A Brummie Home and Abroad: Where It All Began

Every superhero has an origin story. You know, the story that delves into the trauma and tragedy, and then the strength and resilience to become the beloved figure you know and love. Bloggers have an origin story too. Why they started blogging. The pain of those first few awkward posts. The balance between information and entertainment. Choosing between listicles or personal narrative. So let’s delve into the origins of A Brummie Home and Abroad: Where It All Began.

A Brummie Home and Abroad: Where It All Began

Back in 2010, Mr Fletche and I were planning our first USA road trip. Most of my research at that time was done via Trip Advisor travel forums. And more specifically, Trip Reports. I enjoyed reading itineraries in a narrative format, with all the colour and vivid description that you just didn’t find in travel guides. After our trip I wanted to return the favour by sharing a detailed report of our travels so I painstakingly typed out the story of our two week trip all in one go on a Word document, before sharing it to Trip Advisor.

The posts got great feedback. I thought that maybe my family and friends would like to read about my trip too. So I created a TravelPod account, popped some terrible unedited photos up and shared the link with anyone that was interested. I’d return to the TravelPod site after each trip we took, writing a descriptive but long-winded report.

It was after our Italy holiday in June 2015 that I started to think about expanding my horizons, blogging-wise. I had started reading more travel blogs, they had definitely become more of a thing. And I wondered if my ramblings qualified me as a travel blogger. I already had a WordPress account, where I’d dabbled in a jogging blog. Yes, I jogged. Briefly.

So I opened up a new page. And on the 3rd August 2015, A Brummie Home and Abroad was born.

Why “A Brummie Home and Abroad”? What does it even mean?

Looking back I’d probably go for something a bit shorter and snappier. It doesn’t fit on name labels at blog events. And I always feel a bit of a dick introducing myself. I originally thought of “A Brummie Abroad”. But if I was going to blog more frequently then I was going to have to branch out from just travel. Plus not all travel is abroad. I wanted to cover Birmingham events, and champion my home city. And I wanted the freedom to go a little “off-brand” at times. So I felt that A Brummie Home and Abroad covered all bases.

The First Blog Post

Naturally, my first blog post was a bit of an introduction. And then I started migrating all of my TravelPod content. So my first travel post on A Brummie Home and Abroad was this one, all about arriving in Las Vegas. Of course, it was called Viva Las Vegas. Look at the state of it. I think it has been edited since then. It definitely has a Pinterest image now that it wouldn’t have had in the olden days. It’s all story, and very little information. If I wrote up that trip now, it would be very different. But I kind of like it. I wrote a lot about how I felt, and re-reading it now does take me back to feeling all wide-eyed, awestruck and jet-lagged.

The Highs & The Lows

And so A Brummie Home and Abroad evolved. Of course, no-one read it. Until I joined a (now defunct) Facebook Group, which introduced me to lots of awesome bloggers, many of whom I still engage with and look forward to their posts today. I took the plunge and attended some blog events, both locally and a little further afield. I received my first “free” meal as a blogger. Only to realise that “free” means collecting content during the meal, polishing a professional sounding blog, and curating the best social media posts. Suddenly free equals a whole lot of time and effort.

I was approached to do my first sponsored post. One that I actually received money for. Thanks to one collaboration Mr Fletche and I spent a fun weekend in Manchester. But I found that chasing collaborations and pitching to brands wasn’t fun. And at the end of the day, A Brummie Home and Abroad is a hobby. It should be fun. It should be me writing waffly posts that five people will read. And that’s what I’ve returned to. I don’t post on a schedule. I don’t make any money. Occasionally I’ll remember to shove an affiliate link in but most of the time I forget. I only made £19 from affiliate links anyway. Certainly not enough to retire on.

Looking Back On Where It All Began

Thank you to the #TravelLinkUp for the prompt for this post. Thank you to everyone that reads and comments on my blog. Some of you have been with me from the start of my blog journey. You may have even been one of those people who read my early rambling posts. Some of you have joined along the way, so I hope you’ve enjoyed finding out a little more about the story behind A Brummie Home and Abroad and where it all began.