Meet Samantha Kaiser

We recently connected with Samantha Kaiser and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

There are many different aspects of blogging that many people don’t know or think about. It’s not only about writing the posts, it’s about researching the correct keywords, securing links back to your website, revising your content, promoting your posts, building a community of readers, and so much more. I enjoy some tasks much more than others, but they’re all equally important in order to run a successful blog. I’ve found that as a travel blogger, one of the ways in which I keep my creativity alive during the not-so-fun tasks is to base my travel content on destinations or hobbies that excite me.

It’s much more enjoyable for me to work on projects on places I’ve been, places I’ve lived, or places I have the desire to visit. I think it helps keep my creativity flowing because it comes from a place of passion, excitement, and joy. It also feels more authentic to me, which I think is essential for creativity. For me, excitement drives my creative self.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In September of 2024, my partner and I quit our 9-5 jobs to pursue full-time travel for a year to backpack South America. We currently host a travel blog and YouTube channel – The Lifestyle Travelers – and this year is all about growing our business while we travel the world. Most of our content currently revolves around budget travel, couples travel, and hiking.

The first three months we’ll be traveling through Ecuador, staying in hostels and volunteering, and then we’ll head south to Peru to complete Machu Picchu. As of now, we plan on posting three videos a week on our YouTube channel, and continuously writing about the places we visit along the way. We’re attempting to live off of $55 a day (together), which includes accommodations, food, travel insurance, etc!

It feels natural to want to share with others how to travel for cheap. We also love to share adventurous attractions in any given destination, and the best hiking trails in an area. We feel passionate about being students of life, and sharing the knowledge we learn as we go. It feels like the perfect career path for us because it’s something we’re passionate about (and could talk about for hours)! One of the things I absolutely love about being a travel creator is that my business can evolve with me, as I learn and adapt new skills that making traveling easier.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

As a travel blogger, you are your own boss. The success you see in this business is a direct product of the work and effort that you put in to get there. However, blogging (nor YouTube) is typically an overnight success, and it requires patience. While this career path isn’t for everyone, it can be extremely rewarding if you do put in the effort. In my opinion, to be successful as a blogger, you must:

1. Be Self-Motivated. Unlike a typical job, there won’t be hard deadlines set out for you. You won’t be given direction or direct evaluation of your work. It’s up to you to create a work plan, figure out where to focus your time and energy, execute your ideas, and evaluate your business on your own. This may be difficult at first, but it’s a skill that you can develop with practice and intention.

2. Have a Strong Work Ethic. Since you won’t have someone keeping you on task, it’s important that you have the determination to get work done. Since you are your own boss, there will be days where you won’t want to work, but just because you don’t have to doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. One of the benefits of being your own boss is the flexibility, so my advice is to find a time during the day that you work best, and do your work then. All the meanwhile, give yourself breaks when you need them so that you don’t burn yourself out.

3. See The Bigger Picture. Monetizing a blog takes time. It took me a little over a year to make any money from it. Even now, my blog income is far from livable, but when I look at the bigger picture, I have faith that it will be in the future with effort and intention. You have to have patience to understand that the seeds you plant now will eventually sprout when the timing is right. Focus on the bigger picture and the long-term, and you will reap the rewards in no time. Don’t give up!

While all these qualities are important to be a successful blogger, I also think it’s vital that you love what you write about. If you don’t, you’ll have less intrinsic motivation to keep going! Find a topic that you could talk about for hours, and write about that!

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Moving forward with my travel blog, one of the things I’d love to focus more of my energy on is collaborations. I’d like to work with individuals, businesses, and organizations that share similar goals of spreading the best travel information. The travel community is absolutely amazing, and I’d love to work more with like-minded people in the future.

My partner and I visit many different attractions when we travel, and we’re more than happy to write blog posts on our experiences… the same goes for adventurous activities! We’d love to promote hiking products that we know, trust, and love to our readers. At the same time, we are happy to collaborate on YouTube videos, blog posts, and so much more. We are open to all opportunities, not just the ones mentioned above.

If you or anyone you know would like to collaborate with us, feel free to email us at travelthegreatoutdoors@gmail.com! Otherwise, you can find us on instagram @thelifestyletravelers!

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