## Never Stop Exploring

The North Face tag-line is very appropriate for me. I began exploring Blockchains and Crypto-tech about 2 years ago and my interest grows with each passing day. I have also travelled all over the world but there are still so many places I have to visit, foods I have to taste, people to meet, cultures to experience.

Here on Steemit I write about Crypto and Travel but I have lots of other interests such as charity work and technology which I will also post about. I also do enjoy a good rant from time to time so if you follow me you might get a good laugh occasionally :)

## Busy Month on Steemit
This past month I passed 100 followers and I got my first votes from Dan and Ned. Unfortunately I also did get a few votes from Asshole. On a positive note I have arranged a gathering of a few Steemians in Dublin. See [Meetup in Dublin](https://steemit.com/steemit/@eroche/meetup-in-dublin) for more details. 

This month was also the anniversary of my brothers deaths so in his honour I wrote a post to raise awareness about [Heart Disease](https://steemit.com/health/@eroche/heart-disease)

 
![Minnow on a Mission](http://i.imgsafe.org/90ba8c3e07.jpg)

# Join me in my mission ...
## Previous posts on my favourite topics
### Crypto
##### **Blockchain Series**
I was very enthusiastic when I first heard about Bitcoin, but I have to admit the Blockchain never really excited me until I started this series of posts. With each post I discovered new applications and ideas. The future is full of possibilities.
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 2)](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-2)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 3) Banking](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-3-banking)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 4) Trade / Ecommerce](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-4-trade-ecommerce)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 5) Investments and Insurance](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-5-investments-and-insurance)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 6) Social Media, Digital Media and Publishing](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-6-social-media-digital-media-and-publishing)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 7) Social and Public Good](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-7-social-and-public-good)
* [Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 8) Identity](https://steemit.com/blockchain/@eroche/blockchain-beyond-bitcoin-part-8-identity)
 
##### **Other Crypto posts**
I also write about other developments in the Crypto space. I am excited to see what Megaupload 2.0, Bitcache and Openbazaar 2 are going to look like. *Unfortunately this month the long awaited announcement of Megaupload 2.0 was delayed.*

#### Recent posts:
* [Secure your Wallet Today](https://steemit.com/beyondbitcoin/@eroche/secure-your-wallet-today)
* [Speculation, a double edged Sword for Crypto?](https://steemit.com/beyondbitcoin/@eroche/speculation-a-double-edged-sword-for-cryptohttps://steemit.com/beyondbitcoin/@eroche/speculation-a-double-edged-sword-for-crypto)
* [Tulip Mania or the Future. Whats in store for 2017...](https://steemit.com/beyondbitcoin/@eroche/tulip-mania-or-the-future-whats-in-store-for-2017)
* [Cryptocurrency Exchanges](https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@eroche/cryptocurrency-exchanges)
* [Cryptocurrency Passport](https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@eroche/cryptocurrency-passport)

### Travel
##### **Life after college**
When I finished University in 2003 I was faced with the same life decisions many people are faced with. What to do next? I chose to spend some time travelling in some hard to reach places. *My reasoning was I could do the easy places later when I had money* 
This series of travel posts is about the places I visited, the people I met and the life choices I made along the way.
* [Life after graduation...only begins when you leave the country](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/life-after-graduation)
* [Life After Graduation...The UAE](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/life-after-graduation-the-uae)
* [Life After Graduation... Experiences in The UAE](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/life-after-graduation-experiences-in-the-uae)

##### **Recent Trips**
I still travel and see new places every chance I get so I will post about more recent Journeys in this series. 
* [Salamanca, Spain](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/salamanca-spain)
* [León, Spain](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/leon-spain)
* [Cordoba, Spain](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/cordoba-spain)
* [Zamora, Spain](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/zamora-spain)

##### **Day Trip Ideas**
I currently live in Ireland. I often visit places at the weekend and this Day Trip series is for people who are looking for trip ideas. 
I had started posting fairly religiously on Trip Advisor but I quickly got fed up with the engagement, feedback and lack of a reward system. You get nothing in return for posting great content on that platform besides an email saying your in the top x% please post more. 

This series is my replacement for Tripadvisor using Steemit. I am going to post future trips with the main tag **"daytrip"**. 
* [Day Trips Ideas from Dublin - Newgrange and Howth](https://steemit.com/travel/@eroche/day-trips-ideas-from-dublin-newgrange-and-howth)

### Charity
Many countries around the world have strong traditions of charity work, particularly at this time of year. Ireland is no exception and I have been involved at various stages all through my life. I am not actively involved in any charity at the moment but I would like to give back in some way. Just before Christmas I thought of using Steemit to raise money for a charity close to my heart, "The Children of Syria". Thanks to the Steemit community a donation was made to UNICEF for 60 Euro following this post [Vote for the children of Syria this Christmas on Steemit](https://steemit.com/charity/@eroche/vote-for-the-children-of-syria-this-christmas-on-steemit). 

**I want to develop this idea further and use Steemit to raise further funds for Charities. It can be a win win for Steemit and for the Charity. I have noticed that there are a few other authors who have similar ideas and I will be contacting them about this.**
  
When it comes to charity there can be many arguments against raising and donating money.  For example paying the inflated salaries of C level executives, corruption, fraud. These criticisms are not without merit. If you donate money how do you know where its going? what its being used for? Is the charity real? Is it being used as intended? How to verify donations have been paid to the charity?

In this series of posts I would like to strike up some dialogue on how these issues can be addressed and how best to use Steemit and Blockchain technology to increase transparency in the NGO sector. I am really excited about this space and it could be another big use case for Blockchain. 

* *Lots to Come*

### Technology
I like to think of myself as an early adopter. I love trying out new things. I would love to be driving a Tesla Model S now but I hope soon the Model 3 will become available where I live. 
My most recent post on Technology got an upvote from Ned and Dan and is my record post to date so check it out. Its a good read.
* [End of the Wireless](https://steemit.com/technology/@eroche/end-of-the-wireless)
* [A Graveyard of Broken Links](https://steemit.com/steemit/@eroche/a-graveyard-of-broken-links)

#### Other Recent Posts
* [All we need is 100 Gigafactories](https://steemit.com/life/@eroche/all-we-need-is-100-gigafactories)
* [What happens when your phone gets stolen](https://steemit.com/life/@eroche/film-student-tricked-someone-into-robbing-his-phone)

### Politics
I was so shocked on hearing the news that President Trump fired the acting attorney general. From my perspective it sounded like he didn't like what she was doing so **"Your Fired!"**. 
This and some of his other policies are a cause for concern for me so I have started a series where I will comment on key events during the Trump Presidency. This series is not about saying who is right or wrong but to provide a perspective from the other side of the pond.
* [President Trump...](https://steemit.com/politics/@eroche/president-trump)
* [President Trump...Fires the acting Attorney General](https://steemit.com/politics/@eroche/president-trump-fires-the-acting-attorney-general)

### Other
I love Steemit and I write a lot of posts on things that catch my eye. These posts are all available on my blog page https://steemit.com/@eroche but recent ones I would recommend reading if you haven't yet are: 
* [News in the 21st Century - How to Read it ...](https://steemit.com/writing/@eroche/news-in-the-21st-century-how-to-read-it)
* [News in the 21st Century - How to Write it ...](https://steemit.com/writing/@eroche/news-in-the-21st-century-how-to-write-it)

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**Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Travel. I am also on twitter where I mainly write and tweet about Data and Data visualisations. Follow me [@ed_roche](https://twitter.com/ed_roche)**

*Artwork by [Christopher Hiedeman](https://steemit.com/art/@artist1989/custom-steem-and-steemit-art-and-instructions-on-how-to-create-your-very-own-steem-steemit-gear-t-shirts-coffee-mugs-etc)*