It’s been a while.

I still log onto GallivantingGeorgia every week. Scroll through the new comments, check my stats – despite not posting on here for over a year, they’re the highest they’ve ever been. I can’t really explain that one.

I normally hover over the ‘New Post’ button for a moment or two, then close down my browser and switch over to lovely, undemanding Netflix. Oh hi there you lovely Jessica Jones binge session you.

And then I feel guilty.

When you spend most of your day writing for a living, turning on the laptop and then bashing out a blog post – for free – in your spare time, becomes something of a chore.

Which is only part of the reason that I haven’t written on here in so long. But that’s a post for another day. I’ll just say that I’ve become unnerved by the massive changes taking place in the travel blogosphere. Even in the short amount of time I’ve been blogging (flashback to 2013…) the travel blogging industry has shifted dramatically. Bloggers turned into influencers, courted by PR agencies (hi there!) the media and brands, turned into online versions of glossy magazines, started commanding substantial paychecks on top of freebies and press trips, forged Instagram followings that reach into the millions…. it’s a cutthroat world, and dare I say it, I was – and still am – incredibly daunted by it.

What could I say that hasn’t been blogged about extensively – by travellers with a following that I can only weep about. Where could I travel that hasn’t already been covered by that blogger with the envy-inducing hair (seriously, how can it look so swishy even in the sticky humidity of China?!) the one who’s mastered the art of the travel selfie so perfectly. My photographs don’t look like they should grace the pages of Conde Nast Traveller or Lonely Planet, my blog design doesn’t look professional enough and I’m probably not going to be inundated with requests to review 5* hotels in the Maldives any day soon. I’m not funny enough, or well-travelled enough, not inspirational enough, or as engaging as I want to be – and I certainly don’t inspire Insta-envy in a bikini… the list goes on.

But you know what, I’m so over that. Blogging insecurities suck.

I’ve been so focused on the prospect of failing, of not measuring up to other travel blogs, that I’ve stopped myself from even giving it a go. Which to be honest, is really bloody stupid.

I have so many adventures and memories that I want to write about, so much stuff that’s been circling round and round in my brain that I want to share. In the grand scheme of things does it matter that I’ll never be the next World of Wanderlust or The Blonde Abroad? No. Should I stop writing before I even start because of it. Definitely no.

So here’s to being fearless and blogging anyway. My  content and style is very likely to change from what’s on here before – for the better I hope – so I hope you’ll stick around.

This time I will too.

*Pictures all taken by yours truly in 2015. Stories to come.