300

Tonight marks my three hundredth post. I began with this blog nearly a year ago with this:

I've just begun planning several DXpeditions and thought
it might be fun to keep track of the kinds of research,
thinking, and planning that goes into a successful
personal DXpedition. I plan on posting what I learn,
when I learn it. You'll see it all: insights, wrong
turns, goof ups, and epiphanies. If it helps you
plan your next DXpedition, I'll be very pleased indeed.

I have certainly had goof-ups and wrong turns! Mistakes made by me during planning or execution of these small DXpeditions have been highlighted here in the hopes that they will not be repeated (by me or by my readers) and that the lessons learned from those mistakes will lead to better planning, better execution, and better DXpeditions. Since I am no expert in any of this, I was (and continue to be) worried that my small observations, sometimes obvious, would not provide sufficient value to warrant the time readers must invest to follow my blog. Indeed, even now I go back through previous entries and wonder if I'm simply stating the obvious.
Perhaps that is the case, but the reason why such entries were made in the first place is that those obvious things were not obvious to me at the time! The aphorism "hindsight is 20/20" seems apt here. Frequently (especially after a particularly embarrassing lapse in judgement) I wonder if my particular screw-up was due to a pitfall that could victimize anyone, or if it was due to reasons peculiar to me. Perhaps one person's insightful observation is another's mundane recollection. These small observations made throughout these 300 entries probably fall somewhere between those two extremes.
There are some big observations I've made during all this, too. One of the biggest is a personal note that I may not have yet shared. My recollections on the Montserrat trip have solidified an idea that I had even before the trip began: it is better to be labor than management. Specifically, I spent many hours on the island in a role other than HF radio operator. I was updating the web site, updating the on-line logs, and struggling (along with Chris) to get the paper logs converted to computer logs so QSLing would be possible later. (Being the QSL manager, too, I had a vested interest in making sure this was done properly.) Every hour I spent on these administrative tasks was time and energy I could have spent on the air--and working on the air from this Idyllic location was the reason for going!
Don't get me wrong, I don't have any regrets. Well, maybe a few {grin}, but along with these choices came new knowledge and opportunities. At risk of being glib, my fortune cookie from lunch the other day read, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." To some extent, the Montserrat trip gave me experience in lieu of DXCC, 2500 QSOs, WAS, or even just more chances to work my friends on 20m from paradise. Instead of those things, I returned from the trip with ideas, insights, and a deep respect for those who organize the big DXpeditions. I've tried to pass some of this along in this blog and hope sincerely that you can take some of my experience and get what you want.
So, here's to 300. I had no idea if I would stick with it this long. I still have no idea who (if anybody) is actually reading this. Hello?! Is anybody out there? I don't know whether I have 300 more in me, but I'll keep posting so long as I believe what I have to say might help somebody have fun with their radio in a faraway place. Until next time, 73 from NE1RD!