Sailing the Blogoverse

The sad thing is that I don’t travel widely anymore. At a modestly advanced age, I still hold a full-time job, have family obligations, a side business, and a few infirmities. If I do travel, it will likely be regionally.

Luckily, I did travel when I was young, hitching around with a guitar and backpack. I also have fond memories of putting down short-term roots in some of the places I traveled to. There is little that can beat not being a tourist but slipping your feet into the shoes of a “local.” Among those who do travel, few experience that sense of having a tourist ask you for directions.

So, having been such an itchy-footed creature in my youth, how do I satisfy my urge for the new, unique, or just different? Blogging is one way. Among the things I like about blogging is its diversity. Posts appear every day from all corners of the world. The range of posts varies widely: someone is posting about how to compose an elevator pitch that will impress Ms. or Mr. Big on the way to the penthouse; another post will be about how to beat inflation at the supermarket. There is humor, sadness, travelogues, and culture.

The other day, I read a post that exposed me to an entire section of Montreal that I’d never visited. Not long before that, there was a post on a small town out west that I’d love to see if only to thank the blogger for writing about their hometown. 

Many bloggers are regulars. You subscribe and get to know their opinions, history, art, and sense of the absurd. Interacting with fellow bloggers is an evolutionary experience. Unlike a static video, you learn daily how views change and mature. Watching one blogger explore her discovery of painting piqued my own creative interests. It’s interactive, not just someone off in YouTube land showing you how to do something.