Blog

This weekend I attended Traverse 16, my first-ever blogging conference (more on that later), and I had two big takeaways, which have me feeling a bit more confident about this whole blogging thing.

1. To be me. I have a tendency to be a bit like a social chameleon, willing and able to shift to appeal to whomever I’m talking to. I’m still learning, at the ripe old age of 29-closer-to-30, that I am just fine as-is. Not to imply that my self-esteem was lacking before — I assure you it’s fine — but that I can be me and stop worrying how others will react to me. Or to my words or actions. As proof, I’ll have you know I left the end-of-conference party last night before it ended … because I wanted to! I wan’t too tired, I didn’t want to ditch my conversation buddies, but it was getting late and what I really wanted to do was have a great bike ride today (sooooo much more on that later). And when I had the confidence to just say, “Yep, I’m good. See ya on Twitter!” I felt super … I dunno, empowered? Whatever the feeling was, I liked it.
2. To find a blogging niche. I’d been contemplating this earlier this week, and I’m pretty pumped to say it was an easy answer. (You won’t be surprised if you’re following me on Instagram.) While this will continue to be a travel blog, I’m going to focus that travel around… BIKES! And I’m excited for everything that comes with it: finding local shops to rent from, or hopping on a city’s bike share (cycle hire); navigating cycle superhighways in London or the plethora of bike lanes in Copenhagen (or the lack thereof in other cities). I’m even thinking I’ll try to learn a little bit about mountain biking so that I can scope out trails and parks. There’s a lot to look in to, but I feel like I have a focus and a drive that will help me plan my travels, too.

I’m also starting to hone in on what social and media platforms I want to really invest in. I’m sticking with the big three, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, I’m hoping to up my travel video game (I have lots of scenes from today’s ride!) but for now, I think I’ll let SnapChat and Periscope lay low, unless there are just super opportune … opportunities. (Hmmm, I’ll work on my vocab, too.)