Travel and Blogging Recap: September 2019

Hey guys! I’ve decided to bring back my monthly recaps. Blogging these days feels so… strategic, so I wanted to have a place where I could casually share my travel plans, book recommendations, and life updates. I’m also going to start sharing traffic and income reports. Thanks for reading!

Hey everyone! How’s your fall going?

Honestly, I was a little afraid to post this. When writing this recap, I couldn’t help but wonder, Is anyone still reading? Did grad school completely kill my blog?

As you may have noticed (or not), since starting grad school last September, I’ve barely blogged. Free time has been very limited, so at times, blogging has felt like an impossibility.

That being said, I miss blogging. A lot. This blog is as much my passion project as it is my part-time job, so I’m not ready to give it up.

So, I’m writing this to say that I’m still here. And if you’re still reading, that’s amazing. Thank you.

Where I’ve been:

Ann Arbor (30 days)

I spent September at home in Ann Arbor. Classes started in early September, and it’s already pretty full-on.

(Side note – is it just me, or is grad school insanely hard? I basically always feel like I’m drowning.)

September Highs:

Moving into my new apartment. Last year, I lived in a brand-new high-rise apartment. While that may sound glamorous, it really wasn’t for me; it was over-priced, cheaply built, and the windows didn’t open. (For some reason, that really drove me crazy.)

Though my new apartment is tiny and I have two roommates (with one bathroom), I absolutely love it. I think I was meant to live in a creaky old Victorian house. The character! The details!

Exploring Detroit. I’ve spent as much time in Detroit as possible recently, which by the way, is so cool these days. The downtown is full of locally owned businesses, and there are new bars, restaurants, and hotels opening all the time.

I always forget how much of a city person I am until I step foot in one, and immediately feel energized, calm, and almost giddily happy.

Ashley Abroad turned 7! Well technically my blog turned 7 in August, but whatever. I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for seven years. That’s longer than I’ve dated anyone, lived in a single city, or done basically anything else in my adult life.

Getting back into photography. After buying my “dream” camera a few years ago (an absurdly heavy full-frame Canon dSLR), I quickly realized I hated lugging it around.

So before my trip to Japan in May, I bought a mirrorless Fujifilm camera. And it’s made such a difference – photography is actually fun again. It may sound silly, but buying a smaller camera has totally reinvigorated my passion for photography.

September Lows:

Medical bills. I haven’t mentioned this yet on the blog, but I got really sick in 2018 and was hospitalized four times. On one of those occasions, I was hospitalized for five days.

Though this happened last year, I’m still getting medical bills. It turns out that in America the worst part about getting sick isn’t being ill — it’s dealing with medical bills. Figuring out how to pay those bills has not only blown through my savings, it’s also taken up hours of my time and caused an immeasurable amount of stress.

I now know a depressing amount of health insurance-related acronyms and have spent more time in the healthcare subReddit than I care to admit. TLDR; Can we all move to Canada yet?

Programming. I’m taking two programming classes this semester and coding is just not. my. jam. But it’s a required part of my degree so I’ve got to get through it. Wish me luck.

Blogging Stuff

Housekeeping

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, a few housekeeping notes:

A new focus on Ashley Abroad. Moving forward, my goal on Ashley Abroad will be to create useful content to help other travelers plan their trips. I will of course still post personal essays and musings, but I want my content to actually be, you know, useful for other people.

I’m hiring! After seven years of creating all my own content, I’m now hiring writers! Get in touch if you’re interested in writing about travel, culture, and expat life. All opportunities are paid.

Changing the name of my expat interview series. I’m changing the name of my expat series from American Expats to Living Abroad. The new name reflects my desire to feature expats of more nationalities, which is something I’ve already started doing.

A new theme and brand! Notice anything different? My site has a new theme. while it’s not completely finished, it feels fantastic to no longer be using my clunky old theme. I’ve also re-branded a bit – what do you think?

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Popular posts

Most popular post: 10 Ways Living Abroad Permanently Changed Me – Because who doesn’t love a listicle? I had a lot of fun writing this post, and it seems like a lot of people could relate to it.

Other posts published in September:

• What Living as an Expat in Berlin is Really Like
• 17 Super-Fun Ways to Spend a Rainy Day in Paris
• How Much Does it Cost to Walk the Camino de Santiago?
• My Super-Detailed Hadrian’s Wall Packing List

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Blogging traffic & income (September 2019):

I’m going to start recapping my blog traffic and income, as I personally enjoy reading other bloggers’.

September traffic: 70,827 page views. My highest month of traffic yet!

September blogging income – $2,112.61

• Advertising – $1,083.51 – the first time I’ve hit more than $1,000 in advertising income!
• Affiliate income (Amazon) – $1,002.94 – This is the first time I’ve made more than $1,000 in Amazon income, too.
• Affiliate income (not Amazon): $15.98 – This is kind of dismal. I probably need to work on this category.
• Other (products, ebooks, etc.): $8.85 – I sold one ebook, ha.

Note that this is my blogging income before deductions or expenses.

Favorite read of the month

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

I didn’t know if I’d like this book because I’m not a mom, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s witty, well-researched, and has lots of funny personal anecdotes about living in Paris. Highly recommended.

I’m now reading The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and so far, it’s delightful. I’ll report back next month.

As always, I would LOVE to hear what you’re reading! Feel free to leave your book recommendations in the comments.

Up next:

October is going to be a quiet month because I have mid-terms. But I have a lot of travel coming up in November.

Antigua & Barbuda – In November, I’m heading to Antigua for my cousins’ wedding. I’m super excited because I love weddings and adore my cousin and his fiancée (she’s a multilingual entrepreneur who owns a video production company in Colombia and is basically the Dos Equis man).

Cuba – One of my best friends convinced me to spend a long weekend in Cuba in November and I’m not mad about it. So I guess I’ll be in the Carribean a lot next month, which I’m also not mad about.

How was your September? I’d love to hear about what you’re doing, and am all ears for any book recommendations/Cuba travel tips you may have.