Multisite Blogger, Photographer, and More: Lindsay Nieminen

I recently caught up with blogger, videographer, and award-winning photographer Lindsay Nieminen at TBEX Quebec, where she was one of the speakers. She runs the successful travel blog Carpe Diem Our Way, as well as several other blogs and a tour company. Hear her back story here, with some tips on adapting to challenges along the way.

How did you get started at a travel blogger and what was the point where you started to feel like this could be a “real job”?

In the spring of 2012 I was planning my first overseas holiday with my family. We were going from Canada to the UK for a family wedding and I was not sure how I was going to handle a 10 month old baby on a 9 hour flight. So I went to Google. And that is when I discovered blogging. I found several families who were traveling the world with their kids and sharing their tips with people like me. Thanks to their tips, we were well prepared for our flight and despite not much rest and some kind of stomach bug while in the UK, the trip went well!

I came home and started my own free WordPress website. I think I published one post in 2012.

Fast forward to 2014 with now two kids and plans for spring break travel. Our kids’ daycare was closed for a week in March, so despite the high prices to travel that week, it made the most sense to get away then, since someone would have to take vacation time anyways to watch the kids. Off to Hawaii we went. We also took my mum along. What better way to enjoy a trip as parents with young kids then to have an extra pair of hands!

During 2013-2015, my (now) ex-husband struggled with his mental health. While we were able to work through it together, I thought to myself, “Why are we spending all of these amazing years working, when we could be traveling the world with our kids!” I told him “lets sell it all and travel the world.” Well, he was not on board like I was. I have no problem with risks, but not everyone thinks the same way.

In order to keep myself healthy during this time, I prioritized trips with the boys. We flew to San Diego with friends who had little ones, and I spent 3 weeks in Hawaii soaking up the beaches with the kids. Every weekend in the summer of 2014 I spent camping with my parents who had a seasonal place on a lake. It was exactly the adventures we needed.

The real blogging started in early 2015. I wrote posts about navigating airports with kids, from traveling with car seats to tips and tricks to save money on family travel. I wrote about what to pack when camping with babies and other things I learned as I parented my boys. I was able to secure some collabs with travel products and destinations and was loving it. All while working full time with my kids in daycare.

Nearly 18 months later, in the fall of 2016 was when I took the leap to blog full time. I was burnt out and wanted change and was so sure I could make as much (or more) money blogging, than working my nine to five. My oldest was now in Kindergarten and I really felt like I was missing out on the school interactions as he went to after-school care.

So I left my job (abruptly) and took a trip I had been offered with the Jordan Tourism Board. It was the jump I needed to get into adventure travel with kids and changed my outlook on where I wanted to travel and how. I’ve now been back there many times.

Six months (and a divorce) later I was off on my first five-week trip with the kids. My blog was not yet paying the bills, but collabs were coming in allowing us to see the world.

I will be honest, it took a LOT of work to get the blog making money. But 18 months after I left my job, I had replaced most of my income and had changed the way I was living. Minimalistic at home, with every dollar I made seeing the world with my boys.

It’s now 2025 and I can say that I still live the same way. I make the bulk of my income by working online creating content. I have a varied income stream, but have had success as an online entrepreneur for nearly a decade. Almost two years ago I was able to purchase a home that has a rental suite, which also provides meaningful income offsetting the cost of home ownership.

A lot of family travel bloggers run into trouble as their kids age out. How have you adapted to that challenge?

My boys are just 14 and 12 now, so we are not aging out of family travel (yet). I was lucky to get started when they were babies where most of the bloggers who started a decade ago already had older kids. That means most of them are now empty nesters.

I will say that my travel writing has changed. I have various websites. While carpediemourway.com caters to my family travel and adventurous destinations, I also have uncoveringbc.com where I share my home province of British Columbia on Canada’s West Coast and stepintojordan.com where I share travel tips for adventures in Jordan and other places in the Middle East.

In 2022 with my partner I started Amman Food Tours ammanfoodtours.com where visitors to Jordan can experience an introduction to the food culture in Jordan with a local female guide. We are a proud Tourism Cares partner and provide meaningful employment to women, who are largely underrepresented as tour guides in Jordan.

You gave a talk at TBEX Quebec City on how bloggers can earn money from user-generated content. What are some examples of how that works?

User Generated Content (known in the industry is UGC) is content made by creators to use as ads online. They replace traditional professional advertising campaigns because they bring authenticity and genuine connection to the person watching the video. They are also very cost effective to produce and provide meaningful income for creators who may or may not have a large following themselves.

Brands pitch creators (or creators pitch brands) to create videos based on a specific sales formula and aesthetic. Then the brands post these on their social media and can run ads targeting their specific audience.

How have your income streams evolved over the years and what are your top ones now?

I have always had a variety of income streams. In 2025, that has served me very well as those writers who relied a lot on Google traffic for ad revenue have seen their income dry up with changes in the way search engines present content to searchers.

I personally always did well with monetizing my traffic with affiliate income. Ad income supplemented that in a good way, as did paid social media and writing campaigns. I have dabbled a bit in freelance writing, but mostly focused on building out my own sites with my content.

Currently in 2025, UGC content creation is the bulk of my income. Affiliate income, paid campaigns/brand deals, and ads also contribute. As mentioned, I also supplement the cost of home ownership with a rental suite in my home. I hope that in the future, my tour company in Amman can provide a significant source of revenue while still staying true to its roots of providing meaningful income to Amman’s underrepresented female tour guides.

A fair number of bloggers who have been around a decade or more ended up leaving the field after the anti-publisher Google changes the past couple of years. What’s the key to hanging on and thriving?

Flexibility. 100%

Some of my friends and colleagues are able to sit and wait, hoping for a rebound to ad income and site traffic. However, as a single mom in a single income household, there is no waiting around for me. I started UGC in early 2024 as a way to make meaningful income, as I do not have a partner who can float the bills for my family.

I think another important characteristic of those who are thriving is their willingness to be a risk taker. SEO blogging was very formula-based, follow it and have success. But being creative and finding new revenue streams comes with an element of risk.

What new place have you been to in the past few years that has really surprised you or inspired you? Why that place?

For the last decade I have been fascinated by the Middle East, but lately I have spent much less time in the region and focused more on other parts of the world.

One of the places that really surprised me seems a little simple. It was Mexico. I have been to Mexico several times, but these trips have been resort-centric or at least to places in Mexico that get a lot of foreigners.

Last February I flew into Mexico City with a close friend and her son and my sonMarkus (who was 11). We rented a car and drove north to Grutas Tolontongo and then west to the butterfly migration in Michoacan. Both of these places were full of domestic tourists. Not foreigners. I had to quickly work on my (very) rudimentary Spanish, as there were no English guides in the park, no English menus in restaurants, and I felt completely engulfed in the culture. I loved it.

Most of the time when I travel in resort centric places, people look at my white face and speak to me in English. I get off easy. But on this trip, every single encounter was Spanish first and I absolutely loved it.

One interaction in particular set apart from the rest. It was at a toll booth coming back towards Mexico City. On the toll sign you can see the price before you get to the booth, so we had money ready. However, when we approached the booth, the man said to me in Spanish, “do you have a tag?” meaning did we have a reader for the toll booth instead of paying? The car behind us must have, and his machine picked it up. Because I was not expecting that, I replied with “no comprende” because I really had no idea what he said. He smiled and said to me “I was asking you if you had a tag for your car,” in perfect English.

I smiled back and said that I did not and handed him the money. He replied that it must have been the car behind us. Again, in English. With the toll paid, I smiled and send “gracias” as I pulled away.

That simple cultural exchange really stuck with me. This young man, saw my white face and spoke perfect English, yet he spoke to me in Spanish, the local language of the country. Not my language. While some people are intimidated by language barriers. This short interaction was one of the most impactful on our trip.

Lindsay Nieminen is a passionate storyteller specializing in adventurous family travel and culturally rich destinations. As a single mom who has explored the world with her children, she has built a deep connection with her audience, earning their trust through firsthand experiences. Through compelling writing, captivating photography, and engaging short-form videos, Lindsay brings destinations to life across her website and social channels. As a photographer she has won awards from the Society of American Travel Writers and the Travel Media Association of Canada. See more at LindsayNiemimen.com.