2013-06-06 14:48:27-04
Wandering Earl 
Over the past few months there has been a great surge of traffic here on the blog and along with it has come an influx of new readers. And from what I can tell, you are all people I’d love to see stick around for a while! So first, I’d like to welcome everyone who has recently come across the site (and to thank everyone who has helped spread the word about the site as well!). I’m very happy to have you here and I certainly look forward to interacting and talking travel with you, whether through the comments, via email or through the Facebook fan page. Second, considering that the aim of this site involves helping others achieve their own travel goals, encouraging people to get out of their comfort zones and learn about the people and places of this world first-hand and trying to convince you that a life of travel is not a crazy fantasy, but a realistic lifestyle option instead, I just want to make sure I’m still on the right track. Let me begin with a summary of what I’ve been up to over the past 14 years… In 1999 I took a 3-month trip to Southeast Asia with only $1500 to my name and that trip has never really ended. Ever since, I’ve been living, working, backpacking and volunteering overseas, having spent time in 84 countries around the world so far. I’ve taught English in Thailand and India, worked on board cruise ships as a Tour Manager for several years and since 2008 I’ve been earning a living online, through a variety of projects. I’ve been blogging since December 2009 and the truth is, I would have never imagined that this blog would actually have readers or that it become such a major part of my life. These days, the blog is what I spend most of my time working on, whether writing posts, promoting the site, interacting on social media, answering emails, updating my eBooks and also organizing and leading my Wandering Earl Tours. And I do all of this while continuing to travel, something that generally involves me having a base somewhere (it’s been Bucharest, Romania for the past 1.5 years) and exploring more of the world from there. That’s how my life has been going. It’s a very basic summary of the past 14 years of course, but hopefully that gives you a quick idea of why I label this blog The Life of a Permanent Nomad. Question – What Do You Want to Know?Now that you know what I’ve been up to, here’s what I’d like to do. To begin with, let me state again that it is indeed my desire to help you achieve your own travel goals and I do believe that I have enough travel/life experience to make that happen. However, I’ve realized that the only way for me to provide you with the most useful information possible is to know exactly what you’re looking for. And while there are over 200 blog posts on this site (the most popular/useful being listed on my Getting Started page), I know that there is so much more for me to talk about, discuss and share from my years of travel. But instead of just guessing, I’d really love to know what topics you would actually like to read about (or see on video!). So, I’d like to ask… What would you like me to talk about? What do you want to know about travel? What do you want to see? How can I help you travel? I invite you to leave a comment below, telling me whatever it is you want me to put on this site. And I promise that if you do leave a comment, I will answer and provide the information you are looking for in an upcoming post. Also, it doesn’t only have to be a request for practical ‘how-to’ information. It could be a request for additional details about any of the countries I’ve been to or about any of the experiences I’ve had. It could be about the logistics of long-term travel or short-term travel, asking for certain advice or recommendations, questions about the people I meet or about my own personal travel style or even about my life in general…absolutely anything! What do you want to know? (I’m looking forward to the comments on this one as I’m excited to give you the information you are truly seeking in order to help get you started with your own travels!)
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