I’m emigrating to Australia and I want to record my thoughts and experiences as the adventure unfolds. That’s the reason for the existence of this blog.
I’ve had my misgivings about blogging as a concept. In particular, I have my doubts about reading the blogs of complete (or relative) strangers. There are a lot of people out there and I’m sure many of them have interesting lives and stories to tell. But there’s scarcely time for your own life these days without trawling through the random ruminations from someone else’s.
Who are all these bloggers anyway? Yes there are otherwise voiceless victims of war and corporate malfeasance, yes there are some genuinely engaging and original writers, but such blogs are rubies in an ocean of dust. The vast majority of blogs must be quite uninteresting. Really, for the most part; who cares about someone else’s children, cats, year-out or noisy neighbours? Basically their closest friends or, more likely, no one at all. Are not all bloggers a bit ego-maniacal?
Well, here I am starting a blog. Would I expect anyone to read this? No. But moving to Oz is a big event and I know I’ll forget or mis-remember the little details over time if I fail to chronicle them. I do keep a pen-and-paper travelogue, but these often amount to scrappy notes hastily scribbled while waiting for a train. Marking them up forces me to give order to events. In essence this blog is for me. To look back on when the dust settles. Here I’ll record events as they happen so that I recall them accurately later. The only advantage a blog has is being accessible as I travel from the now ubiquitous internet café.
A blog is a useful vehicle so now I’m an ego-maniacal blogger too.
