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2017 was great for me and blogging for one reason. I decided to focus on the sports travel niche.
I’ve been reluctant to niche down since I started learning about blogging, but finally pulled the plug!
Vegan and budget travel were the other two realistic options. Vegan? Meh, I’m not enthusiastic enough about food (the benefits of lack of smell, you can eat the same thing over and over again). Budget travel? Ideally, I’d like to not be travelling on $20/day forever (will always be a budget traveller at heart).
Anyway, so after humming and harring (apparently people use hawing) forever, I decided on the sports niche in May (ish).
That confused me for a while. Sports is broad:
- do I do just sport?
- is hiking a sport?
- am I playing sport?
Pesky overthinking mindset.
I decided to write about anything sports related (including hiking) and naturally will tend towards a specific niche further down the line (sometime in 2018 perhaps).
So what is the plan for me and Tiki Touring Kiwi, a sports travel blog, in 2018?
Get Focused On Branding. Is Tiki Touring Kiwi A Brand?
Tiki Touring Kiwi is a mouthful to say, especially trying to say it understandably in the kiwi accent) and it doesn’t relate to sports in any way. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up re-branding at some point in mid-late 2018, but it isn’t a priority (you can hardly consider TTK a brand at this stage).
I considered selling Tiki Touring Kiwi, but couldn’t bring myself to part with it as I’d built up some authority (in the eyes of big G). Maybe would have been a good idea in hindsight, but oh well.
Getting Into Sports Photography And Getting Good
This photo could be so much more awesome. Granted, I wouldn’t run a marathon with a camera.
I haven’t travelled with a camera other than my phone for at least five years. In December I started to read, watch, and listen to lots of content based on sports photography. Wholly shit it’s complicated! With sports photography, I feel as though the 80/20 rule applies. Meaning, you can learn to take a 7/10 epic photo in a relatively short amount of time. But the skill takes a lifetime to master.
As soon as I have enough cash put aside, I’ll invest in a camera that is suitable for sports photography. Reading about cameras is equally as complicated.
Hosting A Sports Photography Summit
Which leads me to one of my big goals for the year, to run a sports photography summit. It’s going to be an online summit, with the target audience being beginners like me who want to take a pretty good sports photo. I’ve started to flesh this idea out, and it’s going to be awesome! Nowhere near the stage where I’m ready to announce a date, but it will be in the first half of the year. The biggest benefit of me interviewing experts is I can relate to beginners as I am one now. So hopefully I can ask the questions, that are often dismissed when you jump onto online courses.
Explore The Land Of India Playing, Watching And Learning Everything Sports
Weeeee! I’m flying to India on the 11th of August. I’ll be spending two months there, a lot of that in Goa, but there will be a solid month of adventures. There will be some crazy sports adventures no doubt, India be crazy in general!
I wrote an article briefly describing the most popular sports in India a few weeks ago, and want to experience as many as possible in the two months. There will be some fun content on the blog from that trip.
Make Progress Towards Joining Club123
I learned of Club 123 a few months ago and getting there would elevate myself in an authority for sure. To be a member of Club 123, you need to visit every all the home arenas for the MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA teams. With new venues opening from time to time, or teams relocating, the number 123 changes from time to time (was Club 122 at the start of 2017).
That’s a long-term goal, I’ve been to four venues in the past, maybe I can get to 10 this year? I’ve got no idea though, it will depend on how long I end up spending in the states (I will make it). These are the venues I’ve watched a game so far:
- Rogers Area (Vancouver Canucks)
- American Airlines Center (Dallas Mavericks)
- AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys)
- AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants)
Have also done stadium tours at CenturyLink (Seattle) Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver Broncos). But they don’t count.
Spend More Time With Friends
The final sunset of 2017 – The Best Island Hostel, Istanbul
Not exactly related to the blog, but worth a mention.
In the last few months of 2017, I didn’t get a chance to see many friends. A few days ago, I started getting really frustrated with the usual ‘Where are you from?’, it got a bit too frustrating for me I guess.
I had a great New Years Eve with friends I met a couple months earlier. If all goes to plan, one of the best humans will come and hang in India for a bit (Goa) and a friend will come to India in late-Feb/March for some travels. Then I believe it’ll be back to Aussie and NZ for a few months where lots of catchups are required.
That’s about all I’ve got for now with rabbiting on for hours. 2018 shall be the best year ever.
