Early Christmas

Is there any feeling like going to the mailbox and finding a package with your name on it?  And then you look at the return address and realize the package  is not something you ordered, it is from a friend.  I can’t think of anything that could create a holiday feeling any faster or more completely.

Yes, quite unbelievably, a friend actually sent this wonderful box of vintage wrapping paper to me.  Amanda, who lives in Vermont and who runs a greenhouse and sells vintage clothing  knew I’d love this, and she was right of course.  Even though I’ve never actually met her, Amanda is a good friend.

This is probably the most unexpected side-effect of blogging and having an on-line presence.  For close to 15 years I’ve been meeting people online who share my love of vintage clothing, and who are interested in carrying on a conversation about it.  In my “real life” I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who will sit still long enough for me to go on and on about the wonders of Harris Tweed or Vera Neumann, or any other topic that just tickles my fancy.

So I’d like to thank Amanda for the lovely gift, but I also want to thank all of you who take the time to read The Vintage Traveler, and who make such thoughtful comments.  This is such a fun part of my life, and I appreciate having you with which to share it.  So many of my posts are directly inspired by the comments made here and by what I find on your blogs.  I know the word is terribly over-used in regards to online activities, but I do feel like there is a sense of community.

Lately, I’ve worked toward narrowing the focus of my online activities.  It used to be that an adequate online presence was a blog and a Myspace page.  Today, the choices are simply overwhelming, with twitter, facebook, tumblr, Flickr, Pinterest, Linkedin,  google+, not to mention all the online sites for just fashion people like Independent Fashion Bloggers.  It just gets to be too much.

I’m glad that I’m not trying to make a living off The Vintage Traveler.  You do realize that there are fashion bloggers making in the six figures from their blogs.  To me that is just astounding.  They have relationships with fashion companies, relationships that are highly sought after and coveted.  Turns out the latest buzzword in blog marketing is influence.  How influence is measured is a very tricky thing, but several websites like Klout claim to be able to calculate how influential your online presence is.  The higher your influence, the more companies want to “work with” you.

I’ve decided I can’t worry about my influence scores.  I can see that we in our vintage community influence each other, and seriously, that is simply good enough for me.

So keep adding those great comments, and don’t forget to leave a link to your own blog.  I always visit the sites of new commenters, and try to leave comments too.