So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time
By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026
October 9, 2026
Good morning, folks.
I was looking at the map showing where visits to benandsteve.com have come from, and something struck me: my words have been getting out more than I have.
Here I am in Arizona, putting together a few thoughts over coffee, while something I’ve written turns up halfway around the world.
Apparently, my stories don’t need a passport. They don’t even have to take their shoes off at the airport.
When I begin a piece, I usually have something fairly close to home in mind. A memory from Oklahoma. Something Steve said. An ordinary object that carries an extraordinary amount of history. Or a passing thought that refuses to leave until I give it a paragraph of its own.
I don’t generally sit down thinking, “I wonder how this will go over in Tanzania.”
Perhaps I should start.
In the recent figures I reviewed, approximately 45% of the recorded views came from China, while nearly 42% came from the United States. Canada accounted for about 5%, followed by the United Kingdom at roughly 2.5%.
The remaining views came from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, Tunisia, and the Netherlands. Together, those countries represented about 6% of the views in this snapshot.
That is quite a bit of traveling for thoughts that began here at home.
The shaded countries on the map made that reach visible in a way a column of figures never quite could. I found myself looking at places I hadn’t expected to appear and wondering how something I wrote had found its way there.
Of course, a map cannot tell me the whole story. It doesn’t tell me who stopped by, what brought them, or whether they stayed long enough to finish their coffee. But it does show recorded activity from parts of the world I never imagined would have any connection to my little corner of the internet.
And that gives me something to think about.
I grew up in a small Oklahoma town where you usually knew who was listening. Sometimes you knew their parents, their grandparents, and precisely who would hear about what you said before you made it home.
Writing online is a different experience. You put a story out there, and its next stop may be somewhere you’ve never been.
A recollection from my childhood might turn up in Canada. A bit of dry humor might make its way to the United Kingdom. Something about family, kindness, loss, or simply getting through the day might reach a place whose name I’ve known all my life without ever expecting my writing to arrive there.
I like that possibility.
So much of what I write begins with ordinary life. The details belong to me, but the feelings may be familiar to someone much farther away: missing a parent, remembering an old home, laughing at an aggravation, or finding comfort in a daily routine.
I cannot say what any particular visitor takes away. I can only hope that somewhere in these pages, they find something worth pausing over.
This map has reminded me that the circle around benandsteve.com may be wider than I realized. My stories are beginning to show up in regions I never expected them to reach, and I’m curious to see where they go next.
Wherever you happen to be reading this, thank you for stopping by.
Pull up a chair. There’s always room for another cup.
And if my words make it to your part of the world before I do, please tell them to behave themselves. I have a reputation to consider.
What you leave today becomes someone’s answer tomorrow.