Good morning everyone – it feels like a long time since I last wrote those words in a blog post.  I have been really busy at work the last 2 weeks preparing for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Oh and my parents were in town over Thanksgiving weekend and I celebrated my 27th birthday.  Luckily, things are starting to calm down now, so I hope to get back to my usual writing routine soon.  I am in the process of making changes to my blog and I wanted to keep everyone up to date.

Introducing my First New Writer – Tonei

My good friend Tonei (pronounced Tony) joined the TWG family last week and he wrote his first post a few days ago: Travel with Tonei: 15% Off Almost Everything at Target for 2 Days.  In a perfect world, I would have introduced Tonei in a short blog post before his first blog post was published and explained why I think he would make a great addition to TWG.  Unfortunately, that did not happen, but better late than never.

Tonei and I met at the SF Travel Hackers Meetup Group last year and I have always enjoyed talking with him and listening to his travel (mis)adventures.  At our most recent meetup, we talked about his recent move to Mexico City, visiting the multiple Centurion Lounges at Mexico City’s airport, MSing abroad, and future travel plans.  While listening to his stories, I was constantly thinking, “This would make a great blog post,” over and over in my head.  I told him that his stories were so interesting and that others would probably like to read about his stories too.  My writing philosophy is, “I want to write articles that I would want to read.”  If it interests me, it will probably interest other people as well.

Welcome Tonei, I am looking forward to reading your upcoming blog posts :)

More New Writers to Come (Soon)

I have spoken to a few other travel hacker friends and invited them to join the TWG family as well.  Trust me, this is not going to be like the Brady Bunch or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I am just looking for a few good men writers, who have interesting and educational stories to share.  I started this blog by myself in May 2013, so I have been on my own for more than 3 years.  It is great to write what you want, when you want, but that is a double edged sword.  When I am busy at work, or traveling, or I have nothing worth writing about, then no blog posts get written.  Sometimes that can last for a few days.  I feel like a bad blogger when I go 2, 3, or 4 days without writing a new blog post.  But I always tell myself, I would rather write nothing than write a filler blog post that wastes my time and my readers’ time just to meet a “blogger quota.”  By having a few writers, I hope to even out the posts so there will be less peaks and valleys and encourage readers to come back to TWG more often (wink, wink).

More Rambled Ideas – Go Easy on the New Writers

This post is really cathartic to write and I hope it is halfway decent to read.  I have been a writer for almost 3.5 years and it is strange to look back at some of my earliest posts.  My writing style has changed gradually over the years to what it has become today.  I wasn’t a great writer when I started and I am probably not a great writer now.  What I am trying to say is, give the new writers a chance to establish their voice, let them find their footing, and give them constructive feedback along the way.  They need to learn how to crawl before they can walk and walk before they can run (I think that is Parenting 101).

On a more personal level, I have met many travel hackers, bloggers, and readers over the last few years from doing meetups, going to travel conferences, and running into people at random airport lounges.  Everyone has unique stories and perspectives on travel.  I love listening to others’ travel stores (the good, the bad, and especially the ugly).  I can’t learn everything first hand, so learning from someone else is the next best thing.  I find it really interesting that all the people I have talked to about becoming a writer on TWG originally found me because of my blog.  It is kind of poetic that the thing that brought us together is something that we can all contribute too (#deepthoughtsinthemorning).

As always, this blog has always been a great source of pride to me.  Look what I created, look how many articles I have written, look how many people I have helped over the years, and look at how much joy this blog has created for myself and others.  I am committed to ensuring that the quality of this blog only gets better from here.

As always, if you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!