The Seven Links Project

Something strange has been going on in my Google Reader (my preferred method of reading blogs). All my favorite bloggers have the same post: their contribution to the Seven Links Project. Most people are doing it because they were nominated by other bloggers. I am doing it because I want to be one of the cool kids and therefore nominated myself.

I think this idea is brilliant as it allows bloggers to showcase some of their favorite posts that are otherwise sitting stagnant, far away from the home page. Some of my favorite roundups so far include Twenty Something Travel, Legal Nomads, Unbrave Girl, and Globetrotter Girls. I hope this helps inspire some new Alex in Wanderland readers to go poking through the archives!

1. My most beautiful post: Underwater in Five Senses

I think this post is beautiful not just for the photos (beauty tends to be judged visually, right?) but also because I stretched my comfort zone and wrote about scuba diving and being underwater in a more raw and poetic way than I normally would.

2. My most popular post: Dressed to Kilt: A Scottish Wedding Story

I didn’t have to think hard to fill this slot, I simply looked at my Popular Posts sidebar! I think this post struck a nerve as people love weddings, different cultural traditions, and Scotland, of course! The photos of good looking men in kilts surely didn’t hurt things, either.

3. My most controversial post: Confessions of a Picky Eating Traveler

Maybe not controversial in the comments section (come on guys, rip me apart!) but certainly controversial in sentiment. The Foodie Movement has taken the world by storm, and anyone who stands in the way with a limited palette is also assumed to have a limited mind. I’m fighting back. Viva Burger King, and join my picky eating army!

4. My most helpful post: The Departure Lounge Series

I spent a lot of energy the year prior to my departure getting my stuff, health, and money in order so that my mind would be free from fretting while on my travels. I poured what I had learned from my research and experience into my Departure Lounge series, and they are by far my most informational posts yet!

5. A post whose success surprised me: Cayman Tourist Series (full series links at bottom of each post).

The Cayman Islands, and the Caribbean in general, don’t get a lot of virtual ink in the travel blogging world, so I kind of felt like I might be wasting my time when I wrote detailed reviews and impressions of Grand Cayman’s top tourist attractions. Yet, these posts are some of my best search engine performers. I made the fatal mistake of forgetting that the “Travel Blog Clique” is not the extent of the internet!

6. A post that didn’t get the attention it deserved: Every post I wrote during my first South East Asia trip.

Okay, so that’s my fault. When I was blogging about Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia, I might as well have been writing emails to my Mom and Dad, because no one was reading them. And it’s no one’s fault but mine! They were written on my old self hosted site, I didn’t know what SEO was, I wasn’t resizing my images (I know), and I was too stubborn to join Twitter and too shy to promote myself on Facebook.

The sad thing is, I go back and reread those posts, and while my writing has improved immensely, I was so much funnier back then! Perhaps now I think a bit too much about SEO and audiences and keywords, but back then I was just having fun.

7. The post I am most proud of: Goodbye New York

Admitting how unhappy I was in New York, even to myself, was incredibly difficult. Announcing it to the world (okay, I may be overestimating my readership there) was even harder. At the same time, I was finally able to articulate some of my burning call to travel. One of my best pieces, in my opinion.

Now is the part of the post where most people “tag” other bloggers to participate, but since most of my favorites already had, I’m tagging….

anyone in the world who wants to participate! If you take me up on it, make sure to share your link below!