The British Berliner is 7 years old. And so much has happened. Ouch!

It’s my blog birthday!

Hip! Hip! Hurrah!

OMG!

I can’t believe that on Wednesday, October 21st, my blog was 7 years old.

Honestly, I can’t quite believe that just 84 months ago on an Autumn Sunday evening, I decided to put pen to paper and open up a social media thingy.

I mean, when I first started, I didn’t even know what social media was all about, and I had never ever met a blogger.

Never, ever.

In real life!

And apart from Facebook and who isn’t on Facebook? I knew zilch about social media.

Yep! Yours truly had known nothing about Twitter. Nothing at all!

I mean, I knew it, but I didn’t know it – know it!

But I quickly learnt.

I went to the ITB in Berlin and one afternoon, the Head of the European Branch of Twitter did a workshop and showed us step-by-step how it worked. And that was it!

My Twitter page was open and ready to go!

Tweets by britishberliner

Oh, I used to have a travel diary that was purely set up for friends and family, but this blogging thing was something else.

This.

Was.

Real!

Seven years.

Wow!

So much has taken place that I can hardly stand it.

As a result, this week’s post is going to be about that journey from when I wrote my first blog, to right now.

BUT.

Due to the global pandemic and the circumstances surrounding travel, my yearly report-ish, will be WITHOUT numbers & figures!

Gulp!

Here we go!

THE BRITISH BERLINER IS 7 YEARS OLD!

So why did I start this blog anyway …?

At the beginning of 2014, I told you that The Tall Young Gentleman used to be a member of the Boy Scouts of America: Troop 46!

Some of the American mothers were new in town and not only was I the only British parent but I was also the New Parent Co-Ordinator at the time….

One of the mothers asked me about skiing in Europe. I recommended the Czech Republic.

Lots of my corporate clients ask me about Britain, I recommend London and my original home-town – Manchester.

Thousands!

OK, hundreds of people asked me about Germany.

I recommend Berlin of course and then I thought, why don’t I write about my favourite places and they can see for themselves?

So here we are!

My blog is seven years old.

Golly!

It’s been an amazing ride. In fact, the last seven years have been fantastic!

My blog is a flourishing child.

And I am exceedingly proud.

I’ve had an amazing collection of marvellous stories, visits, and adventures like how I met Prince William.

As you do!

A lot of people, bloggers in particular, don’t like the notion of luck and quite frankly, I’m not one to talk of fate, but when I happen to be in the right place at the right time, I don’t know what else to call it.

So I’m going to say it as I see it.

Are you ready?

Here it comes!

My young blog has been a resounding success because of the jolly good luck I’ve had, flowing with masses of enthusiasm, buckets of really hard work, and shaken and stirred with all the people I have met along the way, who have helped and supported me on my quest to being a fabulous British blogger.

There. I’ve said it!

But before we go any further, I would just like to thank some very important people.

You!

Yes YOU!

All of you.

Where would I be without your comments, your likes, your opinions and your reads?

Without you this blog would just be an empty piece of cyber-paper floating in the blogosphere. You have all been so amazing and supportive, reading my blog every week, and sharing it with all your friends, family, and associates.

I’ve even had people smiling and recognising me on the streets.

In Berlin.

One woman’s smile was so wide, when she discovered that I was just about to sit opposite her on the commuter train! Another guy saw me on my residential gentrified street and screamed outside his van window “Are you that blogger? The British one!” In German of course, so it sounded rather different!

A group of teenaged girls followed me about and giggled as I went shopping in my local supermarket. And being that I live in Berlin and not New York, I got thumbs up, the gruff “I saw you on TV” and appreciative looks when running around town with my signature stripped, dotted or Union Jack pop socks!

Just for the record, I would just like to say that I was approached to talk about Black Lives Matter by the German media, but I rejected the invitation as my personal experience with racism is so rare, that I didn’t feel qualified to talk in a comprehensive, expert manner.

I did however, write a few in-house articles for organisations I happen to be a member of, act as consultant / advisor in-house, and write my own point of view. You can read my article on Racism in Europe here.

And even though I’m not travelling at the moment, before the covid pandemic, I had planned to visit various parts of former Yugoslavia!

Nevertheless, I managed to travel to Norway, really interesting parts of Germany, and Austria!

And in the era of Brexit, you can find me talking about it on TV, documentaries, in the news, on live radio, for academic papers, and in a film!

In fact, before the pandemic rose it’s ugly head, I had already completed filming in a movie about the identity and conflict facing British Expats abroad re-Brexit. The film is a student project organised by the University of Applied Science or Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft (HMKW), Berlin and would have been shown around Germany!

Sadly, as you might all be aware my talks and chats on the topic of Brexit, is a gift that just keeps on giving ‘cos the mess and chaos isn’t over yet or likely to be for quite some time!

I’ve written a very comprehensive piece about what to do if you’re British and have no way to obtain dual citizenship, permanent residence, or any other thing. Or if it’s all too much and you simply want to go home.

As well as how to get German citizenship, if you’re British!

And all because of you.

Thank you so much! I love you all!

So let’s go back in time.

WHAT IS THIS BLOG ABOUT?

The British Berliner is a lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, travels around the world, Brexit, the Royal Family, Europe, and being British in Berlin!

It’s about a British girl from Manchester living in Berlin with her German husband and her half British-half German son, her promotion of British-German life, culture, history, literature, theatre, style, Europe, travels around the world, what she does in normal everyday life and where she goes.

LET’S EXPLORE!

Most of my readers are professional upper-middle-class people. Just like me.

Staying at a €5.00 hostel or jetting off to Cambodia on a whim, just isn’t an option these days.

Nevertheless, I shouldn’t fail to tell you that the post that totally changed my career from being just another blogger to being totally awesome was: A light, a camera, and a broken arm: Action and drama at the Berlin Music Video Awards That post was written in May, 2014. A little after the 6-month mark!

You were fascinated by the fact that Queen Elizabeth came to Berlin and I got to be a part of that story, and had more requests of interviews that I even knew what to do with. I actually had to turn some of them down!

As well as the fact that I got to meet Prince William and Kate Middleton!

I hope I did you all proud. You seemed to think so!

I’m delighted!

p.s If you’re booking hotels, houses and apartments, use this link to save 20% or more, between 5th January and 31st March 2021!

Booking.com

The British Berliner is 7 years old. And so much has happened. Ouch!

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate it lots.

Thank you for making this blog real, reading, commenting, and connecting. You’re all amazing.

All content will continue to remain free of charge but if you feel like buying me a cup of tea, I will graciously accept!

Here’s to the next blog year. Cheers!

Don’t forget, please SHARE this post!

The British Berliner is 7 years old. And so much has happened. Ouch!

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If you want to keep up with reliable news on what’s going on around the world, you can follow me here.

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Click here!

And book your luxury hotel for 2021 right here!

Don’t judge me!

THE BRITISH BERLINER IS 7 YEARS OLD. AND SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. OUCH!

This article is not sponsored. It’s my blog birthday!

Yay!

Watch this space!

Note! I never travel without insurance as you never know what might happen.

I learnt my lesson in Spain. And obviously, in countries like Qatar, where technically the risk is higher, I can’t imagine going that far beyond WITHOUT INSURANCE. No siree! You can get yours here, at World Nomads!

Let’s do it!

Wow!

So what are you waiting for?

Thanks a million!

Do you have a blog? How long have you had it? Was there anything that you found surprising? Comment away!

See you in Berlin.

If you have any questions, send me a Tweet, talk to me on Facebook, find me on LinkedIn, make a comment below or send me an Email: victoria@thebritishberliner.com

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