Why do I write?

This is my last post at Wanderlust. I have moved all of my past posts to my new website at gemtherese.com. Come join me there!

There are many facets of this blog and the posts I share. I think and hope that it is that reason that you, the reader, are here and find it profitable and interesting to read and follow.

But why do I write? Where do posts come from and why do I share them? I have been thinking these questions in the lead up to launching my new site as I feel it is important to have purpose and reason in as many things as you can. So here is an insight -

To start, I believe that the point of knowledge is to share it. Maybe it is for this reason that I am terrible at keeping secrets and telling lies. Now, the knowledge I share is not ground breaking stuff, it is my personal knowledge of travel and in particular the European destinations that I have visited and loved. But none the less, I feel there is no point (or almost no point) to having this knowledge of destinations if I don't share it! This of course relates directly to the reason why I work for a tour company. I want EVERYONE to know these cities and their delights. Part of my way of doing this is to share them in my writing.

Often writing is my way of solidifying memories. Special moments that would otherwise merge in with any of the other special moments I have had the pleasure to experience and share with others. Keeping a blog is the modern day keeping a journal, with less tear stained pages and stapled in concert tickets. I love to look back over what I have written about past trips in the same way that I would pick up an old diary and flip through the pages to experience a flicker of past experiences.

I also firmly believe that it is only part of the experience to live it in the moment. Another half of the experience I would argue comes from afterwards and what you do with the experience. For me to internalise and make sense and learn from what I do, I write about it. I understand more about the world from analysing it afterwards than I would from just experiencing it and leaving that experience to stay stagnate in one moment of my life.

Simple lessons are learned this way. For instance. If I missed a flight. If I look back at it and see that I was late by only half an hour and that it took me that long to pack my bag that morning, I would learn to pack my bag the night before, or to leave more time in the morning. If it had happened and I had thought no more of it and left that experience at that. Nothing would be learnt.

The reassessment theory can also apply to gaining deeper understandings of ourselves. Writing things down helps me to put things things next to each other and see patterns. In my article about being a 'travel expert' (tongue in cheek) it was through juxtaposing several of my experiences that I was able to see the common tie that they had in my reaction and so I realised in a more definite way, one of my personality traits.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, I love to share and I hope that my new platform at gemtherese.com will make it even more pleasant for you to experience.

Stay eager and travel light.

Gemma