Happy Birthday Park Trips and More!

It’s hard for me to believe, but today is the first birthday of this website!  Happy Birthday Park Trips and More! Click To Tweet This has been a great year of learning and growth, and we could not be happier with the great friends that we have made that love our National Parks!  We thought that this post would be a quick update on what we’ve done this year, what we’ve learned, and also a chance to start a conversation about where we are going in the year ahead.  So, without further adieu… let’s dive in!

4 Things That I Have Learned During My First Year Blogging

1. Running a website has been an enjoyable experience!

It has required a lot of time and effort to learn how to build and operate a site, but has been a good investment of time.  It is really neat to see the results of efforts that have been put in over the course of the past year!

2. I have more ideas than I have time to execute.

There are several things that I want to write / record / create, and that I am looking forward to doing over the next days, months and years.  I am excited to continue to create content and share ideas.  Hopefully I will be improving my ability to serve along the way!

3. It is rewarding and important to engage with the Park Trips and More community!

Whether in person, on social media, the website, or via email, it is so much fun to get to interact with other folks that love the parks!  The highlight for me this year has been getting to know so many wonderful folks in the community.  One thing that I have learned is that folks are more engaged as I am consistent with showing up – specifically on email.  Going forward, it is my goal to build upon the interactions that we’ve had over the past year, and to be consistent about showing up!

4. It is important to adhere to a consistent posting schedule.

In the chart below, I share the trend of traffic to the website over the past year in terms of users.  I also share the timing of the release of new content (either posts or pages).  You can see that when I am consistent with publishing new content, new users to the site increases.

Travel Highlights

This year, Jason and I got to do a bit of travel, which included 4 National Park Road Trips, which enabled us to ultimately hit up 20 National Park Units in 8 different states!  The sites that we visited are listed below (with links to articles where we’ve written about them).

Top Blog Posts

This year, we published 26 blog posts which, in addition to a handful of pages, form the content of the website.  The following list are (in order) the top 7 posts based on the number of page views received.

• 11 Things To Do in Hot Springs National Park
• How To Vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 7-Days
• How Much is Too Much Activity on a Short Trip? A Case Study
• Explorer Edition Passports: A National Park Sub-Culture?
• What is “Stamp Cramp”…? (Our National Park Passport Story)
• Best Places to Eat in Hot Springs Just Steps From Hot Springs National Park
• How Many National Parks Are There? FREE Printable!

A few observations about blog articles:

• My most popular posts are related to specific destinations
• The posts that folks like to talk about the most (on the website and on social media) are personal stories (i.e. the blog post Inspired By…) and passport related topics like the Explorer Edition Passports post

Social Media

About 60% of the folks that reach this website find us through social media.  This year, our top social media sites in terms of visitors to our website are listed below.  Follow us and keep in touch!

1. Pinterest: It has been fun to get involved on Pinterest as it is a great way to share our content as well as to highlight other great bloggers and information that help folks to find the National Park information that they are looking for.  Our boards with the most activity are National Parks Tips and Itineraries, National Park Road Trip Ideas, National Park Passports and Stamps, and the Park Trips and More Travel board.
2. Twitter: Twitter is great for connecting and having conversations with others that love our National Parks!  We recently found the great group that writes weekly under the hashtag #NatureWritingChallenge.  Check out some of these folks for great folks to follow for National Park content, tips and experiences.
3. Facebook: We’re still figuring out the best way for us to engage on Facebook.  We have been updating posts when they are released here.  Follow us to get involved with some conversations that we look forward to having in the coming year.
4. Instagram: Instagram is where we update our travels and hikes.  We look forward to starting back up with some great tips in the near future.

Watch Us Grow

We are super excited to celebrate one year of blogging!  Stay tuned for all of the great content and updates that we have planned for the next year!  If you’re interested in how to support our efforts, please consider the following:

1. Join our email community to get updates and to support our growth.
2. Tell someone that you know enjoys the National Parks about us.  We grow because of you!
3. Consider making a purchase through our affiliate links.  Check out our gift guide for great gifts for the park lover in your life.
4. Leave us feedback.  Let us know what you like and what you want us to improve.  How can we serve you better?  Send us an email or leave a comment below.

Thank you for celebrating our first blogging birthday!  We look forward to continuing to grow along this journey!