A Change in Direction

It’s been exactly one month since my last post, where I was motivated to write by the unfortunate happenings in Boston. One month may not seem long to some, but to me it felt like an eternity.

This blog started out being a window into my world for friends and family who were curious about the many travels of a qualitative market researcher. When I moved abroad, it became a source of entertainment for those who wanted to experience life in Paris vicariously through me. Over time, it has evolved into somewhat of a resource for expats, or those planning to become one, who are looking for someone or something to connect with as they embark on the unique experience of learning a new set of cultural rules.

While I am happy with this evolution and love connecting with other bloggers and readers who share similar experiences, I’ve noticed that this change in audience has affected my writing. I started out writing about things I thought were interesting or beautiful or frustrating, and now feel that I write about what other people might think is interesting, beautiful or frustrating. Professionally, this is the way of the world. But it has made this site, my personal blog, feel like a chore. So I’ve decided that I need to make a change.

Time to change direction

The Perpetual Passenger means more to me than just sharing pretty photos from the exotic places I visit. The soul of this blog comes from the idea that we are all on a journey in life, and I want to participate in, appreciate and share mine. With this in mind, I’m going to make an effort to write more honestly. Most of you probably won’t notice much of a change, considering I’ll still be writing about many of the same topics (and there are certainly some posts of mine that have been far from sugar-coated). But from my perspective, I hope to convey more of myself through my writing, here, and to get back to enjoying writing about being a Perpetual Passenger.

I’ve still got plenty to write about from recent romps around France, and a few personal updates, too. Here’s a look at what’s been going on (and what’s coming up):

Most of you already know, but the big news item in my life is that I have been accepted to present a paper on the importance of research in local language at one of the biggest international market research conferences in the world! I’ll be presenting in September in Istanbul (!), and am spending most of my free time these days preparing my paper and presentation. You can check out a description of what I’ll be presenting here.
The Frog Prince and I recently traveled to the land of wine and mustard (Burgundy), and I’m excited to show off this part of France.
We also visited Normandy with some friends, and saw some beautiful seaside sites and WWII-related memorials.
During the course of all of this, I’ve crossed quite a few things off of My List! More to come on which things I’ve done, and how it all went down.
We have been kicking around the idea of sharing recipes, so that our friends and family can see what we eat and maybe try whipping up a few of these dishes themselves. I’m hoping to share some of the Frog Prince’s yummiest creations!

Thanks to anyone who still reads this thing for bearing with me as I reclaim my blog. I’m looking forward to writing what’s on my mind, and not trying to predict what’s on yours. 🙂

Image credit: Getty Images/Thinkstock