It’s Nice To Be Back

Well hello! Again.

As you can tell by the date of my last post, it has been sometime since I made my way back to this little corner of the Internet, and because of that, I feel like I have some explaining to do.

 

First, let me start by saying that initially I had no intention of taking a break from blogging. Upon my return to Canada after six months of travelling abroad, I was determined to keep this site up-to-date by continuing to post and engaging on social media. However, after a few days back, it became apparent to me that I needed some time to unplug.

When we returned home we hit the ground running. Our first few weeks were a whirlwind of family gatherings, spending time with friends, various weekends away, and more happy hour drinks then I care to remember. Beyond that there was a myriad of other things to attend to that took up time and energy; for example: unpacking the stacks of boxes that were waiting for us upon our return.

It quickly became apparent that despite my newfound love of blogging, I needed to step away from technology, unplug and regroup.

The reasons were twofold:

First, I wanted to be completely engaged with the people who stood in front of me. I wanted to focus my attention on reconnecting with friends and family, sharing stories and taking the time to appreciate being home in my beautiful country.

I wanted to step away from social media and not think about which photo should make an appearance on Instagram today, or how to network and promote my blog on Twitter. I needed a break from technology to remind myself that life is happening right in front of me; I didn’t want to miss my first few weeks home because I was staring at my screen.

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The second reason – I needed time to think of the direction I wanted this blog to head now that my lifestyle has changed.

I have loved every minute of writing for you, and I have also enjoyed having a travel-focused blog however, I was unclear if that is what I wanted the sole focus of my blog to be moving forward.

I realized I would be taking a risk by having a month off blogging so early, especially with regards to growing my audience. In order to stay true to myself and produce quality content that excites me, I knew that it was something I had to do.

Good news: I’m back and feel reenergized!

My blog has received a much-needed facelift (I hope you like the new design) and I am excited about the future of this platform. We have gone from zero to thousands of people looking, waiting, and watching. I am grateful that you are along for the ride.

Let’s talk direction: I will continue to focus on travel; there will be many more local travel tips. One thing I realized during my time away is just how much I love my city: Vancouver is a special place and there is so much to see/do I look forward to sharing more of it with my readers.

Fashion/beauty posts will continue to make regular appearances, and Thursday’s Three Things will continue to be a weekly feature. I am hoping to enter into collaborations with fellow bloggers and continue to search for my “What”, start incorporating more personal and reflective posts as regular features.

I am excited for the future of Wander Before What and hope you stick around for the ride… it’s about to get interesting!

Have you ever taken a break from blogging or technology? If so, why, and what did you gain from the experience?

If you are thinking about taking some time off your blog or technology in general, here is a great read from Becoming Minimalist on the reasons everyone should take time to unplug.