100 Stories and We Have Only Just Begun

On our September, 2013 trip near the entrance to Plitvička Lakes National Park, Croatia

This is my 100^th post in the year plus since I started this blog.  Out of curiosity I went back over all of my previous stories to see which were the most popular.  I discovered the top five most-viewed posts dealt with some aspect of how we travel, how we budget, how we decide where to live and how we adapt to our living arrangements. 

Touring the islands of Lake Nicaragua
Granada, Nicaragua

As much as I would love to think readers wish to see our pretty pictures and learn about different places in various countries, it turns out what is most popular is to learn about the process of traveling.  This realization made me think perhaps I should use fewer words discussing ‘what’ and dedicate more effort discussing ‘how.’  I will keep that in mind.

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that there are thousands, if not millions, of travel blogs.  I am a relative newcomer to the world of travel and the blog scene.  While I would dearly love to do distinguish myself in that realm, I have barely scratched the surface.  I feel fortunate to have several things in my favor.

Altar of the feathered serpent
Xochicalco, Mexico

First, The 6 Monthers concept is fairly unique.  There are other travelers who choose a variety of destinations and stay for extended lengths of time.  However, I have not discovered anyone else taking our six-months-at-a-time approach, which is why we purchased the web domain.  Our challenge now is to increase our visibility beyond the few thousand people that have heard of us. 

Mike: ‘What’s that sound?’
Florence: ‘My teeth chattering.’
Torres del Paine NP, Chile

Second, I retired a couple of years ago and I now have time to pursue with a passion both travel and writing.  With Florence’s social media and photography expertise, we leveraged our skills to earn an invitation to travel for three-and-a-half weeks in Croatia as the guests of Dhar Media and Touristar.tv to help promote tourism in their country.  That was cool!  Our ambition now is to carry our experience forward to other countries to help bolster their tourism industry while saving on expenses.  Sharing those kinds of experiences would dovetail nicely with writing more about the ‘How to’ of travel.

On the main island of Antigua
Leeward Islands, Caribbean Sea

Finally, I want to someday point back to something meaningful to say, “I created that.”  Perhaps it will be a book.  We have published one children’s book, and we have a dozen more waiting in the wings.  We would love to score a publishing deal so we could get our books illustrated for young readers.  We would love to teach children about the people and animals and cultures from around the world.  And we would love to build our name, The 6 Monthers, which might one day be worthwhile to the next generation of travelers.

We have our work cut out for us.  Every great idea that amounted to something required perseverance, creativity, and passion, things we think we have.  We now look ahead as we pursue our journey and continue our travels down as yet unexplored roads.  As always, I hope you will accept my invitation to join us and share your thoughts along the way.

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Versatile Blogger Award

Thank you to the thoughtful blogger/photographer at squirrel and pear for acknowledging me with this award. I have wondered from time to time if my posts were worthy of recognition, so this affirmation is appreciated.

Versatile Blogger Award Guidelines

• Display the Award Certificate on your website
• Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented your award
• Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers
• Drop them a comment to tip them off after you’ve linked them in the post
• Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

Blogs I admire and wish to recognize for content, quality, and general appeal:

1. ardent & awkward / in a u s t i n – This writer motivated me to get started writing, and thus warrants the top spot. The content of her blog is not only fascinating, but also technically flawless as you might expect from an English teacher.
2. Tales from the Motherland – This devoted mother and writer tells tales from the heart. We also have geographic roots in common.
3. expatlogue – This lovely expat mother courageously bares her sole in some of her offerings with an entertaining and inimitable writing style.
4. Go Curry Cracker! – This young expat couple makes Mexico come alive with interesting, insightful stories and great photo imagery.
5. Writing by the Numbers – An aspiring author and entertaining blogger, once you read her blog the title becomes self-evident.
6. brickthomas’s Blog – A kindred spirit; as he embarks upon a RTW (round the world) trip, I am eager to share his experiences vicariously.
7. Loca Gringa – An expat Canadian living in the Dominican Republic, our common love of Latin American caused our paths to cross.
8. Waves and Ruins – This attractive young couple is seeking the best surfing beaches and interesting attractions throughout Latin America. I am eager to read of their experiences.
9. DavidCrews – Art, poetry, philosophy, and world travel – this blogger brings beauty and thoughtfulness to his web pages.
10. Around The World With Steve – His RTW adventure started in January, 2013, and I am following along, perhaps to see where I might wish to go next.
11. Life + Spanish + Travel A photo blog from a fellow expat now living in Mexico. The images are captivating.
12. Comedy Travel Writing – A humorous and irreverent assortment of travel adventures ideally suited to readers with a somewhat warped sense of humor.
13. RD REVILO – A poetry blog by an interesting fellow with topical relevance and thought-provoking opinion and insight.
14. Let The Adventure Begin! – This couple is preparing to start a new lifestyle in Panama. Holly shares the experience of preparing for the exciting changes as they occur.
15. Through Harold’s Lens – The title is self-explanatory. View various interesting places in the world through the unique images regularly offered.

Seven things about me you may find interesting:

1. My wife and I met on a cruise to Alaska in 2005. We have done a lot of traveling together since.
2. We have visited 10 countries in the past 18 months, most of which I have blogged about. Florence is the photographer.
3. We are excellent at downsizing. We sold two cars, one house, and all other belongings worth anything. We are now unencumbered and free to move about the world at our leisure, and we do.
4. I have had three careers (min. 10 years each) in my working life: parks and recreation supervisor, Teamster truck driver, and community relations manager with a Fortune 100 company.
5. I moonlighted as a professional ski instructor for five years before I retired and started traveling. I still occasionally miss the slopes.
6. I have two grown daughters, and now two grandsons, all of whom I am incredibly proud.
7. I am coming out of retirement for Summer 2013 to work as a professional tour director in the Pacific Northwest. I will probably write about that, too.