Instructions

1. Find a website host and a domain name. Some travel sites offer a free membership if you register and additional features if you upgrade to a paid plan. Alternately, you can start an independent website by contacting a website host (see Resources).
2. Design the outline for your site before you leave on vacation if you plan to upload photographs and videos as you travel. Select a simple background that does not detract from your content. Consider using a complementary theme. For example, if you will be posting photos from an island vacation, choose a background that features a beach and palm trees.
3. Get creative with your photos. The last thing viewers want to see is you, repeatedly, waving at the camera from in front of the most recent tourist attraction you visited. Instead, consider using the panorama feature on your camera to allow them to scroll for a 180-degree view of the scenery.
4. Capture some action in your videos to make them interesting. Instead of filming the sky, the surf, the beach and then the sky again, wait until Aunt Mary decides to parasail and get it on tape. Use your graphics program to cut out all but the most intriguing parts so website visitors won’t get bored.
5. Separate different aspects of your travels by giving them different pages on your site. Keep each page simple but unique, with only the shots and text that apply to the photos you post. Add a simple caption for every photo, and resist uploading different angles of the same shot. The viewer only needs to see one photo of the sandcastle you constructed.
6. Locate Internet cafes on your travels, and update your website as you go. Family and friends at home will be waiting excitedly for updates from the newest leg of your journey, so try to upload new information as often as you can.
7. Include some short stories about the places you visited and the people you met. Keep your text brief, and cover only the most interesting and exciting events.