Wow! It’s been already nine month since I started this Colombia Travel Blog and I think is a good time to look back and tell you about the wonderful things that have happened in my world thanks to blogging.
Except for being a “regular” Facebook user, until a year ago I was almost a total illiterate about everything regarding social media, podcasts, viral videos or blogging. To me this was an unexplored territory that I had heard of but never experienced myself , my social travel experience was “limited” to actually physically going to each destination meet people there and then , in some cases, occasionally keeping in touch via e-mail with fellow travelers… but adding the online facet to the “traditional” travel experience enhances the fact of being a traveler so much! If it weren’t for these tools, what would the chances be of you reading something I had to say? I never thought that this would be such a way to abridge distances, to share experiences and to meet wonderful people around the world that have the same passion for Colombia as I do! There’s no place, travelers club or association that compares to this experience.
Another group of people that I have got in contact with are those that I call “pioneers”, foreigners that are already living in Colombia, investing in real estate, tourism and other areas. I have seen this phenomena happen in other underdeveloped countries in Latin America before and I can assure you that these visionaries that fell in love with Colombia and that are investing in it - now that we’re about to blossom as a prime travel destination – are playing and will play a vital role in the taking off of Colombia’s breakthrough in the global travel industry. People like the founders of www.bogotabrilliance.com , a couple of manhattanites that after living in France decided to settle down in Colombia, represent the kind of faith that many foreigners have in our country and that sometimes, we Colombians lack of. Through these people I have also found professional related contacts that are helping me in my upcoming travel related project ( more on that in a few months ).
During these months I have also been introduced to networking tools like digg, stumbleupon or reddit and travel blog communities like travelpod , travelblog, travellerspoint and of course, to tripadvisor, which I find to be one of the most wonderful things ever invented! I signed up to Trip Advisor earlier this year, and after a couple of months of avidly answering every question about Colombia I found, I was offered to be one of their Destination Experts, so now I can give advice on Colombia to even a bigger base of people! You can find me there under “colombiatravelmarce”
Also, I have managed to position my blog second in Google if you look for “Colombia travel blog” which I now know is quite an accomplishment …… what I’m trying to say is that I’m so grateful that I decided to forget about my “writing stage fright” to be in contact with all of you , thank you all for this wonderful first 9 months of blogging , here’s to many more years of meeting outstanding people, keep learning and discovering fascinating ways of promoting my country!Abrazos
Marcela
