I can’t really believe I’m actually writing this post… 8 years ago today I bought this space on the internet and Away With Maja was created! This year has been one of the biggest yet – it genuinely doesn’t seem real.

I created Away With Maja to share my adventures and travel tips, and to hopefully inspire others, too. I write these reflection posts each year on 12 February, the day I bought my domain. You can catch up on previous posts from 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 years, and 7 years.

While I dreamed of being able to take it full-time (and still do), the fact is that I simply enjoy it. And over the years, it’s been the one constant in a life that has been full of upheavals. Not just one but two moves abroad, one marriage and one divorce, so many different job and careers – Away With Maja has been there through it all. My blog readers have stuck by my side and offered support during the lows, and cheered me on and celebrated with me during the highs. I’m so grateful for it. And considering I’ve shelled out a truly exorbitant amount of money to keep this website alive for another year, it’ll be around for a while!

This last year has been my first where I’ve made a regular income from the blog.

Notice all those ads on my website? Those pesky, annoying things disrupting reading this blog? Yeah, that’s how I make money. I switched ad networks at the beginning of 2023, and now make a small, but regular, passive income from ads on my site. While it’s only a couple of dollars a day, every single cent I earn through my blog helps keep me on the road longer. I’m making almost enough money from my blog to pay for my groceries each month. I know it’s not a huge amount, and other bloggers make hundreds if not thousands every day – but to me, it’s everything. I have worked SO hard on Away With Maja, and it’s so rewarding to see that pay off financially. Please turn off your ad blocker on my site!

If you’d like to support me and my work directly, you can use Buy Me a Coffee!

This last year was my best year ever stats-wise.

I had the highest yearly page views ever in 2023. My DA (domain authority) is currently at 37, the highest it’s ever been. I published 62 blog posts in 2023, a year where I was constantly traveling and, for the majority of it, living out of my car. After a disappointing and disheartening 2022, where I actually had fewer page views than the previous year, I feel like I’ve bounced back in earnest. Thankfully, the Google “helpful update” in September didn’t hit me too hard, like it did for other bloggers. I am full of motivation to make the upcoming year the absolute best EVER!

Blog posts I poured my heart into started ranking on Google.

I wrote nine different posts about my trip to Orkney – and in the last year, they have started ranking and pulling in the good numbers. I’ve received thousands and thousands of pageviews from these posts in the last year! Two of my top posts about York had a combined 20,000+ page views in 2023! There is nothing more rewarding then spending hours and hours writing a post, creating the best and most useful content you possibly can, including every minute detail from your notes, crafting the perfect guide, to then see others find that post and visit your site. I am so, SO, proud of myself for this. It is the ultimate reward for that hard work.

I am truly back to my solo travel roots – and my blog content reflects that.

When I really started traveling, during my study abroad in 2013, I mainly traveled solo. I went all over Europe – including a two-week venture to Russia – on my own. Then, I got together my now ex-husband. For most of this blog’s life, my travel adventures were shared. While I still went on solo trips and loved them, I had a Mr. AWM behind the scenes for the majority of every trip.

Well. We all know what happened next. For the last few years, and especially this last year of Away With Maja and my full-time travels, I’ve been traveling solo. I have no husband or Instagram boyfriend to take my photos, edit my posts, or offer a second opinion on a certain aspect of content creation. I am well and truly back to my solo travel roots. I am doing this all on my own – I am traveling and running this blog by myself. Away With Maja is a one-woman show, and in the last year I feel like my blog content really reflects that.

Writing about dating and traveling long-term and solo road trip safety tips, for example, are posts I never would have written when I was married or traveling with others. I am proud of the fact that I am doing this by myself, and love the fact that it shows in my blog content!

Over the last few months, I’ve decided to let go of my goal of Instagram growth.

The truth is, it’s simply impossible to grow on Instagram without creating reels, and posting them constantly. Despite the fact that I’ve been living an “exciting” life traveling full-time, and that my recent content has been high quality, I’ve gained barely any followers in the last year. Even though I put in an incredible amount of effort into the app, I’ve grown by maybe a couple hundred followers in the last year. My posts rarely reach anyone besides people who already follow me. Although I enjoy creating reels, I feel like so many reels are just “fluff” content with no real value, and I don’t want to create content without true value. So over the last couple of months, I decided I just have to not care about growing that number. I’d rather create content that I like and am proud of, and that’s enjoyed by the people who do follow me, then keep pushing myself to increase one number.

Unfortunately, the sad truth is that most brands, companies, and tourism boards don’t care about content creators unless you have a large (10k+) following on Instagram. They ignore my blog, which can pull in views with my SEO-optimized posts for years and years. They disregard my email list, which has an average open rate of 50%. They simply don’t care about any of the content I can create because I don’t have a large follower count and haven’t had a viral reel. Despite the fact that none of us own social media apps like Instagram, and Mark Zuckerberg can and will make changes that will impact (and/or decimate) content creators on the app, brands still only care about the number of followers or number of recent reel views.

It is so disappointing, and – in my opinion – so incredibly shortsighted. I’d love to say I think this will change, but unfortunately I think companies will continue to rely heavily on fast-burn marketing tactics like Instagram and its ever-important reels.

Three people I know through Instagram have given me a place to stay since I’ve been in Australia. The app has connected me with some of my best friends and so many incredible people. Above all else, that is the number I care about going forward!

I really love writing.

This last year of Away With Maja has seen several paid freelance writing commissions. I’ve also created my own York Mini Guide, and have a Yorkshire e-book that I’ll be releasing for purchase in the next few months. Above all else, this last year has shown me that I really just love writing. I love sitting down to my laptop and putting words together to create a story and evoke emotion. My favorite Instagram posts are the ones with the long captions, where I tell a story. My article about traveling after divorce for Travelista is one of the professional achievements I’m most proud of.

In the next year, I want to do more writing. I find pitching so draining, as you do so much work and basically write an article, only to be ignored by an editor – or told there’s no budget for paid pieces. It’s difficult for me to find publications that accept pitches (and pay). But I’m going to keep hustling, I’m going to try to keep working smarter and not harder, and I’m going to find ways to keep getting paid for writing. Hopefully you’ll see more of my writing off this site in the upcoming year!

I would love to do this full-time.

I would be the happiest person ever if I could do Away With Maja as my full-time job, if I could make a full-time income from this. It is my greatest passion, and despite the struggles – I love it. I’ve been doing it for eight years now, and I’m still doing it because I love it. It’s my ultimate dream.

And I know I could do it. This year has proved to me that I am motivated enough, I am dedicated enough, I can and will work not just 9-5 but 8-8, for 7 days a week, on this blog. During my “rest” periods this year, where I wasn’t constantly on the go, I was insanely productive. My housesits were amazing for this – I didn’t have to pay for accommodation, and I could spend literally all day working on my blog. I accomplished so much during my three weeks in Geraldton, and worked non-stop while still having some boundaries for myself (daily walks and exercise, an afternoon or day “off” for exploring, etc). I have no problem working by myself, from anywhere that has a plug/wifi, managing my own workload, creating and meeting my own deadlines, and staying motivated. I can absolutely do it.

The reality is that it’s very unlikely I will be able to scale my blog into a full-time (UK-based) income in the next year. I don’t have a partner’s income to fall back on, and there’s no one to help me pay rent if my invoices go unpaid and payments are late. I’d need real financial security before I could commit to Away With Maja as my sole income.

But. There is a but! I’m hoping that I can increase my income from the blog enough to do it part-time. I have so many business ideas for when I go back to the UK. Besides the income streams from my blog (ad revenue, affiliates, sponsorships – although it’s rare that I accept these), I hope to be selling my own digital products very soon. I already want to ramp up my freelance writing, so hopefully that will lead to more income. I’ve set myself up on Fiverr for freelance copyediting and (travel-specific) copywriting, which might generate some income. I’m thinking seriously about getting my Hill and Moorland Leader qualification, so I can lead guided hikes in the UK (and charge for them). Getting paid for hiking is the dream! I’d like to run my own walking tour of York – I know the city so well, and I have already been a legitimate tour guide in the city. I’ve even considered starting my own Divorce Party event planning business (there’s clearly a market for it!!).

It would be great if I could cobble together all of these entrepreneurial ideas and income streams into one full-time income. I’m still not sure if I could do all that – especially as a lot of those will take time once I’m settled back in the UK. Realistically, I hope to have a part-time role for two or three days a week (completely remote and where I can set my own hours), where I earn enough to cover my absolute bare necessities, and then use my blog and freelance income to fund my travels and fun things. Only time will tell what happens – and it’s a long while still until I settle down!

I couldn’t do this without your support.

Visiting my site, reading my posts, and viewing my ads is one of the best ways to support me. Engaging with my social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram, in particular), is also really helpful – liking commenting, sharing, and saving my content costs you nothing, but makes a huge difference to me! Please do subscribe to my email newsletter, too. It’ll be the first place where I release information when my e-book and digital guides are ready to launch! Using my affiliate links is another huge way to support me; I make a commission at no extra cost to you! Along with purchasing items through my Amazon links, if you’re booking a trip please use these links!

• Book hostels through Hostelworld!
• Book hotels/accommodation through Booking.com!
• Book flights through Skyscanner!
• Buy travel insurance through World Nomads!
• Book tours/activities through Get Your Guide!
• Join Trusted Housesitters and get a 25% discount!
• Send money internationally through Wise (formerly Transferwise)!
• Sign up to get my favorite travel credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred!

I’m so grateful for everyone who has stuck around.

Away With Maja has evolved over the years – it’s changed as I’ve changed. But it has been the main constant in my life, and I wouldn’t still be doing it if I didn’t have such a wonderful audience. Thank you to everyone who reads my posts. Who follows along on social media, who uses my affiliate links, who takes the time to send me an email or a message about how helpful they found a certain post. Some people might be new here, but many of you have been here since the beginning. Thank you. I’m so incredibly grateful for you all. <3

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming along on this wild ride with me. I can’t wait to see where the journey takes me next!