Condensed soup for the blog-fearing soul

Let's get the disclaimer out there: I am not going to make a very good blogger. To begin with, I am overly picky with what I commit to paper, even if it is only for me to read; this gets published into the internet abyss, very intimidating. I also like having a personal stamp on things, and I find that it's difficult to do that while also maintaining a narrative dear-diary voice. Thirdly, I'm off to a terrible start--by definition, it's no start at all. I am already well into my fourth week here so I can say for certain, that by no means, will this blog be an all-inclusive record of my semester abroad. This late start can be attributed to the problems I had getting this off the ground. Below is what I believe to be the steps to starting a travel blog:

1. Blind faith
With visa in hand and travel plans confirmed, the "blind faith" stage begins. I could only imagine all the wonderful things I was going to experience, and (a) how I want to share them with friends and family, (b) how I want a record for myself, and (c) how a blog would make it all fantastically possible.

2. Underestimation
So a blog requires work. So much to say, so little motivation to sit down and figure out how to say it all. And in Cape Town, staring idly at a blinking cursor on an empty page will actually cost you (163.41 internet credits and counting).

3. Me, the Reprimander
With a lot of reflection on my own laziness and a bit of the early confidence returning, the idea gets revisited. This time, with a grain of salt.

*4. The beginnings and empty-diary syndrome
This is where I am currently. I've found that the birth of a blog is similar to the prom commitee in high school. Once the color, theme, and other decorative elements are configured, everyone slowly removes themselves from the remaining responsibilities. It has taken me already two days and a shameful amount of minesweeper to finally spit this out.

5. Upkeep
We shall see. My current goal is at least four blogs a month. This, I am already starting to fear was a bit optimistic. However, I will be posting some images very soon as sort of an abridged picture book of the past four weeks. There's already too much to recall.

All for now...