Super Official Insights into Being My Own Boss

Being one's own boss isn't something everyone is interested in, but I want to talk about it and why my travel is really work. And yes, still talking about fun travels.

May 16, 2023

This weekend I shared on the Gram a little bit about what my trip to Canada last month meant for me from a business perspective and it prompted a bunch of questions and commentary from people. So I thought it would actually be a great idea to share about the many layers of WHY my 10 days of traveling was not just a fun vacation. And of course, this is how I run my business, but it’s not applicable to everyone. Read on, enjoy a little of how my brain works, and if you want to chat more about it, I’m here for ya!

PS: I also have updates about our big move (up the street). OMG, the drama of the housing market. I’ll get into it at the end of this week’s newsletter, but LSS it’s been nerve-wracking.

What do I do for a living?

So since you get my newsletter you know that I’m a blogger, and that means nothing or the incorrect thing to 97% of the people I meet. When somebody asks what I do and I say I’m a blogger, they usually get that face, the one with their head cocked to the side and soft eyes, and say “Oh, okay. Is that actual work?” and then I say yes, and then I spout off in one long breath all the things that go into it that require skills, technical knowledge and a developed sense of creativity…

So here’s what I do when I’m blogging for my work:

I experience a place or a product (sometimes sponsored and sometimes on my own)
I take photos and videos of the experience, trying to capture the different elements of the experience, especially when there’s something unique or something that I have questions about as I go
I sit down at my computer and write about my experience (that’s the “blog” action) as accurately as possible.
I then turn my writing into an article that somebody will read, filling it with links to more information, links for how they can book the same experience or purchase the same product, and then I add photos and videos of me and my family either in the destination, at the hotel or using the product I’m writing about.

“But this still doesn’t sound like a business…?” I know, if you don’t know what else happens on the back end it really does just sound like I’m updating a modern-day Live Journal, but really there’s more. So, each time I add a link to something in an article, I go through the different affiliate networks I’m a part of to see if I can link to something that has some sort of commission connected to it. I’ve got tools to add my special ID to links that can give me a few cents or dollars here and there, and over time (sometimes years) all of those little clicks turn into bigger dollars.

A great example is when I write about kayaking gear. I write about our kayaks and paddleboards that we use on the regular, and each is linked to a place to be able to purchase it. When somebody buys our favorite inflatable tandem kayak, the kick back on that is about $50, but then other items might only have a $1 commission for clicking through. It depends.

And no, I DO NOT recommend things just for a commission. The second I do that and recommend something totally crappy or that I haven’t used myself, then I’m done for and I won’t be able to do this for work anymore. I get sent all kinds of stuff all the time, like beach gear or luggage or clothing items, and it’s rare that I end up sharing about them. When I do share, it’s because it’s something that we actually like.

For example, we are doing an Instagram campaign next month to share a brand of shirt that we’ve actually consistently worn for years, and they asked us to share about it in an official capacity, so we’re doing that because it’s something we actually use. This sort of business activity is very different because it’s something where the brand actually pays a fee to be featured prominently, and we’re okay doing that and not feeling bad about that sort of placement because it’s a brand we already use and love.

What does Traveling have to do with all of this?

You know how I just did that really awesome, amazing trip to British Columbia and Alberta? So, this was absolutely a business trip AND it was so much fun. And this is why I keep doing this sort of work: it was fully enjoyable and will be a stream of income for years and years.

From this trip, here’s what I’ve been able to publish thus far:

Here’s the breakdown of the business side of this trip:

Campaign fee - we partnered with the Rocky Mountaineer and they paid a fee to ensure that I would create a certain amount of content to share the experience. They didn’t buy my opinion, but my skills and audience to share their travel product that they knew I was going to love. “Why pay a fee to you if you’ll write about it anyways?” The fee that goes with contracted work covers my own costs to do what they asked, guarantees a minimum number of content pieces (an article and set number of social media posts) and grants them rights to reuse certain things that I create.
Ad revenue - this is really the bread and butter of my blogging business. When I write articles and make videos for my websites, I have an ad server that loads ads throughout my content, and each ad impression earns a fraction of a cent. Over the course of a day, all those ad impressions turn into dollars. On days where people want to read everything I’ve written and lots of people are on the website, the ad revenue is high and it pays the bills. And THIS is why I like to write in detail about the things we do.
Affiliate income - this is what the links I add to my articles are called. Linking to hotels that we’ve enjoyed, tours we’ve done, products we actually use and general travel search engines all generate affiliate income. - In writing about hotels and the activities we did on this trip I can add links so others can book the same things and then affiliate income happens!

Between the ad revenue and the affiliate income, this is what make blogging a business that can sustain us into retirement. It takes a long time to create enough quality content that passive income is enough to be consistent and reliable. I think that since I enjoy it, even though it can be uncertain for short stints (starting March 2020, for example), it’s absolutely the right thing for me and I love helping others get into the same flow.

When did Blogging become my business?

When I first started blogging, it was 2009. I was writing about the paintings I was creating and when I would travel and paint on the go, I’d write the stories about where I was and my observations about the people that would stop and watch me. I gave up on that blog because I was just writing it for me and I thought it was great, but nobody was reading it, so I let it just disappear into the depths of the internet.

Then I started writing about home improvement and refinishing furniture and gardening. That got some traction from friends and family, but I had a new baby and was so tired that I couldn’t keep it going.

And then when I knew I wasn’t going back to my corporate job I started 2TravelDads. Nine years in and I love being able to say that this is my full time job and that it’s actually a career that I enjoy and speak about at conferences and stuff. It’s been my solid paying job since 2016 and I’m so thankful.

The reason it works is because of YOU and others like you who actively read the articles I write. I love getting to share our journeys and have it actually come back in the form of a career.

I hope that was interesting or at least gave some solid insight into blogging. It’s such a mystery for a lot of people, so if you have more questions, let me know!

Thank you for reading Rob’s Substack. This post is public so feel free to share it, especially with somebody that wants to blog or be their own boss.

How do I manage myself as an employee?

This is something that I’m putting out there to other people who are self employed, either running on online or tangible business. I need help managing myself and my time better and am 100% open to ideas and tools from others. It’s really difficult for me to turn off work-brain, either in my down time or whenever we are ANYWHERE.

I also struggle with worrying about keeping my business going and limiting the future growth and potential income by saying no to jobs or increasing my rates for certain work. Seriously, I need to suggestions from people who are in a similar boat and have successfully gotten themselves into a work rhythm or mindset that helps them manage themselves better for both happiness AND growing a business.

I’m all ears.

Life Update: the Drama of Selling Houses Today

As I write this, I’m sitting in our empty house… waiting to head to the title company to sign on our new house to move in this morning... We’re really fortunate to be moving into a house that nobody is moving out of, because we know that there’s no stress relating to somebody else’s actions for our move there. Not so the case with selling our house.

We are closing on our house that we’re moving out of this week. Even though we’re two days away from the new owner signing everything, it’s been such a bumpy ride that I’m nervous about it actually happening to plan. Our real estate agent has said that we are past the point of the buyer pulling out (99% certain), but it’s just so uncertain to me. Here’s how we got to where we are with selling right now, and take our experience both with a grain of salt AND as a cautionary tale if you’re selling a house in the near future.

And here’s a tip: if you’re moving within your own town, ask if you can move your outdoor stuff over early. We were allowed to and it’s set up moving day to be way easier and also made us remember how excited we are for our new home.

We received several offers on our house (cuz it’s awesome!) and then we faced the Florida insurance problem. If you haven’t seen it on the news, insurance companies are leaving Florida like you wouldn’t believe, and those that are still active here are charging up the whazzu for coverage. This means that buying a house here AND actually having insurance is cost prohibitive for a lot of people. We lost a few offers because they couldn’t get insurance or afford the additional $500+ per month for it.

So we accepted a really low-ball offer because they were able to secure insurance and would be able to close on the house. And then they wanted credits here and closing costs there and then all sort of other things. They had a million questions and requirements and wanted us to be the ones to budge on everything while they gave nothing on this two way street. Ultimately, we’re signing off on it all this week and walking away with a SIGNIFICANTLY lower net proceeds (take-home pay) than what we listed for.

That’s okay though, because we need to just let it go and start our new chapter in our new house that’s more suited to our family and is super close to the beach. We’re really excited and thankful to close this chapter on Thursday.

Selling Our Vacation Rental… OMG.

Last week I shared how excited we were that we we under contract to sell both our house and our vacation rental. Well, you just read about the house drama, so here’s the vacation rental drama: the buy pulled out while we were still in the inspection period. Super frustrating to have to put the house back on the market, now at a lower price since it’s technically been sitting on the market for a while, and now we’re coming up to a bunch of vacation rental reservations that we’ll have to manage the house selling process around.

There are a bunch of irritating details to the whole situation that I’m not going to get into, but this is just another one of those times where it will do us zero good to let the frustration and disappointment fester. We know the Bungalow (vacation rental) will sell because it’s a great house and we’ve put so much love and work into it, but when?

Upcoming Travel Plans

I’m pretty excited about what we’ve got coming up this summer. The kids get out of school next week, so we’re going to hit the ground running! This week I head to San Antonio for work and I’ll be so thrilled to come home to a FULLY UNPACKED and settled house… No, I wouldn’t put that on Chris even though when we moved to Suquamish in 2013 he’d been in China for a month and we moved into our house without him. Oliver and I worked hard.

Anyways, here’s the upcoming travel schedule for us, and if you’re interested in the work elements that I shared earlier, try to look at this schedule as individual work projects and you’ll see why I love my job AND why I struggle to turn off my work-brain. I made the work trips BOLD to show the flow.

Kennedy Space Center this week - school field trip
San Antonio, Texas - just me, work trip
Columbia, South Carolina - a new city for us! We’re excited to check out Columbia, which is a wonderful pocket of LGBTQ inclusivity in the South
the Florida Keys & Key West - this is a me+Kelly (my assistant) trip. We’ll be there for KW Pride and will be doing all sorts of wildlife activities.
Wyoming! - I’ve been working on this travel campaign with Travel Wyoming for 18 months and it’s finally happening. It’s going to be a very different trip for us than our normal Wyoming adventures. Don’t worry, we do get a quick visit to Yellowstone to update our biannual family Yellowstone pic.
Olympic Peninsula - family trip to see family and enjoy the outdoors in Washington State
Florida Keys again - this time it’s a family trip and we’ll be focusing on RELAXING in Key West (but it is a work trip also)
Maine - this is a fun trip/work trip. We’ll be on the lookout for Maine wildlife, specifically moose, black bear, owls, puffins and the elusive mola mola fish. I may be looking forward to this trip way too much.
Central Montana - this will be a fun work trip with some unique Montana history, wildlife, river fun and horseback riding!
Gulf Shores, Alabama - the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference is going to be awesome. I get to run two workshops about being your own publication and finding value in self-led work
Glacier Country, Montana - this is a dad+dude trip with Elliott (youngest). We are going to poke around Missoula, perhaps have some time at Flathead Lake and then spend a little time in Glacier National Park during the off-season. It’ll be tons of fun!

And then for the BIG TRIP of the year…. DRUMROLLLLLLLLL…

You’ll have to wait to hear what we’ve got happening in November, but to give some hints it’s based around a boat but is NOT a cruise, there may be toucans, there may be ruins… More to come.

Thank you so much for following along on this weird journey called 2023. It’s been so much fun and really has potential to be the best year ever for us. We’re just going to keep truckin’, stay in our lane, and make the decisions for our family that keep us moving forward towards great things.

Have a great week, and stay tuned to see what happens with moving and selling two houses during this bizarre stretch of time. Happy traveling!