How to Create Travel Content Without Leaving Your Hometown
When I first started writing as a travel blogger, I was in my college dorm, planning my next adventure to Europe. At the time, I had so many stories to share that I thought blogging was the best way to tell them. What I didn’t expect was how hard writing about an experience could actually be.
From taking a boat tour under the Iguazu Falls after a breakup to secretly crushing on a childhood acquaintance, every time I was in London, I had grown up travelling and assumed I’d naturally know how to capture those moments in words. Oddly enough, I found myself staring at my keyboard for hours, trying to find my writing voice. And once I finally did, my travel blogging journey truly began.
From Blogger to Content Creator
A few years into travel blogging, I had a foot in the online world. I had established myself as a travel expert while also wearing multiple hats — writer, editor, photographer, and SEO specialist. Soon enough, I was learning different platforms and techniques that took me from just a travel blogger to a travel content creator.
Blogging on your own site is nothing like posting on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or TikTok.
And while they all may differ, they all need the same thing — content.
Redefining What It Means to Be a Travel Creator
I’ll spare you the details of how I went from creating international content to content in my hometown. I will say I thought I was being less of a travel creator because I wasn’t travelling abroad, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If you’re moving in a vehicle or hopping on a train to another city, you’re travelling. Travel doesn’t have to mean going far from home.
Once I accepted that truth, I started to explore my options. I asked myself all sorts of questions as if I were the one visiting my hometown and thought about the kind of content that would be useful.
That mindset shift changed how I approached content creation. I started looking at my immediate surroundings, and more importantly, at who I was actually creating content for.
Understanding Your Audience
In order to create travel content without leaving your hometown, you first need to look at your audience. What would your audience be interested in?
This was a bit difficult for me because I thought anything in my city wouldn’t be of interest, but then I thought about my audience, many of whom live abroad and in different states, and that’s when it clicked - they don’t live in my same area! Posting about my city is actually different from theirs.
When posting content, I ask myself a few questions:
If my audience visits my city for the first time, where would they like to go?
What would they like to know?
I don’t know about you all, but if I’m visiting a new city, I want to know what there is to do in the area, what restaurants are highly recommended, unique spots, and how to get from point A to point B.
Do the Research
I’m fortunate that I live in a very touristy city, where we have theme parks and oversized wizards on top of souvenir shops, but even with all the content I have at my fingertips, there are also other creators posting about the same thing. I don’t view other creators as competitors, and while we all have a unique style, it can get overly saturated posting about the same things.
At one point, my feed was flooded with reels from the same establishment. There were different creators, different styles, but it was the same spot. This is why it’s important to do research.
I research places that people haven’t covered, unique gems, and give a different perspective on my hometown of Orlando and the surrounding areas. At the beginning of this year, I even worked with an Airbnb that had never worked with content creators before, so I was able to showcase this amazing gem of an Airbnb that so many loved.
I also love to use tools such as Google Trends and Answer The Public to see what people are
searching for, especially when it comes to my city and neighbouring areas.
Make a List
If there is one thing I absolutely, one hundred percent love is to make lists. I make lists for everything! Now you may not be much of a list person and that’s okay, but if you’re trying to create content in your hometown, I suggest making a list of things to do in your area - playgrounds, restaurants, museums, bars, tours…anything you can think of. This not only helps you keep track of the many things to do, but it also lets you see how much you really know about your hometown.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
I’m not one that enjoys putting myself out there. The idea of networking, crowds and anything with a stage makes me uncomfortable, and yet I’ve stood in a crowd at the front of Universal waiting for admission into the park, I’ve networked at many different events, and I’ve been on stage several times. Everything that has made me uncomfortable has given me a fabulous story to tell, and plenty of content.
So whether you are afraid to venture out on your own or afraid of heights, get out of your comfort zone and do one thing that makes you uncomfortable. This also makes for a great story you can share with your audience, like that one time I went zip-lining even though I don’t like heights, and somehow I ended up loving the activity!
Ideas For When There’s Nothing to Post
It can be hard to come up with ideas when you live in a place where there is nothing to do or when you live in a place where it’s packed with amusement parks. Whatever your case may be, here are a few ideas to get you started in creating content around your area.
● When you’re in the middle of nowhere, but the place is kind of cute
● Free things to do in [your city]
● How to get to [a city near you] without having to drive
● 10 Things to do in [your city] besides [name something your city is known
for….baseball, theme parks, picking oranges, fishing]
● 15 Must-Try Restaurants in [your city]
You don’t need a passport to create travel content. You just need to be curious and have a fresh perspective on the place you already call home.
Guest Author: Hanny Lerida-Fester the voice behind The Global Wanderess is a Florida-based travel writer, photographer, and storyteller who’s been exploring the world since early childhood. With roots in globetrotting and a passion for uncovering hidden gems, she founded The Global Wanderess to help you discover more of the world, while offering practical travel tips to make your trips more enjoyable!
Through her immersive adventures on YouTube and Instagram and her genuine voice, Hanny inspires fellow travellers to embrace curiosity, step outside their comfort zone, and keep their wanderlust alive, no matter where life takes them!