May 27, 2012
At the moment we are at home for a few days between travels, and as the laundry is getting done and the next round of packing begins we thought this would be a great time to give you a little behind-the-scenes look at this blog experience we are having and what we're learning.
First, we want to start with a big THANK YOU to those of you who have taken the time to read our blog. What started out as a lark in response to innocent questions from our friends has turned into something that has added a great deal of fun and joy to our travels...thank you. And it is hard to believe but we have had more than 1,000 views of our blog entries...who would have thought...!?! This blog has also added to our experience by bringing so many friends into the story, thank you for your comments and questions.
As we prepared for our three-month sabbatical, we were asked by more than a handful of people if we were going to bolg about our experiences, and we really didn't think too much more about it. But as the same question came up again and again, we had to pause and consider it. In typical fashion, we decided to give it a try the day before we left on our first trip...and, in typical fashion, we both hunkered down over our laptops and iPads to figure out just how one goes about doing this. How does one "blog"? Where? And what if we don't have an internet connection? How do you include photos? We assimilated as much as we could, and by Sunday evening we had enough knowledge to be dangerous. The next morning, we headed off down the road and into the blogosphere!
First, we chose Blogger as our blog site...simply because it was free, popular, and seemed relatively easy to use. Next, we found an iPad app called Blogsy that allows us to compose our blog posts offline while we don't have a wi-fi or 3G connection. The one process step we encountered that we did not anticipate is the need to upload any photos that we want to be included in our blog posts...they need to be uploaded to Picassa so that they can be inserted into the blog as URLs rather than actual photos...who knew?! We found that this upload step can take some time, so we found another iPad app that allows us to upload photos to Picassa without tying up the iPad on which we are composing our posts.
So now we have the equipment, apps and technical aspects figured out...next we had to figure out how to make this whole thing work day to day as we are on the road. There are really two main facets...taking the photos, and writing the posts. The way it has worked out for us is that we both take photos during the day when we are hiking or sightseeing, and Patty takes photos out the RV window as we drive from place to place. Patty is really better at capturing what is going on during our travels and including people In the photos...Michael prefers to take pictures of striking places and views, typically without any people (maybe they might include Patty). Then, since Patty has a better memory, she organizes the photos that line up with the day's activities, and she puts them into a draft blog post with a sentence or two about the moment. Then, Michael fleshes out the story of our day, and Patty reviews it for typos.
So our blogging has become a real collaboration and a fun activity that we share daily. We usually write the post the day after...so there is a one day lag to most of our posts. We have found the exercise of recalling key moments from the day, and attaching visuals that have meaning, adds to the enjoyment of the experiences we're having. This has also been alot of fun for Michael who has always enjoyed writing and storytelling, and blogging has allowed him to do both...it is both relaxing and a great creative outlet.
So we both thank all of you for asking us to consider blogging, and for reading our posts, and for your words of appreciation and encouragement...it means a great deal to us that you have any interest, and the process has made our travels all the more enjoyable.
We look forward to sharing our upcoming travels with you!
At the moment we are at home for a few days between travels, and as the laundry is getting done and the next round of packing begins we thought this would be a great time to give you a little behind-the-scenes look at this blog experience we are having and what we're learning.
First, we want to start with a big THANK YOU to those of you who have taken the time to read our blog. What started out as a lark in response to innocent questions from our friends has turned into something that has added a great deal of fun and joy to our travels...thank you. And it is hard to believe but we have had more than 1,000 views of our blog entries...who would have thought...!?! This blog has also added to our experience by bringing so many friends into the story, thank you for your comments and questions.
As we prepared for our three-month sabbatical, we were asked by more than a handful of people if we were going to bolg about our experiences, and we really didn't think too much more about it. But as the same question came up again and again, we had to pause and consider it. In typical fashion, we decided to give it a try the day before we left on our first trip...and, in typical fashion, we both hunkered down over our laptops and iPads to figure out just how one goes about doing this. How does one "blog"? Where? And what if we don't have an internet connection? How do you include photos? We assimilated as much as we could, and by Sunday evening we had enough knowledge to be dangerous. The next morning, we headed off down the road and into the blogosphere!
First, we chose Blogger as our blog site...simply because it was free, popular, and seemed relatively easy to use. Next, we found an iPad app called Blogsy that allows us to compose our blog posts offline while we don't have a wi-fi or 3G connection. The one process step we encountered that we did not anticipate is the need to upload any photos that we want to be included in our blog posts...they need to be uploaded to Picassa so that they can be inserted into the blog as URLs rather than actual photos...who knew?! We found that this upload step can take some time, so we found another iPad app that allows us to upload photos to Picassa without tying up the iPad on which we are composing our posts.
So now we have the equipment, apps and technical aspects figured out...next we had to figure out how to make this whole thing work day to day as we are on the road. There are really two main facets...taking the photos, and writing the posts. The way it has worked out for us is that we both take photos during the day when we are hiking or sightseeing, and Patty takes photos out the RV window as we drive from place to place. Patty is really better at capturing what is going on during our travels and including people In the photos...Michael prefers to take pictures of striking places and views, typically without any people (maybe they might include Patty). Then, since Patty has a better memory, she organizes the photos that line up with the day's activities, and she puts them into a draft blog post with a sentence or two about the moment. Then, Michael fleshes out the story of our day, and Patty reviews it for typos.
So we both thank all of you for asking us to consider blogging, and for reading our posts, and for your words of appreciation and encouragement...it means a great deal to us that you have any interest, and the process has made our travels all the more enjoyable.
We look forward to sharing our upcoming travels with you!
I love behind the scenes posts! You guys are great bloggers. You should continue this beyond the sabbatical and blog about your adventures in Seattle!
ReplyDeleteThanks Morgan!! We'll take your suggestion into consideration...however when in Seattle our life isn't very adventurous... Thanks for your continued interest and support!!
ReplyDelete