What do you write about?

[westcoastfunky]

Sorry for posting ANOTHER topic! *blush* I just have all these questions and do not know anyone that has travelled for long periods.

I will be keeping a blog while I'm travelling but what I would like to know is what people write about and how online blogging vs journalling on paper has done to change what you write about? Do you censor yourself online?

I'm thinking things like...
1) feeling an intense romantic connection with a person you meet for 2 days
2) having a crazy sexual night (ummm...4 some with swedish techno babes for instance!)
3) personal emotions
4) stories that involve other people and you are sort of invading their privacy by sharing
5) etc

These are things, memories, I would like to write about but it seems you have to be more sterile than this and blog online, not journal. If you do journal it needs to be private or it needs to be annonymous. I am not really sure which route I want to take. I would like to have a public blog and be honest but... Well it is also the timing I know, because often recalling a story that happened 6 months ago is okay and the humour in your crazy emotions can be seen but at the moment people do not always find it so funny.

how do you balance morals / what the reading public deems acceptable / what you want to write about / what family wants to read? Or do you only write about events, stuff that happens, what you did that day vs how you felt about someone or something you did together?

I have kept a journal before, but it was a journal, it was deeply personal and it was publicly available but family did not know about it. I enjoy writing like that and I am lost about what to do now because I want to be able to journal but I want it to be public and family oriented. I know I am going to go through some really intense experiences and I want to be able to document that, the good, the bad and the ugly!

What do you do?

[Somnambulation]

Its certainly more rewarding enjoyable for the reader if they know you arent holding anything back. I did an online journal for family and friends the first time I travelled and I left certain things out, and I do regret that it wasnt a totally accurate depiction of my trip. Mybe you could have the uninhibited online journal and then just cut and paste a less personal version from that into a mass email to those who you wouldnt want reading it.

[westcoastfunky]

Originally Posted by Somnambulation

Its certainly more rewarding enjoyable for the reader if they know you arent holding anything back. I did an online journal for family and friends the first time I travelled and I left certain things out, and I do regret that it wasnt a totally accurate depiction of my trip. Mybe you could have the uninhibited online journal and then just cut and paste a less personal version from that into a mass email to those who you wouldnt want reading it.

If you did an uninhibited one would you change people's names? They may know you are talking about them, as would a couple others but the world would not...although it might be hard to keep track of all the fake names for referring to people later on...

[westcoastfunky]

now my mind is whirring...if you did use fake names for people would you still post pictures? that seems kind of silly...

ugh I don't know what to do.

[Somnambulation]

I dont think people mnd being written about, at least I dont, unless you are going to bad mouth them. And if you are going to bad mouth them, you probably wouldnt be sending them the link to your site anyway. Its kind of an honor to be memorialized as part of someone elses experience.

[Canadian Bacon]

I guess its more about what you feel approrpriate sharing online. Like I mostly wrote about things that I felt that I wanted to share with ppl.. mostly random shit, not really outlining everything I did, but just impressions of things that stuck in my mind... sort of impressionist style writing. I also write exactly how I talk...

[westcoastfunky]

I guess I will just write what I want, and be honest because that is how I am. I would never bad mouth someone but there is stuff people might feel uncomfy being written about so I suppose I will just use my judgement.... :/

I just am trying to sort this out because even though I'm not leaving yet I want to start the journal now to keep everything from pre to during to post together.

I also think being honest will keep me sane...I am one of those people that are A Romantic (ie not into romantic gestures but see the world with a romantic eye) and so I tend to analyze and describe things no end and it will help to look back at those posts on the days I am feeling the lonely bug.

But thank you guys for replying to me...I am so new to this world I don't know what is the norm, y'know?

Thanks

[c0urt]

I keep in mind the fact my mom reads my blog

and almost every girl i have dated reads it

[mollymore]

My travel journal and my travel blog turned out to be two totally separate entities during the trip I just took. My journal is for me, about the things I am thinking and feeling and wanting to remember, while my blog was for friends and family ~ photos and stories from and about the places I had been. Totally different purposes and tones. You'll figure it out, these are things that evolve to their purposes.

Molly

[worldwidemike]

I send out a mass e-mail when I am traveling...which would be pretty much identical to a blog, if I had one. I would keep in mind that my parents and folks of various persuasions would be reading it. Anything I leave out, well, I figure that I have to keep *some* stories for my best friends, eh?

All bloggers probably fall onto a spectrum from no holds barred to very proper and polite. I'm sure you'll settle into a routine and find your niche...what you feel most comfortable with...

worldwidemike

[raoulduke]

If I had a foursome with Swedish techno babes I'd be telling everyone.

[Somnambulation]

Haha, seriously. Mom would be proud!

[c0urt]

considering last time i had a threesome i told my mom.

[westcoastfunky]

off topic but speaking of moms...I remember when I was 18 I kissed a girl at a party and told my mom and she asked if I was gay "because I don't buy any of that bi-sexual crap" heh Moms are the best

[OddEssay]

Originally Posted by westcoastfunky

I will be keeping a blog while I'm travelling but what I would like to know is what people write about and how online blogging vs journalling on paper has done to change what you write about? Do you censor yourself online?

I'm thinking things like...
1) feeling an intense romantic connection with a person you meet for 2 days
2) having a crazy sexual night (ummm...4 some with swedish techno babes for instance!)
3) personal emotions
4) stories that involve other people and you are sort of invading their privacy by sharing
5) etc

... ...

What do you do?

I'm still trying to find the right pace for my travel journal, but I do keep in mind that my parent's will be reading it, plus I generally don't run around telling the world about my crazy nights with swedish babes anyway, so such things can stay in my private pen and paper journal.

I do try hard to respect people's privacy though, I'm more then happen to tell the story about the time I nearly got arrested in Bangkok and had to bribe the police, how ever the other people involved might want to keep the details quiet.

Just remember that anything you put online could well come back to you in unexpected ways, so if you don't want something to be public, don't put it out there, even anonymously.

[BedtimeontheMoon]

You can always write an anonymous blog and just let the ppl you want to read it in on it You can be an unreserved as you like!

[westcoastfunky]

I think the key for me might be to write everything down but only publish the ones that are appropriate. It is like OddEssay says, there are going to be stories I am totally okay with sharing that others won't be and even if I leave names out, just by looking at the entries around that one people will have an idea of who I am talking about. I would love to challenge myself to be no-holds barred but I do not want to jeopardize other people's comfort zones in order to do it.

Maybe I can publish the crazy stories later as a seasonal update or something lol

Has anyone here read "Smile When You're Lying"? ( http://chuckthompsonbooks.com/aboutthebook.html ). I picked it up yesterday but did not have my wallet with me so am going back to buy it but this is the first thing in the book (just copying and pasting from that website). I'm really looking forward to reading it! lol

After somewhere between ten and fifteen visits, this is my favorite anecdote from Bangkok. Every word true.

We're in a small, dark bar, an Aussie expat hangout. Across the table is my good friend Shanghai Bob, American expat and Old Asia Hand of distinguished order. To the right, a pair of astonishingly wasted guys in ridiculous bush hats (are there any other kind?) are sparking up what is certainly not the first joint of the evening. To the left, a young Thai girl is giving a rapid-fire, beneath-the-table hand job to a poker-faced German who throughout the event swigs his beer with a nonchalance that suggests he's back in Bielefeld with his loving Schnuckelputz and adorable rugrats Klaus and Liesl frolicking at his feet.

The German looks like he's in for the long haul and sometime during the girl's indefatigable ministrations a door opens near the rear of the bar. Out spills a porcine gent, half-a-century old if he's a day, accompanied by a slightly disheveled teenager modestly hitching up her bright orange halter top. Behind the door one can see into a narrow room, the primary features of which are a naked light bulb swinging from the ceiling and a stained mattress on the floor.

It's at this point that Shanghai Bob looks at me and says, with utter sincerity, with complete lack of irony, “You want to get another beer here or go some place kind of sleazy?”

[Somnambulation]

I read a new book recently called Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? Its about a guy that worked for Lonely Planet writing a Brazil guidebook and all the crazy stuff he goes through trying to write. Very entertaining, and certainly doesnt hold back on the personal stories, but adding to the juiciness of the story sells more copies

[westcoastfunky]

Originally Posted by Somnambulation

I read a new book recently called Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? Its about a guy that worked for Lonely Planet writing a Brazil guidebook and all the crazy stuff he goes through trying to write. Very entertaining, and certainly doesnt hold back on the personal stories, but adding to the juiciness of the story sells more copies

Yah I got that one too!!

I want to have crazy stories on my trip too! I want to experience everything from WWOOFing to tourist traps to sleezy Aussie bars (especially sleezy Aussie bars)

[westcoastfunky]

Hey I just noticed this thread was posted on the main TPunk page, how cool.

I really think it is an interesting topic and something to think about though...I have always had an online journal and have been truthful in it but only a few people know about it...and this does not include family OR the people I write about whereas a travel blog is possibly known by all.

I hope more people contribute, I would love to hear from everyone!

Another question that has been raised by a friend I have in "real life" here is that women travellers have to be careful of customs and police thinking they are "loose women" so-to-speak. Most books aimed at female travellers recommend keeping condoms to only a few and in a not easily accessible place so that you aren't viewed that way. What if you wrote about stuff that happened, honestly, including any wild nights you may have and you carried a laptop. They look at the history, see your website and read about it. Is that something to be legitimately concerned about? I had no answer for my friend as I don't know how true this bit about being considered "loose" is.