January 13, 2019
Snowing in Philadelphia as I Launch My Blog
PHILADELPHIA — My New Year’s resolution for 2019 is to launch my travel blog — and here it is! I’m in Philadelphia visiting my friend Mike, who’s a fellow travel enthusiast (he runs a part-time cruise-sales business at www.cruisestarter.com.)
It’s the first snow day I’ve experienced in 2019. Nothing much — looks like an inch — but a clear reminder the midpoint of winter is only 2 days away.
From 2010 to 2017, I blogged many of my foreign trips on a now-defunct site, Travel Pod, which sadly closed down in Summer 2017. Amazingly a year and a half has passed, I’ve traveled to dozens of new places, but haven’t sat down to relaunch my travel blog.
I flew up to Newark, New Jersey, from Orlando, Florida, two days ago to visit Mike (my mother lives in The Villages, 55 miles northwest of Orlando, and since I’ve been a global nomad {some would say “homeless,” ha ha ha} for a year, I stay at her house between trips), then rode Amtrak to Philadelphia.
Yesterday I finished reading Lonely Planet‘s “How to Be a Travel Writer” book, then sat down to brainstorm exactly what I want to achieve by starting to blog again. Here’s a summary of my thoughts:
- I love to write and share stories. Blogging is an outlet for my writing/journalism.
- I love taking pictures and videos of the places I visit. I want to share these images with family, friends, and the world.
- Down the road, I want to work as a freelance travel writer to supplement my income. Blogging will give me a platform to showcase my passions for travel, writing, photography, and videography. When I seek paid freelance writing, I’ll have a vast portfolio for potential employers to view.
- I need some purpose to my life. Right now travel is my purpose, the one thing that keeps me living despite all the massive and chronic problems I struggle with. Creating an outlet to share my experiences with others would enhance that purpose – and perhaps provide a long-term path to employment.
- I’d love to be able to build my blog(s) into source of income, even if it’s small.
- A possibility for sustaining freelance employment could be a combination of my blog and freelance travel writing (maybe editing as well?)
What niche do I want to focus my blogging on?
- Living as a global nomad for a year with no permanent residence — and planning to continue this lifestyle for at least another year
- My quest to visit every country (there’s 195; I’ve been to 127), inhabitated territory (39/15), and de-facto nations (8/3).
- Domestically, I love exporing National Park Service units. I’ve been to all 60 national parks in the United States and 187 of the 418 total units.
- My bad experiences: Things that upset the joy of travel such as horrible customer service, ridiculous rules, awful hotel rooms, and absurd experiences that make my blood boil
- My visits to off-the-beaten path/exotic destinations, having already visited nearly all the popular places Americans travel to
Welcome to my new adventure! I’m glad to have you along for the ride. To learn more me, visit my “About Me” page.
