Sandalsand Norge >>
The Sandalsand name came a bit by chance. In the summer of 2011, I gradually felt I wanted to start sharing my travels on the Internet. I looked around for an illustration of the word “travel.” I wanted to be anonymous, so a portrait was out of the question. On the other hand, I really liked the image of a tired foot in a dry sandal, with sand in the background.
Sandal + sand
The photo was taken during the heatwave in Paris in 2003. It became the vignette illustration of sandal and sand. It was not very important to connect with my own suburb of Sandal in Stavanger, Norway. However, that link gave an extra boost. On the other hand, it was a point to use an English-like name, even though I first thought of establishing myself with a Norwegian-language site.
The first and last parts of the name, sandal and sand, are very common single words in both Norwegian and English. Everyone understands what they mean, worldwide. The compound Sandalsand has the advantage that it is not a common word in any language. It was something I was looking for: A name that did not appear in any glossaries, but was at the same time understandable from the composition. And it was easy to pronounce.
Thus, the basic idea was at least, that a search on Sandalsand would give unique hits, namely only on me. My assumptions back then are in line with reality today. Anyone who now searches for Sandalsand on Google or Bing will get my two websites up first – before random sandal hits with others. I have no competitors. So, that is how the Sandalsand name was born.
Sandalsand and other changes
I also envisioned using the suffix “..and” in combination with in other words. The site was first named Sandalsand, global trekking. Eventually I realised that there was little “trekking” involved, more hiking and travelling in other ways. Consequently, the subtitle was changed to global travelling. Note that I write in British English with double-L in “travelling”.
Later, when I was going to coordinate my media channels, it turned out that the Sandalsand name on Instagram and Twitter was locked, so I had to make a twist with Sandalgram and Sandaltweet. Unfortunately, I discovered too late that my YouTube username of Sandalfilm is a particular film genre, with sword scenes in the desert. However, it does not matter too much. Sandalsand Media has been established as a kind of umbrella for YouTube and the other social channels.
DotNet
When I was to start for «myself» in 2013, Sandalsand was available on, among other things, the international domain .net, but in fact not at that time on .com. The .no suffix for websites from Norway is reserved for companies, which Sandalsand is not. The DotNet domain basically suited me quite well, so that is why it became sandalsand.net.
Two illustrations
Here are the two portraits of me that appear on the website. One was taken in 2009 in Angkor (Cambodia), and the other in 2019 at Bogstad Manor in Oslo. I present my travels, but to a very small extent (other parts of) my private life and pictures of myself. You will not find pictures of family or friends.
Read more about me on the About page.
