Blogging Organically: Five Year Check-In

I can’t believe it has been five years since I published my very first post on Wayward.

(really, you don’t have to click the link and read it – it’s… not great).

Back then I didn’t know what to expect from beginning this adventure. I certainly didn’t have a five-year plan in place to guide me to this moment.

(And I still don’t really have much of a plan in place for the future of this page – which is why I continue to consider this process organic).

But plan or no plan, I thought I’d mark the occasion by sharing a quick look back at five years of Wayward. And I thought I’d do so in the style of the blogs of ye olde days: by sharing meandering trains of thought.

Looking back

While some things have shifted from the initial idea behind this blog (for example, Michael and I both planned to create content for it together – while he still takes the majority of the photos and proofs everything before posting, all of the planning and writing is done by me), the idea at its core remains the same: Wayward is meant to be a source of travel inspiration and tips. Style worked its way into the blog early on; I love talking about packing, and I love talking about clothes. It seemed like a natural transition to start sharing outfits and reviews for life at home, too.

Although I often wrote about nearby destinations when we lived in Florida, I decided to hone in even more locally once we moved to Charlotte. I think a lot of that has to do with Charlotte being more of a travel destination than our old hometown, but I also think the pandemic caused me to turn inward in many ways. As the world opens up, I hope to strike a good balance of traveling here in my region while still getting out to explore other parts of the world as well.

Speaking of home, I still haven’t shared this space with most of my friends and family back in Florida. There are a few wonderful friends I’ve found here in Charlotte that I felt comfortable sharing this part of myself with, and I feel so lucky to have been rewarded with their support. But in many ways, I found I kind of like having something just for myself.

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Wayward’s Ten Most Popular Posts

Sometimes it’s fun to dig into the data to see how visitors use this site, and what they’re looking for. Here are the ten most popular posts from the last five years:

1. The home page | Ehh, I guess that’s a given.
2. How to Pack the Away Carry On | It’s funny that this is the most popular post, because I don’t always pack my suitcase like this anymore. And, oof, this was during my brief VSCO A6 phase.
3. Dining at Pujol | I’m kind of envious of the people reading this post because it means they’re probably visiting Mexico City soon and considering dining at Pujol. But I think the reason this gets so much traction is because I discuss the price of the meal when many others don’t.
4. Away Packing Cubes Review | It’s clear that people love packing tips! I’m glad I adopted packing cubes as part of my packing strategy.
5. Cedar Key Day Trip | I have to admit it cracks me up that this is in the top five – we weren’t even planning to visit this small Florida island that day (we had an… eventful night with friends the day before and woke up too late to drive to our planned destination). Cedar Key is one of those hyper-local places that people don’t often write about because it feels like everyone already knows about it.
6. Away Carry-On Review | You sure do love reviews of Away products! And frankly, they’re kind of fun to write.
7. Three Packable Straw Hats Under $100 | While I don’t envision myself ordering and returning things just for the sake of writing a review, this was a fun way to share my purchasing process for a product (P.S. I still wear the winner all the time in the summer!).
8. 10 Things Everyone Should Know Before Visiting Florida for the First Time | I guess the clickbait-y title worked because this post made the top ten! I wrote this in a half-joking, half-serious way – and it must have resonated.
9. Cuyana Leather Travel Case Set Review | It’s no secret that review posts perform well in search engines, and I try to use that information for good. You should know that any time you see a review on this site (vs. a try-on), I’ve really put the product to the test. In fact, this post recently received a four-year update.
10. 20 Questions You Should Ask a Potential Travel Partner Before You Leave Home | I love a good evergreen post like this – it will always be a great resource, no matter how the world changes.

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Looking ahead

As I mentioned, I don’t really have a long-term goal for this space.

If I’ve learned anything from the past two years, it’s that I should say yes when I have the opportunity (because you never know when the opportunity may disappear!). I’m working on saying yes to things that challenge me, or things that may offer new experiences that I had not previously considered (just yesterday I said yes to speaking in public about my project Art Search Charlotte – something that makes me anxious to even think about).

But even though I’m opening myself up more, I’m finding that I’m feeling more grounded in who I am than ever, and trusting my gut when it tells me I need to say no.

So what does that mean for Wayward? It means I may share a wider variety of content in this space (which is the exact opposite of what all of the blogging advice out there says to do, which is to narrow your content into a super-specific niche). But, I suppose, that fully aligns with the very name of this blog.

I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has read along, emailed, and commented in this space over the past five years. I can’t wait to share the next five years with you – whatever they may bring!