For years, I’ve been journaling and writing about everything that’s happened to me (through good times and bad) and I’ve always enjoyed sharing my experiences — not just to tell stories, but in the hope that they might help someone else. Whether you’ve been through the same things or not, maybe you’ll find something here that makes you feel less alone, more prepared, or just understood.
Anyway, I never had the courage to start a YouTube channel or focus on growing an audience on social media — but here I am, writing this blog.
I honestly never thought starting a blog would be this complicated. I figured I’d just write a few posts and boom — done. But nope. Between finding a domain name, setting up SSL, installing WordPress, and tweaking a million tiny things, I spent a few days just trying to get the site online. And that’s before I even wrote a single word. Shoutout to past me for thinking this would be a chill weekend project.
Let me break it down real quick in case you’re thinking of starting a blog too — ’cause it’s not just “open laptop, start typing” like I thought.
1. First step: Get your domain
You’ll need a domain — aka your blog’s name/URL.
I got mine on Namecheap for around $10/year (super simple, you just search for your name/brand and boom, buy it).
2. Hosting: Where your site actually lives
Having a domain isn’t enough — your site needs a home.
I used EasyWP (also by Namecheap), which is a WordPress-optimized hosting service. It’s like $24/year and super beginner-friendly.
3. Installing WordPress
Once hosting is set, EasyWP lets you install WordPress in literally one click. No coding, no stress.
4. Connecting your domain
Next step: connect the domain you bought on Namecheap to your EasyWP/WordPress setup.
Sounds scary but it’s just updating some DNS settings (they guide you through it — promise it’s not rocket science).
5. Don’t forget SSL
You’ll also need SSL (that little lock 🔒 in the browser next to your URL). It makes your site secure and stops browsers from yelling “NOT SAFE!!” at your visitors.
I activated it for free via EasyWP with one click.
6. Finally… the actual blog
Once all that was in place, I could finally focus on writing this first post and not just fighting with settings and plugins.