• Did you win?

Yes! I think this year was the easiest because I used something I had already written in an A to Z format  so it was an easy matter to set it up before April and go enjoy my cruise. It also allowed me to follow other bloggers as my little luxury on the cruise was good quality internet.

• Do you believe your blog saw an increase in traffic and comments during April 2024?

I usually only publish in April so there was a huge increase in traffic compared to other months

• Do you feel the A to Z Team (Arlee Bird, J Lenni Dorner, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, and Ronel) supported you, your blog, and this challenge enough in 2024?

As usual the team put in an enormous amount of work to make this annual challenge work.  I can’t thank them enough.

• Will you do the challenge again next year?

I’ve already started

• Did you use the http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2024-graphics.html Graphics page?

Yes, used the letters A to Z and the banners

• Is the HTML useful to you? 

Didn’t use it successfully but have done in the past.

• Any suggestions for the team?

As another blogger suggested maybe there is some way to help bloggers who aren’t getting any comments.  We could volunteer to comment on those blogs getting a low volume of traffic.

• Any thanks? Again, thanks to all the team and all the people who read and commented on my story.

• Any post ideas or requests for our monthly posts on the blog from June to February?

I can only handle April and its aftermath at this stage.

• Have you followed the social media of the A to Z Challenge? No

• What was your favourite comment left by another A to Z participant on your blog during the challenge? 🏆

There were so many excellent comments but here is one of many I enjoyed.  I would love to know how your grandchildren reacted along the way, and whether their comments and questions were anything like ours. Well done! I really enjoyed following your writing again this year, and am in awe of your discipline and organization in getting the chapters lined up to post in advance while you cruised the high seas. Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my posts and here’s to the year! Josna

• Did any other A to Z participant make you and your blog feel especially valued this year?

All the people who commented please know I appreciate your efforts and if I list you I am sure to miss someone. 

• Do you have a favourite blog that you found during the challenge this year?

Life at 82 by Lois Roelofs showed me what to expect in the next ten years and Brizzy Mays Aussie Trivia is good fun. Tell Me Another by Josna is always thought provoking and Anne Young’s research is awe inspiring.  Then there is JB Insalaco’s DNA Insights that had me checking my own results again. So many others but I must finish Reflections or it will not get posted.  It’s taking me ages. Sorry all those others….

• Do you feel you had a positive impact on the Blogging Community during the hop?

I tried to comment on as many posts as I could so imagine that helped.

• Did you invite or encourage any other bloggers to join the challenge?

No one I know wants to write one as they are too busy.

• Have you learned anything because of the #AtoZChallenge? 

I’m learning new stuff all the time reading other people’s posts and researching my own.

• Did you use a theme in 2024? Any thoughts on themes? 

I don’t usually take much notice of the theme – I just go with whatever motivates me at the time.

• Was taking part in the challenge a positive experience for you and your blog?

I love the communication with others about their blogs and mine.

• Consider the significance of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge, our values (community and inclusion), and your feelings about the experience. How may this influence your future blogging, learning, or actions?

It makes me want to continue with A to Z as long as I still have ideas in my head and can use a computer. I love the fact that the writers and readers are from all over the world and yet all feel part of a community of people who like to write.

• Any other thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the #AtoZChallenge 2024?

It is a special time of the year I look forward to but I could only do it once a year as I intend to spend the rest of the year preparing for it.

• Will you consider doing the challenge again next year?

I’m already busy typing up old letters and aerograms which will form the basis of next year’s blog.  Many of my blogs look into the past and this one will be set in the 1960s. It was a time without internet when phone calls were expensive and people wrote huge numbers of letters especially when they crossed the world. What a treasure to be unearthed of how things were almost 70 years ago!