ktravula – a travelogue!

Coming Changes to KTravula.com

I have exciting news. In coming weeks, I will begin to effect a series of changes that will transform this blog from a personal platform of just one man’s thoughts on things to a more open collaborative blog of ideas from all over the world.

I have thought about this for a while now and have come to the realization that the personal nature of the travel experiences here has gradually run its course. For one, I do not travel as much as I used to nor do I hope to soon. There are very many responsibilities of different natures competing for attention. I also have a very demanding schedule of tasks at hand including personal work, a thesis, and other research projects for which I need to give my all. More than that, I am also convinced that there are very many new voices out there that could find good use for this means of expression.

The changes will be gradual and will lead eventually to a richer and fuller content for you dedicated readers. As at today on Alexa, KTravula.com was rated #113,258 in the United States and #393,557 in global ranking. We’re slowly catching up with Google, Facebook and Youtube who occupy positions #1, #2, and #3 respectively ;). In less than two years, we also got a record 12 nominations for the Blog Awards. I couldn’t have done this without you. Now is the time to expand, and enrich the experience. We have got a few offers for non-intrusive ad links on the blog. If it works as planned then, I’ll be able to pay all contributors a little stipend. I will not stop writing, of course, but there will me a few new voices and I will retain my position as the editor-in-chief/publisher. So, watch this space.

PS: Interested travel writers/freelance writers who are interested in becoming regular or irregular contributors should send me a line at freelance@ktravula.com with ideas. I’m also looking for a voluntary website designer.

By the Way

I just found out that our “Blog Anniversary” was on August 10. That was when I made the first post on the blog this time last year. I’m really not big on this kind of anniversary so I’m letting it pass. Or maybe that passover night has taken out all the steam that this was supposed to have sprouted. There’s nothing special about a blog anniversary, except to appreciate that we’re still breathing, and that we’re still having stuff to say to each other. I find this privilege one of the most precious and enduring.

Thank you for being there, even silently. Yes, I mean you 😉

A Checklist for July

I feel guilty. I neglected this blog for much of the time this month, and that was because of two nagging issues: internet, and internet. I have concluded that Starcomms was actually a wrong choice of connection for me because I’ve been fond of using it at different places. Not having the connection spread of bigger networks like Multilinks and MTN, they charge more, and offer less. In my next life, or as soon as I find someone to buy this one off me, I will make a different choice. Starcomms is more expensive and offers less national coverage than the other connections. I’ve put this to test. In any case, there are still a few nagging things in my mind and I’ll try to say them before the month escapes from my grasp.

Just in case you haven’t noticed, July concludes my first twelve months of blogging on this portal. Alright, if blogs were babies, this one should by now have started mouthing “ba-ba-ba”. It is for this reason that I will also try to complete the pattern that has been the case since that auspicious night in Lagos in August last year when I made the silly decision to begin blogging :). It has been full of ups and downs. I’ve blogged sitting down on the dusty floor of a train station in St. Louis, on a delayed plane in New York, in a crowded bar watching the World Cup final in Ilorin, with a laptop battery on the verge of dying out in the absence of power, and even under the influence of several bottles of Satzenbrau in pleasant company. It’s been good. And let me confess, I have wanted to abandon it many times. But if I did, how would I survive it?

Now if this blog were a book, August 2009 would be the first chapter, titled THE ENTRANCE. The second month of September would be BLENDING IN. October would be IMMERSION while November would be DISCOVERIES. December was ADVENTURES WITH THE COLD and January SIGHTS. February would be tagged BREASTS & CHRIS, a whole dedication to the Mardi Gras in St. Louis and adventures with Chris, March would be CLASSROOMS, April would be LOSING RESISTANCES, May would be A FOOT IN TWO WORLDS, June would be BADAGRY, and July 2010 would be AROUND NIGERIA. Now that I think about it, it might make a thrilling read, if only a self-publication to distribute among friends, and not for the general public, just like that old one Drawing a Straight Line from Hamburng to Ibadan, never before seen by more than a handful of people.

I have not yet completely processed the lessons, the essence and the thrills of my short trip around Nigeria, perhaps particularly because it was so short and I’ve not yet giving myself the right reflecting space. No, no quasi-perfunctory visit would do next time. I may even need up to four to six months to have as much impact as I would have loved. Maybe volunteer in a local secondary school to teach the English language. Maybe teach them to act a play at their end of the year party. Maybe help construct a traffic sign of paint the zebra crossing at one of their community roads. I look forward in the nearest future to a longer immersion exercise in local communities in order to contribute in a more meaningful way to the lives of citizens. Jos is a special case, and as much as I tried, I was not able to reach the Red Cross officials this time. What have they been doing? How could one help?

All in all, it’s been a nice twelve months and I thank you for being there with me. I have just agreed to work with Nokia to promote their new product Nokia C3, so in the next couple of days, you will see Nokia related posts and quizzes one of which will earn one reader of this blog a Nokia C3 prototype to be presented at the launching in Lagos in August. (See this previous post.) From what I hear, this is open only to residents in Nigeria. So if you are interested, and/or you know anyone interested in winning the prototype, stay tuned to this page. All you would need to do is to be the first to answer a set of questions coming up in the next few days.

Well, happy end of month, when it comes. I am hoping that my last post for this month will be a poem rather than (or in addition to) the usual 10 reasons debate, but let’s see how that turns out. Let us look forward to August with peace. And who knows, maybe it will bring all required good.

PS: I’ve submitted two of my photos for a “Democracy Photo Challenge.” You may see them here and here. You may kindly leave a comment there too. Who knows what I may win for audience choice.

Confessions

The Nigerian Blog Awards 2010 have been giving me sleepless nights. Seriously! 😮

I try to think of what else to blog about, and I can’t get it out of my head that I’ve been nominated for the most number of categories in this year’s awards. This is too emotional for me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not averse to awards or honours. I welcome all that they represent and all the responsibility they bestow on the nominee/winners to behave in a particular way worthy of the trust. Still, I was awed, humbled, sometimes swollen-headed, and then humbled again by the what it must mean to be considered worthy of those nominations. Give me the tissue, someone!

So I’ve thanked all the (invisible) people who nominated my blog, but it doesn’t seem enough. I want to go out on a tall building and shout out my appreciation, just go get the point across. Let me do so again here. I appreciate the love. Very much. Thank you. This blog – my own social network, my sounding board, my blackboard, my confession box, and all that it has been over the last ten months – won’t be what it is without the committed readers, commenters, guest-bloggers, fans and friends. It is you for that the drums roll.

KTravula.com was nominated for these categories:

– Best Daily Read
– Best New Blog
– Best Personal Blog
– Best Photography Blog
– Best Poetry Blog
– Best Student Blog
– Best Travel Blog
– Best Use of Media, Including Social Media
– Best Use of Theme
– Most Intellectual Blog
– Nigerian Blog of the Year

Now I can’t wait for the voting season to come and go (voting starts on 31st and ends on the 6th), so that I can get on with my life and resume the pattern of a sound sleep. This suspense is killing.

In the next couple of days, I hope to try to show you a few of my old posts that I often find myself reading all over again, for different reasons. For visitors coming to this blog for the first time because of the mention in the Award Nominations, the posts might give you an insight into why the blog might actually have possibly deserved those nominations. For old readers, they might refresh your memories. But tell me, what are some of your favourite posts, and why?

PS: Today I took a long overdue tour of my old Hall of Residence in the University of Ibadan. The structures are old but there are traces of renovations. There is also a new basketball court behind the Warden’s office. I took pictures. I will share them shortly.