City view of Kuala Lumpur © Darren Cronian

Today, Travel Blissful talks about blogging and traveling with Darren Cronian from Travel Rants, a popular site for travel consumers.

E.J: How did you get the idea to Travel Rants?

D.C: I was looking to go on holiday, and visited a few high street travel agencies, and it was due to a bad experience with Thomas Cook, that made me feel frustrated and annoyed at the lack of customer care from the travel agent.

It was apparent that the agent had no interest in helping me find a holiday and she was more bothered about planning her weekend. I didn’t appreciate that, made my feelings known, and walked out in disgust.

I’d heard of blogs from reading a computer magazine, so bought some web space, domain name, and downloaded Wordpress. Within a couple of hours I was ranting about my experience, and a year later the blog was featured in the Guardian.

E.J: For how long have you been blogging?

D.C: I started blogging in April 2005 and, to be honest, it took a year before it really started to take off when found myself getting more traffic from Google and I started to network with travel bloggers.

E.J: What are your tips for new bloggers who’d like to gain more readers?

D.C: Networking with other travel bloggers is vital, leave comments on high profile travel blogs, ask questions, and participate in discussions. Each year create a blog plan which highlights what you want to achieve in that year, and look at ways to raise awareness of your blog, i.e. StumbleUpon, etc.

Most importantly, be prepared for hard work, success does not happen over night. Do not believe the hype that blogs are easy money. If you want to earn enough to make a living from your blog then your going to be disappointed.

Petronas Towers © Darren Cronian

E.J: Favorite travel destination so far?

D.C: Hmm, I would have to say it’s a close call between Kuala Lumpur and North Queensland, in Australia, both were completely different destinations. I loved the city life, and Petronas Twin Towers in KL, and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef was an amazing experience.

E.J: If you had all the time and money in the world, where would you travel?

D.C: Good question - I would say high on my list would be New Zealand, then China, and then a trip from Canada, down the East Coast of America, to Peru, Brazil and Argentina. There are so many places I want to visit, but the cost of travel has drastically increases in the last 12 months.

Editor’s Note: True. The cost of traveling has increased in the last year, but let’s not make that an excuse to stop discovering new places. Travelers can reduce costs in many ways. Travel with low-budget airlines. Live in hostels and B&Bs to save living expenses. Work while traveling. Eat where the locals eat. And so on.

If you have a dream of travelling to a certain destination, don’t give up until you’ve made it possible. It may take a year, it may take five years, it may seem impossible at first, but seriously, who wants to think back and say “What if…?” Hang on to your dreams and keep going until you’ve reached them.