BiB Awards 2015: Time To Shout About Your Blog

It is seen as a bit of an unBritish thing to shout about ourselves, isn’t it.  We have a tendency to get a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable and underplay our talents. It’s often thought of as boastful – which is bonkers really. We SHOULD be proud of what we do, what we are good at and what we achieve. If we aren’t, then what kind of example are we setting our children? We want them to be proud and positive about what they do and celebrate their successes, don’t we? I recently spent a prolonged time in America. They aren’t like that. If they are good at something or – they say it.

With this in mind and taking inspiration from Honest Mum’s recent post on being your own best publicist, I thought I would write this post as nominations for the Brilliance in Blogging Awards (the BiBs) gather pace and tell you a bit about the history of Wander Mum and inspire other bloggers to do the same. For those who don’t know, the awards are run by BritMums and they celebrate ‘the most creative, inventive,  and compelling blogging of the year’.

In 2014 I was deeply honoured to make the shortlist in the travel category and I would dearly like to get there again and perhaps even go that bit further and be a finalist.

So, here’s a short history….I started this blog just over two years ago after my best friend persuaded me to write down life with my daughter while on maternity leave. My husband was in his final round of treatment for non-hodgkin lymphoma and our little girl, known as Mrs T, was five months old. The baby fog had just about cleared enough for me string some sentences together.

As a journalist, it was good to get back to writing and kick my brain into gear without being ‘back at work’. It has certainly proved a lot more fun than writing news stories and I love the freedom I have to write about what I like, in whatever format I want at whatever word length I desire.

I have always kept a diary so this was just an extension of that – albeit a far more public one. My aim in starting this travel-based blog was to show that just because you have children, it doesn’t mean your life has to stop. You don’t have to hide away in the house or be afraid to venture any further than the park at the end of the road. You most certainly can continue to get out and about and get on an aeroplane to travel to far-flung places  and keep doing the things you love. In fact, I think travelling and experiencing different cultures helps develop children immensely. My daughter has been to 12 different countries and has a whale of a time everywhere she goes. She really thrives on it. 

Over the past couple of years Wander Mum itself has grown and developed. I hope my travel tips and experiences have helped families travelling with their little ones and my writing and knowledge has engaged and inspired. Recently the blog has taken a slightly different trajectory after my husband became seriously ill with meningitis. Writing my thoughts and experiences down at this incredibly difficult time really helped me to get my head around things and vocalise his journey back to health.

The blogging community is a wonderful group of people with some incredible talent, whether it be writing, photography, vlogging or even helping connect bloggers. I  love how there is so much to learn and absorb in this blogging world and everyone is so happy to share their tips and experiences. I have learnt a hell of a lot over the past couple of years and it has definitely stretched me out of my comfort zone – which is always a good thing.

If you enjoy reading Wander Mum, whether you have just discovered it or been an avid fan from the start, and feel www.wandermum.co.uk deserves a nod in the ‘travel’ category in the BiB Awards 2015 then just fill out the nomination form here. You don’t have to be a blogger to nominate and you don’t have to fill out every category. If you think I am a good writer too then please pop me down in the ‘writer’ category. Thank you. There are so many great blogs out there but I really appreciate all the support you have given me.

Honestmum, Verilyvictoriavocalises, Play and Learn Everyday  (crafts), Sisterhood (and all that), Wry Mummy, Cool Bananas Blog.