Seven Links in one day

You know when all the cool kids are doing something, but you’ve not been invited to take part, and so you decide that not doing it is the super cool thing to do? And then someone comes along and invites you, and you realise that your original plan was rubbish, and you slink in, smiling gratefully for the invitation?

Well, this post is a bit like that. Thanks to Amanda of A Dangerous Business for bringing me out of the cold ;)

So what the heck is this all about? Well, it seems that a site called Tripbase decided that bloggers needed to big themselves up a bit more than they already do. I know. I already force my posts upon you in a variety of social mediums. But still. All the cool kids are doing it. So here’s the idea: I share seven of my favourite links with you from the site’s deep, dark, cobweb filled archives. Then, I nominate some more bloggers to do the same (hopefully there are some out there who haven’t taken part by the time I get round to publishing this).

The whole world as a result becomes a better, more enlightened place. Everyone wins. The end. So without further ado, here are my seven links to my seven posts, starting with:

My most beautiful post: New Zealand’s Spectacular East Cape

Already I can tell this is going to cause me problems. I’m not sure what a beautiful post is supposed to look like. I am going to go with the idea that a beautiful post should contain beautiful photos, rather than beautiful, poetic imagery in the form of words. Because, truth be told, I am probably a bit better at the former than the latter.

My most beautiful post from a photography perspective is, therefore, (probably), the tale from my trip around New Zealand’s East Cape, which is a part of my series of predominantly photography themed posts.

My most popular post: Glacier country in photos

In terms of raw pageviews, my photography based post on New Zealand’s glacier country easily wins. These are certainly up there as being some of my favourite shots from my time in New Zealand – the scenery was absolutely stunning.

In terms of interaction with readers and commentary, well, my post popular post also happened to be:

My most controversial post: Encountering Racism on the Road

I thought this post was going to be controversial when I posted it, and it was actually a bit scary to do so. Writing about a topic such as racism is always going to be a mite tricky. I was, therefore, somewhat surprised (and delighted) at the overwhelming support that I got in the comments, and the overall agreement on the subject. Thanks to everyone for taking part in this one :)

My most helpful post: Travel blogging tips from the experts 

Whilst some of the guides I have written on the subjects of photography, technology or off road driving have garnered positive feedback, I think my most helpful posts have actually not been written by me. Instead, they have taken the form of interviews with some of the more successful and inspirational travel bloggers out there, giving their tips and advice on how to run a successful travel blog.

I am talking about my series on travel blogging tips from the experts, which has featured some really excellent advice and tips from nearly twenty bloggers ranging from Gary Arndt to Matt Kepnes to Caz and Craig Makepeace. If travel blogging is something you are interested in getting into, then this series contains some real insights.

A post whose success surprised me: A visit to Hitler’s Bunker

Who would have thought that my visit to one of the lesser known bunkers used by Hitler during the war would get so much search traffic attention, and result in, probably, a lot of people unhappy that they didn’t find the location of Hitler’s arguably more famous Berlin based affair.

Still, the message here is that if you want Google to send you lots of search traffic, write about an evil dictator.

A post that didn’t get the attention it deserved: Road Sickness

Well, since my list of invites to award ceremonies is mysteriously empty, I feel I could nominate pretty much the entirety of my blog for this one ;). As it is, I feel my post on road sickness perhaps wasn’t as well received as I would have hoped.

Personally, I thought a tale about me being covered in vomit would go down well with my readers. Presumably, my readers found this a little bit graphic, and glossed over it. I should stick to Hitler if attention is what I want…

The post I am most proud of: Why Travel?

I haven’t written a great many posts that I file under the “Personal” label, but in many ways, these are the posts that I am most pleased that I am able to write. These are the ones where I peel back the skin of my life and attempt to share with you some of my more personal thoughts and ideas.

This being a personal travel blog, I should probably be doing this more often, but the truth is, these kind of posts are hard to write and often scary to post. As it is, my post on why I chose to travel has been one of my favourites.

And that is pretty much that. The only thing left for me to do is nominate some more bloggers to take part, who aren’t already on the ever expanding Tripbase list. In no particular order therefore:

Two4Travel - @Two4Travel
No Onions Extra Pickles - @NOnionsXPickles
Travelogged - @Travelogged
Ross Roams - @RossRoams