With the advent of 2020, the world has been shaken like never before, with a term that barely existed in anyone’s vocabulary – A global pandemic. The world economy is shaken and this is especially a hard time for the travel industry with restricted mobility of people.

Businesses that revolve around travel and tourism are currently struggling to sustain and it seems that this industry may take the longest to recover worldwide. So, now that we cannot travel ourselves, what can upcoming travel bloggers or content creators do to sustain?

Spend wisely and save indiscriminately

If your income depends on travel writing or video creation, you may feel that your upcoming projects and income are taken away from you in the blink of an eye.

Nevertheless, this may be a good time to maximise your savings and spend as little as possible only on essential goods. You can delay major purchases like new equipment, phone or laptop, if any and buy needed essentials only, instead of hoarding.

Utilise as much content as possible

Blogging and content creation largely depends on an audience that may be looking for relevant information from what you can offer. With lockdown restrictions in place, the online consumption pattern of readers and viewers has increased tremendously.

This is a great time to think out of the box and create content that viewers may find interesting. If you do not wish to create new content, work around existing content that, you have from previous travels with a spin. Write about those places that you have been holding off, share experiences that you may have forgotten about. Feel free to experiment.

Start a YouTube channel and wait for it to monetize

If you have not already thought of this, or you do not already make videos, this might be an opportunity to finally give it a shot. Aim to start making videos on something that you can do at home – for example “100 things to do at home” or “my travel story from xyz location”. Just plan the first 2-3 videos and shoot on basic equipment.

YouTube channels monetise when they hit 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours. It may look like a farfetched goal at first, but when it does happen, it can turn into an alternate source of income with or without travel restrictions.

Use your time to work on new skills

Based on your level of expertise in the social media domain, list out all the new skills that you would like to learn. Like a new editing software, phone filming and editing, SEO, content writing, photography, social media marketing etc. If there are relevant courses that interest you, set aside a few hours every day to invest in a new skill.

Work towards rebuilding an industry

The travel industry albeit closed right now, will need the help of future content creators to step up and create a buzz when needed. As and when travel restrictions are eased, we as a community would be required to help. There will be new opportunities to engage with different businesses or provide information to travel enthusiasts on how they can resume travels safely.

There is a huge role of content creators in upcoming times to facilitate travel again. And while we are still at home, let us stay prepared to help and create better when the world is ready to get started again.

The writer is travel vlogger, solo travel enthusiast and a travel filmmaker