[pct-l] On Hiker Privacy . . . and Safety

[jeff.singewald at comcast.net]

Scott,

First of all, thank you!  I feel honored that my journal might have had such an impact on you that even after 2 years you still remember the vivid details of my journal.  Wonderful!  That is one significant reason I chose to share my journal publicly.  Unfortunately, I think you are mistaking a post I made to this list about my wife waiting at the airport with divorce papers as this was not something that I shared in my journal.  But, thanks for reminding me of this.  After 2 years, I am grateful for that moment because with those papers I began a new journey in my life and when I hike the trail again in 2013, I will be hiking with a wonderful woman that I hope will soon become my wife.

Second, my point was that the number of journals that are kept on-line in the public forums such as trailjournals.com and postholer.com would suggest that not everyone has the same level of paranoia that is expressed periodically on this list.  If there was, I would suggest that we would not see as many public journals and I would think your site would see a significant increase in usage given the wonderful feature that you provide for privacy.  I commend you for providing this option.

Third, as I said, I do not disagree with you or Donna that some folks prefer to keep their hike more private.  I was one of the group that was critical of those folks that were publicly posting the schedule for a some guy that was attempting to yo-yo the trail for the first time.

I think we are on the same page more than you would think Scott (and that may be more worrisome than either of us realize!).

elevator



-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Postholer" <public at postholer.com> 

> Jeff writes: 
> I wonder if we all wished to keep our journey's private, why do so many 
> folks keep journals on both your site and on trailjournals.com that are open 
> for public access? 
> 
> Journaling is a choice each person makes for themseleves. One story in your 
> journal states that your wife was waiting for you with divorce papers at the 
> airport at the conclusion of your hike. It's your choice to publicly reveal 
> that info, not mine. As a courtesy to you, it's not something I would write 
> about *you* in my journal as it might infringe on your privacy. 
> 
> This topic is just a simple reminder to show each other a little common 
> courtesy, nothing sinister or paranoid, just a little courtesy that's all. 
> 
> I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone, at postholer.com you can flag 
> your journal as private. It will not appear anywhere on the site. You are 
> free to pass out the link to your journal at your descretion to only people 
> you'd like to. This has been a *very* popular feature. I had no idea! 
> 
> -postholer 
> 
> ------------------------------------ 
> Trails : http://Postholer.Com 
> Journals : http://Postholer.Com/journal 
> Mobile : http://Postholer.Com/mobi 
>