It is cool to see the stats from the blog. For a few reasons. While anyone (most people) who reads this from the US has anonymity, I can see that 2 pageviews came from Canada and 1 came from Poland.
And because of my limited fame and web dominance, I can know who these people are! I have a few friends in Canada who I met traveling in Peru. And that lone view from Poland? Ah- must be my BFF Iza!! We met because we were roomies in a hostel in South Beach last spring. We called each other "bff"... I think it started because she wanted to know what it meant when Americans said it...also now remembering telling her '90210' was the ZIP code where the people on the show lived... It's funny what doesn't translate.
Anyway, given the odds, I'm pretty sure that was her, and just seeing that made me think of her. Here's us having frozen yogurt, a year ago this month:
Why is it that the most powerful feelings of longing-- the ones that go, oh my god, that was so amazing, That was the best day/experience ever-- are for the times I have traveled, met people, and seen places i had never known before? Is it just because I have more pictures of those times than I do of the regular routine? Or is it because I am so happy in those pictures? (Maybe you have to look cute AND have a good memory of the experience to feel that way.)
Other reflections on my stats: By consensus, Google Chrome is the best browser. And, contrasting my feelings upon seeing views from Canada and Poland, I felt a little bummed when I realized no one from England had viewed it. Camilla! Hmph!
Here's Camilla:
(Hey dude, it's not my fault that this is the most flattering picture I have that isn't 3 years old. Visit meee!!)
She's my BFF too. We have a sort of weird history, technically-roommatesbestfriendsweirdconvolutedyearlongnotfriendsthenfriendsagain- and I haven't seen her since the day this pic was taken (the whole England thing) but I know I will always consider her my friend. It's interesting, I've known her since late 2006, and we don't really have any connections in common. My other friends don't know her, I don't know anyone else that's in her life. Just each other.
All right, who else can I call out for not reading my blog based on one single linking to Facebook? Where you at, Switzerland (my friend Isaline)? Sheesh.
No, really, where I was going before? My feelings about travel. They were brought up to the surface again today when I watched this video about "the boy Amelie" - a guy who flew to Europe to return a lost roll of film. He captures my feelings exactly, especially about the people you meet, through his honesty and openness. Traveling makes me aware of life itself; it consists of the experiences that make you realize how lucky and weird and coincidental everything that happens to you is. We forget it, but doing something random and adventurous makes us remember. You find yourself in a boat in a jungle, in a bus in the Andes, in some totally random person's condo over Miami because your hostel roommate met another Polish girl who hosts travelers via Couchsurfer and serves them delicious wine, and you go, wow, I am alive, and anything could happen tomorrow.
Which is what life... is.
(So sayeth the 25-year-old.)
So, before the hits to this blog go through the roof and crash Blogger's server, as they surely will any day now (I just gotta get Lady Gaga to tweet me), It was cool to see those first few pageviews. They brought up thoughts of the living I won't ever forget!
Below: This is Isaline, in Pisaq, a pueblo in the Sacred Valley in the Peruvian Andes. Two years ago this week we spent a week there learning Spanish.
Eerie/coincidental/100% honest update: just checked stats. I just got a page view from Switzerland!
i <3 google analytics.
ReplyDeletewas that video link supposed to go to one of beyonce performing halo? hehehe.