September 3rd

Fifteen years ago today, Travel Penguin posted his first post on this blog. 

Nearly half-a-million page views, just under 2,900 posts, nearly 16,000 comments later, here we are. I know a lot of bloggers have more views, more posts and more comments, good for them.  When I started this I figured if 3 or 4 close friends read what I posted it would be a smashing success.    

In the early posts, it was all Travel Penguin, or TR. I have emerged from the shadows to be the narrator.  The posts are sometimes about travel, sometimes my rambling on life, seldom funny, even less seldom political.  I long ago lost track of all of the places we have been, I know I am still missing two US states, and I keep dreaming about the next trip to Europe (did you know you can take a ferry boat from Iceland to Denmark, with a stop in the Faroe Islands?)  

I have met so many wonderful friends through blogging, some of whom I have actually met. (If you are ever in the Washington DC area, let me know.) 

I continue to say, I do this for me.  It gives me a place to share photos, and 99.9% of the photos on this blog I took.  It has improved my writing - though I still find typos and my brain can construct some very twisted sentences. My brain works in strange ways, but it works for me, and I am okay with that.   

I love that people read and see what I post.  I read your comments, probably the only comments I miss are comments posted more than a couple of days after the post goes up.  Sorry, my brain moves forward, it seldom looks back.  I try to acknowledge comments, even if it is only a couple of words to let you know I read what you wrote.  

As I look forward, I plan to keep doing this.  I think about adding blogs (I tried that this year, and abandoned the idea, one is enough to keep up with while working full time.) 35 months until I don't need to work full time.  Then I can think about new channels.  I think about adding a vlog, more than the once in a rare while video here, I think about creating serious short videos about the adventures in my own backyard and as we travel. It is good to have plans and dreams for the future.  I am so glad I committed to a daily posting, even if I struggle sometimes to come up with the next idea. 

Thank you all for being a part of this.  Please keep reading. Please keep posting.  

If you are not blogging, please start. All of us have a story to tell, a song to sing, a picture to draw, and message to share.  If you have stopped blogging, think about just posting a selfie or a picture of what is around you - let the world know what is important to you, it is simple and helps all of us connect to something outside of ourselves.  

Take care, thank you all for being a part of this, I look forward to the next 15 years.