2013: A Year in Blogging Review: in List Form

What do German pillows, German breakfasts, and vinyl sweat suits have in common?

They’re all Google search terms which led people to my blog in 2013!

I may be a bit late on the “Year in Review” blogging bandwagon. Back on 31 December WordPress sent me an automated email detailing my top-read posts, top-viewed photos, and my most popular search terms (I’m still pretty proud of “vinyl sweat suit”). I’ve apparently had 4,200 views, which according to the report equals 4 NYC subway trains full of people – but aren’t views different than visitors? I don’t know. It’s confusing. But egal – I don’t exactly write for the masses, rather for the folks back home. Indeed, the majority of my “readers” seem to come from either Germany or Canada!

My top five most “popular” (viewed) posts:

5. On “Cheap” Air Travel in Europe (23 Feb 2013)

I wrote this post in response to people back home always telling me as if it was news that you can apparently get cheap flights in Europe. While this is sometimes the case, it’s not always so straightforward. There was also the irony that WordPress posted an ad for RyanAir for awhile on this post.

4. Illogical Things in England, and Elsewhere (2 March 2013)

Where-in I rant about English money and roads, and German supermarkets (for another take on German supermarkets, see Deanna’s post “Why German Grocery Shopping Will Drive You to Drink” on her blog, From Casinos to Castles).

3. Londontown (9 Feb 2013)

2. The Atrocious German Pillow (21 July 2013)

This is by far one of my most favourite posts, especially when I compare German pillows to the Western Front.

1. German Breakfasts (17 Feb 2013)

This post owes its popularity entirely to people searching for pictures of German breakfasts (see below).

My most popular Google search terms:

5. “German apprenticeships”

Back in April I wrote a short post introducing an article from the New York Times Magazine on restaurants in the Black Forest. German apprenticeships are weird things, and probably deserve their own post at some point.

4. “German pillows”

It appears I’m becoming an authority on German pillows, a fact which could not make me happier.

3. “treveriitylor”

Direct, but flattering. I think.

2. “Vinyl Cafe Chris Irwin”

In November 2012 I visited Vimy Ridge for the first time, and wrote a reflective post on the experience leading up to Remembrance Day. Combine a Master’s degree in Canadian history with its requisite navel gazing and my current living situation in Germany, and a person starts making interesting reflections about memory and remembrance. I used Stuart MacLean’s re-telling of Chris Irwin’s bagpipes at Vimy Ridge story as a springboard for my thoughts, which has led so many people here – no doubt frustrated, as I don’t post the story’s text.

I wrote another post about Vimy after visiting again in 2013, and I have a follow-up post in the works for the centennial of the Great War.

1. “German breakfasts”

Honourable Mentions: My post on Advice for being a Wedding MC, and on Andrew’s bachelor party weekend in the Fraser Canyon/Kelowna.

The Nahatlatch River. “What does Nahatlatch mean?” “Killer of white men.”

Looking back over 2013, it’s been a good year of blogging, which reflects a good year of travel and friends. Here’s to 2014: I’m sure it’ll be as good or better than the last!