the hiatus. an explanation

I haven’t posted for nearly 10 months. Why?

The simple explanation is, my feelings were hurt. After this post my blog started to get more and more hits. Traffic spiked. I was linked and mentioned on other blogs. And I’m not going to lie, seeing my stats climb on google analytics was pretty awesome. Oh oh look someone in Reno, Nevada was on my blog for 2 hours! Nice! I’m getting lots of hit for people googling “Mefloquine wet dreams”. Dirty… and awesome!

But with the increase in traffic came a lot of trolling. The rudest comments I just deleted. And most of the email I could ignore. People criticizing my writing style (“your blog is like if Diablo Cody was released on a poor unsuspecting African village.”) others shaming my over sharing (“writing about the stupid things you do while drunk abroad doesn’t make you seem cool it makes you seem pathetic”) and then there were the grammar/proofreading freaks. I was able to brush off most of those emails, but then an entirely different set started rolling in…

When I received some critical emails from other travel bloggers and Returned Peace Corps volunteers I really took their words to heart. I was accused of being exploitative. Of not writing about the “essence” of my experience in the Peace Corps. For making it seem like a joke. People were angry that I was writing honestly about my service. One person even went so far as to say I “wasted” the amazing opportunity that had been given to me.

So I stopped posting. I stopped checking the site. But the funny thing is… the blog didn’t die. I still got the emails (both good and bad) but the longer I was away the more positive the feedback was.

Recently nominated Peace Corps volunteers were watching the video of me opening my invitation and then sending me the link of them opening theirs.

I was messaged, tweeted and Facebook friended by strangers who felt like they knew me because they spent a day reading every post on my blog.

So, I’ve decided to put on my big girl pants and to ignore the haters. I love writing and I love sharing my writing on this blog. But my return comes with an–apparently much needed–explanation of what this blog is about.

This is not a typical “travel blog.” At no point will I ever write about those bright and shiny “travel moments” that saturate the travel blog community. I don’t write about exotic sunsets, historical monuments, authentic cuisine or thought provoking interactions with the “locals”.

I write about the awkwardness and uncomfortableness of life abroad. Because that is my travel reality and that is what I choose to write about. I am a hot mess, with an incredibly sarcastic voice and a penchant for poor decisions on the road. They say write what you know, and I do.

Also, if you want to read a great thought provoking tome about the Peace Corps experience, you won’t find that here. But, if you want to read about how one of the world’s most deadliest snakes nearly made me shit my pants. Or how I taught my Senegalese family to scream “dance puppet dance” at me during parties, then you are in the right place.

I think we all know that the Peace Corps won’t be featuring me in any of their recruitment ads.

Finally, This blog is not a “how-to” guide for anything—unless you are search for how to become a semi-alcoholic, over-educated, underemployed nomad. In which case I recommend you start by perusing the archives.

This blog is about telling a story. MY STORY.

I’m not going to win any travel awards for evocative writing or perfect photos. I know that.

This blog is filled with the stories of my life… or perhaps the lack there of. It is deeply personal, and I intend to keep it that way.

So whether you are reading along because you take sadistic pleasure in watching how my misadventures and poor decisions play out. Or because you are my future lawyer collecting evidence for an insanity plea deal. Or because you googled “big ass Senegalese girl” and this blog was the top result. Welcome.

Over the next 6 months or so I will be posting the things I wrote during my hiatus. Even though I stopped posting on this blog I never stopped writing! Fingers crossed, these posts will inspire/terrify/disgust and entirely new group of people.