“Paul, didn’t we just have a 1 year blog post a few weeks ago?”

Great memory.  That was my “1-year-anniversary-of-having-a-WordPress-account” post.  It is called Reflections on Blogging and it is about what the worldwide community of bloggers means to me and why blogging is good, healthy, and promotes world peace.

“Well that sounds pretty pompous. So Paul, why are you writing another anniversary post? Come one man I want to read about airplanes or some destination or something to eat that is not your cat.”

Well because December 29 is the date I made my blog public and kept it public.

“Paul, today is December 30.”

I know and this is the first post of my second year! Isn’t it magical?

“No, not really.  I am starting to get bored.”

What You The Reader Enjoyed the Most

A drum roll please……

Most Popular Post Based on Views

If they wanted to be thematic, they could have served this in one of the bags in the seat back pocket.
Appetizer – Chicken, an onion, and corn Salad – Greens with cheese and a cherry tomato with balsamic vinaigrette Entree – beef with a mustard demiglaze, mac and cheese, and steamed brocoli

American Airlines First Class Domestic Meals. This post was over two years in the making and a lot of work to complete.  I had no idea what I was going to do with all the data I had been collecting. I didn’t have a blog at the time.  I decided PaulSeesTheWorld was a good place to publish my findings.  The post took off (pun intended).  Of note, since I wrote the post over 6 months ago, I have not received a single complimentary upgrade on American Airlines.  Curious?

Most Popular Category Based on Views

Airplanes!  You mostly want to read about Airplanes!  By far and away!  8 of the top 10 most popular posts are in the category of airplanes.  So I will keep writing about airplanes.

Non-Airplane Popular Posts

In eighth place by views you enjoyed:  Philadelphia Street Art (Murals).  This post is about a really cool mural on a bike trail in Philadelphia. Someone sent my post to the artist (who shared it with his network) and he wrote, in a positive way, that I “had an interesting take” on his artwork (phew!).  That made me happy.

She might look like a princess but her instinct is one of a wild, carnivorous beast.

And in ninth place you enjoyed:  Sexy Cat Pictures.  Miss Billysky gets an extra treat for every 10 views on this post.

Most Popular Post Based On Likes

First place:

Visiting Laos – a set of my 9 best photos with commentary from Laos.  I am proud of this post because I have been working to get better with the camera.  I’ll have more about Laos coming up this winter.

Second place:

Philadelphia Street Art (Murals) – Second mention today!

Third place:

We have a 3 way tie, one about bad practices in hotels:

The Serious Problem With Hotel Room Windows – It appears that a lot of people agree with me on this subject.  Wish the hotels would listen.

The other two third-place finalists are from my multi-part series on visiting San Francisco, California.

San Francisco – Top 5 Off the Beaten Path Things To Do

San Francisco – Top 5 Touristy Things To Do

Honorable Mention Posts:

Three posts that even I like to look at on occasion, and they continue to get regular and significant views, are:

Stations of the Cross – I documented my walk on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Holy Land.  Walking in the footsteps of Jesus was such a moving experience, I am glad people continue to look at this post.

An Open Letter To Those Who Think Discrimination Is OK  – The title speaks for itself, especially considering the public tone in the United States over the past year.

African Safari Part 7 – Lion Videos – My one and only post that is primarily videos.  I doubt I’ll ever be a vloger.

Okavango Lions

The Early Days Of PaulSeesTheWorld

I wrote my first post on November 25, 2016.  I got 33 views that day, mostly from Japan. I massively panicked because people I didn’t know were actually looking at my blog, so I shut it down that night.

It took me over a month to have the confidence to make PaulSeesTheWorld public again.

beets conshohocken community garden
What was this post about?  Doesn’t matter because pretty much no one read it.

Some of those early days of low readership made the blog seem a bit pointless.  I would look at my stats in the morning – hey a view or 2.  By lunch pretty much the same crickets.  Hey by 4 pm I got 8 views.  Woo hoo.  Bedtime was the same 8 views, at least they did not go away.  Until midnight.

 

 

 

 

I Love Australians

Thank goodness for readers in Australia who gave me an early February boost right around when I was thinking of calling it a day.  They apparently can’t get enough reading about their Bondi Beach.  Believe me, I was happy to oblige.

Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia
Cove

To any new blogger not feeling the crowds reading your blog I say this.  Keep going, keep writing, and keep promoting your blog.  Ask other bloggers questions (use the “Contact Me” page).  I learned a lot that way.  And if write something Australian, anything, they’ll come out for it.

For the record, mine is an organic blog.  I do not pay any money for promotion because I do not try to make any money off the blog.  If you are trying to, and some of you should (and do) because you are very, very good at the craft, then by all means invest in your blog.

Sarah My Guest Blogger

Who would have thought I would have a regular guest blogger?  Not me.

If you could meet Sarah in person you will instantly get why I think she is so interesting and sarahcool.  But more importantly, she is a strong writer with engaging material.  Until she starts her own site, she will be writing on PaulSeesTheWorld every Monday.

Concluding Thoughts

Keep reading and I’ll keep writing.  I am committed to another six months.  And to fellow bloggers, please keep writing and I’ll keep reading.

I will conclude this post the same way I concluded my 6 month anniversary post:

To fellow bloggers, thank you for writing and sharing your world with me.  To everyone, thank you for reading!

Peace.

Paul