INTRODUCING MY NEW TRAVEL BLOG – RAMBLE ON
This is post 4 in @dragosroua's January 30 day writing challenge.
HOW I BECAME A TRAVEL WRITER
I stood, staring at the exit sign for a long time. Perhaps too long. I had seen it before, from a distance. It had always been there. Well that is my understanding anyway. As long as the town had been there, that is. I don't suppose the sign existed before the town. Quite a ridiculous notion, really. I don't always grasp things, but I am quite certain I have a firm comprehension of the timeline of how things would have gone down. First the town was established. Then when it's boundaries were created they erected a sign to indicate that should one venture beyond that point they would in fact be leaving the town. My town. The only one I have ever known. Town first, sign second.
Me leaving – finally – third. I had always planned on venturing out beyond the municipal boundaries and travelling through the vast beyonds. In fact it had been on my to do list for some time. Several years in fact. All part of grand plan to become a travel blogger.
"To become a travel blogger one has to travel," my careers adviser had once told me. It sounded like good advice. I decide to put travel on my to do list. I have my careers adviser to thank for that.
"And what about a blog? Should I have one of those?" I had asked her.
"That would be very beneficial I would think."
I thought about her advice. Weighed up my options about what it meant for my future, and how best to tackle the requirements of starting a travel blog. I only had one important question left to ask her.
"What's a blog?"
But all of that seems like a distant dream. A relic from the past. Here I was, facing the exit. Starting my first real travel adventure. I noticed a pulsing energy rising up through me. Like an emotional tidal wave, generated from the depths of my being, cascading through my very core. I was leaving, finally. The decision had been made, plans formulated, and actions put into place. It was a little overwhelming. I felt the flutter of butterflies in my stomach. I put it down to nerves and apprehension. Then I remembered something I had read in my research. Worry replaced the nerves. Fear tackled the apprehension. Was I in fact actually experiencing my first bout of travel sickness?
And just as I faced the exit. So close, yet so far. Surely I can do it? Surely I can go on, pass the threshold and make good on my plans? The sign loomed large above me. Menacing me with it's declaration that I was now leaving the town behind. I was now withdrawing myself from it's ability to nurture and safely harbour me. Entrusting myself to the unpredictability of what could lie beyond.
I looked at it one last time. In big letters staring at me. Spelling it out. BYGONE pop 12,833. I had been reliably informed that it was a strange name for a town. I have been unable to corroborate that information, never having visited any other towns, nor had the chance to peruse the names of those as yet still unvisited towns. It is, however, on my to do list.
And what of that population figure? Will someone have to come out and adjust it, now that I am leaving? Will a sensor pick up the weight of my step as I venture forth and leave my birth place behind? So many questions, so few answers. I was eager to depart, and learn the ways of the world. To leave BYGONE and make my mark on the world. Perhaps I am meant to adjust the number myself? I decided to start by adjusting the population figure and making my mark on the sign. Sign first, world second. Baby steps.
And I left BYGONE, with the sign now reading pop 12,832. Well actually the last 2 looked more like a 7, having messed it up a bit and trying to fix it. Just my luck – I leave and the population increases. I stepped over the line, past the sign, chose not to look back, and breathed in the air. Took in a big lung full of freedom. It was at that point that another vital question struck me – where, exactly, am I going?
This is post 4 in @dragosroua's January 30 day writing challenge.
Images from unsplash.com and used with permission.
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@naquoya
Links to earlier works
Notes From An Amateur Writer Collection
Only you could make an introduction post a story unto itself. Shouldn't it be 12,831? With the one still looking like a '7'? You didn't travel alone, didn't you? I bet your careers advisor would be puzzled with what you've accomplished, but ultimately proud that you have ventured beyond your comfort zone. I'm quite looking forward to reading about the entries to this new series. Also, I'm quite looking forward to catching up on everything I missed. With you posting every day now (I feel like I had a hand pushing you into it? So I know I shouldn't complain), it might take me longer to do so.
Definitely a 2, and looked like a 7 'having messed it up and tried to fix it'. Artistic licence - go with me on this :)
As for the travel episodes - they're all fictional. More ideas of travels turned into stories. Don't take any of these too seriously. Creative writer at work. I hope it works out in the end. So far the idea seems right.
Yes, seems you have some catching up to do. I'll start the clock now...
Always good to read your comments.
I believe all your fiction to be true, so we're at an impasse here, mate. I'm slowly gaining ground. It only took a few days too! I'll chalk it up to an achievement.
I confuse myself on that sometimes also. Perhaps too much first person perspective. And maybe some truth seeping into some of the story lines.
Loved it! Still smiling.
Very happy to hear that. :)
If you wrote a book that started with this, I would read it! Funny, enticing, makes me want to know more about you, Bygone, and your adventures. Followed for more! I'm doing a series on the strange little Isle of Man where I live, have a feeling you might be interested :)
This will turn into a kind of book (here on Steemit) as I am planning on turning this into a weekly series. Aiming more the humour side of things, and quirky. Thank you for reading, and for the follow. I have followed you also.
Let bygones be bygones. I loved the subtext. :)
I'm so glad you got it :)
The opening of this post made me laugh out loud! I love how you told the story of realizing you would have to travel to write a travel blog, that you would need a blog to write a travel blog, and then asking what a blog is. That's good stuff! Maybe you should write a humorous travel blog. I bet most of them are too self-important and stuffy.
Thank you. This is really just an exercise in creative writing. I wouldn't actually have a clue how to be a travel blogger, thus the humorous approach. I figured, like you also mentioned, that there are plenty of 'real' travel blogs out there with their useful but serious advice. I would just flip that, and exercise my creative writing wanderlust at the same time.
I laughed so hard at the memory of the exchange with the careers advisor, because I have been in the career advisor's position before XD (but specifically to do with being a webdev and some of the interesting questions I get).
Thank you for the comment. So glad it gave you a laugh. That was the angle I was going for, so that's a nice little win. This will be a regular series, if I can think of something else to write :)
Goodluck with the new travel blog! I myself made steemit to my travel diary. If you have time, drop by my page and read some of my stories. Have a great day!
Thank you for dropping by.
Let BYGONE be bye gone. This is a great read because I was expecting a travel journal. I should have known this was fiction but I'm too gullible.
Yes, all travel is done in my imagination - and then blogged about as if real. Sounds like most of my work. I wanted an outlet for some more humorous stories, and this what I came up with. 3 down and still haven't run out of material. Even have an idea for a 4th one.