Starting my blog in May of 2017, I certainly thought I was late to the party; and in some regards I was. Having made good friends with other bloggers who joined almost upon startup of the blockchain in early 2016; I was blown away by the amount of money being dolled out to the early adopters. I'm talking accidental posts getting paid out 10,000 dollars. Literally, oops, I accidentally clicked post with some nonsense and the money flowed wildly.
I certainly missed those early early days, however I was able to catch the fantastic cash flow of the bitcoin pump to 20k at the end of 2017. This influenced the price of Steem to go from eighty cents in November to eight dollars by January. Being new, building my blog from the ground up, and suddenly getting paid very handsomely put my already semi-retired self into a new state of motivation.
I was spending up to ten hours a day writing and editing photos. I was doing some of my very best blogging and knocking it out of the park. I was enjoying taking more expensive trips to places like the Galapagos Islands and getting paid well to do so. I was making a very serious income, and selling Steem every chance I got. With my investing experience it's pretty easy to spot a parabolic chart when you see one.
During this time, I was writing to other young prominent bloggers. Some in their early 20's with a Steemit account ten times higher than three months ago, and worth over one million dollars! My message to them was SELL! At least half and buy a house in full. A great way to start your life. Of course I was laughed at and criticized while their mini fortunes evaporated almost as quickly as they appeared.
Thinking back on it now, it's quite amusing how so many people were convinced at the time that Steemit was going to be the next Face Book. That concept was floated out there by the bigs to keep "their" exit money in tact ensuring they have a high price and something to sell into. Looking back on it now, it all makes so much sense. Steemit was just a get rich scheme for some very connected and dark characters out of DC.
However it was so big it was able to splash some serious money into the hands of many others who were just there to participate. If I'm not mistaken Steem for a very short time span ranked the #3 crytpo. The massive pump in 2017, was heavily sold into by the whales at the time, talking Larimar and Ned; making themselves filthy rich.....AFTER Ned goes live on national TV to promote Steemit. Connected? I'd say so.
Fast forward a couple years and these same two sell the rest of their stake to business people out of Asia solidifying their wealth to the next level. This sparked the divide in the platform where the leftover whales had to split the blockchain to Hive to keep from getting totally screwed over from Justin Sun's group.
Up until the split of the blockchain I consider that time the Golden Years of Steemit. It was a bonanza of good vibes and good up-votes. I associated with many fantastic people, it was just an overall pleasure to be a part of the online community. This was all while traveling the world and meeting up with fellow bloggers on numerous occasions on several different continents.
For me Steemit was nothing but good vibes; I was oblivious to the dark underbelly of the platform that later I and many others had the misfortune of encountering head on. The down-vote cabal on Hive came out in full force and the vibe there got ugly. Most of the people I shared the good times with on Steemit had all powered down, sold their stakes, and left. The Golden Years were there to enrich the very few at the top. Once they cashed out Steemit was never the same.
The attendance at Steemest Krakow Poland (2018) compared to the one after in Bangkok Thailand (2019) says it all (which I attended both). The attendance must have shrunk by half and the vibe was semi-negative in general in Bangkok. Shortly after that, Steem split to Hive in a shroud of drama and confusion.
The funny thing is once Hive became the main platform, the price was in the toilet, payment for blogging was basically 5% of the golden years of Steemit. However the whales of Hive expected me and others to produce equally good content essentially working for slave labor wages. They even vocalized how everyone needs to blog not for money but for the Hive community. Basically touting communist ideology. Then the down-voting started picking up and the ugly emerged......To be continued.
Below are some photos from the Golden Years of blogging on Steemit. The first photo was taken at Steemfest Poland, the others are with friends and attendees of Steemfest Thailand, and the final photo is from the Galapagos. Thank you for your support and don't forget to vote for my Blurt witness if you have not do so already.
Why you should vote for my witness? - My principles are sound. Never a down-vote button, free speech all the way, and I'll call out corrupt practices and BS as I see it. I will applaud and promote those who are building out the platform like 
Thank you,
-World Travel Pro!
