This fall
I started learning how to use Microsoft Expression Web to build and design my
own travel content pages, when by pure fluke I came across a service which gave
me a true 'Eureka!' moment. It's called Site Build It, and for $299 a year you
get not only web hosting and the domain name but also design templates, SEO
advice, automatic registering with search engines, a forum that is incredibly
helpful and stimulating, and a lot more besides.

There are a lot of people using it to develop their own travel content
websites, and there's a link to those 'case studies' here from within my own budding
new site:

http://www.pacific-coast-highway-travel.com/How_We_Built_Our_Travel_Website.html

It was these more than anything which persuaded me to give it a go, as for $299
I didn't think I'd much to lose even if I tried it for a year and it didn't
work out. It's been a real revelation, and I've now got 20 pages up and even my
first Google AdSense earnings - all within about 4 weeks. I'm sure without it
I'd still be tinkering with Expression Web and planning the layout and trying
to improve my design skills. It really does free you up to focus on the writing,
which I suspect is what a lot of us would prefer. You can upload your own HTML
pages if you want to, but I've settled for one of their own templates. It's a
bit 'blocky' and not ideal, but I'll settle for the compromise. I'd rather be
writing about places than fiddling with HTML, anyway.

So I just wanted to pass this on, as I only found it by accident. I can't wait
to see what my own site will be like in a year's time, when I might have 200
pages instead of 20 up and running. It's the most fun I've had in a long time,
and I've already signed up for a 2nd site I want to do later in 2008.

I wanted
a way to become less dependent on publishers, where pay rates for guidebooks
hardly ever go up, so I seem to be working harder and harder just to keep
afloat. This way I keep ownership of what I write, and if this online guide is
successful, it'll be me who benefits, not the big corporate publisher.