What Now? Upcoming Topics for the Blog
Monday, May 02, 2016TheCambrians |
| This picture has absolutely nothing to do with the blog post but I needed something to brighten up the page . . . hope you like it! |
If there’s one thing that can be said about taking part in
the Blogging from A to Z Challenge,
it’s that blogging becomes a part of your daily life during the month of April.
Whether that translates into a long-term commitment or not depends on the
blogger. It’s my hope that, at the very least, I’ll find myself back in a
pattern of writing daily and those journal entries will turn into more regular
posts (two or three times a week). Whether or not I’ll be able to upload them remains
to be seen (internet access is hard to come by up north), but I’m excited about
the blog again and have some ideas for the upcoming months:
A to Z
Challenge Reflections
At
the end of the challenge, a lot of the bloggers take time out to reflect on the
experience and share what they learned along the way. I started mine a few days
ago and should have it tidied up and ready to post by the end of the week.
Alaskan
Season Wrap-Up
I’ve
written a lot of blogs about cruising in Southeast Alaska, including Why Sailto SE Alaska and Things to Know Before You Go, but still haven’t shared all of
the information from our time there: How many miles did we travel? How many of
those were under sail? What was our daily average? How much fuel did we
consume? And lots more.
Wintering
in Washington
There’s
basically a four-month gap in the blog from the time we tied Cambria to the dock at the end of October until we dropped
our lines on the first of May that needs to be filled. I can’t say that we had
an overly-exciting winter, but we did take a massive road trip (I ended up
driving from coast to coast), spent a month camping in the desert, and stopped
by Mexico for some dental work (reviews and first-hand information to follow)
all while poor Cambria suffered
through the wettest winter on record.
A Return
to Sum It Up Sunday
Sum
It Up Sunday was a weekly series that I started in 2014 to highlight some of
the things we did over the course of the week but wasn’t able to continue last
year because we rarely had access to the internet. Well, it’s back again this
season and I should have my first installment ready to post on the 8th
with all the ups and downs of our first week at anchor.
Destinations
Writing
about the anchorages we visit is one of my favourite things to do (I’m a
research geek) and I hope to add several new entries on Southeast Alaska along
with some places I haven’t highlighted yet – the Gulf Islands and Desolation
Sound, in particular.
Virtual
Suggestion Box
One
of the most difficult things about blogging (for me) is deciding what to write
about. If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover (anything about cruising and
living-aboard, the Inside
Passage , sailing,
sailboats, etc.), I’d love to hear about it. And, I might be a little biased,
but David really is a guru when it comes to working on equipment and might be
persuaded to put together some “how to” blogs if enough readers are interested.
Some of the things he has experience with are 12 volt refrigeration, hydronic
heating systems, polishing fuel, using laptops on board (and rebuilding them), outboard
motors, and so much more – if you name it, he’s probably done it. You can drop us a line through our contact
form (at the bottom of the page), the comments section below, or on Facebook.
It may take a while to get back to you (again, it all depends on our access to
the internet) but I promise we will and hopefully your question and/or
suggestion will turn into a blog subject. So, what do you want to know? If we
have an answer, we’ll be happy to share it.
That’s
all for now. I’ll be back on Friday with my Blogging from A to Z Challenge
reflections. Have a great week and don’t forget to virtually fill out a
suggestion form and put it in the box . . . we'd love to hear from you!
14 comments
What should you write about?
ReplyDeleteFirst it should be themes that concern you. For a big part the charm of blogs is getting a glimpse on what concerns the author.
Also, consider a healthy mix of technical, social and destination postings. While articles about the current destination are nice, They get boring at some point. Perhaps that's why many cruising magazines don't even accept articles about destinations any more.
And most important just write about what's currently important to you.
Thanks, Popsi. The things you mentioned are actually the overall theme of this blog (along with daily travels through the Inside Passage).
DeleteHow do you handle mail?
ReplyDeleteHow do you handle bill paying?
How do you handle insurance, health/property etc?
Do you maintain multiple doctors/dentists, one on the BC coast and another in Washington?
Basically, as a cruiser, how do you handle the normal detritus of everyday life in this modern society?
When not traveling across country and Mexico for dental work, do you consider moving around in the winter? A month in Anacortes, a month in Friday Harbor, a month in Gig Harbor etc....
Excellent questions! Because we've been doing this for so long (15 years) it's hard to know what would interest people sometimes. You can be sure we'll be writing about dealing with the logistics of daily life in a blog in the very near future. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteBack to the regular schedule :)
ReplyDeleteApril certainly was crazy. I love the challenge, but am glad that it only happens once a year.
Mary
Battle of the Bands: Plant vs Plant
You said it, Mary!
DeleteI'm pretty happy about not having to blog every day, but what am I going to read every day now it's over? Will I have to do boat projects instead? Rebuilding laptops and polishing fuel sound like great topics! - Lucy
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Lucy. The biggest shock for me this morning was the lack of pressure I felt to get things done. Of course it helped that we untied from the dock and spent the night at anchor.
DeleteI've added your suggestions to the list and will be posting soon! I actually already have a polishing fuel post written now all I have to do is get David to write something about how he rebuilt our laptop over the winter and had so much fun doing it he bought a second one for $40 and rebuilt that one too -- the guy's nuts!
Let's definitely see more posts from David! If only he was close by, I could have him help me rebuild our laptop :-)
ReplyDeleteAll of your ideas sound great. I definitely want to hear about your camping trip and see pics from it. And I love to hear about everyday life - I think people are fascinated by the day to day happenings on a liveaboard/cruising boat.
I would love for David to write more posts . . . he really is a wealth of information. I used to tease him about putting out a shingle for computer repairs. We must have had at least 1 or 2 people showing up every week when we lived in New Zealand.
DeleteHmmm, I like your blog as is, but perhaps some writing about those tense moments that every cruiser has? I like the suggestions idea. Glad to be feeling less stress about getting a blog post out every day. You guys picked the best May ever to get off the dock! I cannot believe the string of lovely weather we are having. It's our turn for a very early spring/summer I guess.
ReplyDeleteTense moments? Yeah, we've had a few of those over the last 15 years. And yes, the weather has been great! We're so lucky to start off this way.
DeleteNot an overly exciting winter, huh?? That road trip sounds exciting to me, so shoot! I assume you both have considered writing for sailing magazines? Your posts are so detailed and interesting, Stephanie, and David would be a great how-to writer. I know of many sailing magazines who would love contributions containing technical knowledge!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your anchoring experiences! How is it to be back on the go, at anchor and part of nature? And, how about the kinks of being on the move again??
Thanks for the ideas, Liesbet! I do/did a bit of writing for a local online sailing magazine but that's it. Honestly, I'm too bloody lazy. But I do want to put something together from our time in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Stephanie