This is a Challenge

I should set aside time daily to write about my travel experience. I think the most important thing will be simply committing the time and doing the work of writing. I’d like to minimize any potential obstacles to that.

Most obviously, I’d like to remove any associated logistical challenges, so here’s a list of things I’d like to have sorted:

• Blogging platform chosen
• Ability to email updates to said platform
• GUI for updates
• Git access for updates? To allow tooling freedom

Starting with the “Why” and the value of writing

In the past, writing about where I am has enriched my travel experience. It’s helped me to organize my thoughts and think more critically about what I’m doing. Upon revisiting some of these things, it’s also made me feel embarrassed about what I’ve previously written: broad generalizations based on limited experiences. To illustrate, during a visit to China that I wrote down something to the effect of “Chinese people are good at karaoke because their language is tonal and therefore inherently musical.” What a profoundly boneheaded assertion. I wonder if in a few years I’ll be so critical of the things I’m thinking and writing today. I’d like to think that’s a good indication of growth. Even if some of those previous ideas are incredibly dumb, being able to look back and cringe seems like a clear way of identifying, “Well at least I’m not that ignorant anymore.”

It’s easy to wonder if I’ll always have that kind of relationship with myself. I wonder if withholding judgment on that former self would be healthier. Maybe even the idea of there being a good or a bad way to look at your former self is a cheap feedback loop in itself – whatever you were was simply you doing your best with what you had. And however you’re framing that outlook on yourself today is you doing the best with what you have.

How much time is the right amount of time to write?

About an hour.