200 Posts: Top Ten

This is my 200th post on Not Exactly Retired, which I started in mid-2015. As we’ve traveled around the United States, spent time in Nepal and served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Moldova, the blog’s audience has kept growing, with more than 26,000 visits so far. Thanks to all of you who have joined us on our journey!

“Not Exactly Retired” advances two of the three official goals of Peace Corps: to promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans, and vice versa. (The other goal is to “help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.”)

Here’s a Top Ten list of the blog’s most popular stories so far, as measured by views. There’s more to come, so stick around — and if you know anyone who might enjoy Not Exactly Retired, please tell them about it and invite them to subscribe.

The Most-Viewed Stories on Not Exactly Retired

Peace Corps After 50 (featured on PBS/NextAvenue)
Peace Corps: Now vs. Then (comparing service in Nepal and Moldova)
Funny Peace Corps Videos (the joys of pooping in a hole)
Moldova’s Marathon (a recent story about runners here)
Are Volunteers Over-Connected? (from WorldView Magazine)
Older Peace Corps Volunteers (a 5-part series about Moldova)
Message in a Bottle (discovering your impact on someone, decades later)
Life is Calling (making a big change doesn’t need to be scary)
Reading in OverDrive (how to read books on your e-reader for free)
The Smokehouse Experiment (former PCVs open a restaurant here)

Other popular stories have focused on the perils of downsizing after decades of American life, Thanksgiving in Moldova, an amazing Romanian salt mine and the adventures a friend and I experienced years ago while backpacking across Afghanistan, Nepal, Sudan and other places.

Not surprisingly, most of the blog’s views have come from readers in the United States, followed by Moldova. Rounding out the Top Ten are Romania, the United Kingdom, Nepal, Canada, Germany, Ecuador, India and the Philippines, all with at least 100 views.

Are you enjoying “Not Exactly”? Do you have any reactions to these lists? Requests for future stories? As always, I welcome your feedback and comments.