Where to take "Moving Back to Jamaica"

I have been giving some thought to the future of this blog, Moving Back to Jamaica, after the positive response I received to the idea of turning some of what I have written here into a book.

It makes me think that I should have some kind of "strategy."

Not that I got to this point with any kind of strategy in mind -- it was much more a case of buck-up than anything else. I started writing, and just have not been able to stop in the past three years about this major life-changing event I undertook without really knowing what I was doing.

One fact that I have to consider is that my wife (with my encouragement) has started a transition business to help expats make the move to Jamaica successfully. While this blog is mostly read by Jamaicans (I believe,) from a slightly different angle it can also be useful to expats who are moving here. As far as I can tell, it is the only blog of its kind in the region.

However, I did run across an Indian fellow who chronicled his return to Bombay, and I am looking forward to listening to his book!

But what purpose will this blog serve once I have completed my own transition? I imagine that I could have a post that simply states "move back completed" and some kind of "gone fishing" sign hanging up on the last post.

From now until then, I am loving the idea of getting the book done, and making it available in every little West Indian store in the US, Canada and the U.K. It would help to fulfill my original purpose, which was to provide for others the kind of help I looked for when I was planning my move in 2003 but could not find.

I also imagine using it a resource for expats moving to Jamaica, which leads me to the reason for planning to put up my first advertisement. It might be a sidebar ad that links to my wife's blog for expats who are looking for assistance in moving to Jamaica.

It won't actually be what I would call "monetizing" the site, but it might be a first step in that direction.

Also, I plan a long overdue move from blogspot to Wordpress, hosted on my own hosted service, complete with a domain name -- maybe "movebacktoja.jm" or something of the sort. It's becoming easier to move a blog from blogger to Wordpress, so I will definitely be making the transition.

I also have toyed with the idea of proposing a column in the Jamaica Overseas Gleaner. When I lived in the U.S., I would have LOVED to be able to read anything about moving back to Jamaica, if I could only have found it. I have a feeling that there are many who don't have computer access, but feel the way I used to feel.

What I can't imagine doing at the moment is a full range of information products -- including podcasts, e-learning and the like. I might be wrong, but I don't think there is an interest in these kinds of things, as they might be too "techie" for my average reader -- a Jamaican professional living abroad.

This is what consitutes my "strategy" at the moment and we'll see if this changes much anytime soon.