Thursday Ramble: Blogaversary

 

THANK YOU ALL! 

I hope you enjoy this blog, I truly enjoy writing it, reading your comments and responding. You bring so much to my life. 

Twenty-one years ago today, I published the first post on the Adventures of Travel Penguin. For a couple of weeks I had been guest blogger for Stephen, a friend who lives in London, while he was away on holiday. I enjoyed writing and posting, and decided I would give it a try. At first I didn't tell anyone. The first decade or so was slow, then I started posting more often. I have not missed a day since 2015.

I often ask myself, why do I blog? I do this to share my photographs, and my thoughts. The commitment to posting daily was personal, I wanted to improve my writing. By making a commitment to post everyday, I was committing myself to writing a few pages every week. Writing has become easier; I hope my writing has become better. 

I try to stay positive and upbeat in my postings. There is plenty of anger on blogs, very valid anger. I try to avoid that here. I have strong political views, I am proudly WOKE, but I generally avoid politics here. I hope this is an oasis, a safe space. 

My sincere hope is to continue writing The Adventures of Travel Penguin as long as I have photos to share and something to say. I have well over 120,000 photos in the archive, there is little risk of my running out of photos, and I am still learning to be quiet. 

My World of Wonders: September 2, 2026

What have I been doing this week? Doing too much. I was asked to score grant applications on a tight deadline, written materials for a conference I am speaking at in early October were due, and I am drafting a couple of policy papers. All of these ended up needing to be done at the same time. A bit much. Oh, and I have an article to write by the end of the month. 

Where have I been this week? The treadmill, the pool, the community center, the farmers market. Target and Aldi, I simply needed to get out of the house. The library, and Mt Vernon. 

What is on the easel? Nothing. A lack of balance in my life. 

What am I reading? A book on community living for persons with disabilities, a model for de-institutionalizing older adults. 

Where should you visit this week? Your local public library. Libraries are one of the greatest resources in your community. They have something for everyone, children, young adults, middle aged adults, older adults.  They provide access to books, music, video, millions of dollars in resources available for our use. Libraries are places to learn, to be entertained, to make social connections.  We need to use libraries, or we risk losing them. 

Where have I been in this lifetime? I put together a list of airports I have flown in and out of, 86 of them. HNL, KGG, KOA, LIH, ANC, SEA, PDX, SFO, SMF, LAX,SNA,SAN,PHX,ABQ,RNO,LAS,SLC,FCA,BIS,RAP,DEN,MSP,STL,MCI,LIT,BHM,MEM,BNA,ORD,MDW,ATL,SAV,MCO,JAX,FTL,MIA,PBI, RDU, FAY, CLT, CAE, BHM, MSY, IND, CVG, CNH, CLE, DTW, FNT, TVC, PSM, BUF, JFK, LGA, EWR, PHL, BWI, DCA, IAD, RIC, RDV, HTS, LEX, SDF, BOS, PVD, SJU, KEF, DUB, GLA, LRW, LHR,AMS, CDG, MAD, FCO, FRA, MUC, FDH, VIE, LIN, ATH, YYZ, YUL,TPA, DAB. 

Where to next? 

 

Travel Tuesday: Exploring the Art on a Ship