lingual expatriate, I’m used to it, and I appreciate all the help and inspiration I get from reading inspirational travel novels from talented Anglophone writers.

I might not be part of a niche anymore, but I guess I’m still somewhat unique. I am me. A travel blogger from Norway who writes in English and lives in France.