What’s going on with this blog?
I’m writing this post from beautiful Princeville Hawaii, on the island of Kuai. It’s been years since Susan and I have visited the island. Our daughter was attending college in Honolulu Hawaii up until early last year. Because she lived in Honolulu, that was our natural destination when ever we visited the islands. Our daughter is now a graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa and lives in San Diego working for a major U.S. airline. Now we have taken the time to re-visit Kuai and the above photo is of the Princeville Resort, what used to be the St. Regis Princeville, from the beach of Hanalei Bay. I had forgotten how beautiful this island is.
For the few readers that read drd4sevenr.com, you might be wondering what is going on with it? In late 2015 this sight started out as a side hobby. Working as a full time professional in an industry not related to travel, I had been reading and learning about travel strategies as a way to improve my family vacations. After educating myself on articles and travel blog posts, I wondered if I would enjoy writing about some of my experiences and insights. In 2016 I wrote my first blog post, and then went on to post 125 times for the year. I really enjoyed writing but learned that the time requirement for such efforts were pretty high.
In 2017 I continued on and posted another 44 times, really slowing down the second half of the year. In 2018 I just posted 4 times, and then other than this post nothing for 2019. From an outsider’s perspective, it might be thought that drd4sevenr.com’s author had taken tho route that so many other blog writers had, to become disinterested, bored, and moved on to other endeavors. Although somewhat true, this is not entirely accurate. During the last few years I’ve learned a few things about blogging, and about myself.
Item one learned – I can’t do both things.
I don’t have the energy and patients to work two full time careers. I made the decision if I’m going to do a blog, I would only enjoy it if it was my primary vocation. It’s probably ridiculous to be an all or nothing individual, but that is the reality. My current employment is gainful, but also demanding on time and energy. Eventually I will retire from this line of work, and then look at more travel and writing.
Item two learned – drd4sevenr is not a great name.
When drd4sevenr.com was named, it was selected as a low-profile “not obvious meaning” type of title. Mission accomplished. Actually DRD4-7R is postulated by some as the gene that causes wanderlust. The Telegraph wrote an interesting article about it here. drd4sevenr made a subtle and interesting website URL for a travel blog, but it’s not easy to remember and straight forward. A different name needs to be created.
Item three learned – some upfront investment is needed to create a good-looking and functioning site.
There are a lot of great do it yourself resources out there to create and start a blog, but unless you’re really talented at graphics generation it is best to hire that out. You don’t have to spend a fortune doing this, but some capital and thought is warranted. Another aspect of a blog site is the technical stuff – configurations, security, analytics and so on. Again, I will hire this out.
In Summary
These three points taken together mean the introduction of a new travel blog. It will be re-launched once I can mostly retire from my current career, secure a new domain name and design the basics of the new site. With a little luck this should be sometime next year. Until then you’ll have to put up with drd4sevenr.com and the occasional post with some random thoughts from its writer.
Views From the Coast at Princevillle