Eleven stories and 13,000 words into my thousand story odyssey and I haven’t yet run screaming into the night. Having 989 stories to go may seem overwhelming … because it is overwhelming. Which is why I’m counting little steps of progress as wins rather than focusing on the big (scary) picture.

In addition to appreciating the forced writing that’s a result of the 1,000 story Fiverr gig I signed on for, I’ve also been marveling lately at how both Fiverr and WordPress have expanded my terribly limited horizons.

I’ve never left the U.S. In fact, I don’t even own a passport. To make matters worse, I get much of my world knowledge from television and movies.

This means that if you live in the U.K., I think you live in a quaint little village outside of London and that all of the streets you travel are paved with cobblestone. If you’re in Italy, you live in a villa that’s hundreds of years old and your main source of transportation is a scooter. If you’re in Vietnam or Thailand, I also picture you riding a scooter, but one that’s weighed down with whatever product or produce you’re taking to sell at the open air market. Since the National Geographic channel never airs programs about everyday life in the rest of the world, if you live in Africa or South America, I image you somehow get by without electricity.

I’m not proud of any of this, and of course I know that the world of my imagination a terribly skewed view. I assume that with the gun violence and murder rates in the US, there are people who imagine Americans dodging a hail of bullets every time we leave the house. It’s not true, of course. And if anyone I know owns a gun, I’m not aware of it, but I’d guess the picture painted of us would have stockpiles of weapons in every corner.

Typically, a person like me, an introverted homebody with no particular zeal for travel, would continue on with her cable TV documentary impression of the world. But through Fiverr and WordPress, I’m meeting and interacting and collaborating with people from all over the world. I’ve animated music videos for people in Germany and Ireland, the woman behind the 1,000 story gig is from the UK by way of Nigeria, I’ve done multiple projects for folks in India and there’s someone in Botswana who reads my blog. I don’t know who you are, but my stats show one view from Botswana every time I publish a new post, and I love knowing that I’m reaching someone from so far away with whom I’d never otherwise come in contact.

I’m glad I grew up in a time when you had to be published to be read and had to travel to learn that people are more the same than we are different. It keeps me from taking technological advancements and opportunities for granted and, from time to time, makes me feel like I’m living in the future. If you’ve never walked around with a fanny pack full of mix tapes, you can’t truly appreciate the wondrous thing a playlist is.

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In addition to bringing together people from different backgrounds and far off corners of the world, Fiverr.com is also an excellent place to get cool stuff at a decent price. Did you notice and admire my new logo? Another Fiverr.com score! If you like the work and want to get your own unique logo, I highly recommend TwentyStudio, which is where I had mine done. Professional work, fast service and great prices … a win no matter how you look at it.