While I certainly enjoyed creating and blogging Vegan Miscellanies, I never felt I had the time to develop it to its full potential. Then, from the beginning of 2009 to the present, I only wrote 10 posts. There are an number of reasons, chief among them time and money. My day job has kept me so busy, working such long hours, that I haven't even had much time to cook or bake, nor read books related to veganism, and finances were such that I could only rarely eat out and report on vegan fare at cafes and restaurants.
The other reason I have decided to retire this blog now has to do with a shift in focus. I will continue to create and eat delicious vegan food and I have no intention of ever returning to the consumption of animal-based foods. There is now such a wealth of vegan blogs and sources, both in print and online, of vegan recipes and information, that I feel comfortable leaving vegan blogging to focus my energies (to the extent that I can find any after work) on other things about which I care. I have met many other interesting vegan bloggers online whose blogs will be there for one another and for those who are just beginning to wonder about and research vegan living.
I have, over the past couple of years, become quite involved in and excited about cycling. I'm not talking just about cycling as a recreational activity or a sport, though those are fine. I'm talking specifically about cycling as a valid form of transportation that is healthier for us--it keeps us physically active, reduces the number of cars on the roads, leaving cleaner air for us to breathe, and fosters more human interaction--and has a much smaller environmental footprint. A greater shift to cycling for urban transportation, along with clean public transit, also has the potential to help us slow down to create happier, healthier, more human-centred urban environments. These are all things that many vegans also care about.
Look for cycling advocacy from me in the coming months and years, once I manage to find more time, a better work/life balance. I'll be out there in our cities, on my bike, and I'll write about it. I hope to see and meet you out there!
