How One Travel Writer Survived the Pandemic

Kathi Kammleitner, Scotland Travel Expert and Owner of ‘Watch Me See WILD FOR SCOTLAND’

I recently interviewed travel writer Kathi Kammleitner, about the impact of COVID on her business.

Her website ‘Watch Me See WILD FOR SCOTLAND’ is a lot more than just a travel blog about Scotland. It is a travel planning itinerary service offering both ready-made and bespoke travel itineraries, as well as a podcasting stream that hosts in-depth interviews and immersive story telling from places all over Scotland. It also hosts top tips for places to go and attractions to visit, categorised by region, and according to your interest.  

In 2020 COVID struck, and like everyone else in the tourism industry, she was hit badly. In fact, 7 out of her 8 income streams dried up overnight! She wrote about her experiences at the time, (see below for a link to the original article) and last month I caught up with her to ask her more about just how she had managed to survive in an industry where so many had gone under. This is the transcript of that interview. It makes for inspiring reading!  

AN: You wrote in a blog article in 2020 that 7 out of your 8 income streams dried up overnight! That’s absolutely unbelievable. So, you obviously had to diversify. What influenced your decision regarding which direction you would take?

KK: I did an audit of everything I had, all my talents and resources. It turned out I had an awful lot more than I thought at face value. All the years I spent building my own business, my digital marketing skills etc. - these were all transferable to other work as well.  I was in fact sitting on a treasure trove of untapped raw material that I could repackage to new markets in the format they wanted. It didn’t have to be brand new material all the time. I could use what I already had, take the parts that different markets wanted, and reinvent myself that way. It took a lot of research to do it, but you work with what you have.  

AN: In what other ways has your work changed?

KK: My work has changed for good. My marketing was traditionally aimed at the international market, for people planning a visit to Scotland.  It’s starting to recover, but it’s not the same as it was and probably never will be, however it’s important to show up consistently for my audience to earn and keep their trust. 

I guess the biggest change with the pandemic was that the drop-off of some income streams has definitely made it more important to stick to your guns when it comes to charging fees for your work. And maybe it has even made it clearer to businesses who enquire about my blog to see that I'm a business just like them.

More broadly speaking, there’s no denying that the whole tourism industry has changed for good. It’s an exciting time to be part of that change, as it’s an opportunity to shape it, but you have to be able to spot opportunities as and when they arise. 

AN: What particular challenges did you face when putting these into practice?

KK: Google is constantly changing the algorithms for search ranking, making it more difficult for bloggers like me to attract organic search traffic. It is therefore now more important than ever to have a working relationship with an ad network that understands the technical issues that I and others like me face. This applies especially for SEO. From that point of view, my work has got more technical than it was prior to the pandemic.

It is also vital to be part of a community. Being a solopreneur was sometimes a lonely place to be during the pandemic. Other travel bloggers are not your rivals, but a community of like-minded people who can have each other’s backs. It was – and remains – vitally important to be able to talk to someone who understands the struggles you face yourself. 

AN: What’s the most important ‘take home lesson?’

KK: Above all else, you have to think on your feet! And fast! I love what I do, but there is no such thing as a safe source of income. 

AN: Kathi, thanks very much for your time, it’s been a pleasure talking to you! 

KK: You’re welcome! All the best. 

You can read Kathi’s 2020 blog article here.