Around the World in Pictures: One Year Later

Sunset at Gasparilla Island State Park in Boca Grande, Florida.Its hard to believe that Halloween was the one year anniversary of starting the website Around the World in Pictures. During this time, through photos and stories, I have taken you along with me and my family on our travels. On the journey we have been on cruises, to theme parks and some sporting events just to name a few. In the past year, I have added almost 300 new stories to the site covering travels from the past seven years.

The site has not taken off as quickly as I had hoped, but we have managed to attract 8,941 unique visitors since the site opened. The photo galleries have by far been the most popular portion of the site with almost a half of a million visitors. As of today, the total visitor traffic for the photo galleries has been 460,512 visitors since the galleries opened in 2007. Not too bad for an amateur with no professional talent or advertising. I thank the steady support of those who visit the site on a regular basis.

The past year had also brought new opportunities to me through my photos. Several of my photos had been published in the current edition of the Sarasota phone book. A few more found their way on to professional baseball websites and stories. All this while also being promoted by the media offices of some of the places we had visited. In addition to maintaining this site, I have also continued being a regular contributor to Rays Prospects, a website dedicated to the minor league system of the Tampa Bay Rays and most recently a contributing editor for Bobcat Football, the unofficial website for the North Port High School football program.

The future holds much more of the same content you have come to expect. I will continue to add past travels to the site. I have just entered into 2007 with photos and stories with much more to come from places like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Florida State League baseball, Florida State Parks and much more. As for future travels, I currently do not have any trips planned. Like many other Americans, the recent downturn in the economy has kept us from traveling as much as before. But we still have a few months remaining on our Universal Orlando annual pass, so expect another trip there before they expire.

Thank you all for visiting and I hope you continue to enjoy the work as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.

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