|
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about RSS Real Sucky System, On Saturday March 7th, 2009 01:21:00 AM
I agree fully. It is annoying to have 500 content spamming sites reproducing your content. It is also hard to work a full a day researching, writing, and publishing just to have to go to bed knowing that you did not make enough money to feed yourself.
I agree about the rss feeds, but I realized that, in the end, I would rather have readers than money. Perhaps this is foolishness.
Feeds are easier for readers, and this is a world where the easiest path is the one that is taken. Travel websites are a dime a hundred dozen, and I know that if I make things slightly more difficult for readers then a good chunk of the will just not read as much.
But I still need to feed myself. VJ is getting 2,000 visits a day including feeds, but I still typically make under five dollars. This is not really enough to feed and shelter myself, and pay for internet.
In my current circumstances, I am thinking about money more than ever. I have to come up with something soon or pack it in.
-Wade
Vagabondjourney.com Travelogue
Comment About RSS Real Sucky System
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Ignore Image of USA Overseas Travel Tip, On Monday February 23rd, 2009 03:32:00 AM
Andy,
Very wise words.
Wade
Comment About Ignore Image of USA Overseas Travel Tip
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Is a Photo of Andy Needed, On Sunday February 8th, 2009 04:58:00 PM
Andy,
You have been walking this road so long that I see no point in changing it. I do not think that having you face on the site will drastically increase your income in the long run. It may prove to be a day long novelty for long term readers who have never seen you before and it would sooth the curiosity of new readers, but I feel as if not having your photo attached is sort of a symbolic notion towards the real purpose of your site: content without an overly fancy package.
Though it is my opinion that I would not let having your photo published prevent you from pursuing other avenues of promotion. If you have the opportunity of promoting your sites in other mediums, such as film, TV, or whatever, I would not hesitate to allow your face to be seen.
In point, I would not recommend being hampered either way. If it is too difficult or would be a disadvantage to not show your face, then show it away. If there is not real purpose to publish your photo, then don't bother- you have been doing well without a photo.
Wade
Vagabond Journey Travelogue
Comment About Is a Photo of Andy Needed
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about No Tipping in Developing World Countries, On Monday January 19th, 2009 02:42:00 PM
Good on you for bringing this up. The expectation for a tip is a practice that has blown up out of control. A traveler is just another person in a place and should not be held to special rules. I do not expect special treatment in other countries because I am a foreigner, so I do not expect to give special payments.
Each country and cultures have rules of behavior. Most places in the world do not tip.
Thank you for posting this,
Wade from
Vagabond Journey.com
Comment About No Tipping in Developing World Countries
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Do Not Ask Bus Driver the Price Travel Tip, On Saturday January 3rd, 2009 06:03:00 PM
Excellent.
Perhaps this is a standard operating procedure that really divides travelers from tourists:
Travelers find out the price of everything and do act as if they have a never ending supply of funds.
Tourists go back to real life eventually, a few extra dollars here and there does not seem to be too much of a problem.
Each dollar spent while traveling is one dollar closer to going home. Each dollar you hold on to is a dollar closer to the next horizon. If you don't want to go home, you have to hold your money.
Wade
Vagabond Journey.com
Comment About Do Not Ask Bus Driver the Price Travel Tip
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Taca First Class Upgrade, On Thursday December 11th, 2008 05:05:00 PM
To the second Anonymous:
American just means people who live in America.
I am sure that you would not try to berate a European for calling themselves Europeans by making a claim that a "True European" is a Neanderthal.
Oh yeah, I am half Native American and I am unsure of what sterotypes you think I am breaking.
Wade
Comment About Taca First Class Upgrade
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Sciatic Nerve, On Thursday December 4th, 2008 01:13:00 PM
If you run through the Western medicine gauntlet and still come up empty handed, I can still help arrange for you to meet up with a very good doctor in China.
He brought me back from the dead once and I studied under him for a year.
Let me know how you make out.
Wade
Comment About Sciatic Nerve
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Glad to Know Thai People Lie, On Wednesday November 26th, 2008 04:38:00 PM
"I would not trust any Taxi driver on planet Earth."
Everyone who travels should know this. Locals are not always correct, especially when they stand to make money off of you.
Good advice.
Wade
Comment About Glad to Know Thai People Lie
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about HoboTraveler.com Needs People to Interview, On Monday November 24th, 2008 06:49:00 PM
You could interview me if you want, of course.
Wade
Comment About HoboTraveler.com Needs People to Interview
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about The Story of My Life, On Sunday November 23rd, 2008 12:45:00 PM
Hello Andy,
I also say that it would be interesting to do both on the same blog. But I think that it would be helpful if you had a special "travel articles" index page that you could link the articles and time-consuming posts from. Then readers could browse the travel articles index when they feel like reading something a little more researched.
I do something similar here Vagabond Journey Travel Articles (ignore the corny bio information . . . I use this page for other purposes as well.)
But, to reinstate what I wrote to you earlier, I think that you have a real unique writing style that could be really amazing if you were to cultivated it further.
I say that if you enjoy the work, put the time into it. If not, we will continue reading your more spontaneously composed posts.
Walk Slow,
Wade
Comment About The Story of My Life
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Mafia of Fake Monks Prey on Thailand Tourist, On Thursday November 20th, 2008 06:11:00 PM
Yeah, I talked for a while with a fake monk in Hong Kong on a ferry a couple of years back. He had on the whole monk get-up, gave me the whole monk jive, asked for a donation, and this and that. When we got off the boat and I saw him around a corner in street clothes. I went up to him and could only laugh. This is an old time tradition in China which has references all through Chinese literature.
This was a real good posts and shows the real value of travel blogging - you can share real information with lots of people fairly quickly.
Walk Slow,
Wade
Vagabond Journey.com
Comment About Mafia of Fake Monks Prey on Thailand Tourist
Wade vagabond Journey.com commented about Travel Blog Trade Secrets, On Friday October 31st, 2008 09:37:00 AM
Haha, yeah I figured you had some ingenious way of doing that. I know that you will think up a new way to do about anything rather than taking the time to do it the dummy way haha.
Wade
Comment About Travel Blog Trade Secrets
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about USA Man Wants Wife or Girlfriend, On Thursday October 9th, 2008 11:08:00 AM
Japan and China.
It is absolutely astonishing to me how well a Caucasian man, who is regarded as nothing other than a pencil necked geek in their own country, can court the women of East Asia.
Though I speak from observation, not experience.
Wade
Comment About USA Man Wants Wife or Girlfriend
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about I Have an Embarrassing Ugly Website, On Thursday September 25th, 2008 07:37:00 AM
"If you do something wrong long enough it becomes a style."
I like your sites because can read them. They are not complicated and are about content.
I like your style.
Wade
Comment About I Have an Embarrassing Ugly Website
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Advertise in Japan, On Sunday September 21st, 2008 08:15:00 AM
Hello Andy,
If you email me what you want translated in Japanese or Chinese I can have it double checked.
Wade
Comment About Advertise in Japan
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about CouchSurfing.Com, On Wednesday September 17th, 2008 09:56:00 AM
Haha . .. not to say that ol' Loren's findings are similar to my own haha.
Mira would strangle me if they were haha.
Wade
Comment About CouchSurfing.Com
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about CouchSurfing.Com, On Wednesday September 17th, 2008 09:31:00 AM
(shhh...hint, hint....my friend Loren Everyly has made himself a virtual career of meeting women through surfing their couches . .. . the fellow now has a dock in every port and still refuses to admit that he is a lady's man . ..But I, good friends, have seen him in action haha shhh ..)
Yes, I too am torn on using couchsurfing.com. It is a good resource in a jam and and will usually provide a little story to tell . .. which is always worth it in retrospect . . but not having a place to abscond to, not having a door to close gets a little tiring.
Your fears are warranted, but I recommend trying it in Japan and Korea.
Really ;-)
Wade
Comment About CouchSurfing.Com
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Burning Paper in Taiwan, On Wednesday September 17th, 2008 09:02:00 AM
Yes, a priest will write a prayer and burn it so that it may be known.
Comment About Burning Paper in Taiwan
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Andy HoboTraveler.com has Blogged 4000 Times, On Friday September 12th, 2008 02:28:00 PM
Man, that is like two and a half posts a day!
You are a machine, Andy hahaha.
I know the dedication and work that it takes to make the observations, take the notes, click the photos, write, and then publish blog at least once daily, let alone multiple times.
Wow, that is all I can say.
This is a big milestone . . ..especially that this was all done while traveling.
Good on ya, friend.
Thanks for the inspiration,
Wade
---------------------
Hey Cornbread, there is no chance that you are the same Cornbread that I once shared a punk-rock attic with many years ago is there?
----------------------------
Comment About Andy HoboTraveler.com has Blogged 4000 Times
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about University Housing is Good for Travelers, On Friday September 12th, 2008 01:33:00 PM
Yes, yes, yes,
I can agree with Andy here that this works wonders for keeping your money to travel for a long time. I have often set myself up with a "base" to travel from by renting short term apartments in China, Japan, Honduras, India, and Costa Rica. In many of these places I only paid between $50 and $100 a month for a decent place to stay . .. in the other places I paid far, far less than I would if I wanted to stay in hotels and hostels. Most of the time these apartments were near universities.
The University housing strategy works.
I am glad that you wrote about this, Andy. It is something that I initially failed to recognize the full significance of.
Thanks,
Wade
Vagabond Journey Travelogue
Comment About University Housing is Good for Travelers
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about A Hobo Becomes a Professional Photographer, On Thursday August 7th, 2008 05:09:00 AM
Yes, very true,
The camera does not make the photographer. But it does help to use a good camera. By good I mean one that responds well low light situations and does not need and incredibly long exposure time to take a such photo.
I just published an article on Honduran cockfights in a penny and nickle magazine but am having some difficulties with my photos because I had to take them on the lowest possible resolution setting to prevent them from being blurred by the long exposure times that are necessitated by higher resolution settings. But the problem is that the photos are a little too small for a print magazine. I think they WILL work, but I know that I could not sell these photographs for print media outside apart from the article.
I know that if I wished to sell my photos, that I would need to get a better functioning camera. The one that I have works well for internet publishing, but not for print media.
Good advice though Andy. It is the sharing of first hand experience like this that sets your blog apart from all others.
Walk Slow and make me a darn backpack,
Wade
Comment About A Hobo Becomes a Professional Photographer
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Europe on 10 Dollars per Day, On Tuesday July 1st, 2008 11:29:00 AM
Yes, lets meet in Ethiopia. . . somehow, someway. I know of one fellow who crossed the Sudan, but he says that it cannot be done anymore. His name is Adam and you can find him at www.geekeasy.com
Walk Slow,
Wade
Comment About Europe on 10 Dollars per Day
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Mira Wade and Chris, On Sunday May 18th, 2008 08:13:00 AM
......but you are right about my pink slippers.
Comment About Mira Wade and Chris
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Mira Wade and Chris, On Sunday May 18th, 2008 07:40:00 AM
Dear Mr. Chuck WOW,
You are the kind of person that makes me wish that abortions could be performed retro-actively.
Thank you,
Wade
Comment About Mira Wade and Chris
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about USA Most Welcomed Travelers, On Sunday May 18th, 2008 06:57:00 AM
Yes, this is true. Before I began traveling I, too, thought that the world was an unfriendly place for Americans and that USA foreign policy made the world hate us. But after eight years of traveling on five continents, I realized that this is not true:
The world is a very hospitable place for the American citizen, and I have NEVER EVER had a problem for being from the USA outside of dealing with Europeans who seemingly had a slight touch of little dog syndrom.
No, I do not tell people that I am from Canada, or do I think that the Canadians need those stupid little flags to let people know that they are not from the USA. In my experience, when I tell people from the USA they become interested and ask many questions about where I come from and then tell me that they, too, want to live in my country.
I back Andy up here, the world is a very hospitable place for Americans.
Wade from www.VagabondJourney.com
Comment About USA Most Welcomed Travelers
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Off Focus Off Topic Reading Skills, On Thursday May 15th, 2008 08:06:00 PM
Stupid people think that they know what they are talking about. Stupid people really do not have to read your blog posts at all, because they already think they know what it is about.
I think they could spend an hour dissecting each and every post you write and still never get it.
It is good that they only read 20%, otherwise they may get five times more angry with what you write hahaha. Just joking.
I do not think that the general populous has ever really gotten any great writer.
I think what you write is very original and it can really provoke someone to think and alter their opinions . . . if they only allow it to happen. You write words that can alter a person's perspective. This is what writers are born to do.
I think that you are a born writer . . . whether you admit it or not haha. You have the ability to move people (even if they are just reading 20% haha). This is all a writer needs to do.
So I read with my ears open.
Wade
p.s. when I say stupid I do not mean intelligence, rather I mean people who think they are correct in their assumptions. They are stupid because they do not allow themselves the room to move and grow . . .so they leave stupid comments telling people that they are wrong after only reading 20% of the post haha.
Comment About Off Focus Off Topic Reading Skills
Wade Vagabond Journey.com commented about Lab Test Found Entamoeba Coli, On Wednesday April 30th, 2008 06:29:00 AM
Great! I am glad that they were able to find something!
There is nothing worse than going to a doctor when ill and having them try to tell you that you are well because they cannot find anything.
This is good news.
Hope you feel better soon,
Wade
Comment About Lab Test Found Entamoeba Coli
|
