<\/span>Hey, I missed you guys! \u00a0I thought this would be a good time to return and explain my absence and abundance of guest posts recently. \u00a0I’ve had a couple of events that have really facilitated some personal and professional reflection, and getting back into the grind has honestly been a little difficult.\u00a0 Doing stuff is hard, but the first life event is a good (albeit time consuming) one. <\/span><\/p>\n Photo Credit: Christian Saab<\/p><\/div>\n Last month I got married! \u00a0That means the months leading up to that I had to plan a wedding. \u00a0The wedding was great and I kind of nailed it ;), but the wedding industry is a horrible monster. \u00a0I never want to think that much about napkins again, or worse yet, about what\u2019s wrong with me for not caring about napkins when it\u2019s the most important thing to ever happen to anyone and you only get one shot at it. \u00a0Those guys really work hard to break your spirit and the happiest day of your life is kind of soul crushing. \u00a0So, that took up a lot more of my time and emotional energy than I had budgeted for and unfortunately the blog suffered for it. \u00a0Great news though, the wedding was great, my soul has recovered, and I never have to do that again!\u00a0 And you, dear readers, might get to see a bit more of my husband (that still sounds weird) lurking around here in the future. Photo Credit: Christian Saab<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/span>Shortly after the wedding I headed off on a very long press trip (there is a Bali honeymoon in our very near future though) that left much to be desired. \u00a0I\u2019m still trying to sort through my feelings about that experience and what is appropriate to share with the world (though I\u2019ll happily tell you all about it over a beer), but I will say that I\u2019ve never before been treated so disrespectfully as a professional or even as a human and it\u2019s caused me (and I know several others on that trip) to reevaluate this career or at least the kinds of projects I sign on to in the future. \u00a0It was not all bad however, as I met several other bloggers who I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll work with again, as soon as we all recover enough to remember why we enjoy doing this.<\/span><\/p>\n …in recovery mode<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n While organizers of this press trip were the most egregious, my fellow bloggers and social media gurus has me thinking about my place in this industry as well.\u00a0 There was so much chatter about numbers, page rank, do-follow links, bots, and the like. \u00a0What there wasn\u2019t much talk of, was travel. \u00a0<\/span><\/span>This is a job (and nowhere was that more evident than on this trip) and all of the technical nitty gritty is important, but there has to be happy medium. \u00a0You have to still enjoy traveling at a bare minimum right? <\/span>You can\u2019t really blame bloggers for getting caught up in the business and losing sight of the \u201cwhy.\u201d \u00a0In this industry we are constantly fighting to be taken seriously and to prove our worth to brands and destinations, but no one is in it for the money. \u00a0Even the bloggers you think are making money, likely aren\u2019t making much money.\u00a0 Certainly none of us are making enough money to give up what presumably started as a passion for real experiences in exchange for a life behind a screen. <\/span>What\u2019s far worse than the bloggers that have gotten bogged down in the technical nitty gritty, is the number of people I watched out right lie to followers on social media and blog posts. \u00a0\u00a0I watched several people complain along with the rest of us (and rightfully so), and then turn around and post about the wonderful completely amazing once in a lifetime best experience ever they were having #liveauthentic. <\/span>I don’t want this to come of as “blogger bashing.”\u00a0 More than anything, this experience caused me to examine my own approach.\u00a0 I too am guilty of portraying experience through rose colored glasses or even omitting bad experiences all together for fear of being labeled \u201cnegative\u201d, but omission is a bit different than a complete misrepresentation and what does a blogger have to offer if not authenticity? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is all I will ever look like on a hike in the snow<\/span><\/span> #nofilter<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/span>So where do I fit in here?\u00a0 I\u2019ll never be glamorous enough (or have the energy) to bring wardrobe changes on hikes for instagram, or the thigh gap and perfect hair to make that worthwhile,\u00a0 or the patience to Photoshop all of the people out of city streets, or the will power to do a full photo shoot before diving into my dinner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Maggie's](\"https:\/\/magsonthemove.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Maggie-Garvin-print-387.jpg\")
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