I thought: what is this about? Small businesses? No. In fact, it’s written by Jonathan, a self-styled entrepreneur, who just sold his business (type unspecified) in order to go on a “trip around the world” with his wife, Soyan.
This is a brand new weblog. In fact, there are only seven posts. It might be interesting to read about someone planning a trip around the world, but so far, this weblog isn’t interesting. It might, possibly, be a lot more interesting to read about someone taking a trip around the world. It would also be a lot more interesting not to read about Jonathan’s 30th birthday skydiving trip three times. (One full exposition, two additional mentions. That’s three separate posts that mention one event. That must be some important event.) The skydiving has clear symbolic meaning for Jonathan, but he never explains what it is to the reader. The first post about the skydiving is the best. Further mentions are not necessary. They are, I fear, boring.
In fact, this whole site is boring. I so wanted it to be interesting, but it’s not. There is no humor, no perspective, just a lot of smug back patting. How sad Jonathan is about leaving his company, how excited he is to start his trip. Yawn. I clicked through to Soyan’s blog and she thinks Jonathan is pretty great too. Then again, her blog only has three entries. A blog about a trip around the world is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends. But it’s not clear that this site holds any interest for a wider audience.
The design is fine, but overly busy. There is a huge logo in the upper right hand corner. It is kind of pretty, but mostly just takes up space without adding to content. There are no ads, which is nice. There are a couple of links, a handy search box (at least it will be handy when there is content), and a few buttons for feeds, all intuitive and inoffensive.
The weblog has potential to be interesting because there is something inherently interesting about a trip around the world. However, I won’t be coming back to read about it. The self-congratulatory tone and uninformative writing style leave a lot to be recommended. A vivid style and strong voice are needed to make travel writing interesting. When the author of “World Unfurled” develops those, it might be worth reading. I give it a 2.5.
World Unfurled