Earlier this week, I had a wonderful chat with my neighbor, Clint (while not crucial information, he is the guy who married Trista and Ryan). Our conversation started with how to best serve customers and doing more than what is expected to help others — something we both agree upon. Then the talk organically moved to our “big picture” goals. While I happily talked about my vision for the future, I realized that I often get sidetracked by the details of running a small business. Details are important, but not as important as I make them out the be. The goals of In The Know Traveler and Travel. Write. Live. have less to do with editing, writing and giveaways — although they all have their place — than the long-term plan.
Here is my “big picture” goal: I want to help bridge the informational gap between cultures, so we can all understand each other a little better. One of the key reasons I love travel is because I am so interested in and appreciative of our cultural differences. This goal is both lofty and hefty. I share this goal as a reminder to myself why I work as hard as I do and not to lose sight of the goal in the smaller details.
In other fronts, “Blogging Nuts and Bolts” continued this week with an interview of the editor-in-chief of a popular travel trade publication and a confirmation of a top travel consultant with forty years experience added to the queue.
And now the plans for the week…
The Pic of the Week: In British Colombia, Canada
Writing
I still have a new article on Japan that needs some finishing touches and hope to get a new article completed about the pluses and minuses of using second person (or “you” voice) in travel writing.
Giveaways
I talked with several good companies this week and have been developing some giveaways outside of the travel guides I have been working with so far. I am grateful for the help and support I have received from Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and several other excellent publishers, but I thought I would try to mix things up a bit.
Design
If you are reading this, you are seeing my new design for Travel. Write. Live. The design is almost finished with a completed face lift expected in the next day or two. I have added it early with only a few details to go; I thought I should leave it live.
The Goal
Write up a mission statement, something that can be seen online by everyone and to keep me on track for the future.
Hope everyone has a great week.
devin
Hey Devin,
I like what you have to say – especially since my family and I are about to start our own Round-The-World Journey. But you did ask for feedback about your new design. I’m not sure if you mean the design of your website or something else you’re working on, but I would like to point out that the background on this template makes the words difficult to read. The words fade into the color of the countries and makes a reader’s eyes cross (or maybe just mine). I like the background. I would simply recommend that you add a white background to the area where the text is published – just to make it easier to read.
I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.
Hi E.T.,
Thank you for the note. I have been debating exactly what you have said. I like the map and may just try and make the background more transparent and the font a little darker.
Best,
d