Another Travel Blog
“Oh, great. Another travel blog.”
I can hear you thinking it. To that, I say, “Why, yes. Yes it is.” I think, every one should have a blog. Blog about your passions. For starters, it’s a great tool to start journaling. Journaling itself is a great medium to put your thoughts together, look inward and self-reflect. It can help you understand yourself and allow you to grow.
My passion? I love to travel. It allows me to connect to people through their culture. I’m an introvert so traveling, exploring new environments and meeting new people allow me to open my bubble and force myself out of my introverted comfort zone. Travel blogging is an extension of that. Reading other people’s travel experiences makes me feel connected to them. It’s not only the shared experiences, but also the understanding of different cultures that brings people together. Having an open discussion about each of our individual experiences in different countries allows us to appreciate unique traditions and establish life long relationships.
So, yes. This is, in fact, another travel blog. If your passion is traveling, I encourage you to start a blog.
In preparation for this blog, I did absolutely nothing. I came ill-prepared with the exception of many pictures and videos throughout my travels. Actually, I find it quite comical and ironic that I’ve chosen to blog since my worst and least favorite subject in grade school was English.
In the 11th grade, I voluntarily chose to add AP Language & Composition to my class roster. Why? Let’s just file that under things I’d change if I could go back in time. In any case, I remember at the end of the school year preparing for the AP exams. We were subjected to multiple mock essay prompts weekly and sometimes even twice a week. Many times, the prompt was a whole excerpt and other times it was just a sentence or a quote. This one specific prompt, I distinctly recall, was a Winnie the Pooh quote. “Yes! Finally! Something I can interpret confidently!” I thought. I feverishly began writing about my experiences with adversity, and that even though Winnie the Pooh is a fictional character, we, as humans, also struggle with our hand not fitting in a honey jar and preventing us from enjoying nature’s pleasures. Proverbially speaking, of course. If mic drop was a thing in the early 2000’s, I would have gone up to my teacher, thrown my essay on her desk, dropped my pen on the floor and walked away.
A week later, my teacher hands everyone’s graded papers back. Catching my eye as she came to my desk, she gesticulated to my paper where my eyes narrowed to read her remarks: “2 out of 5. Come see me after class,” in bright and bold, red ink. When I spoke with her, she told me how she appreciated how confidently I approached the exam, but was baffled by how wildly off my interpretation of the quote was. *shrug emoji*
All that is to say, my writing will likely be elementary at best. Grammar, punctuations, sentence structure - those are merely suggestions … right?
Right. On to the next topic. Why the name Traveling Gay Panda? Well, the first 2 words are pretty obvious. This is a Travel Blog and I’m a Gay man. Panda? Well, I just like Pandas. I think they’re the most adorable animals in the world. They are docile and gentle. They can spend the whole day eating and sleeping. Also, I find the term “Bear” in the gay vernacular too extreme to describe me. Pandas, on the other hand, have a more calming and approachable demeanor. So, I think I kind of resemble them, or they resemble me. I think?
Lastly - what can you expect from this travel blog? Most of my entries will chronicle different travel scenarios I have experienced, what I wish I had done, what I would gladly do again, my favorite eateries/shopping/activities, etc. I can’t say that what I did are the top 10 or top 17 things to do, because I haven’t been able to experience the world that much to make a convincing and trustworthy list. Hopefully, one day, I can! Most of my travels are confined to about a 2 week time period because this gay panda still has to work to support his travel addiction. So, because of that, my travel is a bit limited to what I can fit in 2 weeks. Damn capitalism. Am I right?
So, please follow me on all of the socials (Instagram, Threads, Youtube, Tik Tok) at TravelingGayPanda. Read through my blogs and come chat with me to share your favorite travel stories!
