Happy 5th birthday Gingey Bites!

Wow, this month sees my blog turn FIVE years old! That’s five years of you lot having to see me stuff myself silly with every food going! Now allow me to indulge in a blog post full of my own glory (and as it turns out – face) and to thank you for following me on this seemingly never ending meal…

I don’t usually do self-indulgent reflective posts (aside from when the blog turned one) but five years feels like a milestone which needs celebrating. So, I thought I’d take a look back and see how far Gingey Bites and I have come.

When I started the blog, I was facing redundancy and needed something to keep my mind occupied during (what turned out to be) a long hot summer and four-month job hunt. It was actually my mum’s idea and to this day I cannot thank her enough because Gingey Bites has led to some amazing opportunities, experiences and friendships.

Over the last five years, I’ve got married and divorced, traded a duff Dave for a better Dave, moved house four times, moved city (from Leicester to Bristol) once, travelled around Australia, Bali, Malaysia and Singapore for seven months (sleeping in over 20 beds and taking 11 flights!) and finally, returned to Bristol in April this year to settle in and crack on with the rest of my life. In all that time, Gingey Bites has been my one constant!

Ask Dave when the last time he ate a hot meal was, and he’ll probably say before we met. My friends and family are used to me snapping pictures of everything we eat together and they know never to order the same dish as me if we eat out. But you know what? I love it and I think they do too! Blogging is in my blood now.

The Blog’s Look:

As you’ll probably know, just last month I made the leap from Blogger to WordPress. It was long winded, painful and slow. But it’s done and I couldn’t be happier. I thought it’d be fun to look back over the years at how the blog has looked. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s in the best shape of its life now!

My best bits:

There are too many to list really but appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme is right up there. As is watching the sunset and drinking cocktails in Bali and donning some sexy blue overalls for a visit to the Happy Eggs farm. I also loved my day with Michelin-starred chef John Campbell at his cookery school and restaurant The Woodspeen (pictured below).

Over the last five years, I’ve also made new and lasting friendships with some amazing food bloggers including Emily from Recipes and Reviews and Laura from Full to the Brum. On arrival in Bristol, Bex and Sal from Recipe for Gluttony and Arushi from ArushWabiSabi were brilliant at both feeding me and making me feel at home. There are countless more bloggers I think of as friends but just too many to list here!

Any Advice?

After five years in blogging my advice would be:

• Write about what you want to write about.
• Join Facebook groups related to your niche and area. Bloggers are friendly and it’s a GREAT community to be involved in.
• When you get disheartened, remember why you started. This is first and foremost, a hobby and a way to relax.
• Don’t get obsessed with numbers. Instagram is not your friend but that doesn’t mean you can’t get addicted to it. The numbers mean shit. Whether 10,000 people read your blog or just your mum and your boyfriend, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got your little space on the internet and that’s the important thing!

So, here’s to eating more burgers, gaining more weight and enjoying the next 5 years! Thanks for coming along for the ride! Happy 5th birthday Gingey Bites!