A Travel Blog From the Netscape Era

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  03.01.12 | 8:24 AM ET

Travel writer Jason Cochran looks back on his first travel blog:

It was 1998. People were still paying for Netscape. Few of us used the Web regularly, and all of us had dialup, but I was determined to try it: I documented my journey online as I went. I’m ashamed to admit I began by using Courier.

Everyone logs their trips online now, but no one was doing it then. I was a pioneer. It took real effort. Flashpacking didn’t exist. I had to seek out Internet cafés and without WordPress or Blogspot to rely upon, I had to hand-code everything in basic HTML, and I was forced to seek out crude FTP programs (Fetch!) to get my writing online.

I didn’t put my travels online for Web fame or to garner a following, the way so many backpackers do now. There were no affiliates or appeals for free lodging, and I was years away from collecting my first paycheck for travel writing. Then, it was simply so my family and friends could follow along and know I wasn’t lying dead in some South African ditch.

It’s amazing to think about how much has changed in the years since. Cochran’s blog is still live, in all its retro glory.

Tags: Blogging, Travel and Technology, Travel Writing, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


2 Comments for A Travel Blog From the Netscape Era

Michael Tadeo 03.02.12 | 9:16 AM ET

This guy is really a legend in travel blogging. Salute!

Spencer 03.04.12 | 9:53 PM ET

Proper respect to a travel blogging legend.

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