to my blog readership

I’ve been getting a number of very nice emails these past few days from folks telling me that they have enjoyed this blog. I have really loved doing it. I wasn’t sure at the start what I would think of providing running commentary on my life, but it’s been a blast. I’ve never journaled before. I find that I spend a lot of my day thinking about what I’m going to tell you all. You people out there in cyberspace. It has made me take much more notice of where I stand in relation to what’s going on around me. And to pay attention to what I’m thinking about. I’ve enjoyed this opportunity that you have all given me.

Thank you for reading. I don’t know how many of you are out there in total, but I do know that you people in the blogosphere are friends and family and colleagues. Knowing you have been there reading has been really wonderful. I also know that there is a group of you that I don’t know at all. I’ve been told that this blog’s been out there on the MSN message board and I know that Semester at Sea parents are reading (I know that RD Erika’s mom is out there somewhere, hi Erika’s mom! …) and I know that bits and pieces have been picked up by others at UVA and at the Institute for Shipboard Education. I hope I’ve given you all a taste of what this experience was like. And I ask that you remember that this same voyage is very different for each one of us. I’ve linked to the other blogs at left so that you can read some of the same experiences from other perspectives. I’m looking forward to actually going back after this voyage and reading those other blogs more closely.

At the very beginning of this voyage, Gloria gave me some journaling tips. She journals on all her field research trips to Panama and she sends them in emails back home to a list of about 70 people -- friends, colleagues. I had mentioned that I was having a hard time with having such a disperse audience (this was before it even occurred to me that people who I didn’t even know would be reading this). Gloria said she writes for the people dearest to her heart and then she reads it over VERY carefully once more before she hits "send" … to make sure it’s really ok for everybody else! So, this is what I’ve done. I hope I’ve made a connection with the people who know me best and I imagine those who don’t have found something interesting in my experience to have kept on reading.

David teaches writing and he’s been telling me this whole voyage that I should go back and re-read the blog from the start. I haven’t done that yet, but I imagine I will do so when I get home. To remember where I was in my head back over 100 days ago. And to see if these musings really did capture what this experience was like for me. These three months have felt like a lifetime and no time at all. Thanks to you all in cyberspace for traveling with me around the world. You’ve been great company.