How are you? Last week flew by in a whirlwind! I have been enjoying my time back at blogging (haha – for two weeks now!) but at the same time, I am wondering where I want to take this blog. Right now, it’s a mishmash of things – talk of travel, taking part in challenges and zillions of photos of places I’ve been. But perhaps it’s getting a bit boring?
What I do know is that I still have no interest in trying to monetize my blog nor do I have a goal of attracting thousands of visitors. I guess that’s a start. I have no talent for poetry, so I’m not going to attempt to go that way either. I have many things I would like to rail on about but I’d rather this was a feel-good blog, so let’s forget that too. I don’t want to write in Finnish, so that’s a no-no as well.
I would still like to talk about travel in the sense of recommending places of interest to the audience out there. I would also like to talk briefly about books, as now that my studies are over, I have rekindled my love for reading. However I’m not looking into starting a book blog as I’ve tried that and got tired of writing endless reviews which limited my reading time and stressed me out – which no hobby should do.
I find interacting with others and finding fun connections an extremely important aspect of blogging, so I hope to continue that. It seems that some of the bloggers who were around nine months ago aren’t here anymore so hopefully new friends will emerge. Saying that, I was happy to reconnect with familiar faces, so not all has changed after all.
I know I’ve written a similar post to this a while back, musing over (almost) the same thoughts. I guess I don’t have to make a decision now and can just see which direction this blog starts to take now that it’s up and running again.
What I have done, during my break, was change the name of the blog. This caused me months of messages with Facebook as apparently my chosen name was against their rules. But in the end, for some reason, they gave in and I succeeded in what I thought was an impossible feat.
Last but not least, I’d like to share with you something that resonated with me very strongly. A fellow blogger, Lex from One Foot Out the Door wrote that their hiking guide in Bhutan said this: “Karma does not mean good or bad luck; rather, karma simply takes us where we are meant to go or be.” ❤
How do you keep your blogging interesting? How has your blog evolved over time?
Wishing you all a good start to the week!
All these photos are random snaps from our last sail of the season last year. You can sense the “end of summer” feeling from the low light in the photos.
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
I’m glad to see you, me and others have the same thoughts & questions! My reasons for blogging have changed over time. Originally it was to capture images & thoughts about living abroad and travel. Now I just do it for where I am, whether I’m living at home or traveling. I’ve never had an interest in recommending or educating anyone, which is why I don’t monetize or work hard at attracting clicks. At the end of the day, I blog for purely selfish reasons. It allows me to capture random moments in time by way of images & brief wordings. It’s more immediate & less painful than writing memoirs.
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Exactly, I do feel that a blog is more interactive and interesting to write than a memoir would be. It will be fun to read all these posts and see the photos when we’re old and grey 😅
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Hei Suvi! I love all your blogs. It’s comforting to hear from a Finn (in English!) about anything and everything, so I don’t mind what you write about. I think I like collecting stories from other people. Snippets of their lives that give a different perspective. My blog is a mishmash of travel (with a focus on child-friendly travel), and life in Finland. I feel like I’m running out of new Finnish experiences to write about, so lately it’s all travel. I think if you keep writing, even if it feels like word vomit, you’ll find your niche. 😊 Best of luck!
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Thank you Emily for sharing your thoughts 🙂 So comforting to think that someone enjoys my posts! I guess I will keep on going and see where that takes me. It’s really interesting to read your point of view on living in Finland but I enjoy your travel posts too!
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Thank you, Suvi! 😊 I’ve found too that I compare a lot of countries to Finland now when I travel. Nothing quite compares to the level of child-friendly that Finland offers.
I look forward to reading what you end up writing. I always find it interesting.
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Hi Suvi, I think you should just continue to write about things you enjoy and not worry too much about your blog’s focus. I always look forward to your ‘weekend favourites’ but, of course, enjoy all your posts. You mentioned people disappearing, well there was some very sad news before Christmas about the ‘Joy Loves Travelling’ blog. Although we never met, I enjoyed her posts and recall her mentioning following you when we were featured together in Haukilahti. Marion
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Thank you for your thoughts Marion! I really enjoy writing the weekly favourites, perhaps I will start with those again, good of you to remind me 😀 I’m so sorry to hear about Joy, so sad. The blogsphere is very real indeed. 😢 xx
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Hi, Suvi. I know what you mean about a direction for your blog. I have pondered the same question and decided it only had to be what I wanted it to be. That takes the pressure off to some extent. I started posting when I travel using my phone, which is a challenge at times. That way I don’t have to rush home and try to process photos. I too gave up on the idea of an actual travel blog. I am so tired of the overwhelming number of travel blogs that all say the same thing. I prefer the real travel stories that our fellow bloggers tell. And Instagram is even worse with “influencers” who have big dollar sponsors using high fashion selfies (ha-someone else is often behind the camera) showing travel ideas and fashions that they think the rest of the world can afford. Okay, sorry for my rant but I feel better now. 🙂 By the way, I loved your Saturday Statue challenge. Marie
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Thank you Marie, good to hear that I’m not the only one out there with these thoughts. I too have been thinking of using my phone to post but I must say it’s so much easier to write on the computer. I am very allergic to those Instagram posts you mentioned, many are so obviously fake that it’s terrible. The infouencers pay someone to take their beautiful photos, a normal person can’t match that. It’s like before we talked about magazines showcasing the “wrong” kind of models for young people, now it’s moved online. I liked the Saturday Statue challenge too, maybe I should start it again, I will look into it 😀
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😊
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I definitely wouldn’t say I keep my blogging interesting. My site is a brain dump for me… all the convos which ratttle through my brain with no other outlet. If people respond, great. If not, I’d still do it or I’d go crazy.
Those are the kind of blogs I like to read too… a little bit of everything. I find that when people develop topic, and only blog on that, I lose interest… unless it’s about their pets or animal rescue.
I was checking my BlogRoll links,to see who’s gone inactive and it was a happy surprise to find you blogging again. Welcome back!!
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Yes I think you have a good point here, we write the blog for ourselves in a way and the it’s a plus if we get some interaction through it. It’s like a diary! It’s fun to be back, thanks for the welcome! 😀
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Hi Suvi! You are definitely not alone. I’m pondering same questions. I guess it’s just that the blog is evolving with us. I don’t have any advice except for do what you like. That’s the most important part. Why not to try different approaches and see which one feels right. Remember to have fun along the way! That’s what blogging is about 🙂
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How true Elena! The blog is all about having fun! I am a very performance-based person, so a relaxed attitude is exactly what I should aim to achieve. Very wise words 🙂
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Oh! I saw your new post (after many months of not seeing them), and began reading with interest as I have been having the same blogging questions in my head, and there was a mention of my blog! Great minds are pondering the same things, I guess! 🙂
I wasn’t so much bored with my blog as I was simply uncertain why anyone really needed to hear what I thought about various places or ideas or things. I was feeling like blogging was becoming like Facebook – a documenting of things for public consumption rather than my own pleasure, which was how I started. Now I am blogging when the spirit moves me, reading others’ blogs when I have time, and not stressing about my own posting schedule or whether I get to each and every one of other people’s posts. I feel much calmer about the whole thing!
Hope you discern what you want your involvement to be and are happy with it. Meanwhile, you and I can both ponder my Bhutanese guide’s take on karma and apply it to our lives!
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I’m sure you and Suvi won’t me eavesdropping! ”… uncertain why anyone really needed to hear what I thought about various places or ideas or things. I was feeling like blogging was becoming like Facebook…” ➡️ I feel the same. I also somehow lost interest in travel blogging, to be specific. I feel like the magic is gone after having seen 1000 photos – all amazingly beautiful – of Japanese cherry blossoms and hearing about gap years and realized travel dreams. I don’t know how that happened but it did! 😊
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I think it just got to be too much. I’m trying to really limit how much and how often I write (even more than I already did!). I love all my readers and I love all the people whose blogs I read, but I just can’t read and comment on ten separate posts all about every little aspect of one place someone visited, and I can’t expect anyone would want that kind of volume from me either!
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Yes, so true!
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I also have this same feeling as Snow – that travel blogging isn’t the way I want to go. I do want to include travel in my blog but I think I need to take a different perspective towards it. How that is going to happen, time will tell I guess 😉
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Aaaah – I am loving your stance to the whole thing – I hope to achieve a relaxed attitude like you have described. I must say it will be difficult for me but not impossible I’m sure!
I will definitely remind myself daily of the Bhutanese take on karma – I really need in in many aspects, for example my career!
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Hi Suvi! I hear you about being at the crossroads. I guess we all go through that at some point with blogging. What I can say though, I enjoy your travel posts. Weekly Favourites are fun too. But all the best with finding direction of your blog. 🙂
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Thank you for your thoughts Khaya! I really want to resume Weekly Favourites, maybe I should start this week 🙂
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Hello dear. After my boys were born, I’ve had so many similar thoughts regarding my blog. So similar that I could’ve almost written this myself! 🤣 Well except for the sailing part, I’ve never been sailing in Finland actually. Looks like fun (lovely photos!). Anyway, starting my own photo challenge solved the issue for me, at least temporarily.
I didn’t know you used to have a book blog! 😊 Blogging should definitely be fun, not stressful. And I always wonder about the bloggers who disappear… some are busy, some lose interest, some have kids… but I always wonder if maybe something happened to them. It feels odd when they completely go off the radar without a word!
Btw, now that you have a crazy amount of free time (just kidding), let me know if you ever want to meet up for a coffee in the Kamppi area, just for fun! 😉
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Yes it’s true, you do wonder about what happened to those who suddenly do not post anymore. I was going through the blogs I follow and so many seem to be inactive.
Hahah – I still don’t feel like I have a lot of free time, I guess I have filled it up successfully 😉
But yes, I would love to meet up with you! 😀 Let’s arrange it in May?
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Let’s! No stress though 😊
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One cin cin from me when you two meet!
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