Until next time...

I can't believe that I started this blog twelve years ago, TODAY!

February 26th, 2008.

Time certainly does fly.

I started it mainly so I could post about my trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2008 and to try to keep in communication with friends along the way. I had forgotten that I was gone for almost two months on that journey.

That is the longest vacation I've ever taken.

I need to win the lotto so I can do another one sometime.

After that trip, I was so used to writing something every day, that I just decided to continue posting during the week, just to do something entertaining at least once a day.

I've really enjoyed doing it over the years and hope that anyone who came to visit enjoyed it too. All these years later, I think it's probably just a couple of my friends who pop in once in a while to check in, which I've always appreciated.



But, with Facebook now a part of most of our daily lives, posting updates on trips, life events, photos and the like seem to be easier to do there and more people probably see them.

So, after twelve years....I've decided to take a break from updating this blog.

It just seems like the right time.

If I ever pick it up in the future, I'll definitely let folks know on the Facebooks.

For those of you who have checked in, THANK YOU for taking the time to do it.



I reread the posts from that first big trip this week and they made me smile and laugh often, especially the comments that people made along the way.

You can read my first post here and, if you want to read them in order, just click on the Newer Post link on the left side of the bottom of each post.

I've chosen a few of my favorite posts during the trip and thought I'd link to them here, if anyone just wants some highlights and a smile:

Kathy Griffin on the flight to Australia
A screaming "Nana" and a couple that took me on an unexpected trip
When my old landlord, Frank, passed away during my trip
Meeting a lovely older woman in rain pants in New Zealand
The message from my suffering house plants back in California during my trip
The hang gliders in Queenstown, New Zealand
The mountains of New Zealand
Taking a steamer
A trip through a Fjord
Queenstown pics
Wellington 
Meeting Ruth
What the world thinks of the United States
My trip to Hobbiton
The creepy dolls of New Zealand
Auckland, New Zealand
The island of Rarotonga
Island People
My last day of the trip
First Trip to Florence, Italy
Trip to Berlin, Germany
My hometown of Tipp City, Ohio



You can also access any post from any year by clicking on the year listed on the upper right side of any page and it'll open links to each month, which opens links to each post during that month.

Well, thanks again to anyone who followed along over the years. I wish you all the best and I do still believe that life really is too short to go to bed early.

Enjoy it.

Ken