Half of my posts are about travel/treks and as a result intentionally or unintentionally my blog has also been coined as a 'semi-travelogue'.So what's the purpose of a travelogue ?
According to me in a travelogue the author has to take the reader through the journey experienced recently. Majority of my posts have been written with the same intention. Also, in some posts I have highlighted the important information in order to make job easy for the people directed by search engines.
Many of my trips have been interesting and with some exceptional incidences, automatically the corresponding travelogue posts have been interesting. In addition I mention, how exactly the trip/trek was planned and various funny stuffs associated with it.
But, if the trip itself is boring, then there are very less chances of making blog interesting. One of the regular reader of my blog gave a feedback for my Dodda Alada Mara(Big Banyan Tree) post that my posts have became monotonous and predictable. I had to gracefully accept her feedback. Actually I too was bored writing about the trip with same phrases and one liners.
In the next subsequent post, about trip to Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve Forest, instead of narrating about the trip in a chronological order, I chose present the experiences in somewhat unusual Q&A format. It turned out to be a pattern breaker and many of my readers complemented for the same.
Is there any other way of sharing experiences about a trip?
- Photoalbum: One of the usual way is by sharing a photoalbum with captions. It can be circulated among friends and relatives but people in need for the information(searching in google) won't have access to the information.
- Video: The other way is by composing a video about the trip. Radesh Bhat documented his recent Sarpass trek through a 9 minute 11 seconds youtube video with sliding photos and having A.R. Rehman's Roja music as background score. The video was good to see for intial 2-3 minutes but in later stages it became boring because of similar of kind of content. A crisper video would have been more worthwhile to watch.
- Poem: One of my friends, Sudhir aka ski blogged about his recent US Road Trip in a 20 line poem. One has to read between the lines to understand his feelings.
So what's your intention about a travelogue. Let me know your opinion through comments.
Some travelogues I follow regularly
- Arun Bhat: India Travel Blog.
- Sandeep Unnimadhavan: Trekkalogs.
With travelogues you are reducing you readership. Because not many people like me like traveling.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that reading about someone traveling to weird places is no fun either.
World is market, so you need to find a way to sell your travelogues.
Those were my views, NOT sure if I sold my idea
I love different people, places, cultures. Discovery Travel & Living is my favorite channel and I am a fan of 'Lonely Planet'.
ReplyDeleteAccording to me, travelogues are much much more than dairy of events on the journey. A travelogue should be collection of description of different places, different people, different cultures, you meet on your way.
The information on how to reach the place, things to be careful about, food are definitely needed. But this information should not overshadow the things you discovered in your travel.
w.r.t to Manish's comment, I believe Blog is place where you write about what you think. It is definitely not a place where you write what people want, which is what TOI stands for :)
@manish: travelogues works on pull model rather than push model. People directed by search engines, who are in need of information about a place find the stuffs amusing to read.
ReplyDelete@vinay: thanks for the feedback. From next time, I will make sure to write more about people and cultures I come across.
I feel nowadays blog has simply become an archiving place, especially when it comes to travelogues. There should be a personal touch and creativity to the blog, since it can get boring as it a documentation of a factual event. Photography skills, facial expressions in the photos, a list of do's and dont's etc are a few things in that direction.
ReplyDeleteComing to special effects, I feel an audio capture of the actual scene in the blog will go a long way. Your blog tries to replicate the actual scene and thus, audio, video (/pics) and text should work synchronously.
@sudhirski: thanks for the suggestions. giving personal touch makes the blog unique but it requires a lot of effort. For composing in current format, I face lot of time constraints. In future when I get explicit time, I will try to incorporate ur suggestions.
ReplyDeleteShande,
ReplyDeleteYour new format of QA travelogue is good and whenever people travel to some place they will have question so your posts can serve as FAQs. But sometimes i have felt rather lengthy. Telling experience through poem as you mentioned is also one of unique ways
Raveesh
If you ask me, I would describe a travelogue as an article with a creative touch; without compromising on the quality of content. Views expressed in a travelogue should be more neutral; and not something like 'I liked that place / I didn't like that place', 'bus seats were not comfortable, I could not sleep', etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat I said above actually contradicts the idea of blogging where the author shares his mind with a wider audience! So, the idea of being neutral does not hold good! :)
But I strongly feel that a travelogue should generate interest in people to visit the place!
I completely agree with sudhirsi about the personal touch, creativity and special effects part!
If you want serious insights into writing travelogues, do get in touch. I have a few books that give some excellent inputs. Its for very very serious writers though.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used all that I have learned in my blog though; serious travel writing is a big commitment I am unwilling to spend on my blog, it will only remain a space for my personal memoirs, on a more detailed manner though.
It's a good experience for me and my family
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