Thanks Andrea. Love your writing!

Goodness, I really need to retract the word Stalker and replace with Reader/Lurker! It's awful that such a thing like that would happen. This seems such a supportive, well intentioned community that I am so happy to be part of.

Thanks so much for those lovely words of encouragement Bruce. One of the things I love most about cycle touring is observing life's smaller things, so your comment about looking deeper really resonated and would definitely be an incentive to journal. Already I’m noting birds far more than I ever did (thanks Scott).

I’m still laughing to myself about your chid post and The Lucky One post.
And aren't we lucky! So grateful.

Carolyn I should have mentioned that the stalker wasn’t part of the cycle touring community.
And he wasn’t stalking this site. It was another site. Nevertheless I learned to be a bit more careful about what I publish, especially if I mention others.
Yes you are definitely not a stalker. :)

Thanks for that useful info Buddy.  From all the comments, it certainly seems to be something that becomes compelling once begun. 

Yes, I am grateful everyday.  I don't know how or why I've been so lucky.

I also wanted to add that I have had numerous trips through Asia starting 49 years ago.  Before 2014, when I started carrying a laptop with me, I kept handwritten journals.  If my house was falling apart during an earthquake or burning up, I'd grab my journals and get out of there.

Hi Carolyn,

I've been following this thread for a couple of days.  I thought about adding my comments about the joys of journaling and encouraging you to do it too, but I'd just be repeating all the good stuff that has already been written.  

Then I saw Bruce Lellman's post above.  Like him, I've kept handwritten journals about all of my bicycle, backpacking, canoeing and automobile travels since my college days.  Also, like him, I always knew those journals would be the FIRST thing I'd try to save if my house caught on fire.   (Oh wait--my wife, dog and kids too, of course.) 

Anyway, even though I'm just a minor player here on Cycleblaze, I thought of something that might be worthwhile to add.  Personal hand-written journals are one thing, posting them on-line for the whole world to see is another.  My fears were as follows:

• What if people laugh at me?
• What if my writing isn't good enough?
• What if other bike tourists notice I don't carry the most up to date gear? 
• What if my routes, my destinations, my daily mileages/kilometerages, and the length of my tours are sub-standard?

I sense you WANT to journal. If any of the things I listed above are holding you back, my advice is to throw that kind of thinking into the trash with yesterday's stinky onion skins and chicken packages.  You've got something to write, and this is the place to write it.  Have fun with it, and it does not matter how many followers or hearts you get. 

just so you know, Mr Tough Guy: people laugh at you plenty.

I love that you follow our journal!  If it weren’t for Scott, I’d be following other folk’s journals but not have my own.  Also, I think you should post your journals here.  I would love to read them!  Also, the excitement of heading out is still there for us!

Hi Carolyn

I first met Kathleen and Keith Classen at the Sidney BC ferry terminal in 2014. We were all waiting for the ferry to Friday Harbor and, while Al and I were renewing our touring life, Keith and Kathleen were just starting. I’ve no idea what Al and Keith talked about but Kathleen and I were chatting about the adventures of the Grampies, then posted on that other site. Kathleen mentioned that this trip to San Juan Island was a test trip for a proposed tour in Europe that fall, and I urged her to journal it so I could follow along. She said she couldn’t possibly but somehow, between that July day and the end of August, she changed her mind. I really enjoyed Poking Around Europe on our Bikes and all her (their?) subsequent journals. 

I keep journals of my “big” trips for all the reasons others have mentioned.  These days, those tend to be cycle tours and the journals are on this site.