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20 Sep 2009 12:45
HOME JOURNEYS MobileTravel blog - Brief Changes - Stories - Emails
Changes: If you get this update via RSS or Email then there might be some random images appearing. Or text. The reason for this is that I've been busy with some backend changes to the website.
Pages should load a little faster now, and certainly consume less bandwidth. Again, much like the blog page the changes are subtle, but behind the scenes were quite time consuming, and there in lies the cost.
There is more I'd like to do. But I'm out of time and resources to make them happen at the moment. I need to get back to my real job, which is trying to find a home.
Mobile Blog: I've also temporarily disabled the Mobile Travel Blog as it was conflicting with a few new things. And, it really needs to be fully tested before rolling out otherwise it might cause problems when I'm not around to fix them asap.It should be back soon though.
Stories: I've had some emails from people wondering why there are no recent travelogues, or real people entries on my stories page. They are on the way. In another month to six weeks there will be some travel stories about real everyday people and their lives. It's something I'm really pleased with, as it will bring to you a side of travel and people one rarely gets to see.
I'll be posting extracts on the Travel Blog page when they go live, and then they'll be made available on the Stories page.
E-Mails: I am still very much behind in replying to people. I am simply overwhelmed with email right now. I always reply, and will continue to do so. So if you are a new RSS or Email subscriber and have sent me an email. Please bare with me. I am traveling, sorting visas, and trying to deal with a lot at the moment.
: This entry is only available to RSS and email subscribers. It's purpose is to tell of behind the scenes changes to the website, updates, and upcoming features.
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The changes should help with alot, and also make somethings easier to impelemt in the future as well.
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11 Sep 2009 15:55
Facelift to the travel blog - Improvements all around- Photograph gallery news and more
Finally things are back on track. It's been a good learning experience since last weeks spike in visitors that's led to more time in front of a laptop than travelling.
Travel blog and website improvements: Taking advantage of good internet I have given the travel blog section a small makeover from both the front end and the backend side of things. Everything should be a lot more stable from now on. It should also be able to take care of anymore sudden spikes in visitors.
Cosmetically the blog page looks much like before. But I've taken advantage of having some good internet and spent some sleepless nights making room for future features. It now, also, loads a lot faster which is a good thing. And, the mobile blog is up and running better than ever.
Photograph Gallery: Due to some of these changes I'm holding back on the new gallery page for a while. With backend improvements I have a lot of new options that I want to consider incorporating into the website. I'm also challenged by time constraints these days. That said, I will be going ahead with a nice new 'project' feature that subscribers here will get before anyone else!
It's also a place where you get the inside story on extra things, like new pages, additions and upcoming things in the works.
For now though, I am leaving the small windowless hotel room and going back on the road on my search.
Links mentioned:
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04 Sep 2009 02:10
Travel Blog and Journal Update
As you may have noticed I had to take down the travel blog section of The Longest Way Home yesterday.
An article about the site on the mainstream Italian Newspaper La Republica generated a huge amount of interest and my current hosting package was not able to handle it.
As a precaution to the whole website going down I've turned off the blog for a while as it consumes a lot of bandwidth.
Unfortunately this also means that the RSS and email updates are also offline for a while. However they will be back just as soon as the journal is online again. You don't have to do anything, they'll just resume as normal.
I'm very lucky to have logged in yesterday. And am currently looking at some solutions to this without breaking the bank nor taking up too much time as accommodation is also something I have to factor in.
Finally I'd like to welcome all the new RSS and email subscribers to The Longest Way Home. And I apologize for you not being able to read my journals at the moment.
Special thanks to the many, many new Italian readers who have emailed me over the last few days. It's been great reading your emails. I will reply to everyone, but please give me some time to sort everything out.
I hope to have most things sorted out over the next few days. If you are subscribing to my email or RSS updates - then you won't miss out on anything as the latest ones will appear once things are back online.
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07 Jul 2009 22:23
Upcoming Features on The Longest Way Home
Just a few things that I am working on in between rain and bus breakdowns.
Local Stories: There will be a host of new stories coming out at the end of the current series in Palawan. Some of which will really be a huge eye opener into the lives of local people I've met. Something I have a unique insight into given my search around the world for home.
I took a break from publishing them on my stories page when the blog changed platforms and I was writing about how to live on an island etc. It's given me some time to work on the podcast versions of these stories too. Something that's brought a lot of joy to people with sight impairments and reading difficulties.
Photograph Gallery: just a small update here. I've settled on a template for the new gallery. It's nice. I'd like a little more eye candy, but the website is not at that stage yet financially. But what I have is very nice, and with some innovative thinking, will be something special.
The Blog: The mobile version of the blog page just had a little change. It's not really noticeable, but works very well.
Emails: I usually make a point to answer emails whenever I have internet access or have a good gprs connection. Likewise for comments. If someone takes the time to send me an email, or write a comment then I will endeavor to reply in kind.
However it's not always possible to reply straight away, neither is it possible to approve comments or reply to them straight away either.
I am focused on finding a place to live, rather than spending all my time online. Please bare that in mind if you are expecting a reply asap.
If it's an urgent email, then please mark it as "urgent". Either way I will get to all emails & comments, and will reply!
Links mentioned:
travel blog -
01 Jul 2009 05:30
The Longest Way Home Mobile Travel Blog
These days I am using my mobile phone to do a lot emailing, and updates to my blog. If you are following my journey's in Palawan then most of it has been put together using mobile blogging.
I'll have an article on blogging through a mobile phone up soon.
If you view my web site through a mobile phone all the other pages load really quickly; except the blog page. One of the things I have noticed is that since I switched platforms to write my journals/blog is that the new one takes up a lot of bandwidth compared to the old one.
Well that's just changed. I'm trying out a new mobile blog and so far it's working out quite well. You don't have to do anything if you are browsing The Longest Way Home on a mobile phone. You'll simply see a scaled down mobile version with smaller images etc.
It's incredibly fast, and makes reading my entries a lot faster. I do recommend Opera mini if you are browsing on mobile. It does everything automatically. If you don't use Opera mini, then no problems the web site will do it all for you.
By the way if you are using a regular computer to view the site, you won't notice a difference. It just effects mobile phone readers.
If you have any feedback on this, please feel free to contact me.
In the works: Work on a new gallery has begun, and is scheduled to kick off at the end of the Great Food from the Philippines series.
It will start off with a series of high quality photographs that will be delivered to all subscribers for free. I'll also be looking for a little feedback on your favorites. In return I'll be giving away something to everyone that helps out!
I'll stop mentioning all this now, as it's a while off. But for those who subscribe to this Journal's RSS and email, these added updates are an inside look at upcoming features on the web site that others don't get to see!
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16 Jun 2009 13:52
A second photograph project starting soon, the book, plus a new FAQ answered, and an award of sorts!
The response to my recently published photographs has been really positive. As I mentioned previously I've begun working on a new gallery. This has now turned into a second photo project, and one I can do as I travel without access to the internet.
It's a while off from getting to the next level, but it's already begun and it should really bring something special to the web site. I'll write more about this as it develops. As it stands I'll probably start it once the Great Food from Around the World: The Philippines series concludes.
The Book: One of the biggest accomplishments I've achieved in the past year is completing my book. It's currently doing the rounds with a group of literary agents. I am looking for someone who I can work together with on this project and not just dump it on, or visa versa.
Some good news is that someone in the publishing business has offered to do a professional edit on the MS for me at no cost. I'm really pleased with this, and very grateful!
The FAQ: I've been getting a lot of emails about me (strangely enough). I've addressed the 'me' question in a new answer in the About page.
Awards: I was recently sent a mail telling me I've won a "Lovely Blog Award". From what I can tell it's a pass it along to a blog you like type award. Whether it's just a random thing or not, I don't know. But if someone felt that this web site deserved the time to be sent one, then thank you!
I am not online 24/7, in fact these days it's more like 7 days in a month I can connect. My priority in life is to find a home. This web site was created as part of that. I don't have the time nor the financial resources to invest in every social media outlet out there to promote the web site as perhaps I should.
I really do appreciate it when people send me a mail or comment letting me know if The Longest Way Home has been nominated, awarded, stumbled or linked to. It's very much appreciated and I do honestly wish to thank everyone for their help and support.
Someone recently asked me in person - "Why bother with a web site?" My answer is as ever: It's for a Dreamto come true, it's for Me to write on, hang photographs, tell real life stories about people around the world, and; it's here to help Others traveling or dreaming of a similar ideal.
Links from this post:
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03 Jun 2009 14:37
Photo-Gallery Poll results!
The poll I had on my travel photo gallery page asking if you would like to see individual gallerys per country, or just my favorites is now closed.
The results are as follows: 82% of voters wanted to see a gallery for every country. 12% wanted more on the current one. And a remainder of 6% were happy with how it is now.
Thank you to those who voted! Here's the scoop -
Yes, I will now make inroads into creating an individual gallery per country. Unfortunately it won't happen for a while. The main reasons for this are:
(1) I don't have access to enough bandwidth / time to do this properly at the moment.
(2) For now the websites revenue does not cover what I ultimately would like to do with the gallery. However if advertising & affiliate revenue continues this will be feasible in the near future.
(3) I want to do it right. And do not want to rush out and just put up a mess of a Photo Gallery. There's plenty of rushed gallerys out there, and I don't want to add mine to the list.
The main purpose of my photography gallery is quite simply a place to hang my personal favorite photographs from my journey. While many people have a living room to do this, I don't. And that's why I created it.
With this in mind, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to expanding it for everyone to enjoy. Almost like having an open house gallery.
In the meantime, I am putting together a little of both!
I just spent an evening working on something new for the photography section. And, it's working out quite well. It's going to be a little project and will take some time. But hopefully it's going to provide some great new options.
For now , I've uploaded new photographs from the Philippines to the Gallery section. And, there's a new video there as well!
Small note: For new subscribers who are reading this entry you should know that it doesn't appear on the blog page. These entries were actually started more as a personal log on new features and additions to the website. A place I can look back and go, 'ah, I remember when I added that to the website'
Now, it's also a place where you get the inside story on extra things, like new pages, additions and upcoming things in the works. Just like the new images added to the Photography Gallery!
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20 May 2009 04:48
Advertisement 
Podcast's for the Stories page, new front page advertiser and news
I recently noticed there was a problem with the podcasts on my stories page. I'm pleased to say they are now working again. I hope to enable all stories to be podcast read aloud and downloadable within the next week.
The story podcasts and the sight impaired version of my blog put similes on the faces of some blind people I met recently. That alone was a fantastic feeling for me, but they were also enthralled to listen in.
I'm really pleased to welcome BAA Airports Ltd as a front page advertiser. If you need airport parking check out the link on the home page.
I'm also really grateful to everyone who has emailed me recently. It's been great to hear from you. And I appreciate you getting in touch.
Finally, in regards to emails and blog comments - Over the next while I'll have sporadic internet access. As you read my blog it will become clear why. Just to let you know that I do whenever I can reply, approve comments and so on. But their might be delays due to the nature of my journey. You might see comments approved and not get an email and wonder why?
The reason is this. I reply to all emails, and appreciate them all. However I try to wait until I get to a good internet connection before doing so. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not. I really appreciate the time people take to send me well wishes, and even just to say hello. So I like to do the same in reply!
stories -travel-blogsight impaired blog
Links from this post:
have just come on board as a front page advertiser, please take a look at what they have on offer!
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28 Apr 2009 00:03
(overland) Then a flight ...The Philippines
West Africa
Website Preparation, Website Income and - a New Look Blog
I just added the Philippines to the countries visited section as I've been working hard on that page. It's linking to the blog page at the moment as its not finished and makes more sense in preparation to when it is. So if this email / feed has a few out of place bits of text, this would explain it!.
My last travel blog post left a fairly cryptic last few lines about the future. Well the future is nearly upon us.
I've been very busy this last week preparing the website for the next few weeks and generally taking a look at how it's been doing over the past few months.
As I mentioned a few months back some direct advertising revenue enabled me to upgrade the hosting plan for the website. This has given the site a little security, longevity and an ability to improve a little - more on this further down.
Moreover just recently one of the Affiliate advertisers pulled in some revenue. Affiliate advertising is different to Google Ad's etc. Affiliates are usually image ads offering a travel related service that I have on certain pages. The commission is not all that great. But, anything earned - goes back into the website. I have not spent a cent on myself nor my travels on any revenue earned, and have no intention to do so. It goes directly in the cost of running the website. The recent revenue is not quite enough yet to do what I want with the website, yet, but we are on the way.
I want to give a big thanks to anyone reading this who has bought items through The Longest Way Home website. You've increased it's life span, improved it's ability to perform, and hopefully in the near future have enabled some great new features. Thank you!
As part of the improvements later this week the blog page will be getting a major make over. You heard it here first. All journal archives will be now available, there will be the ability to enlarge or zoom in on photos. Email and RSS subscribers should get cleaner neater updates. There will be some new features. And, well ... there's a whole lot more that will be listed in an upcoming post.
This new blog / Journal will also help me to create more entries as it's easier and faster to update than the previous version. Which should help in reducing my personal costs of spending an extra day or so, in this case a week in a hostel with WIFI. I'm calling this new travel blog format a trial for a new series of posts about my life on the road.
You should notice a few new RSS and email updates arriving as the new system comes online. I've preset about 4 updates over a week. Then it's back to regular journal posts. With the exception that they should look a lot better!
The new series of posts will also be written a little differently. Their will be help articles, tips, and an insight into my life on the road as many people have been asking for.
By the end of the upcoming series of posts I'll take a look at how it's done. I might revert back to the old method of blog/journal updates at the end of it depending on how it works out. But for now lets see how it does.
The very last point to make is about the future. Part of this new blog look is about what I'll be doing in the coming weeks. I will be posting a lot from wireless connections that I'm not sure will work. And, maybe gprs on my phone. I really have no idea who it's going to do, but so far it seems to be working very well. We'll just have to see.
The new look blog should be online within the next week!
Links from this post:
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14 Apr 2009 05:54
Travel updatesand Polls
I've been offline a lot in the last few weeks. It's all a part of traveling in my search for home. In a few weeks I'll be doing some major updates that will reveal a lot more.
At the moment I am trying to upload as many photographs from the past few weeks as possible. Not easy considering the bandwidth I am working with. Also I've managed to get a lot of video uploaded.
In my absence I've noticed a lot of problems with the website that I hope to have corrected today. Namely some broken links.
I've corrected the sight impaired travel blog page. The last website update knocked it back to showing images and smaller fonts. Now it's back to image free, large spaced fonts, and podcasts.
Also had a lot of email to get through, some great people have been in touch and it's been interesting to catch up on new websites and people over the past few days online. There are a lot of people out there doing a lot of special things in the world.
The last poll on the Photogallery has shown people are happy with the speed of photographs displaying on it 75%. Thank you for taking the time to vote.
I am going to ask site viewers next if you would like to see individual photograph sections for each country?
In other words would you like to see a collecton of photographs from Iran, Nepal, etc,. in the form of a gallery for each country I've been in.
Personally I am not a huge fan of this format as there are plenty of sites out there with galleries by the dozen from every country in the world. But ... I will ask what you think and what do you prefer? A selection of photos in one gallery? Or a selection of gallery's for each country?
The poll is here.
Finally a travelogue from my time in Romania - Chasing Dracula in Romania (Chasing Dracular in Romania)
Hope you enjoy it!
Links from this post:
Travel Photography Poll - Chasing Dracula in Romania - Sight impaired travel blog -
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