Daily Inspiration: Meet Rene Cizio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rene Cizio

Hi Rene, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started writing when I was a little girl. My Gram received an Easter card and raved about its beautiful writing. I copied it word for word, and she praised me as if I had made it myself. I’ve been writing ever since but with much less plagiarism.

For a long time, I hoped to be a poet. But I grew up in a blue-collar factory-working family, and it would have made more sense if I had said I planned to raise gorillas on the moon. Eventually, I became a journalist, which seemed like a fair compromise between poetry and factory life.

It wasn’t until I was in my 40s that I started writing travel stories. I’d long since stopped writing as my full-time job in favor of a more lucrative marketing career, but my heart always ached for storytelling. That’s how I got the idea that started me writing again.

I’ve always been an avid traveler and keen to find unusual places or experiences to try. When I’d return to work after a trip, my colleagues would often seek me out to hear my latest adventure.

“Wow, you really should write this stuff down,” one woman said after I shared a story about a shamanic cleanse I received in the jungles of Tulum, Mexico.

Her words acted like a key in a lock. Shortly thereafter, I lost that job and started my blog, Middle Journey. The name comes from a quote in Dante’s Inferno. “In the middle of the journey of my life, I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.”

There’ve been many times when I’ve felt lost and had to start over. Travel and writing have always been ways for me to do that.

Since then, the blog has become successful. I’ve started writing stories for other publications and authored a fiction book, “The Fog.” I’m also finishing a memoir about my nearly two years of solo travels, living in Airbnbs all over the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being a writer of any sort requires an almost cult-like belief in yourself. You must absorb abnormal amounts of rejection and learn to ignore it. You must also be ok creating something (or many somethings) that may be entirely ignored, yet do it anyway.

To get Middle Journey started, I needed to be a webmaster, SEO specialist, email marketer, social media guru, advertising manager, influencer, PR person, web developer, graphic designer, digital analyst and more. The more I do, the better the site will perform. It’s a potentially endless amount of work and I didn’t even mention writing in that list.

Each of these things has been a challenge at the time, but I love to learn. But it’s a struggle when the major distribution channels change their payment mechanisms or algorithms and disrupt my work overnight or when my posts no longer reach my audience because of changes I can’t control.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My travel stories are a little different from traditional travel blogs because they’re part information sharing and storytelling mixed with beautiful landscape imagery. While many travel blogs focus on food or hotels, I’m more likely to find the most unusual things, like the local beekeeping class, silence retreat, ghost town, or hike that ends at an energy vortex.

Middle Journey has given me a great reason to explore my love of photography. If I hadn’t been a writer, my dream job would have been to be a National Geographic photographer. I still hope to be the oldest writer/photographer they ever hire.

Like Nat Geo, my stories are about love of nature, earth, culture and experiencing the world around us. I’m always looking for the wonder in otherwise ordinary things and I think I have a knack for finding it.

What makes you happy?
The ability to write and travel makes me so grateful. Writing can be lonely, so connecting with readers makes me wildly happy. I see the numbers, so I know the stories are being read, but the comments are like gold. They make me as happy as I feel when I see animals in the wild, the night sky filled with stars, or sunshine reflected off a still lake. When someone new signs up to get my monthly emails, they really want to connect and maybe we’re kindred. It’s awe-inspiring to think that even though we’ve never met in person, my words can still reach you. It feels like seeing the Redwoods for the first time. Amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.middlejourney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renecizio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/renesmiddlejourney
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReneCizio
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ReneCizio
• Other: https://amzn.to/3imOeiU