New blog look and upcoming posts - what to write about when, according to the dictionary, you're not travelling
About the new blog look
I fought it for as long as I could. I was in love with the sleek, white text on a black background appearance of The Art of Slow Travel. I think it made the pictures pop, and in so doing, made the blog special. However, after conducting a bit of market research I discovered that while people agreed that it worked wonders with photos, they hated what the background did to the text. Many said that my posts, for this reason, were unreadable. So I thought, what’s the point of having a cool-looking blog if a reader just quickly skims through my posts rather than read them through and maybe take the time to comment?
First, I changed the background to white and the text to grey, which I thought looked really good, but then I was told that the background was too bright… so I once again changed it…this time to the grey you’re seeing as you read this. I must admit that I much preferred the white background, but more importantly, what do you think?
Photo by Kristina B.
About upcoming posts
I recently came across a post on a famous travel forum where two posters were having a very heated argument about what constitutes travelling, and where one of said posters was insisting on the term’s dictionary definition of it:
‘The act or process of traveling; movement or passage from one place to another.’
According to this definition, he or she was arguing that, if you stop some place, get a job and simply spend time exploring that new place, you’re effectively not travelling anymore.
I say that this is a load of bullshit, and that the word travelling nowadays has a much more complex and deeper meaning. Take me for example: Since the start of 2011, I haven’t really been travelling, if you consider the dictionary meaning of the word. The only trip I took was to my home country Malta. It feels weird to have stayed put for such a long time, especially since last year I was able to travel to London, Amsterdam, Malta, Istanbul and Budapest.
But I do believe I’ve been travelling, and I’ve been doing so in Switzerland. Every time I come across a new restaurant which quickly becomes my favourite, or a little city easily explored in a day on a Saturday, I am travelling, because travelling, for me, means discovering new places. It is for this reason that, while I wait for my first ‘proper’ trip this year which will take me for two wonderful weeks in Bali, I’ll be writing about travelling in general, my current country of residence, plus a few wrap up posts about the destinations I’ve been to. I’ll also be exploring in more detail the concept of slow travel, and how you can slow travel specific destinations around the world.
Photo by Nadi0
How about you? What do you think constitutes travelling?
- Text and photography, unless otherwise stated, by Denise Pulis @ www.theartofslowtravel.com
5 Comments → “New blog look and upcoming posts – what to write about when, according to the dictionary, you’re not travelling”
Leave a Reply
Browse by Continent/Theme
Portfolio
Navigate
Oh I’d like to know the forum that was on! Juicy!! I think that if you settle some place for the short term, job or not, you’re still travelling. Look at house-sitters — they may stay in one place for up to a year, but to their friends and family, they are still travelers.
I like the new look — it is easier to read.
Hi Raymond,
Thanks for stopping by. The post was on LP Thorn Tree but I can’t remember the section and the name of the thread!
I found it. Here’s the link:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2058856
The discussion starts at around post number 33.
yeah, i agree with you. maybe even to the point where travel can be exploring your own home and finding new places that you never even knew about. i know many people would disagree, but whatever.
Mmm…maybe exploring one’s home town might be pushing it a little bit…but exploring your country and discovering new things for me is definitely a form of travelling.