The purpose of the blog is to help people find ways to travel cheaper and to find destinations to visit. It addresses people of all ages who want to find a way to see the world on a budget. 

The blog is part of a genre ecology of travel instructions. It is similar to the traditional printed travel guide.

The blog’s style can definitely be described as hybrid, both informational, as well as personal. Examples for the informational style are: 

·       “Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks”

·      “Taking a stroll atop them offers an unbeatable view of both the city and the countryside’s rolling hills. Plus, they’re free!”

·      “You can go an entire trip without ever stepping foot on The Strip or in a casino.”

Examples for the personal style are: 

·      “But I miss the outdoors, seeing my friends in person, glasses of wine at restaurants, and going to cocktail bars. I miss freedom.”

·      “I hope my future self will one day read this post and say, ‘You kept it up and found balance.’”

·      “But there is one city that captures my love of the country the most: Girona.”

·      “If you’re like me, you probably have preconceived notions of certain destinations.”

The author mostly tries to engage the audience by building a sense of community. On the one hand, he addresses the reader with the personal pronoun “you”, on the other hand, he refers to himself and his readers as “we”, p.ex. „the places we expect“. Furthermore, through phrases such as “If you’re like me“ he assumes that his readers share some qualities with him. Other than this, not much audience engagement can be found and overall, it can be said that the author establishes quite an authorial stance. By not asking the readers for suggestions in return, the author achieves a monologic writing style, which contributes to the author’s stance as a professional and expert. It’s expressed through the following phrases “I recommend taking“, “I suggest”, “Your next stop should be” “No visit to Cape Town is complete without coming here. Do not skip this!“. In addition to instructional words, written in the imperative, like “avoid, fly and go”, those phrases convey the sense that the author knows what is right, and that the reader should follow this advice. 

In terms of layout, the blog is well structured. The headlines are mostly very concise and often try to motivate the reader to take an active step. But they are also very subjective, especially, as many of them start with “my favourite…” or “Best..”. As a result, they are often not as brief as they could be. However, the headlines are clear and do not need any deciphering. They are in accordance with the content of the blog entry, hence, satisfying for the reader. Under the heading, there is a picture, depicting the place that the blog entry is about. Followed by a short introduction, there is a series of numbered subheadings. They are brief and consistent in style and are immediately followed by another picture, that should attract the interest of the reader. The blog entries end with a short summary and often a P.S. section in which the author gives some extra tips and tricks.

Both sentences and paragraphs are neither particularly long or short but have the perfect length to facilitate reading and skimming for information. The font is easy to read and might be avenir. It is written in black, except for links and some key words, headings and subheadings and the P.S. that are bolded and printed in a light petrol blue. Bullet points are frequently used in the text. 

Written form a first-person perspective, the narration mode is journalistic as it is nonetheless neutral in style and not overly informal. 

The author does not use many rhetorical devices. The most common one is rhetorical questions that should engage the reader and contribute to the sense of community that the author tries to create. The author uses numerous adjectives and adverbs, such as “absolutely, amazing, super exciting” to make the text more natural, as if it was narrated to a friend. This makes the author more relatable as well. 

In the introduction the author uses lexis that is related to liking, loving and favourites, which should excite the reader for what’s to come. The conclusion briefly summarises the content of the blog post and the author adds some more personal references about his own travels to that place and why he enjoyed it. 

Nomadicmatt.com is a travel blog which was started in 2006 and has since then regularly been updated with entries informing readers about countries and cities to visit. The author of the blog is Matthew Kepnes who created this blog to advice other avid travelers on how to get the most authentic travel experience for a fair price. 

Nomadicmatt is part of the genre ecology of travel instructions and is structured like a travelling log and review. The author usually lists various sights and locations he visited and describes the experience, adding personal but also public information (addresses, opening hours, prices etc.) to the paragraphs. Thus, the blog shows a hybridity of styles. It fulfills its purpose of informing by introducing the various sights and places but it also involves the reader by introducing personal experience into the writing (“I first visited here in 2012 and have been back a total of four times. I love Girona”; “It’s one of my favorite countries…”). Further evidence of involvement and audience engagement are the use of the personal pronoun “you” (“To help you make the most of your trip”) and the use of imperatives in paragraphs but also in the headings (“Make it part of your next trip to Spain”; “Tour the Arab Baths”). Additionally, this strengthens the relationship between the reader and author and changes the reading to a more conversational style discourse. 

Layout and visuals of a blog are almost as important as the writing itself. An unclear structure makes the reading experience not enjoyable and unappealing visuals can cause the blog to be overlooked. The headline of the blog (“10 THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN GIRONA, SPAIN”) is a rather typical example of a headline in a travel blog, however, it can be considered quite engaging. The subheadings then subsequently list the places and activities referred to in the main heading. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, subheadings use imperatives to engage with the readers. Furthermore, the subheadings are numbered, and the font is larger and bolder which gives structure to the whole text. Visuals typically follow the subheadings introducing the sight optically and supporting the description of the sight. The chosen visuals are vibrant and appealing. This makes the blog more attractive to the reader and appeals to the core feeling of traveling which the readers most likely share. 

Throughout the text the author uses emotive language (“love”, “lovely”, “awesome”) and the register in general is rather neutral or informal which is probably due to the blog’s first-person perspective. This style allows the author to further build a relationship with the reader and, thus, trigger audience emotions. Phrases like “Spain is awesome”, “lovely people” and “city that captures my love of the country” in the introduction appeal to the readers’ emotions and, thus, capture their attention. The promise of “10 things to see…” in the headline further guarantees information and “here are my top things to see and do in Girona:” lures the readers and sends them down the road to the fulfillment of the promise. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the guide, once again appeals to the readers’ emotions (“I love Girona. Most people do.”) and motivates the readers to travel to the described place.

 

 

 

 

 

the blog is part of a genre ecology of travel instructions 

many of the posts remind of actual travel guidebooks (with information on where to stay, what to see, …)

the blog clearly shows a hybridity of styles and often combines language that reflects a purpose to inform and involve in the same blog posts 

purpose to inform (informative formal style):

purpose to involve (emotional, personal, conversational style):

 

lexical choices for engaging the audience:

grammatical choices for engaging the audience, creating a sense of community:

hyperlinks to sources that are described in the posts -> practical, useful for readers 

 

Features to build a relationship with the audience include use of the first personal pronoun “I” (expressing deep subjectivity and suggesting authenticity). 

The second person pronoun “you”, or imperative mood – conveys a conversational type of discourse – involving the reader in the experiences of the blog author and the blog author being involved in the experience of the reader)

 

The author describes himself as expert on travelling (in the “About” section) and shows this attitude in the blog posts as well. Pronouns in 1^st person (I, my) are featured when the author lists and recalls his/her own experiences and travel hacks 

by the use of imperatives, the notion of the author being the expert (plus the readers being eager to learn and the instructions being almost infallible) is enforced (be sure to…) 

 

 

 

 

 

Moves:

 

 

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