Hey everyone, it’s been ultra-crazy for the two of us lately. I mean, it always is crazy for the two of us (for me, it’s because I dive into WAY more projects than I can effectively manage. For Becki, it’s putting up with me diving into WAY more projects than I can effectively manage), but it’s been especially bad lately. There’s two huge reasons for this:
- We’re getting married and planning a wedding – even a small one – takes A LOT of time and effort, and
- I’ve been taking a blog coaching course, run by the (in?)famous Matt of nomadicmatt.com – one of the more preeminent of all the travel bloggers out there
Add to that working full time, running two blogs, getting ready for our round-the-world (RTW) trip next year, dealing with all the little things that come up in life, and trying to maintain some amount of civil discourse with friends and family, and you’ve got a sure-fire recipe for burnout and lowered output. And that’s what I’m going to write about today:
To apologize to all our noble readers for not having a new and exciting post up this week.
Instead, I’m just going to tell you what we’ve been up to.
First Up, Our Marriage Plans
Woooohoooo, we’re getting married! Becki and I are set to tie the knot (possibly literally…) this December 12th at 5:12PM. Yup, you read that right – 12/12/12 @ 5:12PM. According to the experts, all those twelves make it likely that we’ll have a wonderful marriage that will last the rest of our lives. Or at least until December 21st, 2012, when similar experts say our world is either going to end or going to become AwSoMe! Either way, something BIG is supposed to happen on that date, so if it’s bad at least we’ll be Mr. and Ms. Kremer by that time ;)
Other than that, there isn’t much I can tell you about our plans, due to possible contractual reasons. Yes, it sounds like I’m making that up but no, I’m actually not. I can tell you it’ll be on the beautiful Isla Vieques off the coast of Puerto Rico, and that’s about it.
And This Blog-Coach Thinger? What’s That About?
Well, Becki and I decided a little while back that we were going to make this whole travel blogging thing less of a hobby and more of a job for ourselves – hopefully even helping to fill our pockets a little while we’re out traveling the world. So we’re biting the bullet and we put some money into making our blog as good as it can be.
So far the biggest things have included going to a conference dedicated solely to travel bloggers, buying a new camera to get you all some prettier pictures to look at, and signing up for coaching with NomadicMatt.
The lessons have been helpful, but in addition to learning to be better bloggers, we’ve learned that there is A LOT that goes on behind the scenes. There’s also a lot that happens in front of the scenes that takes much more time than you might think.
Putting a new theme on the website, being active on social media, being active within the blogging community, redesigning widgets for the site and putting a newsletter together – all of it takes time, especially the things you don’t do everyday. And since my day-job takes huge amounts of time, almost every part of blogging is something we don’t do every day.
Ironically, in the end the actual blog – the website that you’re reading right now – sometimes takes a backseat to these other activities. In an ideal world there would be plenty of time to dedicate to all of these things, but this is reality, and something is always going to take a back seat to something else.
What was that you said about traveling the world??
Well, we’ve made a decision. Next year, in October of 2013, we’re going to head to Dublin for TBEX Europe 2013, and use that as the jumping-off point for a year of extended traveling. Who knows what all will come of it – maybe we’ll be so homesick that we’ll be back in Milwaukee within four months, or maybe we’ll stay on the road for years and years after that.
And just because we apparently like (well, I apparently like) stretching myself too thin, this just gives us more things to stay busy with. We’ve already taken numerous steps to plan and prepare for our trip. We’re eliminating expenses left and right, saving money (not easy to do with our wedding this year, of course. It’s always a balancing act, isn’t it?), building up our blogging presence, getting new arrows in our budget-traveling quiver like housesitting and woofing.
We’ll go over some of the things we’re doing to get ready for our round-the-world(RTW) trip here on the blog, but most of it is going to be in our monthly newsletter. So if you want to find out what we’re doing to get ready for extended traveling, be sure to sign up for our newsletter – just put your name and email address into the boxes at the top-right of the site, or at the end of this post. And seriously, it’s only once-a-month that we’re going to email you, so don’t worry about an inbox full of spam. No one likes that.
Stephen S. says
Great post Andy. I feel ya. I never realized how much work went on behind the scenes. With writing, social media networking, design etc.. It gets overwhelming sometimes while I work two jobs and go to school full time. I just plugging away. I couldn’t imagine planing a wedding at the same time. Congrats and good luck
Andy says
Seriously, who knew there was so much going on with this? I suppose my grandpa’s old quote about jobs, “Things are always more complicated than they seem”, still holds true.
Keep up the hard work – your site looks great!
Dalene says
Yay! You’ve announced it! So now you HAVE to do it!! (By “it” I mean your travels, and I suppose your marriage too – haha!)
Andy says
Ugh, I know! Now there’s accountability – both a blessing and a curse, right? The funny thing is, our marriage is traveling too! Planes, ferries, taxis, and a little tropical island off the coast of Puerto Rico that is nothing like our homeland of Wisconsin. Can’t wait for a pina colada and a pig roast!
Stephen S. says
Andy I just saw that you are attending TBex Dublin. I leave in May and am trying to plan it so I still have some days in the Schengen zone. Would be awesome to meet up!
Stephen S. says
Actually after I wrote that I remembered that Ireland in not in the Schengen Zone. So I will be there for sure!
Andy says
Definitely! I think it’d be awesome to meet up with a fellow student. Of course, saying that, we really have to meet up with Andrea and any other bloggers in Wisconsin :)
Britany says
Congrats on the upcoming wedding and travel plans! I feel you on the being stretched too thin but hopefully its all worth it when you’re traveling the world! Looking forward to reading all about it.
Andy says
Thanks Britany, we’re looking forward to reading more of your blog as well. Love the Stars on the Ceiling name :)
Joy Artner says
Way to go Andy!!! Wishing you & Becky a glorious adventure.
Andy says
“A glorious adventure”, I like your way with words! We will all have to get dinner when we get back :D