About my blog

One year on

I would be lying if I said it was easy to find the courage to start a blog. I had been motivated to so for a while, but that is the thing with motivation: It doesn’t actually do anything unless you move, unless you take the first step. It can help you get going on the days you don’t feel inspired, but that is about it. At the end of the day, it is courage that pushes you to start something new, something you were afraid of. Just as travelling alone. It takes courage. It takes resilience and the will not to give up, and to keep trying to figure out better ways. 

Last year, on 1 June, I started this blog. It wasn’t easy to figure out the web design side of things all by myself, so initially, I did not even tell my friends and family that the blog had gone live. Slowly but surely, I gained a bit a confidence, put in a lot of work and dedication and made it look okay for starters. I still think the design can be improved, but we will get there slowly. More important to me is that I keep my promise of posting regularly.

When I first started, I had so much to write about! I initially posted every Sunday. Although I never missed an upload, I soon realized that this pace was not sustainable. I would run out of trips to talk about. With a full-time job and a dedicated workout routine, there was neither going to be enough material nor time to write quality pieces for my blog on a weekly basis. This is why I switched to fortnightly blogs instead. 

Looking back, I am so happy I started this endeavour. I enjoy my one-man show very much. I get inspired, I write, I edit without anyone’s interference (I apologize for the occasionally overlooked typographical errors) – a complete luxury for all of us who work a desk job in which they write for other people and lack that kind of editorial freedom in their daily lives. 

I truly hope my blogs have made you smile, laugh, think and reflect, or even encouraged you to do or see something new. Maybe you found the courage to go dining on your own or visited a museum by yourself. This is my goal. I want to reach people, maybe even ‘influence’ them in a positive way and offer some insights into what it is like to be travelling alone as a woman. My greatest compliment would be that someone who was afraid to travel on their own finds the courage to try it. Or for couples to look kinder on that lady sitting by herself on the breakfast or dinner table in the hotel. Because maybe she isn’t weird. Maybe she just had enough of cancelling plans because of others cancelling on her.

Some people asked me why they cannot comment on my blogs. I thought about this for a while when I set it up and it was a conscious choice to disable commenting. Sure, tutorials on ‘how to grow your audience’ would tell me that interaction with your readers is key. But I am not really about that. Those of you who are old enough to remember newspaper articles printed on paper might understand where I am coming from. In a world full of paid subscriptions, constant notifications, reviews and comments, hyping, copying, ghosting and cancelling people, I want to be plain, simple, uncomplicated and accessible for free. I only want to be about my content and nothing else. You can read it. You can like it. You can talk to your friends about it or even share it with them. You can dislike it and never visit my site again. All of it is great, and valid and amazing.

Back in the day, when we read paper newspapers or magazines, we couldn’t comment either. And it was fine.

Of course, I hope that my content resonates with a lot of people, gets talked about and shared, but even if I reach just one person who takes something away from my blogs, I am happy because my work is done.

And if you are truly interested in finding out more about me or tell me something nice, I invite you to follow me on Instagram (link in my ‘about’ page). There, I share more pictures and stories about me, my travels, my gym routine or my slightly unhealthy coffee obsession and a like, comment or ‘follow’ are much appreciated.