Saturday, March 10, 2012

Unassuming Girl Traveler

I found myself on this Wanderlust list of women travelers that was posted on International Women's Day.

I'm not sure who wrote this, maybe Peter did or maybe his clever assistant, Daisy. Either way, I'm grateful for this apt description, as I'm quite good at being unassuming, not making a big issue out of gender (I firmly believe traveling as a woman offers the advantage of people being eager to help), and I certainly am quiet about it, but none of this is by choice. Well, maybe my gender is. I have no idea how to get people to my blog, how to make people notice what I'm up to.

"In a world where male adventurers are tweeting every time they flex a bicep, it's nice to know that there's a girl out there quietly going about the business of having adventures in some of the most challenging countries in the world. Single, determined and unassuming, Marie Javins is proof that gender need not be an issue if you want to travel to every corner of the globe independently."

The first time I went around the world solo, in 2001, hardly anyone had a travel blog. What I was doing then got a lot of attention. This time, in 2011, no one noticed except my Facebook and Twitter friends. I'm convinced that few people really read personal blogs anymore, not the long-journal kind. Social media is so much more interactive and fun.

I still kept my MariesWorldTour blog because I need the notes. I need to remember what happened when, and I need to have it there for the small number of people who DO still read, and also to keep myself in practice. Finding time to write is such a challenge. Blogging regularly is necessary for me.

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