We are about to leave for a month or so trip so how much I write and what I write about is likely to change. I leave a message when this is my situation so those who expect to read something will know what is going on. When we travel I focus most of my writing time and uploading opportunities on my travel blog. The focus of this blog may be different, but we have had some interesting experiences and some will find them interesting.
This time I extend my typical message about the change in my writing focus. I have maintained multiple blogs beginning in 2002 and over time these outlets have moved toward specific foci. I have different reasons for why I have different emphases as this limits how much content appears in any given place. Facebook, which I guess is technically not a blog, was the origin of my thinking about specialization. I started Facebook like most with an emphasis sharing a wide variety of my experiences with friends. As I learned more about Facebook and decided to share my political views, I began to distance myself from using it as a platform to share with friends. I did not want my general antagonism toward the policies of the present administration and those defending it be mixed with other personal interests. I mostly write about education and technology elsewhere and while Facebook posts clearly have taken on a political bent it seemed best to try to get others to understand that I do write about other things.
A portal for my other blogs can be found here.
For the past year or so, I have been posting some of my technology and educational technology content behind a paywall. I don’t look at my writing at this point in my life as a way to make money. I did the textbook thing and did well. Now, I write mostly because I have something to say. Truthfully, as a hobby and wanting to host my own content, I spend much more for server space than I make in ad revenue and subscription fees. I use Medium for the paid platform because their system charges readers $5 a month and readers can read anything that appears on their platform. I like the idea of a platform that does not collect user data and am interested in the idea of micropayments to authors. The issue of free online content and what we all give up to read for free is a serious issue and to think about alternatives, I think it best to be part of the system.
Anyway, we are off to Alaska and then Japan. We have explored Alaska in multiple ways over the years first driving the ALCAN highway when some of it was still gravel. This trip is by boat with a 6 day repositioning jaunt to Japan. Cindy spent time in Japan as a visiting educator and still has friends we will visit. Great to have the access of a local.
So, the travel blog is obviously focused on travel experiences.