Until the beginning of 2018, Kirsten Wick wrote the very popular blog The LiFB Issue which had 47k monthly page views. This January, she quit blogging. Here she talks about falling out of love with blogging and the lessons she learnt along the way.

I launched my blog in April 2014. I was super passionate about it because it was my husband who encouraged me to give it a go and not just talk about my dreams. I’ve always been a lover of Britain, the British countryside, manor houses and the country style but it didn’t feel authentic to create such content in Germany where I lived.

So when Joerg got a job offer for the UK about two and a half years ago, which totally surprised us, it really got us thinking. We are both way over 40 and it meant a huge leap but we wanted to start a new life in the UK. After all it meant that I would be able to tell stories straight from the country I love. I love fashion but didn’t just want to share my outfits. I decided to combine my style with beautiful locations within the country. I always planned everything for my blog. What look would suit which place? I posted three times a week, which was quite a lot for me as we were always on the road every weekend. Over the last year I noticed a change in me. My blog become more and more of a burden. I gradually began to fall out of love with it. These are five lessons I learnt:

1. Writing a blog is lonely
I was basically sitting in front of my PC all day talking to nobody. During the week, I edited all the photos, wrote texts in two languages and contacted PR agencies. I had to build a network in another country.

2. I didn’t want to make compromises for brand collaborations
I was signed with a PR agency in Germany that I left when we moved and had to start from scratch here. There are so many British brands I truly love but I know it takes time to get a collaboration. Whereas I got a lot of offers, I declined almost all of them because I wanted to stay true to myself and if I didn’t love the brand I always said no. Hence I didn’t really earn a lot of money. Whereas money wasn’t my main motivation, I felt lost here in the UK. Maybe my dream of running a blog as a living wasn’t for me because I could never compromise?

3. Being glued to your iPhone makes you detached from life
I was on my PC, phone and iPad 24/7 and felt exhausted. I missed normal activities like going grocery shopping, readings books or just having a tea without thinking about social media and numbers. Joerg did our grocery shopping on a Saturday morning so I could work on my blog before we would leave the house to work. I felt more and more detached from life and missed it. I didn’t have time to learn how to drive on the left hand side, I didn’t talk to people. I wanted to socialise.

4. Your relationship is more important than your blog
I wanted better photos, better content all the time. This was stressful for Joerg too who no longer had a relaxing weekend. I missed us and for me it wasn’t worth ruining our marriage of 25 years. It was a process but one weekend I decided to stop writing my blog. Just like that. I talked about it several times before but it was a process. When I finally stopped I felt relieved. And happier again. Joerg and I are closer to each other than ever before.

5. It’s so important to be open to new things
I know that having given up my blog might not have been wise because it’s MY platform. Taking on a part time job to be amongst people and having enough time left to keep being creative seems like the best solution for me though. I started a YouTube channel that is still tiny but I feel it’s a lot more authentic than my blog. There’s less pressure because I can mostly create the content myself and it’s fun to learn. I keep using social media and enjoy it but numbers aren’t my priority anymore. I really enjoy the ride and feel that I have a life again.

April 2018