Nine News.
After quitting his job as a travel blogger for 5 years, Mr. Xia (@夏主编旅游攻略) suddenly found that tourism had lost its appeal to him.
As a travel enthusiast and freelancer who has traveled almost all over China, there are times when I miss even going to work. ”
He recorded the changes in his travels on his account: from the initial novelty to the current calm, the beauty of the world seems to him to have "lost its vitality and nostalgia".
This year, he took a friend who had just quit his job to travel, and saw a snow-capped mountain on the way, and this friend wanted to stop and take pictures, and he only felt in his heart, "What is there to shoot here?".”
Complete everything you want to do, and when you get really tired of it, you will find a class. Mr. Xia said that there are colleagues chatting together, leaders supervising work, and making appointments for dinner after work. Although the salary is low, it is more social, and the pressure is not necessarily greater than that of freelancing.
In his comment area, there was a comment that was pushed to the hot comment: "Life is a mass of desires, if your desires are not satisfied, you will be miserable, and if your desires are satisfied, you will be bored, and life is like a pendulum swinging between pain and boredom." ”
Mr. Xia. Figure provided by the interviewee.
[1] The university took the initiative to suspend study to work hard in society
Jiupai News: Was travel blogger your first job?
Mr. Xia. No, I had been in the class for almost 5 years before this. My first job was in an assembly line, and my first time as an editor was in an advertising agency in Chongqing.
I went to university in Changsha, and the school was an ordinary major, majoring in architecture, which my family chose for me, and I was very young at the time and didn't understand these things. Later, I realized that I didn't like it, but I was interested in the writing industry, and my career plan at that time was to become a copy editor or journalist.
In my junior year, I hesitated for a long time, and finally took a leave of absence, because I knew that even if I got my degree, I wouldn't be in the construction industry. Later, I went to work hard in society by myself, and I have been to many cities.
Jiupai News: When did you start freelancing?
Mr. Xia. It was about the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, when I worked for the advertising agency in Chongqing for a year. I feel that I am doing a good job, and the boss asked me to make a travel vertical account by myself, and the number of fans has increased from more than 10,000 at the beginning to more than 170,000. At that time, the platform would synthesize various data to rank accounts, and the account I operated once won the first place in the country.
Jiupai News: If you did a good job, why did you leave your job?
Mr. Xia. When you find that your work ability is far beyond the needs of the position, there is no need to stay in the position. My salary is not high, and the company opens 3,000 yuan. The platform will pay me according to the amount of reading, etc., and my monthly manuscript fee is far more than my salary, but this money is given by the platform. In addition, the company will ask us to write advertisements. I wanted to write something more authentic, so I later broke away from the company.
Jiupai News: Did your parents object to your naked resignation at that time?
Mr. Xia. Luckily, they don't really care what industry I'm in, and they might even think I'm still working. My parents didn't have such high requirements for me, and it was enough to have an income to support myself.
But most of the family members are against the matter of suspending school, saying that if you don't study in college, why do you suspend your studies?I was young at the time, and I didn't think about it that much, I just felt that I really didn't learn anything in school, and my major was not what I liked, so I thought that I could earn some money to support myself anyway, and I would see what happened later.
[2] Travel bloggers are also divided into off-season and peak season
Jiupai News: After the naked resignation, is there any pressure in life?
Mr. Xia. I think it's okay, although it was a naked resignation at the time, but I have some savings in my hand, and I don't think it will be worse than when I took a break from school to work. During the period after I took a leave of absence, I only had at least two or three hundred yuan in my pocket, and it was not that I had never lived on the streets, so I found a factory with food and accommodation to work part-time.
I'm still a little confident when I quit naked. Before I became an editor, I thought too much of the industry. After trying it, I found that I probably did it better than most people. At that time, I opened my current account, and in about half a year, I had 100,000 followers, and now I have about 500,000 followers on the whole network.
Jiupai News: Didn't you think about doing other work at that time?
Mr. Xia. The greater yearning is actually to write a ***, but it is difficult to support yourself simply by writing**. Moreover, you need to go to more places to create, and you must have a certain economic strength to do it. Therefore, it is easier to start with the tourism industry of the old bank.
Jiupai News: What is the pace of work as a blogger?
Mr. Xia. I basically focus on writing strategies for a certain place. In advance, I will roughly go for a walk, combine the knowledge on the line, such as the number of kilometers, altitudes and other data, and then combine it with navigation to write a guide.
Generally, it takes at least a month to make a collection of strategies on a topic. Half the time traveling, the other half writing.
Jiupai News: Did you complete all the route design and copywriting alone?
Mr. Xia. Yes, I'm alone. I used to travel alone, but then I met a few freelance friends, so I would go out together, and everyone would create their own works. The advantage of group travel is that you can save money, and when you go out alone, you can spend at least four or five hundred a day, which is still tight.
Mr. Xia's own map of the Great Ring Road in Northern Xinjiang. Figure provided by the interviewee.
Jiupai News: Can your current income cover your expenses?
Mr. Xia. In fact, it can only be regarded as a state of breaking even. I did a rough calculation, this year's annual income is almost more than 200,000, part of which is advertising revenue, excluding this part, the income from writing strategies alone is about 160,000. But I also travel at my own expense every year, and it costs about 100,000 yuan a year.
The job of a travel blogger is divided into low season and peak season. In the off-season, you may not be able to earn 1,000 yuan a month, or even 500 yuan, but it is much better in the peak season.
[3] I don't regret quitting, but I miss going to work
Jiupai News: Do you regret your decision to resign naked?
Mr. Xia. I don't regret it, even if I work for a while, I may still leave later. One is that the things I write about should be closely related to the company's products, but I want to write about a wider range of topics, including hot topics in the field and travel guides. In addition, I often have to stay up late until three or four o'clock in the morning to write, which is inconsistent with the 9-to-6 schedule.
Jiupai News: Before doing this job, did you like to travel?
Mr. Xia. Luckily, traveling is expensive, and I care more about being able to play with my friends than the destination, which is the most important thing.
Mr. Xia was in the middle of a trip. Figure provided by the interviewee.
Jiupai News: Have you ever thought about being a ** blogger?
Mr. Xia. I thought about it, but what I'm good at is words, and I have a bit of a stutter, which doesn't fit well.
Jiupai News: What do you think about freelancing?
Mr. Xia. It's a good fit for me, but I don't think it's for everyone. Although the threshold is not high, you still have to be distinctive, either good at writing, or can shoot, or can be funny, you must have your own characteristics, so that people will pay attention to you.
Jiupai News: After 5 years as a travel blogger, is there any difference between my view of this profession now and at the beginning?
Mr. Xia. After playing outside for a long time, I occasionally feel like going to work. For example, there are colleagues who chat with you every day, there are leaders who urge you to do things, and there are colleagues who make appointments to do this and that at night, and there is a certain amount of socialization. It's not like I am now, with such a big social face, and a few old friends.
On the other hand, after going out to play for a long time and seeing more beautiful scenery, it gives people a visual impact that is not as strong as before. If it's not a professional requirement, I don't even want to take pictures, and I don't even bother to take out my phone.
One of the things that is very contrasting is that this year I have a friend who just quit his job, we went out together, and he would stop and take pictures when he saw the snowy mountains, and he would take pictures for hours. But a few of us are always traveling and thinking, what is this shooting?So now I'm more focused on the original stuff and want to try to experience the characteristics of each place.
Jiupai News: Do you have any plans to return to the workplace in the future?
Mr. Xia. After working as a freelancer for a long time, sometimes I really want to change my lifestyle. But it won't be in a short period of time, and my fans want me to publish another travel-related book, and I want to accumulate a little more. When you get really tired of it one day, find a class.
Nine News.
Reporter: Yang Zhen.
Editor: Ren Zhuo, Wang Jiaqing.