How I Built a Travel Blog While Working Fulltime as a Frontline Lawyer

When I first started my blog, I wasn’t trying to build a business.
I wasn’t trying to become a content creator.
And I definitely wasn’t planning to add something else on top of an already demanding legal career.

I just wanted a place to document travel experiences and share things I was learning along the way.

At the time, I was working as a lawyer. FIrst, in-house then moved into Criminal Defense. I went from one stressful specialty to another. Managing deadlines, dealing with pressure that comes with the profession, and trying to maintain balance outside of work.

Starting a blog felt… unnecessary.

But looking back now, it was one of the most valuable decisions I’ve made. It’s let me travel, move my career towards what I want to do and build my current lifestyle.

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The Reality: There Was No “Perfect Time”

One of the biggest misconceptions about starting a blog is that you need:

• more time
• more clarity
• a better plan

I had none of those. I barely had time. I didn’t know what I was going to write about and I didn’t have a plan. I figured it out on the way.

Like most professionals, my schedule felt full. My time outside of work was limited, and the idea of building something from scratch felt overwhelming. So I didn’t over-complicate it.

I started small.
I started on LinkedIn.
But the most important thing was. I started.

Here’s how you can get started to, even if you feel like you have nothing interesting to write about.

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Step 1: Treat It Like an Experiment (Not a Business)

This is the first shift that made everything easier.

Instead of thinking:

“I need to build a successful blog”

I thought:

“I’ll just try this and see what happens.”

That removes pressure. Without pressure, there’s no expectation that you’ll:

• Make money
• Grow Fast
• Be perfect

While you might not start with those expectations, they are more than achievable once you actually START.

To head towards making money and growing your blog, you simply need to start writing. For me, I started writing about:

• Career experiences
• Travel experiences
• Things I learned
• Observations I made along the way

And that was enough to start with. As I developed more a want for writing about travel, I moved into that. I now have a full blown travel blog, that earns me money.
It didn’t start like this, but by starting this is what I have now.

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Step 2: Build it Around Your Life — Not the Other Way Around

When I started:

• I didn’t quit my job
• I didn’t suddenly have a whole lot of free time

So I had to build a blog that fit around my life. I built a publishing schedule that was consistent but not overbearing. I wrote about things I was going to do, rather than doing things just to write about them. I didn’t pressure myself to write an article every day or even every week. I only allowed myself time to write consistently with the time I had.

That looked like:

• writing in small pockets of time
• working on posts on weekends
• documenting trips I was already taken – taking a few extra photos or making notes about interesting things

There was no “content calendar” in the beginning. Just consistency — even if it was slow.

This is something I think professionals underestimate. You don’t need huge amounts of time. You just need a system that works with the time you already have.

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Step 3: Focus on Useful Content (Not Just Personal Stories)

At the start, I wrote posts like a journal. It didn’t take long to realise something important. Posts that perform the best weren’t just recounts or stories of my adventures. While this was a good starting point, my writing needed to grow.

Looking at analytics, the posts that did the best were useful.

I started writing about what I learnt in my career. Then what tips I could share with those who maybe were starting out in the law. Slowly that emerged into something I was more motivated to write about. Travel. Some of my first travel blogs are pretty self-fulfilling as well, but slowly and surely they have improved.

Again, through analytics I’ve realised in the travel niche, things like:

• travel guides (Travel Shanghai with Kids and Travel Beijing with Kids)
• tips (Why You’ll Love Your AirTag)
• honest reviews
• practical advice

When I moved my writing towards helping other busy, professional mums, that’s when my blog started to shift. My blog moved from being a personal outlet to something more valuable. Not just for me — but for my readers.

And again, this blog article is a new branch of my blog – it’s sharing how you too can start a blog as a busy professional.

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Step 4: Don’t Be Afraid to Learn as You Go (Instead of Waiting to Know Everything)

When I first started, I didn’t know anything about:

• SEO
• affiliate marketing
• monetisation
• content strategy

And honestly, I didn’t try to learn it all before starting.

As my blogging desires grew, I realised I wanted to build something off LinkedIn. LinkedIn was a good starting point, but it was pretty restrictive for what I wanted. I wanted a central point, a community space. Somewhere my readers could go and find all the interesting things. This forced me to learn, as I needed to.

I learned what I needed to like:

• When a post started getting traffic → I learned SEO
• When I realised blogs could make money → I explored monetisation
• When I wanted to grow → I started understanding content strategy

This approach made it manageable. It made this whole blogging process feel like I could actually do it. Instead of being overwhelmed, I built knowledge gradually.

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Step 5: Let it Evolve

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The Biggest Challenges (And What Actually Matters)

Let’s be realistic.

Building a blog alongside a professional career isn’t always easy.

The biggest challenges are:

Time

There’s never going to be enough of it.
But you don’t need as much as you think — you just need consistency.

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Uncertainty

At the start, you don’t know if it will work.
That doesn’t go away quickly.
But progress comes from doing, not waiting.

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Slow Results

Blogs take time. This is not a quick-win strategy.
But it is a compounding one. And that’s what makes it powerful.

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What Changed Because I Started

This is the part I didn’t expect. Starting a blog didn’t just give me a place to write. It changed how I approached my career. It gave me:

• a creative outlet outside of law
• a platform to share ideas
• a growing asset I actually own
• opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise

And perhaps most importantly:

It showed me that it’s possible to build something alongside a professional career — not instead of it.

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Can You Do This Too?

This is the question most people ask.

And the answer is yes — but with a condition.

Not if you’re looking for a quick result.
Not if you want instant income.

But if you’re willing to:

• start small
• stay consistent
• treat it as a long-term asset

Then blogging can become something incredibly valuable over time. Especially for professionals. Because you already have something most people don’t:

experience worth sharing.

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How to Start a Blog While Working Full Time (Simple Version)

If you’re thinking about starting, here’s a simple way to approach it:

1. Choose a topic based on your experience
2. Set up a simple blog (don’t overthink it)
3. Write your first 3–5 helpful posts
4. Focus on consistency over perfection
5. Learn as you go

That’s it.

You don’t need everything figured out.

You just need to begin.

Still need some motivation to start, checkout my other blog post on 13 Reasons Professionals Should Start a Blog in 2026.

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If You Want to Do This Properly

If this is something you’ve been thinking about, I’ve put together something to help. I’m creating a short course designed specifically for professionals who want to:

• start a blog the right way
• build something alongside their career
• and avoid the common mistakes that slow most people down

👉 Join the wait list

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Starting a blog might seem like a small step.
But over time, it can become something much bigger than you expect.