Part lack of motivation and interest, part distraction by new interests, part simply being busy with life: this blog has suffered tremendously over the past few months. Like a mediocre relationship, it has just continued when I felt it should just end. Two recent blog friends brought up thoughts that have brought about a hiatus for this blog.
First, one friend wrote about purpose for a blog. While randomness is fun, it eventually makes keeping the blog difficult. While I was in HK, I was documenting my year in HK. My new experiences and weird cultural moments made for fun stories; the blog made for a good way to relate those to my friends. Somehow, this year in Okinawa has felt less like an adventure and anthropological venture than Hong Kong did. Slowly, my blogging purpose seems to have slid away.
The second is the tension between a digital identity and a daily one. I find that the blog looms like a dark cloud, needing to be nurtured and updated. Social media has taken a back burner to my interests in reading and writing; email and the blog to my interest in personally communicating to genuine friends. I find that social media and blogging also distracts from my other writing. The blog has also nudged me into a style of writing that I feel is stagnant.
While in China, I once told a friend that I think we are in an era that has no goodbyes. Instant updates, emails, twitters and status feeds let me know the intimate details of friends [and 'friends'] lives by the second. In a previous era, a person might leave and you never know what happened to them. It was a genuine goodbye. So, this post is a ‘goodbye’ to the blog. I believe it is more of our era’s goodbye than of time past. Still, a sadness hits me even as I know the hiatus is a necessary and good step. In any case, happy travels and I’ll see you!

































