Where Do I Start?

When you happen upon a cool new blog, it’s hard to know where to begin.  You like one post, but you want to know more about this person or what their story is.  I’ve put together this little guided tour of Ottsworld to help you get an introduction to me and the site.  Hopefully you will love it so much that you’ll sign up to receive updates in your email, or my monthly newsletter, or you’ll simply stop back from time to time and leave a comment.   And if you don’t like it…then it’s been nice knowin’ ya…thanks for stopping by!

Navigation – what does it all mean?

I have broken up my writing into Travel, Photography, and Life – so you get a mixture of everything – which means hopefully you’ll like something.  To see all the countries I’ve traveled to and have written about – click on Destinations in the navigation bar and find the country you are interested in.  If you simply want to see the standard blog view of posts then head to Blog in the navigation.

Travel and Photography are pretty self explanatory… but I’ll give you some pointers on the Life category.  Life is full of my personal take on the world, and often it is a look Inside My Head…ideas, fears, absurdities, observations, blogging business, and a lot of self reflection.  It also contains my thoughts on living this life solo.  No one to lean on; the good, bad, and alone…but seldom lonely.  In addition, you can learn about my experiences in teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) around the world.

Being Popular:

I’ve been blogging since 2006, so there are hundreds of posts to dig through…but here are the most popular ones…a good place to start:

• Growing Up, Growing Scared
• What has Travel Taught Me
• Couchsurfing Regrets
• The Great Horn Divide – from the Motorbike Diaries Series
• The Longest Day - from the Tiger Balm Tales Series
• A Girl’s Guide to the Asian Squat Toilet
• McDonalds and the Around the World Traveler

Some Favorite Themes:

After years of nomadic travel – I’ve experienced some great stories – here are some of the most popular story series as well as some really popular tags:

• Bad Travel Stories – A collection of some of my worst experiences
• Photo of the Week
• Food – What we eat when we travel – yes, there are some gross things in these stories.
• Transportation – This is probably my favorite thing to write about
• Markets - My favorite things to photograph
• Danger Ahead - a collection of the dangers (real or perceived) of traveling

Who Am I:

I also assume you might want to learn a bit more about me.  Here is everything you wanted to know…good and bad.

I wrote this post prior to my departure in 2006: This is me then…
A post right after I finished my initial 16 month career break: This is me middle…
A post after a year spent in Vietnam and a new career direction: This is me now…
25 things you didn’t know about me…some jaw droppers…

How to Follow Along:

Now that we’re all acquainted, why don’t you take a second to sign up for the various types of updates I send out so you don’t miss out on anything:

Monthly Newsletter for those with little time

Ottsworld in your inbox…finally, something good showing up in your inbox

Don’t forget to stop in and say hi on Twitter too; it’s my second home after Ottsworld!

Or contact me here on the blog.

Hope you hang around!