September is always an interesting time to be traveling. It marks “back-to-school” season in many countries, and often is the beginning of the slow season for travel.
I slowed down a little in September – though not that much! I was home for about half the month, but I was so busy that it felt like I was barely home at all.
Here's what my month looked like:
September: The month in travel
- Countries visited: 3 – Tanzania, the Netherlands, and Italy
- Cities visited: 4 – Paje and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ravenna and Bologna, Italy
- Flights taken: 6
- Days spent on the road: 14
The coolest thing I did: My travel this month was slightly more low-key; I spent most of my time exploring some cities, including some new-to-me spots in Italy. The coolest thing I did (in my opinion) was to visit a bunch of the famous mosaic churches in Ravenna, Italy, which make up a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mosaic work truly is stunning, and Ravenna is small enough that you can see all the famous churches in just one day.
The best thing I ate: I can't talk about this trip without mentioning Bologna, Italy! This city is well-known for its food, I and was not disappointed. While it's tough to choose a favorite, I think the tagliatelle al ragù at Osteria dell'Orsa was my favorite – I liked it so much that I had it twice!
September travel highlights
Food tour in Amsterdam – On our way home from Tanzania, my sister Melissa and I stopped in Amsterdam for two nights. I've been to Amsterdam before, but it was my sister's first time in mainland Europe! On our first full day, we signed up for a food tour that included some Dutch dishes and ended with a canal cruise. I love taking food tours when I travel, and this one was great!
Churches in Ravenna – I already mentioned this above, but visiting the mosaic churches in Ravenna, Italy, was another highlight this month. The churches are extremely old, but also very well-preserved. And the mosaics are breathtaking! Ravenna is also slightly off the tourist trail in Italy, so none of these churches were crowded at all in late September.
Visiting friends in Bologna – After Ravenna, I took the train an hour to Bologna, where I stayed with some expat friends for 5 days. My time in Bologna was split between sightseeing, eating, and hanging out with friends (and playing with my friends' adorable 3-year-old daughter who for some inexplicable reason spent an entire day calling me “Grandma”). It was a chilled-out visit, which was perfect.
September travel lowlights
Despite flying between 3 different continents this month, I don't have any major travel mishaps or low points to report!
September on the blog
With a very busy October coming up, I did my best to get my butt in gear in September. It paid off! I published more posts than in the last couple months, and had a great traffic month.
September traffic: 199,502 unique visitors and 282,652 pageviews
Most popular post: A Harry Potter Lover’s Guide to Edinburgh, Scotland – Because, I mean, we all love Harry Potter, right? This guide was so fun to write (and even more fun to research earlier this year in Scotland!) and details a bunch of magical things you can do in Edinburgh.
Other posts published in September:
- 2 Days in Edmonton: A Summer Weekend in Alberta’s Capital
- 5 Reasons to Visit Ann Arbor, Michigan (That Have Nothing to Do with College Football)
- East Africa Highlights: Kenya and Tanzania with Rock My Adventure
- 10 Things to Do in Budapest for the History Lover
September on social media
Most popular Instagram post: This photo of me in front of semi-floating restaurant The Rock in Zanzibar was an all-around favorite. This photo of my favorite street in Edinburgh, Scotland, came in second.
View this post on InstagramMany people don’t necessarily think of beaches when they think of the African continent, but of course it has beaches! Great beaches in many cases. My trip to Kenya and Tanzania ended on the island of Zanzibar, which is known for its tropical vibe and turquoise water. We began in Stone Town, the main city on Zanzibar, and then spent our last two days on the opposite coast in the town of Paje. The beach in Paje reminded me of backpacker beach towns in Thailand years ago: sun-kissed travelers sporting baggy elephant pants and kids on the beach passing out fliers for nighttime beach parties. It was the perfect-chilled back place to visit at the end of a whirlwind trip. One afternoon, we went for a group lunch at the famous restaurant pictured here: The Rock. Zanzibar has some dramatic tides, and this restaurant looks completely different depending on when you go. (Case in point: when we arrived, we walked out to it through knee-deep water. On the way back to shore, we had to get ferried in a boat!) The Rock is by no means the best restaurant in Zanzibar, but it sure is an iconic one. Glad to have checked this off my travel bucket list! Have you been to Zanzibar? Or any other beach destination in Africa?
Most popular Facebook post: My East Africa safari content still remained a clear favorite, most of all this post about the Ngorongoro Crater.
September business update
September was a bit of a weird month income-wise. It was my BEST income month EVER, but it's mostly because payments for campaigns I worked on over the summer all hit my bank account within the same week! (It was the end of the quarter, so no surprise there!)
Income report:
- Advertising: $6,934.2
- Affiliates: $3,710.73
- Paid campaigns: $7,923.52
- Other: $1,269.25
(Note that this is my income before deductions and taxes.)
Business highs
Speaking at the Social Travel Summit – I went to Ravenna to speak at the Social Travel Summit, a small conference for travel bloggers and DMOs. I spoke about affiliate marketing, and got great feedback about my session!
Cleaning stuff up – I've been spending some time (and money) lately cleaning some things up on my site. I ditched the dates in my URLs finally, which I know means nothing to anyone who doesn't run a website, but it's a good thing for search results! I'm also working on organizing some things a bit better behind the scenes, and am getting ready to finally hire some people to help!
Business lows
It's been a good month business-wise; I have some things already lined up for the coming months, and am excited to start looking forward to 2020 soon!
Upcoming in October
It feels like the homestretch – and that's because it sort of is! This is my last “big trip” of the year. I'm excited for everything coming up in October, but am also looking forward to a bit of a break in November!
October: Monograms trip – I'm writing this to you from Venice, Italy, where I'm currently working with Monograms, a company that helps plan vacation packages for people. I spent a few days in London last week, and will be in Venice and Rome through this weekend. Can't wait to tell you more about this company!
October: Turkey with Dad – After Italy, I'll be hopping over to Istanbul, where I'll be meeting up with my dad. We're signed up for a 2-week tour around Turkey with Intrepid Travel, and I'm looking forward to introducing my dad to my favorite tour company AND finally seeing more of Turkey!
And remember that you can follow along in real-time with all of my adventures through my IG Stories on Instagram!
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