Building Touring Ideas:

Creating Our New Travel Website

Well, today has been a bit of a “let’s see what happens” kind of day!

I’ve spent most of the day experimenting with a new website editor and starting to build something we’ve wanted to create for a while, our very own Touring Ideas website.

The website will sit alongside our Facebook and Instagram pages, giving us somewhere to bring everything together. Social media is great for sharing quick updates, photos and videos, but we wanted somewhere that we could build a proper collection of our adventures, reviews, stories and experiences.

Creating a Website Has Never Been Easier

The platform I’m currently using is Webador, and I have to say, I’ve been really impressed with how simple it is.

Within about 24 hours, we had the beginnings of a website online. You don’t need to be a web designer or know loads about coding — it’s very much a case of choosing what you want, adding sections, typing in your content and moving things around until it looks right.

The interface is really user-friendly, with lots of little features that you can simply add as you go. For someone like me who enjoys the tech side of things, it’s been great fun experimenting with it.

Of course, there are always a few limitations. One of the main ones is that it doesn’t host video directly, but that’s not really a problem. Our videos will continue to live on YouTube, and we can simply link them into the website so they play directly from there. It’s actually a really neat way of doing it.

The great thing is that it does allow audio, which means I can record thoughts and updates like this, convert them into a transcript, and turn them into blog posts. That’s exactly what I’m testing with this post.

Why Build Our Own Website?

The idea behind Touring Ideas is to have somewhere that isn’t completely dependent on Facebook or Instagram.

We’ll still use those platforms, of course. They’re brilliant for reaching people and sharing updates while we’re travelling, but the website will become our main hub where everything can be stored and found more easily.

There’s nothing worse than posting something on social media and then six months later trying to find it again!

With the website, we can create sections for:

• Travel blogs

• Motorhome adventures

• Product reviews

• Photos

• Videos

• Podcasts

• Travel tips and experiences

Basically, somewhere to document all the things we love doing.

Upcoming Adventures and Reviews

We’ve got some exciting content coming up as we prepare for our next big adventure.

We’ll be reviewing some of the equipment we’ve invested in recently, including:

• Starlink, which we’re hoping will keep us connected while travelling

• Our new lithium battery, solar setup and inverter, which should improve our off-grid capabilities

We’ll be testing everything properly while we’re away, because there’s no better review than actually using something in real travelling conditions.

We’ll also be travelling with our two dogs, or as we call them, “the girls” , Tilly and Frankie.

They’re very much part of the adventure, so they’ll be making regular appearances on the website too. Before we head off, they need their vaccinations updated and their Animal Health Certificate sorted for travelling into Europe.

Naturally, they’ll get their own blog post because travelling with dogs brings its own challenges and planning.

Four Weeks in Europe

The main focus for Touring Ideas initially will be our upcoming four-week European motorhome adventure.

We’ll be sharing the journey, the places we visit, the campsites, the experiences, the good bits and probably the occasional thing that doesn’t quite go to plan!

Alongside that, I’ll also start adding previous trips we’ve done and information we’ve collected over the years. We’ve been travelling in different ways for over 30 years — tents, caravans, hotels, B&Bs, motorbikes and now our motorhome — so there’s plenty of stories and experiences to share.

Using AI to Help Build the Site

I’ll admit it… I’ve also been using ChatGPT to help create some of the SEO content and wording for the website.

It’s been a really useful tool for turning ideas into proper website content and helping make sure people can actually find Touring Ideas when searching online.

Between the website builder and a few clever tools, something that used to feel like a huge project has actually been surprisingly straightforward.

Just the Beginning

So, this blog post is really just a test.

I wanted to see if I could create content while travelling, upload it easily, and keep the website updated without it becoming a massive chore.

If this works, it means we can share our adventures as they happen rather than waiting until we get home.

Touring Ideas is only just getting started, but we’re really excited about where it can go.

Now, I’d better stop testing and start planning the actual adventures!

Thanks for following along, and hopefully we’ll see you on the road somewhere soon.

Steven, Suzanne, Tilly & Frankie
Touring Ideas