I used to send emails.
Wait, let me back up a minute. Before that, I used to make phone calls. I would arrive in a new country and I would ask in bad French where I could find a phone card (un carte telephonique! telephonique!!?) and then I would take my 5 dollar phone card and find a telephone booth where I could spend 7.8 minutes yelling into the phone to my mother (YES! I am fine! No! I don't need any money!)
That was how people knew I was alright. Then email got more popular and THAT was how I let people know I was okay while I was traveling. At first I was a good daughter/friend/sister. I would send each person a nice little note about what I was doing in New Zealand or wherever and how fun the skydiving/hiking/people watching/sheep was/were there. I would tailor it depending on the other person's interests.
Then it got to be too much. There were too many people to write to. There was not enough time to travel! So I started this blog. If people wanted to know what I was doing, they could read it. If they didn't care, they didn't have to get my periodic emails. And I could talk about what I wanted to talk about and what I was doing. Most importantly, I would have an online journal of my trip. It was a win-win situation.
But Me, and Who I Am, is not just about travel. I am a passionate hater of bad drivers; I am a money saver; I am a lover of cooking and eating food; I am a reader of books and a taker of photos and I run (or try to run). I realize as a person who would love to have blogging or writing be my job and be able to make money from it that this is usually more easily done if you have a niche. But I don't have a niche. I am all over the place.
I like it that way. I can say what I want and be who I really am, in life and in the internet world. There is always someone on the other side of a computer who understands what I am going through, be it a travel situation or a life crisis. I love that there is such a community out there, of runners, of readers, of bloggers...of PEOPLE.
So...why I blog? I blog to let off steam, to write, to share, to meet, to understand and to learn.
Why do you blog?
Wait, let me back up a minute. Before that, I used to make phone calls. I would arrive in a new country and I would ask in bad French where I could find a phone card (un carte telephonique! telephonique!!?) and then I would take my 5 dollar phone card and find a telephone booth where I could spend 7.8 minutes yelling into the phone to my mother (YES! I am fine! No! I don't need any money!)
That was how people knew I was alright. Then email got more popular and THAT was how I let people know I was okay while I was traveling. At first I was a good daughter/friend/sister. I would send each person a nice little note about what I was doing in New Zealand or wherever and how fun the skydiving/hiking/people watching/sheep was/were there. I would tailor it depending on the other person's interests.
Then it got to be too much. There were too many people to write to. There was not enough time to travel! So I started this blog. If people wanted to know what I was doing, they could read it. If they didn't care, they didn't have to get my periodic emails. And I could talk about what I wanted to talk about and what I was doing. Most importantly, I would have an online journal of my trip. It was a win-win situation.
But Me, and Who I Am, is not just about travel. I am a passionate hater of bad drivers; I am a money saver; I am a lover of cooking and eating food; I am a reader of books and a taker of photos and I run (or try to run). I realize as a person who would love to have blogging or writing be my job and be able to make money from it that this is usually more easily done if you have a niche. But I don't have a niche. I am all over the place.
I like it that way. I can say what I want and be who I really am, in life and in the internet world. There is always someone on the other side of a computer who understands what I am going through, be it a travel situation or a life crisis. I love that there is such a community out there, of runners, of readers, of bloggers...of PEOPLE.
So...why I blog? I blog to let off steam, to write, to share, to meet, to understand and to learn.
Why do you blog?
This is a Dare to Share post with the subject of: Blogger Identity. The task was to write a post that reveals, discusses, or explores who you are as a blogger.
The greatest part of blogging is that you get to keep exploring. You write beautifully. I hopped from Dare to Share.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing the stories behind why people started blogging. I think it's great that you use your blog as kind of a travel journal, but I also think it's wonderful that you don't limit yourself to JUST being a travel blogger. Your blog is about you, and while that may include lots of travel, it's not the only thing that defines you.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post! Very inspiring and so well-written. Thanks so much for linking up...glad to have you as part of our community!
I started my first blog when I went to France for 3 weeks for grad school for precisely the reasons you stated. Then, when I got back, some family members encouraged me to continue to blog. So I did. Mine is also a hodge podge, but that is representative of who I am as a person, I guess, as I have lots of different interests/passions!
ReplyDeleteI like blogs that have a specific focus but are also about the blogger. It makes the blog more dynamic and interesting to read. Keep doing what you do!
ReplyDeleteI understand this completely. Even the 7.8 minute European phone calls. :)
ReplyDeleteI started my blog to try to help me figure out what my next step in life should be. I've been home w/my kids for 10 years and I felt lost. While I haven't discovered some wonderful new career, blogging has really helped me to be grateful for what I already have. To cherish my family and to appreciate the little things they do that drive me CRAZY!
I dunno why I started, I guess I wanted to share some of the foods I love, and a little bit of history about them.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a very good tool to express yourself... I blog of my Travel experiences from India, my country...
ReplyDeleteNice blog you have...
Have a fabulous Sunday:)
My favourite aspect of blogging is "meeting" wonderful people, learning about life around the world and being able to write creatively again :0)
ReplyDeleteI love that, I love that you're "all over the place", don't have a niche. I think we have difference niches at different times in our lives. A few years ago, mine was changing shitty diapers. Now it is working on a book while dealing with all the figurative shit now getting thrown at me. Hopefully in a few years it will be spending all the money on my multi-book deal on the people I love.
ReplyDeleteCame from TL&TLB linkup, and am plag I did.
PS: I, too, chopped a LOT of hair off a few years ago. Short is awesome.
So...why I blog? I blog to let off steam, to write, to share, to meet, to understand and to learn.
ReplyDelete--And there you have it in a nutshell. I totally get what you get out of blogging and feel the same.
I like your idea of posting the travel updates and then people who are interested can log in (other's can opt out). Made me think that it isn't a bad system for Christmas newsletters either!
Oooo… I love this post. I don’t really have a niche either. I like a lot of different things and I like to blog about them. This is a wonderful way to describe why you write this blog! So glad to see another blogger who doesn’t write about just one thing. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhen I started blogging, almost one year ago, my focus was on discussing my book, a work still-in-progress, about my late mother's battle with dementia.
ReplyDeleteThen, I started to meet some extraordinary people and realized that I had so much more to share. I agree with Stacie, blogging is a chance to explore and learn about others and yourself.
Terrific post and, I hate, hate, hate bad drivers too!!