Text and photo: Helena Bergström
I should really write a new travel post. The only problem is that we have become obsessed with cleaning. Not in the camper. Not at home. But here at FREEDOMtravel. And there is a lot to clean, we can promise…
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Share
ShareTable of contents
Digital cleaning
After many years of blogging, we have around 4,000 published posts, and right now something that can best be described as a major digital clean-up is underway. Old articles are being updated, outdated tips are being removed, and posts that once had reason to live their own lives are being moved together.
And I have to say, it's strangely satisfying in a way. Maybe digital feng shui exists after all...?
4,000 posts leave some traces
When you've been running a travel site for a long time, it all adds up. It's a bit like home, actually.
There are lots of articles here that are still really good and useful, but need a little love. A restaurant we recommended may have closed. A campsite has changed its name. Prices and opening hours have changed. Links go nowhere and sometimes we have written several different posts about the same place, when it would actually be much better with just one really good guide.
And then of course there are things that you look at and think: Why did we do this? After all, it's been quite a few years since we started blogging, and both the internet and ourselves have changed a lot since then.
A journey back in time
At the same time, something else happens when you start digging through old posts. You find your own life there among the pictures and texts. Suddenly, a trip appears that you had almost forgotten: a visit to a restaurant, a strange attraction or a camper van site somewhere in Europe. You find pictures that make you remember exactly what it felt like to be there.
Sometimes I think we've created a pretty amazing archive of our own travels. Thousands of articles about places we've visited, people we've met, and things we've experienced. Of course, we don't want to clean that up. However, we want to make it easier to find the gems.
Digital feng shui?
Right now, a large part of our time is spent cleaning, merging, updating and improving. And the strange thing is that it feels almost as good as cleaning out a closet.
You know that feeling when you have a box that you've been avoiding for years, you open it, throw away half of it and suddenly you actually know what's in there? That's kind of how it feels. Even though the box contains 4,000 travel reports.
There is of course also a thought behind the work. We want anyone who finds an old post via Google or in some other way to be met with information that is still relevant and useful. Rather have fewer really good and updated guides than a lot of old articles that lie around collecting digital dust.
But shouldn't we write new things too?
Yes. It's just that cleaning has a tendency to eat up all available time. "I'll just fix this article about..." And suddenly three hours have passed, two other articles have been merged with the first, seventeen links have been checked, and I've found an old post from a trip in 2013 that also really should be fixed.
In the meantime, all the new experiences are waiting to be written. So yes, I should have actually written a new travel post today. Instead, it became a post about why I don't write any new travel posts. That also counts, right?
And now I'm just going to go back and fix it. Just one more old article. Then I'll do something else. I promise. Almost.
You might also like:
Swedes and the internet - new report and our thoughts on it
10 questions we get as travel writers (and our answers)
Search engine optimisation of your travel site - get more visitors
FREEDOMtravel readership record - more than 300,000 readers in July
The past year at freedomtravel – behind the scenes
Is it even possible to run a digital magazine today? - our experiences
English (UK) 
Svenska
Anna i Portugal says:
When you start a project like this, it's important not to lose momentum, I think. If you get stuck with new stuff, it might be harder to get back to the old stuff. I think you let your passion dictate what you write about, but I think this post was fun to read anyway. Have fun and good luck with the cleanup!
August 26, 2026 - 12:34
Helena says:
Yes, that's a bit... I've been completely absorbed in this project, haha 😉 Thank you and wish you all the best!!
August 27, 2026 - 20:22
JoY says:
Oh, 4000 posts, yes, I understand that it takes time to go through, nothing that you can get through in a few hours. You do a good job with your blog.
I myself have to deal with cleaning up all the thousands of thousands of pictures that are duplicates, etc. If you have taken a picture of, for example, a daisy, you don't have to take a picture of a daisy next year too, etc. which I'm happy to do. Yes, that was the wardrobe, oh oh that should also get an overhaul.
August 26, 2026 - 21:21
Helena says:
Yes, it can become a lot over time... 😉 And the wardrobe, haha, absolutely, it also needs an overhaul!!
August 27, 2026 - 20:23
Christine says:
How do you even do it, 4,000 articles….
How is it even possible to check that, for example, the restaurant that was written about then,
no longer exists... etc. etc.
How do you even get a structure for so much material, to be checked and updated...
August 30, 2026 - 22:00
Helena says:
A bit hopeless haha … We throw away some. Now that we update we try to write in a more ”evergreen” way (if possible) …
August 30, 2026 - 22:06
Ditte says:
Well done! And of course it is true that some posts written 10-15 years ago are not immediately relevant today. But of course it takes time. I had a bit of bad luck and lost all my posts on WP because I forgot to save them. A bit of a shame. However, I still have the first posts I wrote on Blogg.se while we were living in China. But I have "locked" those posts and they can only be read if you use the code I locked them with. We'll see how long they stay here. Maybe I'll save some on a hard drive as nice memories...
Wishing you good luck.
August 27, 2026 - 22:16