100 Today

Today marks the 100th post for NoCrowds. Such a metric might not mean a lot to Matt Drudge, but it means a lot to me. Over the 1 ½ years that I have been at this, plenty of people have been highly encouraging, about the same number have, with little success, tried to get me to focus on some kind of business model. I have shamelessly used my family and friends as narrative devices. I have exhausted the good will of my husband/editor for this time consuming “not-yet-for-profit” project and my children, some grown, some not, who look for ways to describe what I do to their friends - “Aging hippie, former Corporate Communicator is now a Blogger. Don’t ask.”

I hold the travel industry responsible. If they had done a better job at protecting the experiences they were hawking, then I wouldn’t have a job. But they don’t, so I do, and now I am completely fired up with ideas for the next 100 posts.

At the moment, like everyone else, I am focussed on Christmas and for the next few weeks I’ll be covering how to put authentic experiences back into the holiday season in London, Paris and Rome. For desperate last minute shoppers, I’ll also be offering some ideas on how to choose the perfect trip for that special someone.

But before closing this 100th post, I want to thank some of the people who have kept the faith, forwarded ideas and supported me in this hare brained but beloved project. Here you are:

The thousands of readers I haven’t met who love to travel but hate crowds
My long suffering but fabulous husband/editor
My children – well at least the ones who read my stuff – you know who you are
My father who gets it
My sister who sends me ideas and her husband who, in the nicest way, tries to get me to think a bit bigger and a little bolder
My loyal friends, who, along with the porn spammers, were my earliest readers

And to travellers everywhere who insist on "taking back" travel from the forces of evil, one experience at a time.