Thanks Dar. I’m going to have to work that saying into my thinking.

The full saying is “4 wheels move the body, but 2 wheels move the soul”

I used to think about separate blogs for photography, riding, personal things — but eventually I just figured they were all part of the same thing. So now I post everything here. Made my blogging life easier.

I’ve toyed with a return to freelance photography assignments when I retire. Used to shoot a lot of industrial and advertising work. If I do it again I’ll run that business out of Scooter in the Sticks. At least that’s what’s in my head.

Thanks CJ. I plan to keep riding and writing until, well, I don’t!

It’s interesting you bring up the question of honesty and the nature of the things I share on the blog. I’ve had conversations from time to time about with friends about the personal nature of the things I share — especially health and “personal” concerns on the internet.

Everyone’s sense of privacy is different and extends to myriad aspects of a life. Some recoil that I don’t blur out my license plate in photos though can’t describe specifics of the risk in not doing so. Or that my heart attack is no one’s business but my own.

Personally, I’m always attracted to writing that delves into the day to day challenges of living that exist in the mind — those things that can frustrate and haunt because they stick in your head. So that’s often what I write about.

I tell people I don’t post anything on the blog that I would tell to a stranger. That’s true. My personal concerns never seemed like private stuff. When I was in art school the openness grew because much of the work you do is fueled by personal experience. So you need to put it out there.

Anyways, a long response to your comments about the nature of my postings. I appreciate you find some value in them. Having others read and respond to them does help keep it “real”.

Thank you for that.

I’ve long considered the scooter “niche” market and it’s tough to pin down. Scooter riders are rather diverse in their interest, culture and the machines themselves. Not sure where I fit in As I think about Scooter in the Sticks I always end up with it being a blog about riding and the benefits accrued from that activity. The fact I ride a scooter is almost incidental to that.

Riding the Vespa is near perfect for me and as you’ve noticed it creates a lot of “scooter” content. Adding a motorcycle to the mix seems as if it would expand the acceptability of the content a bit for those who might immediately dismiss a “scooter blog”.

Not sure if any of that’s true. I guess I would have to do a little research by inserting a motorcycle for awhile…

Thank you Steve.
My blogging hasn’t been that constant, due to a transfer and then to the birth of my daughter. Though, now, I feel it as “something to do”, as if I should write to mark important moments which would else disappear in time.
So, even when my posts are so spare I barely can call myself a blogger, my urge to ride and write and live is still present.
By the way, I also blog about my life in a personal weblog, my photographs in another one and my urban sketches in a fourth blog. It can’t be a full time job 🙂

Thank you for your comments about my writing. It helps to understand what resonates with you and others. As much as I connect with my Vespa scooter, I never particularly felt a brand connection as some do. Like you, I am attracted by stories that inspire or strike chords with me.

Congratulations on your nine years of blogging. Not many can claim something like that.

Full-time moto-blogging = retirement. Trading one job for another. Just a dream right now.

You on the other hand — riding through Scotland. You’re living the real dream.

Thanks for the kind words Dar. I appreciate them. And for the idea that two-wheels “move the soul”. I’ve not heard that before.

I suspect I’ll be riding a Vespa until I can’t ride anymore. Just a question of whether I’m going to occasionally ride something else…