Just Give It A Go.

"Just give it a go. If you don't like it, you don't have to do it again."

According to a friend of mine, I say that a lot. It somehow resonated with him and gave him the courage to try a number of things that he had never really considered a possibility before.

So in the spirit of this, I'm going to take my own advice and give writing, or more specifically travel writing, a go.

My immediate goal is to write feature stories about the incredible experiences I've had at some of the amazing places I've been to around the world and then pitch these stories to editors for publication in major newspapers and magazines.

My ultimate goal is to write a number of bestselling (naturally!) books in the form of a travel memoir. From blog to book, as they say.

Sounds simple enough. Of course I know it won't be that easy.

So, I have put together a bit of a plan.

Step 1. Get a new email address that tells everyone I'm a writer. Tick. 

Email me at sandyrosenthalfreelancewriter@gmail.com

Step 2. Create a blog. Tick. 

Welcome to my blog. It can be found at www.sandyrosenthal.blogspot.com

As this is my very first post, I thought I should Google the term blog to make sure I even knew what it meant. For the record I didn't. Not really anyway.

blog

blɒɡ/

noun

1. 1.

   a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis.

verb

1. 1.

   add new material to or regularly update a blog.

   "it's about a week since I last blogged"

   
   

Based on this definition I'll be recording my personal stories and sharing my thoughts and opinions here on a regular basis. I think that, too, sounds much easier than it will be in reality. Sharing your private thoughts can be quite a confronting experience.

I feel that blogging will be a great way for me to start putting down some words on paper, so to speak and get into the habit of writing regularly to improve my skills before I make those pitches to some of the big scary magazine and newspaper editors out there.

I hope I can deliver interesting, enjoyable and perhaps at times even thought-provoking posts for you to read. I welcome all comments and feedback at least until I decide to welcome them no more. Well, I am an artist and we can be volatile creatures.

What sort of things will I be writing about?

Mostly my life experiences, love and my relationship, adventure and travel. I will share my passion for rescue dogs and raising money for charity, especially for animal welfare groups and discuss my thoughts on enrolling in university for the first time at age 45 (terrifying) etc.

I have an exhaustive but hopefully not boring list of topics to explore.

There's no doubt I live an adventurous life. My job as an International Flight Attendant affords me the opportunity and my partner Steve gives me the inspiration and belief that I can do anything I want to do. He has summited Mount Everest, so he's not that easy to impress but for some reason, I seem to impress him with my willingness to continually take on challenges that would take just about anyone out of their comfort zone.

Our conversations run a bit like this:

Me: "Let's run a marathon on every continent including Antarctica!"

Steve: "Sounds good."

Me: "Let's do the Camino de Santiago and walk 800km across the top of Spain!"

Steve: "Love to. Lock it in."

Me: "Let's see the Northern Lights in Lapland and go dog sledding!"

Steve: "Sure."

Perhaps that gives you a bit of an idea on some of our upcoming travel plans. For the record we have already run our first marathon on this continent at the Australian Outback Marathon. Only six more continents to go. Easy. Next stop - The Big 5 Marathon in South Africa this coming June. Stay tuned as I will be furiously blogging all about it while I'm there.

Step 3, Step 4, Step 5..........to follow.

Before I sign off from my very first blog, I should say that as I sat down this morning to write this I naturally turned to Facebook to indulge in some procrastination and I spotted what I think is the perfect quote on a friend's page (thankyou Cheryl Ward-Massey) to end with:

"If there is something you want to do,

DO IT NOW.

Don't let later turn into never."

1.