Hi there! Welcome to my second blogging update. To the date, this blog is about 1.5yrs old.
It’s been 7 months since my last update… 7 months and a lot of gloom.
But this update? It’s a great one.
Where did I go all this time?
Why did it take me so long to come back?
Since then, two close family members passed away, and I felt paralysis in my heart, in my hands, in my thoughts—in my everything.
The desperate necessity of moving slowly and very carefully was so immediate and intense that it was impossible to ignore. Like a vase made of very thin crystal, ready to shatter at any sudden movement.
Working as a full-time bartender takes a lot of energy. Everyone who comes to see you expects nothing less than smiles, warmth, and a great, positive experience.
A blogging update would have been very grim.
And since I was grieving… well, bartending took about the entire bandwidth of my energy and joy.
It was impossible to write “Amazing Spots to Have a Romantic Dinner Outdoors in Charleston” when all I wanted to do was sleep. And you know what? I love that blog title. It perks me up all the way. I can taste it as I research it, eat it, and write it. I want it… but for months, I didn’t.
The mood for blog posts was more like:
“Beautiful Solitary Places Near the Water to Contemplate the Meaning of Life Silently and Cry Endlessly Without Being Bothered.”
I should’ve started a whole new temporary blog for 6 months. Color palette: black and gray, maybe the occasional green.
How to blog 101…
When I first started studying and learning about monetizing a website, I learned that the easiest way was to start with ads.
The learning curve for blogging is steep. It’s the kind of career where everyone thinks you just sit down and type:
“Dear diary, today I ate strawberries by the beach. They were so juicy, but the sand was so dry, and then a gust of wind came and suddenly I had sandy strawberries. What a thing! So I jumped into the sea, strawberries in hand, and suddenly they were salty strawberries. And oh, none of these things I wanted. None.”
Then you click “Post Blog,” and suddenly millions of people are engaged.
What happened next? Did you encounter a jellyfish and offer it a strawberry?
Do your tastebuds remember sandy, salty strawberries every time you see them at the grocery store?
Did you ever bring strawberries to the beach again?
BTW, I totally made that story up. I’ve never brought fruit to the beach. The closest I’ve come is mango pops and a water bottle full of margarita.
Hey, lime is a fruit. Right?
But no—successful blogging is very strategic: It’s about looking at what people are searching for and giving them solutions.
That’s the way to make yourself relevant.
Not some random fever dream stories.
(Though sometimes those are fun too.)
Waiting for the right guy
The advice given to all bloggers is to sign up for AdSense or Ezoic. These ad agencies will accept you on a whim. Do this so that you can see something while you build your blog and your following.
Even if it’s just pennies.
Because posting article after article with no traction or gain can get exhausting. So even seeing a few cents is motivating.
But the thing is, AdSense and Ezoic pay pennies on the dollar compared to ad agencies like Mediavine.
So, most people start with the little ones and wait to grow their numbers to graduate to the big guys.
Something happened though…
Mediavine started a program called Journey, where you apply and they study your website. If accepted, you can start small with them, within the company, and eventually grow and graduate with them.
To me, that’s genius.
They saw an opportunity—all these new bloggers going to the other ad agencies, then eventually coming to them.
Meanwhile, those other agencies get all the income from the new bloggers, who are working their hardest just to establish themselves.
Taking those pennies with gratitude.
So, I applied to Journey a year ago. My website was analyzed for about a year.
I honestly expected I’d need at least 50, maybe even 100 articles before I’d get accepted.
Maybe…?
The First Key to the Mansion in the Sky
I have one article that’s been an all-time hit so far.
This one:
10 Key Differences Between Savannah and Charleston
It’s a bunch of observations that become clear after experiencing both places a lot, and living in Savannah. So basically, a Savannah resident observing how Charleston is different.
It’s still my most-visited article. A popular question answered.
I’d say 65% of the organic traffic to my website comes from this post.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I woke up to this marvel:
NO F*CKING WAY.
I WAS SCREAMING.
And after jumping around, scaring the bejesus out of the cats, and calling my mom while still screaming—she was like,
“Ummmm wha…?”
MOM, I GOT ACCEPTED! OMG THIS IS HUGE!!
“…Ok honey, congrats?…”
Then I put the ads on my website. Which—given—I don’t love. But not everything that makes you money is pretty.
Note to self: Make enough affiliate income in the future to kill the ads, or at least tone them down to the lowest settings. Just for the sake of aesthetics.
Getting accepted to Journey after applying a year ago felt like waiting for the most handsome guy in high school to ask you to the dance, while all the other fugly, dumpy boys have been asking you all year.
Girl, you gotta have standards and know your worth.
Then a couple of weeks later, I came to check on my earnings and squealed in delight.
Called my mom again.
“MOM, I MADE TWO DOLLARS AND EIGHTY-SIX CENTS HOLY F@#)&$@#&)$!)$&!@)&$&)!#$& AAAAAAHHHH!!!! MY FIRST TWO DOLLARS I MADE!!!!!! IT’S SO AMAZING I CAN’T EVEN….!!!!!”
My mom:
“Honey… are you okay?”
I feel like my storefront finally opened, and now I need to fill up the shelves STAT. Someone just came in and bought an apple. I need to stock this store (website) to the brim with amazing products (articles), and soon, two dollars will become four.
While my sweet mom is nothing but supportive, I’m basically running to her with a lump of coal, while to me it looks like the brightest diamond I could possibly be holding.
I can’t wait to call her screaming again when I reach Key Number Two…
The Seven Keys to the Mansion in the Sky
I’ve envisioned making a full-time income as a travel writer with this metaphor: entering a beautiful mansion in an Italian villa. Seven keys are needed to open the mansion. Once I unlock the final one, I’ll be living and working from that dream place, enjoying all that it represents.
🔑 Key No. 1: Get accepted to the desired ad agency. AKA Mediavine
I DID IT, I’M STILL DANCING.
🔑 Key No. 2: Make $500/month
This key will require posting twice a week and pinning to Pinterest with merciless determination. I’m hoping to hit this within the next 3 months—but we’ll see. A mandatory blogging update and more dancing will follow.
🔑 Key No. 3: Make $1,000/month
Rinse and repeat the above, but also apply to Amazon Associates and focus more on affiliate links.
🔑 Key No. 4: Make $2,500/month
Continue posting twice a week, quit side gigs, and focus fully on the blog. Maybe cut down to bartending 3 days a week. Build up an emergency fund with 3–6 months of living expenses.
🔑 Key No. 5: Make $5,000/month
Keep going. At this point, dedicate full days to a strong content workflow to sustain 2–3 posts a week. Travel more to write more—start local (Charleston, Jacksonville), then take short flights to magical places like New Orleans and write guides for them. Keep stacking that emergency fund like there’s no tomorrow.
🔑 Key No. 6: Make $10,000/month
Emergency fund = 1 year of living expenses. All debts = gone. Put in your two weeks notice at work with a smile and a heart full of gratitude. Book a trip to a European city of choice. Buy a bikini. Stay there for a month, writing daily and swimming in the sea. (I’m thinking Spain or Italy.)
🔑 Key No. 7: Open the mansion in the sky
The mansion represents 100% self-employment—no side gigs, all debts paid (car, student loans, etc.), and the ability to travel and write full time. Maybe one city at a time, long enough to get the insider scoop and see the magic in its streets.
Maybe even run multiple websites. One for bartending recipes, another for small-city travel and hidden gems—not the usual Paris or London that everyone covers.
At this level: The freedom to dream big, and the creative space to live those dreams.
There’s nothing wrong with being a bartender—or a mixologist, if we want to get fancy with the creativity and ingredients. But this profession is both location-bound and time-bound.
And after over a decade of it… I’m ready for more.
Where did the “Seven Keys to the Mansion in the Sky” come from? Why not a castle in the sky?
Well… castles kinda creep me out. I’m envisioning an Italianate-style villa, surrounded by natural beauty, with a wine cellar and cozy pasta spots on every corner—where the chefs are all hopelessly addicted to making amazing food.
Besides, if you ask the dictionary what “building castles in the sky” means, you get this gem:
To create dreams, hopes, or plans that are impossible, unrealistic, or have very little chance of succeeding.
Yeah, no thanks.
This is not that.
This is happening.
Screw them castles.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress to Key No. 2!
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