For the longest time, I have had this impulse to build many connections on my blog and public social media account (Instagram)—very random connections that I follow just because they followed me or just so they would follow me back.
I am now abandoning that convention because I feel it’s wrong. I do want to make connections with people outside of my circle—people from other countries, different generations, different fields. But I want to make a quality network. I want to connect with people I truly find interesting and with whom I could possibly have meaningful exchanges of ideas, opinions, and dreams. People who can inspire me, and people whom I may inspire.
I am writing this to hopefully find people with whom I might have things in common.
I started this WordPress blog when I was in my early twenties to record and narrate my adventures in this era, hence the title Twenties Daybook. At first, it was kept anonymous. I did not include specific details about myself, my name, and where I am. (Although if you read my earlier blogs, you could easily guess I am from the Philippines.) I wanted to keep it anonymous to lessen the self-consciousness and to make sure I could write honestly without worrying about impressing others or being judged by people who know me.
Eventually, I became a little bit more open about my blog to my friends, although I still do not openly share my every blog post with them. I only did a few times a couple of years ago, and I left the link to my blog on my Instagram bio page, and that’s it. At first, I used to censor my face with wacky cartoons, but I eventually uploaded photos of myself to some of my blogs with less restraint.
After that, it became a bit more challenging to maintain the anonymity and full honesty of my blog. When I threw it out in the open, I became a little more conscious of the things I wrote. What if my potential employer or business connections check my blog and they don’t like what they see? What if one of my closest friends reads my blog and finds it stale? What if my crush sees my post about him? Sometimes, it takes more effort to resist the urge of thinking about them when I write. I should keep writing for myself.
If you tour around my blog, you’ll find four main categories, which are basically the things I enjoy the most in the world: Love the Philippines (travels in my home country), Love the World (overseas travels), Love Coffee (coffee shops), and The Daybook (musings, sentiments, love notes, etc.).
Visiting new coffee shops and traveling to other countries are my top two favorite things. And I enjoy doing these things the most when I am by myself. I am what you would call an extroverted introvert. I enjoy being around my friends and hanging out with them, eating out, blasting out at a nightclub, doing sleepovers, etc. But I am still mainly an introvert, so I have to intersperse these extroverted activities with alone time, else I would be burned out.
Since coffee and travel are very special interests to me, I want to be able to savor them fully. It’s just like taking quality time with your significant other away from work and away from kids. You need to be able to have alone time together. And that’s why I prefer to go to a coffee shop or travel abroad alone. I want to be intimate with these passions.
Hmm…
Or, I might really just be an introvert, and all of the things I said above are just glamorized excuses.
Either way, the fact remains that I love coffee and I love solo travel. So, if there are people I want to connect with right now, it would be those who are also venturing out into these hobbies.
I would be equally interested to hear about the best, the worst, and the weirdest coffee you have ever tried.
I would love to exchange impassioned raves about our solo trips and share goals and ideas for future adventures.
Currently, I am obsessed with South Korea, especially Jeju, so if you are also a South Korea enthusiast, or just a South Korean who would love to connect with an English-speaking foreigner, then do leave a comment or shoot me an email!
I would love to read your blog if you have one and hope we could follow each other on WordPress, too (or Instagram!). You may like my post or leave a comment only when you find it truly interesting, and I will do the same.
PS. I illustrated the featured image of this post using not Photoshop and not Illustrator. I have no idea how to use these professional software (except basic Photoshop enhancements). I am also a frustrated artist!
Daybook by Rei 