Looking over the Meander 2012 Summary, it’s been rather interesting to see it develop – and deteriorate.  I’m sure this has been said many, many times: writing is a lot of work.  I’m also well aware I’m not very good at it.  But I couldn’t see any better way of remember the trip.  What started as a way to reduce duplicate work turned out to be a good experience.

I started it as much to provide a method of communication so people back home would know I was okay and still alive.  How I wrote and what I wrote about wasn’t as important as some sort of update.  Being out west, data coverage was a little spotty and the key was just to get something out there.

But a road trip does not lend itself very well to writing regularly.  You really do have to make time.  I got pretty sick of setting up, tearing down and packing almost every single day and adding extra time at the end of the day to write wasn’t very high on the list of priorities in the beginning.  I just wanted to get something up and move on.

But the process of reviewing the day really did make the experience richer.  On a trip with as many stops as this one, days quickly blur together.  I recall a few times where I would need the photos and the GPS tracks just to be able to fill in the gaps.  Deciding what to include throughout the day gave a little extra hook to make things just a little more memorable.

Photos with GPS information and the GPS tracks were very valuable in piecing the days back together.