On November 8, the score was 8 for 8. Then I got tired of keeping score and looked at other priorities.
The real question is why I maintain this so-called travel blog. And the real answer: for fun and challenge and interaction and learning and sharing with a (presumed) audience. The false answer: for fame and fortune and Google PageRank.
When did blog posting become a burden? I think it goes back to the travel blogging advice about posting frequency that began appearing in the last couple of years. You've got to post every day, some bloggers exhorted, or if not every day, at least three days a week, on a regular schedule.
Well, as much as I hate to reveal this personal detail, I don't do much of anything on a regular schedule, neither privately nor publicly. That's just the way I roll, the rules of my game. I'd love to be one of those regular folks. I admire them. They always put their keys in the same place, their dresser drawers are replenished regularly with clean folded laundry, and nothing rotten has ever gotten lost in their crisper drawers. They have never traveled anywhere with more than two pair of shoes.
I don't live in that world. I'm stuck in an alternative universe. So when I heard that I had to blog every day if I wanted to be a success at travel blogging, my contrarian self staged a rebellion. I went on a blogging strike of sorts.
Somehow, I thought a public commitment to NaBloPoMo would shake things up. And it did, until I realized I was churning out that daily blog post at the last possible moment.
So I took a break, but I'm back for the important stuff.
Passports with Purpose 2011 is coming up, beginning on November 30, and that's a true priority for me. I've got posts to write about two fabulous prizes from great sponsors. Beyond that, we'll see what develops between now and then. I'll try not to bore you or blather on about my personal limitations or make false promises about my lofty goals.
Blogging is optional.
