2016 Year in Review

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It’s that time of year again!  It’s the time when things get calm in Tokyo and people make the mad dash back home.  It is also the time that we reflect on the past and see what has happened.  This year hasn’t been good but it wasn’t bad either.  I was expecting a huge change in my life but that has yet to come, but my fingers are crossed that it will happen sooner than later.

Romantic Village Tent (Dog Fight IPA with Steak)

HinoMaple

There really isn’t much to say here.  There has been no real change with HinoMaple since 2015 and my other projects are just taking too much of my time.  If I could divide myself in two and be twice as productive, I’m sure I’d be working on HinoMaple to become more successful.  Unfortunately this is not the case.  I do have another book or two I would like to write and publish but that is several years out into the future when I can focus a bit more on HinoMaple again.

Dru’s Misadventures

The blog has been trudging along at its normal pace and hasn’t really grown in the past year.  It hasn’t gotten smaller either but I continue to write and enjoy telling you all about the different places I have been to and how you can avoid making the same mistakes I made.

The main event of the year was my summer trip to the Seto Inland Sea to enjoy the 2016 Setouchi Triennale.  It was my second time to the Triennale and I was not disappointed.  I almost didn’t go but at the last minute I found time in summer to visit and I was very happy that I did.  I wish I had a bit more time but I still enjoyed everything I did.  It allowed me to get a bit more traffic to the blog but aside from that bump, nothing much has changed.

Unfortunately there were no other big trips this past year.  I have done a lot of day trips but with my other major project being worked on I really had no opportunity to leave for a week here or a week there.  I would have loved to get away and do a lot more but I think my life has changed to the point where I will not be travelling as much in the near to distant future.

On Teshima for the Setouchi Triennale

Social Media

As I mentioned, 2016 was a very quiet year for me.  I really didn’t do much compared to 2015.  I had a lot of hopes for a huge change but that is still a hope.  I continue to work very hard to achieve my dreams but the timeline on this has stalled completely.  You will always hear about it on my various social media so always keep an eye out for that.

Just a recap in case you are new and would like to know more:

Facebook:  Mostly a portal for my blog posts

Google+:  Same as Facebook

Twitter:  A good place to get information on when new blog posts are published as well as when I post Instagram photos.  Sometimes I do post on Twitter, but it is rare.

Instagram:  My main social media presence.  You can see everything I do here and feel free to follow me and chat with me.

Stats

As I mentioned above, things keep moving along at a steady pace.  Things have really settled as my average daily views are still around 137 per day.  I do have some busy days with over 200 hits but generally I’m happy with where things are, especially considering I don’t really advertise this blog to many people.

Hands down the most popular post of this blog continues to be the “Corin Street in Ueno” post.  Somehow “Getting Around Guam” is second with “Sikhs in Japan” coming in third.  There seems to be a lot of interest from other “Sikhs who wish to visit Japan” and learn a little about what is happening here for them.  As for this year, my “Permanent Residency” post came in at the top spot.

I continue to have a lot of referrals coming from Japan-Guide.com but I must really thank Setouchi Explorer for bringing a lot of traffic here in the past year as I posted my guides to the main islands of the Setouchi Triennale.  Setouchi Explorer came in second for referrers this past year.  Lina’s Urutora no Hi continues to be the top blog to send visitors and I am always thankful for the help.

First Beer Outside at the Oedo Beer Festival

2017

As I mentioned, nothing really has changed since last year.  It has been a year and it has been my “worst” year in terms of getting my goals accomplished.  I feel that I have moved forward but at a glacial pace.  I really hope for big changes in 2017 but I will need a little luck on my side.  Wish me luck and I hope to be able to tell you great news in 2017!

Dru