Traveling With Sweeney Looking Back: My 7 Links

Top Traveling with Sweeney blog posts

It was very nice to be nominated by Linda of Islandmomma for the My 7 Links project initiated by Tripbase. I expected that I’d be able to do my part very quickly. It sounded easy just to pick seven Traveling With Sweeney blog posts appropriate for each of the assigned categories and share any lessons learned. But I soon found that you can be easily distracted when looking back through your old posts. Seeing them with a fresher eye, you can’t help thinking about what you’d do differently. I’m pleased that I have learned so much, while I also recognize how much further I’d like to go to improve my work and evolve my blog. One of the most important things I’ve learned over the past several months is that my fellow travel bloggers are a great source of support and knowledge.

Here are the categories and my choices. I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Most BeautifulBeauty and the Snowy Beast

I was happy that others saw as much beauty in these photos of Central Park in the snow as I did.

Central Park in the snow, New York City

Central Park in the snow

Most PopularRue with a View

This post was about a stay in a Paris Latin Quarter apartment in early December, 2010. It seemed to resonate with a lot of people who love Paris, especially those who enjoy it during the holidays and when the snow falls! The traffic kept coming to this page well beyond its initial promotion.

Most ControversialTo Cruise or Not to Cruise

Everybody’s got an opinion and there were many people who felt very strongly on both sides of this issue. There were good comments pro, con and in between.

Most HelpfulHop On, Then Hop Off

For my own site, I haven’t been writing travel tips (I have written a few as guest posts). Rather, the narrative has been aimed at sharing my experiences to inspire others to travel or consider new destinations. Before I really got serious about Traveling with Sweeney and was still focused on another travel-related website that I owned, I wrote a few posts just to get started. This one, although it didn’t include detailed travel tip information, was well-received as a sensible recommendation about hop-on hop-off buses when visiting a new city. I took a chance by making it public, and was pleased with the positive feedback.

Most Surprising SuccessBlarney Lips

It was St. Patrick’s Day and I just wanted to say “Sláinte” (“To your health”) to everyone. I took the opportunity to do so in my submission to a weekly travel photo series hosted by Budget Travelers Sandbox. It really generated a surprising amount of traffic to the site over the next several days. It was the right post to capture the spirit of the day.

Deserved More AttentionTraveling for a Cause

I’ve actually been very grateful for the attention that my best posts have gotten. However, I would have liked to see this one get even more attention than it did since it relates to a cause that is near to my heart — efforts to bring awareness to Multiple Sclerosis and to fund research for a cure.


Most Proud OfA Different Kind of Road Trip

This is another one of those very early posts that didn’t get much exposure. I don’t think it’s my best writing and I was very new at formatting, but I’m proud of it because I felt that it was a tribute to my mom and dad and originated from deeply-felt emotions. I was glad I had a forum to shine a little light on my parents. One of the wonderful things about owning a blog is the total control over the content you choose to feature.

Now here are my nominations to participate in My 7 Links!

 

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30 thoughts on “Traveling With Sweeney Looking Back: My 7 Links

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks for that nice compliment! I’m almost ashamed to say that I just use a basic Canon point and shoot. I’ve actually been trying to decide on moving step up in cameras. Good to know I’m doing OK with this one.

  1. Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista

    Enjoyed looking over your list. You always include such amazing pictures! Thank you for the invitation, I’m working on my list right now 🙂

  2. Annie

    Love your Central Park and Ireland photos! I think that snow makes everything beautiful, it just is annoying when it all turns to ice and the city can’t handle it, which happens in Seattle and Florence, but maybe not NYC?

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks, Annie. Snow can be very beautiful! Not so much when it turns slushy, but I guess that’s the price to pay 🙂 !

  3. Carrie Finley-Bajak

    I agree with your most beautiful post: Central Park and all the snow. Wow! I also think it is great that your most controversial post deals with cruising. That topic certainly does ignite some passionate responses. 🙂

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks, Carrie! I was kind of surprised by how strongly some people feel about the cruising topic. I really liked hearing about everyone’s experiences.

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