Happy Birthday to my little travel blog

My little travel blog is a year old. When I started my nomad life, I really wanted to create a travel blog but it took me more than 15 months of travelling & journaling before I did. First, I really didn’t know how to make a blog or anything about creating a website. As the name suggests I am not at all ‘techy.’ But more than that, I was very nervous. Growing up, one of my many dreams was to be a writer but truthfully, writing things and then putting them out in the world for others to read is really freaking scary. Then one of my children told me “just do it because probably no one will read it & then you will have NOT done it for no reason.” Sounds harsh but it was actually helpful.

So I taught myself how to use Word Press and learned all about SEOs, Yoast and image sizes. And now I have a teeny little blog and 58 subscribers. What is astonishing to me is that I have shared my blog on a few Facebook groups and I have received lovely messages from random people in different countries that I have never met. Some have told me that I inspired them. That has been totally unexpected and really uplifting. Additionally some friends and family have shared that my writing and photos have allowed them to “see” parts of the world that they will never visit in person. And one young man told me that my Peru posts helped him take the leap to go to Peru where he spent a month exploring. Being a small part of his journey filled my heart.

So my little travel blog has been, at times, a lot of work and honestly sometimes frustrating (nothing makes me feel more stupid than trying to navigate Word Press.) But it has also been a joyful journey. It’s kind of cool to learn how to do new things at my age and I’m pretty proud of it.

So to celebrate, here are some of my favorite memories and random thoughts.

Oregon

At the start of my nomad life, I did a 3 week road trip through Oregon, which may be one of the most beautiful places in North America. Oregon is where I started solo hiking, which is now one of my favorite things to do. I fulfilled a life-long dream of going up in a hot air balloon. And I visited Crater Lake which is one of the most stunning, naturally beautiful places I have ever seen. Crater Lake is also the place where I first asked a stranger to take my picture. I was oddly terrified and felt like a weirdo. Now I talk to random strangers all the time. Oregon was the place where I started to feel a little brave and where I started thinking about who I was outside of my “roles.” It’s also where I really committed to journaling and documenting my journey.

Guatemala

My time in Guatemala will always be one of the most pivotal times of my nomad life. It’s really bizarre as it actually wasn’t someplace I planned to visit. But sometimes life happens and you end up going to a random country you don’t know anything about but it is life-changing for you. Guatemala is where I learned to make friends with strangers. It’s also where I realized that I really like being alone. It’s where I discovered I was strong enough to climb a volcano. And that felt so awesome that I climbed another 😉 It’s where I discovered my love of the Spanish language. And looking back, it’s also the place where I started to examine a lot of long-held beliefs and where I realized I had some unrecognized fears and biases.

Tanzania

I haven’t blogged about Tanzania yet although I spent 3 weeks there in March of 2023. I think Tanzania might be the most ‘brutiful’ country I have experienced yet. There is so much natural beauty in Tanzania and I was able to go on a dream safari and see animals that I never imagined I would see in ‘real life.’ The Ngorongoro Conservation Park is, I think, one of the most incredibly vibrant places on earth.

I was lucky to meet and teach the most incredibly joyful and resilient children in Tanzania. At the same time, I met some incredible fellow volunteers that became good friends. We may never meet up again in real life but I will always treasure sharing time with them. I also discovered I could live with so much less than what I had ever imagined. But Tanzania was also incredibly challenging and heart-breaking. It is a country filled with equal parts brutal and beautiful.

Peru

Cuzco, Peru will always be one of my most treasured places in the world. The people that I met there were so kind and generous, and everywhere from ‘mi casa’ to the local gym to my favorite bar, I felt safe and welcomed at all times. I also had so many ‘am I dreaming?” moments in Peru. Moments like Machu Picchu, paragliding in the Sacred Valley, exploring a jungle at night and walking with a shepherdess behind the Temple of the Moon. My time in Peru was filled with moments that will delight me until I am a very old woman in a rocker. Peru also healed some parts of me that I didn’t even know needed healing – that was also brutiful.

On a lighter note, if you are a middle-aged nomad who is also a mom to grown children, I highly recommend your oldest child coming to visit you to explore the place you have fallen in love with. Sharing Peru with Parker will always be one of my favorite times ever.

Hong Kong

My current adventure. Living and teaching here is more than I thought. More challenging, more interesting, more exhausting and more beautiful. I am curious to see what this year teaches me and who I am when I leave.

One of the cool things that traveling has helped me develop, is a huge and insatiable curiosity. And writing about the things I have discovered, sharing my journey with others, has also made me appreciate the fact that I am curious. I’m not sure what I expected when I started the blog but writing and sharing my stories has been a gift to myself. So thank you and ‘happy birthday’ to the Analog Nomad. And to my sweet subscribers and others who have stumbled upon this little blog, thank you for reading. Please feel free to share with others that may enjoy it and please, please, please leave me a comment. It’s my favorite thing 🙂 Let me know if any of these places are someplace you would like to visit one day.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area