7 years ago today, I bought this little space on the internet. My goal was to share my travels with other people, to have a space to offer travel advice, to inspire others to travel, and to (hopefully!) let more people go away with Maja. As I write this post, I don’t think there’s been a time in this blog’s life that it has been more important to me.

I write these reflection posts every year. You can catch up on my blogging recap posts from 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, and 6 years. This past year – the past few months, even – has been huge for Away With Maja. In February 2020, I said, “I can tell I’m on the cusp of something very, very exciting to come.”

Well, 2020 didn’t really pan out the way any of us expected. But after a few years of setbacks, I feel like big things are on the horizon. And I’m excited to see what happens!

I’m committed to monetizing this blog. And not just because I (finally) upgraded my hosting – I’ve decided to finally take a stab at turning this blog into a real, stable, income stream. I work so hard on it, and love the work I do so much. I’m switching ad providers, so you’ll soon see new display ads on my website. Please turn off your ad blocker, and please understand that by seeing these ads, you are financially helping me make this blog a viable income. I appreciate your understanding!

The real reason behind this change: I’m moving to Australia. And my upcoming year of adventure will be the first time where I won’t have a set full-time job, and will (finally) have time I can devote to making this blog the best it can be, without the distraction of full-time work. I have no idea if I’ll be able to make it work – if I’ll make enough money to sustain myself. But I’m going to give it a try – and with a mixture of work exchanges and temp jobs, I’m hoping to have the time of my life. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

This blog has been the foundation for more freelance writing work, and I hope that will continue. I love writing – hence, the blog. With a portfolio of ~400 articles on this website, I’ve honed my writing and editing skills. Thanks to a full-time job in travel content over the last 2 years, I’ve gained some truly fantastic experience. I plan to continue using this blog as a jumping off point for more freelance writing opportunities. If you know of any freelance travel writing opportunities, please send them my way!

A lot of the last year has been constantly playing catch-up with content. I’ve really struggled to make a dent in my backlog of blog posts. Which is even harder when I’m lucky enough to be have been on lots of amazing trips! It’s been hard to stay on top of content (both for the blog and social media) when I was pretty much consistently busy between March-October 2022. It’s February now, and I still haven’t published posts from this summer! But I’m hoping that I’ll be able to crank out some of my last 2022 blog posts over the next few weeks, and be caught up by the time I’m getting to Australia. We’ll see how it goes.

While I’ll be in Australia, this blog will always have a focus on UK travel. I plan on coming back to the UK (and back to York) after my adventures. So while I’ll have new articles about all the amazing experiences I’m sure to have in Australia, I’ll be updating old UK posts, and writing new posts that I’ve been putting off. The heart of this blog is UK content, as that’s where my home is – so don’t be too disappointed if you’re only reading for that!

I’m working on my newsletter, and hope to make this consistent as the year goes on! If you haven’t signed up to my email newsletter, here’s your reminder! I took several years off the newsletter, but my goal is to send out monthly (hopefully even twice a month) email newsletters, to keep you all updated on my travels and adventures. The emails take a decent amount of time to create, but they’re informal and authentic – like I’m having a chat, really. I want email subscribers to get the updates, news, gossip, etc. first. So I hope you’re ready to see a few more emails from me in your inbox this year!

I had a very disappointing drop in traffic this last year. This is down to a few reasons, but the main one is that I’m losing traffic on my highest-performing posts. These are posts I either don’t want to update (because of the hate comments I get, lol), or I’m unable to update because I don’t have the information (like my visa renewal post). I guess I didn’t realize just how much of my traffic was brought in by 4-5 specific posts! I’ve been doubling down on my efforts to create informative, useful, SEO-optimized posts that will hopefully rank and bring in more traffic. But 2022 was the first year that I didn’t see an increase in stats for the blog, and I won’t lie and say I’m not extremely disappointed about it. It’s been a huge downer for me.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me so far. Whether you’ve been here for a day, a week, a year, or all 7 years, I wouldn’t still be doing this without you. This blog, and the community behind it, helped me survive the darkest times of my life. I appreciate it so much, more than I could every put into words.

I’ll be needing your support more than ever this year, as I dive into a freelance/blogger lifestyle and travel around Australia. Visiting my site and reading my blog posts is always the most important! Beyond that, engaging with my account on social media is so helpful: liking, commenting, sharing, and saving my posts all really matter to me – it helps me beat the algorithm and means my content will be seen by more people. Plus, it doesn’t cost you anything at all! Please do subscribe to my email newsletter, as I get back into regular updates. Purchasing anything through my affiliate links is another key way to help support the site. Along with my Amazon links, if you’re planning on booking a trip please click through these links!

• Book hostels through Hostelworld!
• Book hotels/accommodation through Booking.com!
• Book flights through Skyscanner!
• Buy travel insurance through World Nomads!
• Send money internationally through Wise (formerly Transferwise)!
• Sign up to get my favorite travel credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred!

Thank you for the support and encouragement. After 7 years of travel blogging, I think this next year is going to be the most exciting adventure yet! Here’s to the next year, and happy travels! <3

What do you want to see from Away With Maja in the future? Share in the comments below!

Thank you all for following along on my journey!