By Chris Guld, Geeks on Tour
Most RVers keep notes of some kind when they travel – maybe in a paper notebook, maybe on Facebook, maybe by sending out emails. You’ve been meaning to put them all together, maybe even make a book out of them, right? During this pandemic with orders to Stay Home, you might just have the time to do it.
If you use a blog to do your writing, you can get started one blog post at a time. You can copy your notes from old emails or Facebook posts, then you can embellish a bit, add some photos, maps, even videos. If you make the blog public, your friends and family will love it.
Three steps to create a blog – for free
I hear you saying, “That sounds great, but I have no clue how to make a blog.” There are many ways, but I believe in easy and free, at least to start. Blogger.com is my go-to website for making a blog, easy and free. All you need is a Google account. I’ve been keeping my travels on Blogger.com since 2003. Check it out at GeeksOnTour.blogspot.com.
- Go to Blogger.com and sign in with your Google account. If this is the first time you’ve ever done this, you will be asked what name you want to be shown as the author of your blog.
- Click “New Blog” button at the upper right. Note: If you have already created other blogs, you’ll need to click the down arrow next to an existing blog name.
- Fill out the form for your blog. You’ll need a Title for your blog/book, a web address (if you accept the .blogspot.com ending, it is free), and a theme – I recommend the Simple theme. You can always change it later.
Once you’ve done those three things, just click the orange button “Create blog!” And, you’re done! That’s all there is to making the blog.
Now you have to start writing. At this point you should see an orange button at the top that reads “New Post.” If you don’t see that, look for an orange + button at the bottom. One of those buttons is how you start writing.
Next you will see the post editor. Think of it like a blank piece of paper in a typewriter. You need to give the post a title, then you can just write to your heart’s content. When you’re done, click the orange button called “Publish” and you now have a blog with one post.
That’s all you need to get started writing. For lots more about how to use Blogger, see Episode 123 How do I make a Blog?
More instructional articles about Blogger
- Save your Blog! Get a Printable Copy
- If You Can Send an Email, You Can Write a Blog Post
- Viewing your Blogger Blog on a Phone
Chris Guld is President and Teacher-in-Chief at GeeksOnTour.com. She and her husband, Jim, produce a free weekly YouTube show called What Does This Button Do? They have been Fulltime RVers, popular seminar presenters at RV Rallies, and regular contributors to RVTravel.com, for many years.
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I started a blog in 2003 sending emails to some select friends as we began a cross country trip, mid winter. I wrote an email describing being “stuck” on the Natchez Trace Parkway in snow. Two days later I started getting emails and phone calls asking if we were okay. I realized people were actually following me. I advanced from emails to Word documents attached to emails and eventually found Blogger.com I used that for several years until I decided I wanted to look like I knew what I was doing and created a WordPress blog at goldberg-online.net I’m not sure it is any easier than blogger, but I can draft my work without an internet connection more easily. That is less of a problem today.
Unfortunately today there is less travel to wrote about, other than dreams and more sitting and thinking about the near term future.