My 30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 1

Many people ask me about the curious name of my blog; why Geriatric Gapper? When I called myself that, I didn't realise that a 'gap year' is not a universal term. In the UK, students often take a 'gap year' between school and university. It is a sort of coming of age, where they might go travelling, engage in some sort of work experience, or volunteer to work for a charity. My gap year came about after a lifetime of working as a teacher in international schools in many countries, the last one in Turkey. To celebrate our retirement, my husband and I embarked on  a journey to visit friends and relatives living in far flung places. For us, this was a sort of gap year before we decided how, and where, to spend our retirement. We were obviously no longer young, so the Geriatric Gappers we became. (Although my husband balked at the term 'geriatric!)

I began my blog in July 2007, as a way of letting my three daughters know where we were and what we were doing. We travelled From Istanbul to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand, spending a few months in each place. It was when we hit Thailand, and helped some friends who were running a teacher recruitment fair, that my husband was offered a job back in Istanbul! So his retirement was deferred, and I got to enjoy the freedom of that wonderful city!

By now, we had one daughter in England (now moved to Italy), one in South Africa, and one in Australia. So I kept up the blog for them, and anyone else who might be interested. Having daughters on 3 continents means I get to travel a lot, as I visit them all every year whenever possible. My blog was especially important for them as, through my photos, they got to see how their sisters were living.
  
So now comes the big question, "Why have I joined the 30 Day Blog Challenge" set up by Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur? I joined because after 6 years of blogging, I have just 23 followers on my blog. I know this started as a personal blog, specifically for my children, but I feel it has become so much more, and I do intend to start a more professional blog very soon. My purpose in these 30 days will be to learn as much as possible, and start my new blog with a bang! This blog, however, will not go out with a whimper, as it is an important record of our family life, so I will continue this one too. See you tomorrow!