Today, it is a special day. I started this blog exactly one year ago. I am still publishing! This is partly thanks to you, readers! I am indebted to those who read and to those who comment. I thought that some birthday takeaways would be in order here. There´s a bit of a present at the end too.

Looking back, it is interesting all that went through my head when I started. It was after a night out in London. Digitally-focused as I was back then, I still had some doubts as to how blogging could fit in my life and how useful it was for me. I had previously done some blogging and quite a bit of online writing, for work purposes only.

This was quite different. Would I be able to publish any personal content? Even if it was just thoughts. Obviously,  there were so many bloggers that had been doing this for years before – and they were so interesting to read. Maybe, the trick was applying the social media principle of not publishing anything that I would be ashamed to have attributed to me.

Now, my experiences in London and UK in general have been great so far. I do believe that they are interesting, up to a point. However, why would anyone else find them interesting enough to read my blog every week? I bet others have plenty of fun, memorable, unusual experiences too.

Also, there are so many blogs out there. How could I make mine appealing enough? Would I be able to tell my readers the good story they deserve?

So, after that night out, I opened my desktop and started this blog. It was fun choosing the layout, sections, etc. Even writing my first entry was good. I have never regretted it.

Here are some things that I have learnt so far from this experience:

• One has to be honest.
  It is not worth writing something that you do not feel. Human touch is important. I cannot pretend.
• Keep an open mind.
  Sometimes, it is the contradictory points of view that matters. Someone might not be bothered at all by something that I might personally hate.
• Content is important.
  But, content published periodically is even more important.
• I believe that blogging is a bit of a journey.
  There is always room for improvement.
• So many good blogs and bloggers out there!
• Open mind to criticism.
  Constructive feedback is always welcome.
• Hard to keep up!
  Much that I love writing, squeezing blogging into my daily life can be a little hard sometimes. Apologies if I do not always publish twice a week, as I did mention before!
• I still want to do it.
  Yes, I do.

Hope you enjoy the video below. Thanks so much for reading, and hope to see you soon.