My Three Month Blogging Report in a Skiing & Travel Niche: Real Stats, How Much I Made, & More

When I first started this skiing & travel blog, I told myself I’d give it three months before I judged anything. BUT, I was going to give it my all.

Three months before I asked:

• Is this working?
• Do I actually enjoy this?
• Is this worth continuing when no one is watching?

Now that I’m here, I realize how funny that is.

Three months feels like both nothing and everything at the same time. Nothing, because real growth takes years (they say blogging is a marathon, not a sprint). Everything, because these first months quietly shape whether you stick with it long enough to see anything grow at all.

Checking In

So this post is a pause. A check-in. A behind-the-scenes look at what building The Après Society has been like so far: what surprised me, what challenged me, what’s working, how much I’ve made, and what I’m learning about luxury travel, skiing, and designing a life that revolves around ME and not the corporate ladder.

If you’re here just for ski guides and packing lists, don’t you worry, that’s not going anywhere! But if you’ve ever wondered what actually goes into building a travel brand from scratch (without pretending it’s easy or glamorous), this one’s for you.

Also, hi there! My name is Sydney and welcome to my blog, The Après Society! I cover a variety of travel and skiing related topics, as these are my passions in life, and I am so excited and fulfilled to be writing about them. I hope this blog makes your life just a little bit better either with travel hacks, outfit inspiration, or just pure entertainment.

Why I’m Sharing a Blogging Update at All

I went back and forth on whether to publish this.

Part of me worried:

• Is this too personal?
• Will this confuse readers?
• Should I just stick to destination guides and packing lists?

But the truth is, I don’t believe luxury travel is only about where you go or what you wear. It’s about intention. About slowing down. About making thoughtful choices instead of chasing trends or doing things because Instagram says you should.

I’ll be including my “traffic update” and income report, but this is also about:

• What I’ve learned about travel content
• How skiing shaped my niche more than I expected
• What consistency actually looks like behind the scenes
• And why patience might be the most underrated luxury of all

If you want to hear about my first month blogging, you can view that post HERE. Spoiler alert, the changes in stats are crazyyyy.

Sharing a three-month update isn’t about numbers or self-congratulation. It’s about transparency. About acknowledging that meaningful things take time, and that slow growth doesn’t mean something isn’t working. It often means it’s being built correctly… hopefully!

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The Vision Behind The Après Society

Before I talk about metrics or lessons I’ve learned these past three months, it helps to understand why this blog exists in the first place.

I didn’t start The Après Society to become a viral travel influencer.

I started it because I noticed a gap:

• Travel advice that felt either wildly unrealistic on social media or painfully generic through ChatGPT or Google
• Luxury content that assumed unlimited budgets
• Packing lists that looked good on Pinterest, but weren’t always realistic in real life

I wanted to create a space for the bougie on a budget, type A traveler who loves beautiful experiences but also values ease, practicality, and enjoying the traveling along the way.

The kind of person who:

• Wants to look polished without overpacking
• Loves ski trips just as much as European city breaks
• Would rather travel well than travel constantly

Luxury, to me, isn’t about excess. It’s about curation.

And that idea has quietly guided every post I’ve published so far 🙂

What the First Three Months Actually Looked Like

If you imagine early-stage blogging as slow mornings writing in cafés, spontaneous inspiration, and steady encouragement, I want to gentlyyyy correct that picture.

The reality has been much different, as a realist might imagine.

It’s looked like writing after long days, second-guessing headlines, reworking posts more times than I expected, and learning an entirely new vocabulary of SEO terms that initially felt sooo overwhelming. It’s meant publishing content knowing that very few people would see it right away and doing it anyway.

There were moments when I questioned whether I was doing enough, or whether I should already be further along. Moments when impatience crept in, especially when I compared my progress to creators who are years ahead of me.

And yet, beneath all of that, something steady was happening. The foundation is forming — slowly, quietly, and without much traffic… yet.

What Surprised Me Most About Blogging

One of the biggest surprises has been how little creativity was actually the challenge. I went into this assuming that coming up with ideas would be the hard part. It wasn’t.

The harder part has been consistency: showing up when the motivation isn’t there, publishing when a post feels complete, but not perfect, and trusting that progress will pay off and compound even when you can’t immediately see it.

I’ve learned that writing one great post feels satisfying, but building something sustainable requires a different skill entirely. It requires patience. The ability to keep going without immediate gratification.

Another unexpected surprise was how naturally ski-related content began to anchor the site. I knew skiing would be part of my niche, but I didn’t anticipate how well it would tie together so many of the themes I care about: thoughtful packing, seasonal travel, functional luxury, and preparation over impulse.

Ski trips sit at a unique intersection. They expose the difference between things that look good in theory and things that actually work. Writing about ski travel has reinforced why this niche feels so aligned with me, not just strategically, but personally.

As an ex-ski racer of 15 years currently living and skiing in Colorado who also worked in the luxury travel industry, this just feels like it’s clicking for me. This sounds so clichè, but it almost feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing (hopefully!). I believe it is 🙂

Writing for Search Without Losing the Human Element

Search engine optimization (SEO) intimidated me A LOT at first. I worried that writing “for Google” would drain the personality out of my work, or turn thoughtful posts into mechanical checklists.

What I’ve learned instead is that good SEO is less about manipulation and more about clarity, but also writing in your own voice.

It forces you to think carefully about what someone is actually searching for, what problem they’re trying to solve, and whether your content truly answers that question. When that is approached correctly, it doesn’t make writing less human, I found it makes it more useful.

Once I stopped thinking of Google as an algorithm to outsmart and started thinking of it as a way readers find answers, the entire process became less stressful and far more intuitive.

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Monetization Thoughts: Early Ideas

Monetization is still in the “infant” stage for me, but in month three, it’s justtt starting to become a focus. Here’s some goals for monetization:

• Affiliate marketing: Ski gear, travel insurance, booking platforms. I have a few affiliate links on my site.
• Sponsored posts: Once traffic grows, brands in the ski and travel niche I could collaborate with.
• Ad revenue: Platforms like Mediavine or AdThrive are long-term goals once I hit traffic thresholds.

My main goal is to build a valuable resource and engaged community first, then my hope is monetization naturally follows.

And yes, the grand total that I have made in my third of blogging is… drumroll please… $17.08! Obviously, this is nothing, but I have no expectations for these early months. The money came from affiliate links and is an improvement from my $0.78 the first month!

Lessons Learned From Writing Ski Content

1. Ski travel content has reinforced one lesson over and over again: honesty matters more than aesthetics.
2. Readers want to know what actually works. They want clarity, not vague inspiration. They want recommendations that have been tested, refined, and chosen with intention.
3. Writing these posts has pushed me to focus less on trends and more on function — on the details that make or break a trip.

Mistakes are part of the learning curve, and boy oh boy am I learning every day! I try to still learn from other bloggers via Youtube, Facebook groups, and any mini courses I can find.

Third Month Blogging Statistics

So far I have 34 blog posts up on my website, and here are the statistics I have to show for it for my third month blogging:

• Sessions: 1.3k
  • Large ad agencies look for 50,000+ monthly sessions, so I have a long ways to go, and that number seems out of reach right now, but I hope to look back someday and see how far I’ve come!
• Active Users: 1.11k
• Pinterest Impressions: 111.39k
• Pinterest Outbound Clicks: 998
• Pinterest Engagements: 5.14k

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What Hasn’t Worked — and Why That’s Part of the Process

Not every post has performed the way I expected it to. Some topics I assumed would resonate didn’t, while others took longer to gain traction than anticipated.

Instead of viewing this as failure, I’ve learned to treat it as information. Underperforming content often reveals gaps in clarity, mismatches in search intent, or topics that simply aren’t needed right now.

Early on, nothing is wasted. Every post contributes to understanding your audience better, refining your voice, and improving future work.

The Mental Side of Slow Growth

This part of the process doesn’t get discussed enough.

Slow growth can be mentally challenging. It invites doubt, comparison, and second-guessing, especially in an online world that celebrates quick wins and visible success.

At the same time, it builds something incredibly valuable: quiet confidence.

When you keep going without external validation, you’re forced to trust your own taste and judgment. You learn to make decisions based on alignment rather than applause. And you begin to understand that not everything worthwhile needs to happen quickly.

This blog has already strengthened that muscle for me, and it’s one I know will matter far beyond blogging.

What’s Next for The Après Society

Looking ahead, the focus is on depth rather than expansion for its own sake.

Over the coming months, I’ll be continuing to publish ski destination guides, elevated packing lists, and luxury travel planning content that prioritizes practicality as much as aesthetics. I’ll also be refining existing posts, building stronger internal connections between content, and creating resources that genuinely save time and reduce overwhelm.

This site isn’t trying to be everything. It’s becoming something specific — and that specificity is intentional.

Why I’m Committed to the Long Game

There’s no rush to monetize poorly or grow quickly at the expense of trust. The goal has never been traffic alone. It’s credibility. It’s creating something readers return to, bookmark, and rely on when planning trips that matter to them.

Three months in, this blog feels less like an experiment and more like a foundation. One that will continue to evolve, expand, and refine over time.

I’m still here because the work feels aligned, the vision feels clear, and the pace — though slower than my impatience would like — feels right.

Thank you for being here and reading along. The best parts are still ahead.

Final Thoughts: Third Month Blogging Reflections

My third month blogging about skiing and travel has been a mix of excitement, frustration, and small victories. I’ve learned that blogging is about patience, persistence, and providing value. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint! Traffic might start small, and mistakes will happen, but every post is a building block toward a resource people trust and return to.

If you’re considering starting a blog, I encourage you to take the plunge. And for fellow ski enthusiasts? Sharing your passion for mountains, powder, and adventure can resonate with an audience that’s just waiting for authentic, actionable advice.

The journey has only begun, and I’m already planning the next month’s posts, improvements, and strategies. One thing is clear: the mountains are calling, and my blog is ready to answer.

For more blog posts, visit my blog page.