Burkina Faso – A rollercoaster ride
So now we are 2 months into the 3 months we’ll be spending in Burkina Faso. Rather than make you wait until the end of this post to share how I’m finding it, I’ll just be upfront and tell you now.
It changes from day to day and even hour to hour. Sorry I know that is not a definitive answer, I wish I had one to offer you. But I just don’t, I’m still pretty much all over the place. Sometimes I LOVE it, like elated I’ve found a new favourite place in the world, love it. And sometimes I just want to leave. ASAP.
Village life
A pattern has emerged though. When we are out in the countryside and villages I am generally very happy. Just blissfully content, relaxed and feeling pretty chuffed with my lot. There are loads of reasons for this. Maybe it’s because we’re out on the scooter (I would say with the wind in our hair, but don’t worry mum we have helmets on). Or drinking a Brakina (Burkina Faso’s favourite beer) under a mango tree. Or knowing there’s no pressure to write a blog post because guess what? No internet. Or maybe it’s because we’re sleeping under the stars, sharing dolo (home brewed millet beer) with new friends on market day and there’s actually a breeze, now that we’re away from stiflingly hot Ouaga.
In fact it’s all of these, and so many more. I guess village life in Burkina suits me. It just starts to all go a bit wonky once we’ve been back in Ouaga a few days.
Hot and bloggered
Ouaga is hot, a kind of hot I can’t even explain. I’ve travelled and lived in some hot places, but something here is different. It’s through and through exhausting. To provide some perspective today it is 38 degrees and I am joyful it is so cool. I feel like I can function. It is also polluted; the fumes from the scooters get right up your nose and in your throat, and I need recovery time after every foray out.
But Ouaga also means internet and laptop. Frustratingly slow internet yes, but internet nonetheless. And with that comes the pressure to work on the blog. Which often leads to feelings of self-doubt and that basically ‘I’m a massive failure’.
As you can probably tell from what I’ve written above this has very little to do with Burkina Faso and more to do with starting a blog.
Lookingfordongxi.com and I have a complex relationship. I like reviewing and editing the photos and writing the stories. I like connecting with other bloggers and travellers and reading about their adventures. I love having a bit more direction and focus for the activities we do. I’m even getting more social media savvy (not hard since my knowledge was pretty much zero before). Undoubtedly I am learning a lot, and trust me I like to learn.
But SEO (search engine optimisation), using Pinterest to increase traffic, getting more people to engage with our blog, getting more Facebook likes…ahhhhhhhhhhhh! All this stuff just feels like it’s beyond my capabilities. And that is when a voice in my head starts to ask ‘why am I bothering to write these posts? No-one even sees them!!’ Sob.
But seriously any tips about the world of blogging you can share will be much appreciated. Just drop them in the comment box below. You may save my sanity.
Go back in time and check out how I felt after 4 days and 10 days.
6 comments
I have been reading your blog and how you feel now for a little while and I think it’s so cool that you write of both your love and non love for the place. I totally sympathize with the heat thing as well. I lived in Mexico for a year where the heat was just relentless an average of 40 with humidity on a good day…even your eyelashes sweated. It got to much for me and I just couldn’t function so now I am in Europe house sitting and traveling and I love it.
Eyelashes sweating made me laugh! Where in Mexico was that? I have read about Mexicali being one of the hottest places on the planet. Happy to hear you’re loving the traveling that you’re doing in Europe, it sounds like you made the right decision. I am very conscious I sound like I’m moaning a lot, and that sharing things I’ve found tough is giving the people the impression I really don’t like it, but I’m glad to hear that you can tell there are things I love and things I don’t. It is the most confusing place I’ve been, but writing about it is helping me to figure things out a bit. Thanks so much for your comment and support.
Honestly I know how you feel. We’ve all had similar thoughts of is anyone even reading my blogs? You’d be surprised though how many ‘fans’ you probably have. They’re out there! Just keep doing what you’re doing. But one thing I will say is if this blogging thing ever feels like a chore, take a break or better yet, do something you like doing. Do you like writing? Do that instead of Pinterest. Just never beat yourself up for doing the opposite of what people tell you to do… You may just love everything a whole lot more! 🙂
Thanks Justine for the advice and words of support. I kind of know sometimes I should take a break and return later with a fresh perspective, but it’s not always easy to actually do, so really great to hear someone else say it. I am going to do the stuff I really enjoy now like choosing photos for stories and editing, and I’ll save looking at Pinterest etc. for when I’m up for it and have faster internet (:
My tip- stay true to who you are and your vision for your blog.The followers and fans will come. Great post!!
Thanks Leigh, I am totally going to think of this tip when I am tempted to change it to what I think people will like more (something that does go through my mind pretty often recently, especially with Instagram). But also having read your comment I’m thinking I should do a brainstorm session of what our vision is and that’ll make it easier for me to stand by. Thanks so much!