We must not only blog what is popular. We must blog about our passion/s, no matter how quaint. We blog to share, to connect, to create, to inspire.

It is believed that storytelling is human connection at its most primal form. And in today’s world, this could be done through various online platforms – from blogging, vlogging, and even podcasting. All of which gives us a creative outlet to share our thoughts, ideas and passions.

As a person who loves reading and writing at an early age, I have developed a particular fondness on telling stories through written form, hence the thought of having a personal blog. It’s rather like having my own magazine, where I am both the writer and the editor. And there’s that added perk of getting to decide what topic or content goes into my online post.

This daily prompt topic made me reminisce how I started my blogging journey. I started writing through an online platform called Multiply some years back, the same time i started mountaineering and local traveling. I wanted to chronicle and write about my climbing and travel experiences. The primary goal when was just to have a personal and fun reminder of the things, activities I am doing as a person. Multiply eventually closed and i had to look for another space for my travel stories, which led me to WordPress.

On March 2015, I created my WordPress account and started writing in this platform. Most write-ups i have initially created are travel-related ones. Eventually i expanded to food-related writings. And then came the personal stories about love, life and all other things in between. Now my wordpress blog is 8 years old. Through the years, a lot of things happened — I’ve made a lot of travels both local and foreign and I have experienced various highs and lows, successes and joys, with some heartbreaks and heartaches in between, and a lot of stories to tell.

With all these things in mind, it made me question “how has blogging impact my life? Did it even have an effect to my world or the world around me?” “What’s the end goal really”?

On a very personal note, having my own blog has empowered me to showcase what I am passionate about and created a brand for myself and my passion. I want to believe that my writings allow people to learn more about me and connect with me. It’s as if writing has become a way of explaining my own life to myself.

I want to think though that there is more to this seemingly personal gain. Through my blog, I have met amazing people who shares the same passion as mine, whether that is writing traveling or even photography. Our collective stories are making an impact to whoever reads our posts. I want to believe that we are somehow changing the world, one story at a time. That change may be a change in mindset or perception about things, or even a change that allows people to have healthy and intellectual conversation about certain topics.

Sharing some milestones in my blogging journey. Through my blog, I was able to have some of my photographs exhibited. A friend of mine encouraged me to submit photos for an exhibit after reading and seeing my travel blogs. It opened doors for me as a non-professional photographer to have some of my photographs displayed in various exhibits.

I have 3 photographs chosen by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts/NCCA (through the organization Funtastic Philippines) exhibited in various malls (Greenbelt and SM) in Manila and Cebu back in 2015 amd 2016. One particular photo was my Pulang Bato Falls image that was included as a part of the Filipino Heritage Festival Waterfalls Exhibit alongside 30 other photos from 30 talented photographers.

Also in 2016, a good friend of mine invited me to be a part of a blog called “Dyan Lang” for some collaborative work. That same year, we won the Best New Travel Blog at the Blogex Awards! While that blog is no longer active, I am thankful to my friend Aris who invited me and Powell to be part of that travel and mobile photography blog.

In 2017, after doing my 1st 3-month EU solo travel, I was invited in my city, Baguio ro be a speaker at a bloggers forum. The Other Bloggers – a group of Baguio local bloggers asked me to talk about travelling in a forum with the theme “Towards One Blogosphere”. It was a gathering of bloggers from different niche.

And in 2018, I was tapped to write for a well-known cough medication/product. From then on, friends who have small business (and even random business owners) would come to me so I could write for them. These are moments that make me feel extra grateful I write.

In 2019, another photograph of mine was exhibited in various establishments in Manila. This photograph was also turned into a limited stamp for release. It was yet another proud moment for me. Such opportunities came about because of my blogging.

Below is a series of photographs showing the evolution of how my wordpress blog looked like the past years.

So thank you blogging. I may not have a very big impact to the world per se, but blogging for sure had a great impact to my own world. Take it easy.