You may notice a slightly different look and feel to things around here now and in the coming days. I hope that the changes are not too jarring and that you’ll come to enjoy them over time. When I started this site in 2018, more than 70% of visitors were using their desktop computers to browse the content, and a fair number were using tablets too. Today, the ratio of desktop users is down to 55%.
More importantly, as is the trend with every website, the proportion of mobile users keeps growing everyday. Today, it’s already at 40% and I’m sure it will soon surpass the desktop users. From a website design perspective, this has very large implications. What looks good on a desktop doesn’t necessarily translate well to a small mobile screen.
Sloppy code that disappears on a 300mbps connection at home becomes a make-or-break attribute when it’s on a much slower mobile connection. As a result, I’ve overhauled the back end of the website and have switched everything to a mobile-first design. I’ve eliminated a lot of excess code and plugins which were making the site more and more difficult to update while maintaining good speed and response times.
The full optimization of the new platform will take some time to realize. This website is run by one person who also has a regular day job (me!) so it may take some time to work out the rough edges. My goal is to bring back some of the slick and clean interface of the bloated software I was using before, while maintaining the efficiency of the new software.
If you find the website slower than before, please let me know
I ask that you please bear with me as I update the site in the coming weeks and months to improve its look, feel and functionality. If you come across some funky formatting, broken features or links, or anything else that’s irritating you, please let me know. More importantly, if you find the website slower than before, please let me know right away via the comments below or the contact page, so I can investigate the issue.
As always, thank you so much for visiting this site, especially to the regulars that I see in the analytics that come every few days to see what’s new. I hope to be adding more and more content in the near future. I can see things picking up as the world opens up, with the location and gear posts starting to pick up more views.
I’d love to see people use the gear they bought during the pandemic on trips around the world! Stay safe and healthy on your travels in the remainder of 2021, and please do let me know if you come across any issues or things you like/dislike with the new website.
Hi there. The new website is a big improvement over the last one. Pages load much faster and there seems to be more information available. Just wish that there were more frequent posts 🙂