The times they are a changin...

22 February 2008

In January we stayed static at 100 unique visitors a day. I have been slowly working on that, and this week we are managing 300 a day. Our goal, as I said earlier, is 5,000 - as soon as possible.

Without this traffic the Project will likely whither and die, so it's kinda vital. All my energy to date has gone to developing something credible we can show people.

I am trying to build traffic, which I will explain after the following conversation.

Daniel [Ca$h] is in Florianopolis just three days when he starts a text message onslaught.


DANIEL: What u doin???
PAI: Hi Dad, everything ok there? Miss you...
DANIEL: What u doin???
PAI: ??
DANIEL: What happenin with the site???
PAI: Oh that.
DANIEL: U changen everything. Im cumin home.
PAI: Relax. I'm not changing, I'm developing. We need to get traffic

The project was Daniel's idea, and even though I am the force behind the administration he is the energy driving the dream. If I can get some of the tourists who promised emails to keep their word, you will see just how much the kids adore HIM. I'm just an appendage. Oh yeh, I'm still waiting for some fotos, three months later...

This is very common actually, although a pain in the butt. Tourists come here, see a need, and truly genuinely want to help. They promise the world, and INTEND to contribute, but once back home, it takes just 24 hours for them to slip back into their old routines, and their holiday simply never happened.

This blog has a number of separate goals. Firstly, we want to develop this community, so we need to attract a niche, a loyal following to help. Secondly, we want to motivate other people to enrich their own lives, and so we want to document step by step all our trials and successes, a blueprint for others to follow. One great way to enrich your life is through travel, so we are incorporating this component as well.

For a blog to be successful, I think you need a niche, and you must offer value. We are trying to do this, maintaining our focus on personal development and using the growth of the community as a 'reality' milestone to measure our progress and the credibility of much of the 'guru' teachings liberally inhabiting the internet.

Hence the changes those few current loyal followers see. I have attached a bunch of motivation and useful items, related to the above. I have put them at the bottom of the blog, hoping those who stumble upon us will read the blog on the way down to the attachment and maybe get a little interested.

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  • 10 steps in planning a world trip.

    1. Make it fun

    Planning a Trip of any kind should be a lot of fun. If it isn't, stop and take stock of exactly what you are doing. Life is in the journey, not the destination. If the planning is just plain hard exhausting work, you may already be off the track. This should be an exciting time, a time of discovery and anticipation in itself.

    2. When should you go?

    If you are planning to work on your tan, go in summer. If you plan to ski the slopes - don't go in summer!

    The world is a big place. Think about where you want to go, what you want to see and do, how long you want to be on the road, the season in which you can travel. Excactly what you can do depends on exactly when you can travel - remember this in your planning.

    3. Buy a map

    Buy a large inexpensive map of the world and put it on the wall. Inexpensive, because you are going to write on it - a lot! This little step - putting up your map - is more than just a beginning. Firstly, it IS a beginning, you have done something concrete in the physical world to get your dream in motion. Secondly, you are making a statement to the universe: I AM going on my trip!

    This small step lets the universe know what you intend to do, and thus allows the cosmos to start manifesting whatever you need to realize your plan. Once you actually start something, no matter how small the start, it is amazing how many related things begin to appear in your life.

    4. How to know exactly what to see and do

    Once you have drawn your route on your map [and this is bound to be redrawn, and redrawn as you grow along with the planning] browse the internet and haunt the bookstores. There are many great Travel Guides available, such as the Lonely Planet series, which cover every country and hundreds of large cities - all full of suggestions for must do experiences and crowded with practical advice on hotels, buses, trains, restaurants and tons more. Pure gold for planning and budgeting.

    Then go to the internet to check current prices/rates, as the books are of course a year or so out of date, and watch your route take a solid concrete form! You can smell that trip now, can't you - and all that positive emotion now energizes your dream and draws amazing support and 'coincidences' into your life.

    5. Google it

    Once you have planned your basic route - even if it's just a few tentative chicken scratches on your map - begin to google your trip city by city, or country by country. Your search parameters will include your interests.

    A cultural tour?

    1. Museums and art galleries in London.
    2. London cultural highlights.

    An adventure tour?

    1. Adventure tours in South Africa; things to do in South Africa.
    2. Rafting, hang gliding, safari, skating, abseiling in South Africa.

    Get the idea? From the zillions of options that pop up, you can then plan things in terms of what is along your route, and what is within your budget.

    6. Budget it

    Your basic budget will be... a basic budget! This means your budget is just a rough estimate of fair [not minimum - give yourself room for unexpected 'extras' and 'disasters'. You are planning to travel, not suffer...] expenses. Some countries are more expensive than others. Some "must do" experiences are insanely overpriced and may die a sad death through lack of funds. Stay flexible here - you will always find yourself trading one experience for something else, either through time or budget restrictions. So, sometimes, you just have to let it go...

    Include airfares, bus and train fares, occasional car hire, accommodation, food, and "must do things!" The list seems enormous... okay, the list IS enormous. And the final total may be... shudder shudder. Don't despair - let's break it down. See how to do this at 10 Easy Tips to Help You Finance Your Trip, where you can also look at just how to generate it.

    7. Luggage

    Depends of course on whether you are five-starring or budgeting. For the average traveler [99.99% of us, huh. Madonna might pack differently...] you are glued to your luggage, so better choose something friendly. The most practical and basic is this: a basic pack or bag to hold everything, plus a detachable or separate small backpack. The big bag you leave at your hotel. The small one you throw over your shoulder and lump around town every day - with your camera, water, map etc.

    Ideally, this small bag fits inside the larger bag, and when traveling you pack it there! Traveling with two bags makes you a much greater [and easier] target for thieves. See 10 top Travel Hints for tips on this.

    Right now, from day one, right here in the planning stage - develop an allergy to brand name luggage. The best luggage is solid, light, a bit battered perhaps - and pretty boring from the point of view of a thief.

    Maybe you are taking your laptop, to keep in touch with Mum through MSN at all those wifi hotspots. No problem, they abound, but - LEAVE YOUR LAPTOP CARRY CASE AT HOME. Whenever you wander from your hotel to the cafe, or Lan house, with your laptop - never advertise that you are carrying... a laptop! That way no one is going to come on over and steal it from you, right. Carry it in a battered old backpack or bookbag or whatever, and act like you ain't got nothin' in that little old bag 'cept your lunch.

    8. What to take

    Whatever you pack to take with you, you are bound to discover this: you packed too much. Travel light, the golden rule. You have to haul that pack or that bag with you everywhere, through rain and shine, crowded peak hours and exhausting end-of-long-bus-trip arrivals. And a lot of what you think is so necessary - ain't. No need to carry extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo and all the rest. Believe it or not, these are common items even in other countries! And when you set out, buy a small tube of toothpaste, and small bottle of shampoo. Why drag the extra weight around?

    Planning to be in the Sahara in summer... and the Alps in winter? Are you REALLY going to carry your thick winter jacket across northern Egypt in 45°C? They actually DO sell jackets in Europe. Budget to buy a cheap but warm one when you arrive there - then give it away to someone who needs it the day you finish with the Alps and leap on the bus to your NEXT destination.

    9. Should I let people know about my dream?

    In the beginning - no. Dreams have such fragile beginnings, and many a dream has been crushed in its infancy by naysayers - those who scoff at its impossibility for thousands of very good reasons - for them! Many times this comes from frustration or jealousy - theirs! If they think your dream is impossible, it probably is - for them!

    It is easier to destroy something than to build something - you go right ahead and plan the trip of your life, and let them go trash their own karma.

    You will - WILL - achieve your dream, no matter how impractical, improbable or ridiculous - if you really want to.

    Once you have done your basic planning, and worked out many of the logistics, then let others know what you are thinking. When people see a detailed plan they are more likely to say: "Oh look, I have just the backpack Johnny took on his trip to the inner-Mongolian sanctuary of the Whooteewatsee Tribe. It's just the thing!" and "Look, I can't help you much, but I do have a zillion travel miles I can trade for a week in the Sheraton Hotel in Eastern Ethiopia". You'd be surprised... the universe LOVES to help - IF you just get started.

    10. Be flexible

    Once you are finally on the road - be ready to ditch your plan at any time! All that lovely work! Life just doesn't work that way.

    If you planned to be at Point A at 10:00am on June 19 [well, you have over planned, for a start! Give yourself more flexibility than this - it's not a train timetable you are working on, it's... life!] - anyway, back to Point A - there you are ready for your 10:00am thingy - and someone invites you to do something else, something spontaneous, something unique for that country or region, a three-headed wedding or an underwater firewalk. GO! Trust me, the museum will still be there tomorrow at 10:00am [or 3:00pm if you really got into the mood of that wedding].

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