Why I Love Blogging

This week I received an e-mail from a friend I'd met in Israel in 1984, who lives in the U.K. She'd been browsing the web, came across my site, and decided to make contact. Something similar happened earlier this year.

The primary thrill, of course, is the contact with people one hasn't seen or heard from in a couple of decades, but from a blogging point of view, it's also quite a thrill that people actually find my site while browsing!

However, thinking back to those times and to my travels, I finally understood just why I like blogging so much more than the social networking sites. When I travelled, I travelled alone. I would meet people in faraway places, make friends, team up occasionally for specific travels, then move on. Travelling alone made it easier to be spontaneous, easier to get involved in spontaneous activities or to simply change plans at the drop of a hat, because a new-found friend had a more interesting schedule than mine. I enjoyed meeting people, both locals and other travellers; yet I enjoyed being alone and maintaining a degree of privacy.

Blogging is like that. I visit sites all over the globe, drop in, spend time with the writer, interact, then move on. Some sites just click with me and I enjoy repeated, or daily, visits. See what's happening, say "Hi", leave a comment. Keep up to date with the author's life and events, without imposing.

Some sites are special. For example, Carl Galloway's Life in Spain. Carl writes about Ronda, the town in Spain where he and his wife live. His posts about his surroundings and activities capture me completely. I feel that I know Ronda - that I can feel the atmosphere, taste the tastes and smell the smells, so to speak. He captures the 'spirit of place' wonderfully. For a few minutes, while I'm on that site, I am on holiday - not to a new destination, but to a familiar and friendly place that I enjoy returning to. If ever I get to travel again, Ronda would feature high on my list. Communicating with Carl is a regular pleasure, like meeting in the village, exchanging a few words, and continuing with the day.

Then there's a young fellow who lives in Singapore, who calls his site Kid Tech Guru. Xavier is just fourteen years old, but a guru he certainly is. He writes about the stuff that I want to know, in a pleasant and easy manner that even I can understand. But one visits his site consistantly, not just because of his technical skill and the knowledge he shares, but simply because he is Xavier. I say "one" rather than "I", because it's quite obvious from the comments on his site that Xavier is a favourite of many people all over the world.

Another fascinating site is A Postcard A Day. Sheila posts a postcard a day from a collection that her father, an avid traveller, started. She has continued her father's hobby and shares those cards with us, along with posts about the cards. The cards themselves are fascinating to see - but somehow it's nice to share someone's hobby in such a way that we can enjoy the intimacy of it without imposing.

I haven't made any money out of blogging. To me, the love of blogging is the people who do it, the experiences I gain from their experiences, the armchair travelling, and the unimposing intimacy - as opposed to the hype and the chat room atmosphere of the social networking sites.

It's not about which is better - it's simply about what suits my peculiar personality!