We started this blog in 2011 and have been keeping notes of our comings and goings ever since. Our main reason for keeping a blog is simply so that we can refer back and remind ourselves of days out, weekends away, as well as things and experiences we have enjoyed.
But we are also aware that, simply by keeping a blog, we are part of a movement.
Long before the Internet became the exclusive playground of a small number of super-rich men (yes, they all seem to be men), there were high ideals. The internet would be a way that ordinary citizens could communicate across the world, without the need to engage with big business. Some cheap equipment and the relevant IP address was all you needed to make a connection.
People started keeping online diaries and journals and in 1999 the Blogger service was launched, making the process more straightforward as well as introducing a new word - 'blogging' - to the language. Blogging was available to everyone and people liked creating their own blog where they could air their views about anything they liked. This was all highly democratic.
Today, blogging might seem a little old-school. The internet has evolved and is now almost entirely about making money and ‘influencing’ as quickly as possible. Google ‘blogging’ and most results tell you how to monetise your blog. But our little corner carries on, earning us no income, just sharing our experiences with unknown strangers across the world.