Trains on the Brain Savour the journey & travel by train

Blogging journey survives the longest month

My legion of loyal subscribers (all 3 of them) may be wondering by now if I’ve run out of steam. I haven’t posted for about a week and I’m getting the heebie-jeebies about it. Oh I know, I’ve missed you too. The truth is I’ve been getting a little distracted and despondent recently. I’ve read that many blogs don’t survive their first month in the wild, so this landmark has been hovering over me psychologically like a giant swinging axe from one of those annoyingly hard platform games. So what the blazes have I been up to then? Well, I’ve discovered the joys of twex, been commenting like mad on other travel blogs I’ve enjoyed, got active on the TBEX discussion boards and volunteered my services for various guest blogging gigs. I’ve even met some real, live, flesh and blood travel bloggers right on my own damp doorstep (well, not RIGHT on my doorstep that would be a bit freaky.) All this good stuff has spurred me on a little but it hasn’t had any tangible impact on traffic which has seriously nosedived more in the last week than Will Self in a BA toilet. Nor has it helped me to stockpile future posts that you dear readers might want to read.

All change: next stop, Focus Central

I was beginning to lose heart and a visit to the drawing board was in order.  So I spent some time delving into copyblogger, problogger and bloggingadvice.  These excellent, often tough talking, sites have given me a much needed wake-up call. I cringed with recognition when reading some of their ’10 worst mistakes newbie bloggers make’ posts. No one (myself included) wants to read a load of ‘let’s talk about me’ guff anymore than you want to be cornered by the jabbering bore a party. (I appreciate the irony of this, since this is precisely what I’m doing here, but stick with me for a bit longer people!)

So it’s time to re-focus a bit. I just needed to get a clearer idea of what this blog is about and why people should read it. If this blog stands any hope of surviving and standing out, it needs to solve certain people’s train travel problems. Maybe even challenge a few people’s perceptions about whether train travel really is a viable alternative to flying and what needs to be done to make this true more of the time. More of this particularly thorny question in my next post…

Who am I?

But anyway, why should anyone care about me and my journeys, metaphorical or otherwise? Nomadic Matt I aint, I’ve yet to leave Europe for bleedin’ ada’s sake. I am no wizened world travel master or bungee jumping ‘awesome dude’ bucketlist backpacker, nor shall I pretend to be. I’m no mad nomad living the impossible dream of a life and a bank balance less ordinary. I’m just a regular guy who likes to travel by train from time to time, and thinks that you might too.

My mission

All this is a round-about way of saying that my first month blogging has not been wasted. I think I am finally sorting the mental wheat from the chaff and honing in on my mission and message.

1. To persuade people that travelling by train is an infinitely more enjoyable way to travel
2. That it can be a viable alternative to taking budget flights
3. …but that there’s a lot of work to do first!

This last point’s an important caveat.  It’s best not to be blasé and admit that this is still something of a minority view. So this blog will not shy away from the shortcomings of travelling by train, the inflated costs, delays and inconveniences, not to mention the practical and cultural challenges involved. In fact it will aim to tackle them head on. You never know, maybe somebody out there will listen and take some steps to make long distance rail travel a viable alternative to flying for the greater part of the population, not just committed greenies, gung-ho adventure travel types and people like me.  I’ll not hold my breath just yet though.

Coming soon to an interweb receiver near you!

The trouble with other people’s rail blogs

Essential sites for rail trip planning

Interrail for old timers

50 ways to leave your flight bag

Really great rail reads

Music for train stations

…and oh so much more

If this sounds like your cup of tea, why not dunk your digestive in and subscribe by email (top left box above) or rss feed? And even if it doesn’t, sign up anyway, it’s not like you’ve got anything better to do is it?

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