A Personal Note
Between Being an “objective” reporter and a travel blogger
Anyone who follows me on Facebook, Instagram, or Telegram knows that my red VW Polo and I have now arrived in Portugal on our road trip. My posts are short but up-to-date. My followers “follow” me in the truest sense of the word. It’s different on this website. Here, my stories are longer; writing them takes time. Time during which you, who follow me here, might loose touch with my journey—and, in the worst case, I lose you as a reader. Enough of that.
I started this website as a platform for my stories on public radio, where I’ve been working as a freelancer for various stations for 25 years now. Over time, a lot has changed—and I’ve become a nomad. Suddenly, it’s no longer “just” journalistic radio reports and features to post, but also my own personal experiences. This is, of course, the opposite of “objective.” And it occasionally gives me a headache trying to balance both forms of presentation.
A story I experienced and wrote during a trip is often not broadcast on the radio until much later, when I’ve already moved on and am in a completely different place or even in another country. So how do I post the story without it seeming like a foreign element among the current posts, or making my entire blog appear “hodgepodge”? Or, as a friend put it, “a colorful bouquet of flowers.” Then there are the occasional anniversaries that commemorate historical events that I consider significant, but which may have absolutely nothing to do with the place or country where I happen to be at the moment. The same goes for the upheavals of our time—the global rise in digital surveillance and censorship, the planned introduction of digital central bank money and a central digital ID, the increasing concentration of power, and an emerging war rhetoric that threatens peace wherever it still exists.
In other words, my interest in world affairs versus my desire to live as a free spirit, far removed from all these “trivialities.”
How do I bring these “two sides of me” together in one blog or on a website? Perhaps a solution for now: Just like on social media, I’ll often post short, concise updates here to keep you up to date on my journey—and when the time is right, I’ll follow up with a longer story.
From my last two posts about Portugal, you might have guessed where I am staying right now. Guessed... Let me do things differently—and hopefully better—from now on. “The proof is in the pudding” was a motto of my grandmother’s that some of you most likely still remember.
Please feel free to let me know at any time what you think the solution I came up with.