18-Year Blog Anniversary – Celebrating the A Lady in London Blog

Exciting news: today’s the 18-year anniversary of the day I started the A Lady in London blog! It’s hard to believe how far it’s come since I created it back in 2007, not least because it began as a hobby. I’m excited to celebrate this milestone, and I want to share a few thoughts with you.

18-Year Blog Anniversary

I’m especially happy the anniversary falls so soon after the A Lady in London Instagram account reached 500,000 followers and the Facebook page reached 250,000 followers.

It’s been rewarding to see how many people are getting excited about the photos and videos I’ve shared, not to mention so many new blog subscribers (if you haven’t subscribed already, you can do so via email here).

More than that, I’m incredibly grateful for all the support you’ve shown me and my work over the last 18 years. Your likes, comments, shares, messages, and coffees you’ve bought me have meant the world to me.

When I created the blog I never dreamed it would be more than a hobby. But in 2010 I turned it into a full-time job thanks to loyal readers and followers like you. I’ve been blogging full-time for over 15 years now, and I couldn’t have done it without you.

It’s also hard to believe it’s been 3 years since I started the California Wayfaring blog. I’d always wanted to share more about my home state, and it’s been an incredible journey to start a second site after so many years of A Lady in London.

I’m proud of how much it’s grown in the last 36 months, including reaching over 70,000 followers on its Instagram account. If you haven’t seen it, feel free to take a look. I hope it inspires you to visit the Golden State!

This Year

The past year has been as much of an adventure as any since I created the A Lady in London blog. I’ve had the chance to travel to places as far-flung as Big Sur, Georgia and Armenia, Vienna, Bray and the Cotswolds, Istanbul, New Orleans, Bruges, the Lake District, Alderney, and another fun trip I’ll be sharing about in the coming weeks.

Closer in, I’ve published blog posts about a beautiful walk in Amersham, Portobello Road, day trips to Moreton-in-Marsh, Hatfield House, and Brighton, the best bakeries in London, a once-in-a-lifetime train trip from London, a packing list for London, free self-guided walks in Holborn, the Inns of Court, and to some of London’s best pubs, Harry Potter sites in London, Barnes, things to do near Paddington station, hotels near London attractions, and things to do in London at Christmas.

I have more journeys coming up soon, including an exciting trip to Fiji. I’ve never been before, so if you have recommendations, please send them my way!

As always, you can keep up with where I am by reading my monthly email newsletter. You can subscribe here to get all things lovely London and beautiful travel delivered straight to your inbox.

Blogging Today

With all the excitement, it’s easy to forget that the blogging industry has been going through an extremely difficult time over the last couple years.

Major Google algorithm updates have caused many blogs to lose all their search traffic since 2023. It’s been a huge challenge to keep running a blog successfully, if at all.

I’ve seen far too many of my friends and peers loose their entire livelihoods in the last 2 years, and others take on part-time work to make ends meet.

My blogs have been impacted too. Thankfully I made the decision to build a strong presence on social media many years ago. That’s helped me weather the storm. Still, the updates have affected my business, and the support of readers like you means more to me now than ever before.

Add to that the issue of AI bots scraping content from blogs without bloggers’ consent and without credit, and it’s been an uphill battle. I’m hopeful that legislation will be enacted to protect independent publishers like me (you can help by signing a petition here), and that people will continue to value personal recommendations and trusted sources.

I can’t see the future, but I’ve been blogging for so many years that I know things usually work out in the long term. Difficult times help me value what I do and challenge me to keep raising the bar with my own work.

Knowing I bring my readers trustworthy information and unique content from my firsthand experiences makes me confident that my blogs will stay relevant for many years to come.

The Future

I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey, whether you’ve been reading the A Lady in London blog from the early days or you just found it.

The past 18 years have been an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to what the upcoming ones bring. I have you to thank for helping me get to where I am today, and I’m so grateful. Here’s to another 18 years of adventures in London and abroad!

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