Finally: This is my first blog post ever. As I am just starting to write “out in the open”, I’m still not entirely sure what to do – but giving some details on this blog seems like a good start.

1. Why am I doing this?

Probably the most important question is: Why am I starting this blog at all, when there are already so many travel bloggers out there, who are actually earning money doing this? Well, I intend to do a lot of travelling from now on and I’d like to share what I’m doing. Earning money is not (at least not yet) a major goal, I’m doing this more in a “just for fun” kind of way. Also, I hope to find fellow travelers with whom I might exchange some ideas and tips, e. g. on great spots to visit, effective ways to learn new languages and so on.

2. What will I write about?

Another question is what this blog will be about. I will try to build my posts around three main points:

  • First, of course, the travel experiences I make or ideas on travelling I have, with no particular constraints concerning country or type of travel.
  • Second, and this is something very important to me, languages. I try to learn at least some parts of the language of every country I travel to. I do speak German, English, French and Japanese more or less fluently already and I am currently studying Chinese and Korean. I also know some bits and pieces of other European languages like Italian and Spanish as they are in many ways similar to languages I already know. With a trip to Iceland coming up in about a week, I’m now trying to memorize some phrases in Icelandic. This, however, seems to me to be the most challenging language I have come across so far – at least as far as pronunciation is concerned.
  • Third, pictures. I love taking pictures and couldn’t imagine going even on a little trip without my camera. I know there are already a lot of pictures (and travel photographers) out there, but I feel that pictures can always help to make a text a little more lively and are a great way to capture a certain atmosphere at a travel destination. By the way, I’ve already shared many of my older travel pictures on my tumblr: showingsomethingbeautiful.tumblr.com

In addition to these points, my interest in foreign cultures, new kinds of food and local music will, to some extent, play a role in future blog posts.

3. Why did I choose the name Showing Something Beautiful?

Obviously, the main reason why this blog is called Showing Something Beautiful is that my tumblr already has the same title. But why did I come up with it in the first place? It was in a way inspired by a song I really love, which is Show Me Something Beautiful by Trombone Shorty & New Orleans Avenue. Listening to the album (Backatown) still makes me happy immediately. With this positive energy and of course with the ambition to actually show you something beautiful (as I hope my tumblr does already), I will try to approach all future posts.

So is it for a start. I hope I will be able to live up to your (and my!) expectations in said future posts. (And I really hope I will actually keep on blogging with university starting again in August…)