From Logan's Run to All Things Wanderful: Recapping 2019 & Ushering in 2020
Taking in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina
When a representative from editorial review site Consumers Advocate reached out to me last fall about potentially authoring a guest post for the blog, I didn’t know that that eventual piece — “Why Would I Ever Need Travel Insurance?” — would be the final post published while this site was still known as Logan’s Run. I had a fairly good idea it would be the last, if not the penultimate, post published in 2019, but back in October, when that short write-up hit the digital airwaves, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that this blog would hoist a new banner going into 2020.
But fast forward just a couple months, and here we are: a new year, a new decade, a new name. From 2016 to 2019, this blog was Logan’s Run, a project that began with an odd love letter to a Blake Lively lookalike and a painstakingly-kept captain’s log-type series of entries covering a trip to the Middle East.
From there, I ventured to a realm beyond the deck and captured my initial reaction to the first full-fledged blink-182 album sans Tom DeLonge; told you all about my first day as a Detroiter and finally read Harry Potter; tested my skills as a (classic) movie critic by looking back at “Batman: The Movie” (1966) and sat down for a Q&A with an aspiring music producer.
It wasn’t until April 2017 that things really got serious. With a seemingly innocuous post about free land being given away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the site formerly known as Logan’s Run turned the page, becoming a blog all about travel, all of the time — and I’ve never looked back.
Now, you may be wondering where the heck I was during the last couple months of 2019, and why the site suddenly has a new name. More on the second thing later, but with absolutely zero new posts published in November and December, you could be forgiven for thinking I’d fallen off a cliff or something. The truth is that I needed a short respite to focus on another project that’s been in the works since before a single post was ever published on this blog (if you can believe that). Additionally, if we’re being honest, it was also nice just to step back and take a break from blogging for a little bit.
If you don’t blog yourself, you may not realize just how much work goes into it, but pumping out new content just about every week and keeping up with all the social medias can be exhausting at times.
Even without a single new post published over the final two months of the year, 2019 was another solid year here on the site formerly known as Logan’s Run (and yes, I will address the new name in just a second). While not as robust as the statistical differences between ‘17 and ‘18, there were still increases across the board from ‘18 to ‘19. From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, the site captured 3,318 unique visitors (versus 1,935 in 2018); saw 2,999 visits (there were 2,471 the previous year); and racked up 6,157 page views (an improvement from 2018’s 5,874). All that adds up to growth in my book. Let’s just hope we keep the upward trend going in 2020!
As for that new name… there are a couple reasons it was time to move on from Logan’s Run — the primary one being so that I would no longer be competing with the 1976 film of the same name when it comes to the Google machine. To illustrate what I mean, allow me to pose a question: if you search for “Logan’s Run” on Google, what do you think is more likely to pop up — a small-time travel blog, or an Academy Award-winning movie that inspired a CBS television series? I rest my case.
Beyond that, though, I feel the new name does a much better job of capturing what this site is all about: the wonder, and the wander, of travel. And All Things Wanderful, just like Logan’s Run before it, will be bringing you amazing travel content all throughout the rest of 2020.
Before we get to that, I invite you to revisit the best of 2019. Because the top two posts covered the same topic, here are the top *six most popular posts from the previous year:
6. Star Wars Filming Locations That Are More Than Worth a Visit for Any Fan
Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay, the site of Chewbacca’s home planet, Kashyyyk (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
— published May 4
From off-the-grid Irish islands to the caves and cliffsides of southern Thailand, this “Star Wars”-themed list pushed me to scour the farthest reaches of a galaxy far, far away. So scour I did, doing a little research on the filming locations used in several movies from the franchise, from “A New Hope” (1977) all the way up to “The Last Jedi” (2017). By the time I was done, I’d found the droids I was looking for.
An excerpt: “Tunisia might be considered the place where Star Wars was born, given that different parts of the country have been used several times in the filming of the franchise … In Naftah, you’ll spy the exterior of Luke’s childhood home hanging out on the edge of Chott el Djerid, a dried-up salt lake, and about 30 minutes from there (and only accessible via off-road vehicle): Mos Espa, the site of the spaceport town where Anakin Skywalker started out as a slave.”
5. The Michigan Day Trip Tour, No. 8: A Picture Perfect Day in Pentwater
Evening view of the harbor from the Pentwater Yacht Club (Photo: Edna Lopez)
— published Sept. 9
I couldn’t tell you why, but the final entry of my summertime “Michigan Day Trip Tour” proved to be the most popular of the entire series. While other stops on the tour, which ran from July 9 to Sept. 9, took readers kayaking on the Little Manistee River and on a boat ride through the Soo Locks, the final destination was Pentwater, a quaint, quiet little town nestled along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
An excerpt: “While it could nearly be considered part of West Michigan, Pentwater still gives off that ‘up north’ kind of vibe, and it is for that exact reason that people come from all over to take it in. It’s the kind of place you visit to quiet your mind, to let life slow down for a little bit. A great way to accomplish this? By visiting the beach, of course.”
4. After Three Months in Seville, I Can’t Stop Thinking About Moving to Spain
First day of class! (Photo: Melissa Smith)
— published Jan. 19
The first of two posts Melissa Smith contributed to the site formerly known as Logan’s Run in 2019, this piece was her love letter to southern Spain, where she spent three months teaching English to kids between the ages of 3 and 8 during the latter half of 2018. I can’t guarantee you’ll want to move to Spain yourself after reading this one, but you’ll definitely be tempted to visit.
An excerpt: “It seemed crazy that after just two short weeks in Seville I was able to envision myself living there long term, but the Spanish have truly figured out how to live their best lives — and it is contagious. Life in Spain moves at a perfect pace: the days are filled with work in the morning, siestas in the afternoon, and tables full of tapas in the evening when the sun goes down.”
3. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Which Great Lake is the Greatest of All? — The Great Lakes, Ranked
Twilight view of Lake Superior from Montreal Falls (Photo: Alan Labisch, Unsplash)
— published May 13
Perhaps one of the posts I had the most fun with in 2019, this wholly subjective ranking of the five Great Lakes apparently had the attention of readers, too. I’ve done my fair share of lists on this blog over the years, but rankings seem to be a little rarer for some reason. Maybe this post’s inclusion here is a sign that that should be rectified in the future? Possibly. But for now, let’s just focus on the rankings at hand.
An excerpt: “How you rank the Great Lakes depends heavily on what metrics and/or characteristics you care about most. If you’re all about size and depth, Lake Superior is your body of water. If you’re a temperature-minded guy or gal, Lake Ontario, the warmest of the five on average, would be your go-to. If you’re a major fan of long walks on the beach, Lake Huron, which has the longest shoreline, is the lake you’re looking for.”
2. Beaver Island Music Festival: 3 Melodious Days in the Middle of Lake Michigan
AND
1. A Unique Music Festival, Smack Dab in the Middle of Lake Michigan
Falling Through April performs at the Beaver Island Music Festival on Saturday, July 20, 2019
The destination I wrote about in 2019 that proved to be the year’s hottest topic? That would be Michigan’s Beaver Island (and its annual music festival). I had first heard of the Beaver Island Music Festival back in the summer of 2018. At that time, I could never have imagined that just a year later I would not only be invited to attend said festival, but also be asked to write about the experience for some up-north publications. But there I was, plopped down on the largest island in Lake Michigan in mid-July, soaking in the sights and sounds, and enjoying every minute of it.
An excerpt (from July 25): “Of those words and phrases and terms that describe what music festivals are and what kind of experience you can expect to come along with them, the term ‘family-oriented’ probably isn’t one that readily comes to mind. But on Beaver Island, where a wide range of musicians, artists and performers have brought the middle of the woods to life every third weekend in July for nearly two decades now, it’s a term that’s more than fitting.”
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Here’s to a fantastic 2020, and as always, thanks for following along.
-LTH
*Still feeling wistful about 2017 and 2018? Have a look back at the top posts from those years by clicking right here and right here, respectively