One Year of Blogging

It was one year ago this month that I started this blog.  My purpose in beginning the blog was to keep a travel diary for myself, and to enable family and friends to keep up-to-date on my travels.  There would be no need to send e-mails or postcards... "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here."

In the past year I have traveled like a crazy man.  I have taken five major trips, three to Mexico, and two to Europe.  And there are more trips in my future...  Mexico City in November, and Oaxaca, Mexico, in January.  I figured out that by the end of 2014 I will have spent one third of the year outside of the country.  At times I feel a bit guilty.  There are things that I should be doing around the house.  My flower garden was woefully neglected this past summer.  But then I think... I love to travel, and at this stage in my life I only have a certain number of years left when I will be able to do so.  (Hopefully I have another twenty years or so left, but one never knows.)  So at this point in my life, I am constantly and very happily planning my next trip.

Some of my friends follow my blog regularly, others not so much.  I have friends who tell me, "I can never keep track of when you are at home."  And I tell them, "Just look at my blog and you will know."

Keeping a blog has turned out to be much more than having a personal travel diary.  I have made contact with other bloggers, primarily people who live in Mexico or who have traveled to Mexico.  I have developed on-line friendships with these people, and we comment regularly on each others' blogs.  They are all interesting folks, and it has been a pleasure to connect with them.  I have even had the chance to meet a couple of these bloggers face-to-face during my travels to Mexico...  Marc who lives in Mérida, Yucatán, and Kim, who is a passionate aficionado of Mexico... and in November I am looking forward to meeting Barbara, an ex-pat who lives in San Miguel de Allende.

Those of you who regularly read my posts know that the most amazing consequence of my blog was that by sheer coincidence I made contact with a third cousin who lives just five minutes away from me.  I have a new friend and family member all because of this blog! 

During the course of the year, my blog has had more than 30,000 page views.  Admittedly, a certain percentage of that number comes from spammers, but I have had more visitors than I could have ever imagined.  For that I have to thank my fellow bloggers who have kindly added my blog to their "blog list".  I have added them to my list, and I hope that it has increased their traffic a bit. 

To the side of the blog you notice that I have a gadget that shows where my visitors come from.  I can tell that I have people I don't know visiting on a regular basis.  I see the names of towns in California, British Columbia, Indiana, Baja California, (just to name a few) appear again and again.  To those people, I would like to say thanks for taking the time to follow my blog.  And I have a request for you.  Don't be shy; leave a comment and say "hello" or "hola".   My commenting format is very easy and painless, and you can comment anonymously.  I would really love to hear from you!!