What's the Big Idea?
June 3, 2024
What is this blog about? Why is it here? Why should you care? Why should I care?
I created this blog as a way to document my progress becoming a travel writer. But since I, the man who is great at starting projects but not following through, created a travel blog in the middle of a global pandemic, there hasn't been much travel documented and eventually there wasn't any writing at all.
Coming back to this project after a few years and from a different perspective, I see things I did well and I see things I did poorly. I also see things I want to do and things I want to stop doing.
The first thing I want to do is recognize a simple fact: this blog has been less about traveling and more about me and my journey. This entire project has been the product of a raging midlife crisis. Well, that crisis is now even bigger. This blog is going to continue being more about me; my thoughts, feelings and experiences. If you don't care about reading my inner monologue, you may want to exit here. It's only going to get deeper. You've been warned!
One thing I haven't done before that I want to try to do more is document how I plan projects. Previously I've been very vague about that, when I mentioned it at all. The first third of most travelogs I've enjoyed reading revolved around planning; the hassles and insanity of pure logistics. I think I never felt comfortable talking about that kind of thing because if the plan fell through, I'd have to admit defeat and that seemed depressing. My canceled and ruined plans DID depress me. But, in the future I hope to share those ideas and plans not only to involve you, gentle reader, but to force myself to plan more and plan better!
In that vein, let's talk about the creative empire I am now trying to build. “Empire” isn't the right metaphor, it's more of a “cheeseburger”! On their own, meat is good, cheese is good, bread is tasty, pickles and lettuce are yummy, even ketchup, mustard and mayo taste good individually. Stacked together, they become something extraordinary! My guiding principle in this moment is “multiple income streams”; if I can put together several small incomes on a regular basis I might be able to assemble one large income to live on. So, here is this blog, which has never made a penny, but I want to begin using it as my photography and writing portfolio. Last night, I put up my new blog. Yes, the man who couldn't keep up with one blog now has TWO! Check out Ancient and Angry when you get the chance.
Both of these blogs connect to video services. This blog has a YouTube channel. The new blog will eventually have a main channel on a service called Odysee (Go check that site out!). There will also likely be channels on YouTube, TikTok and Meta Reels. Ancient and Angry is aimed at Cannabis culture and thus will require very different handling than this travel blog.
So, that's the meat and cheese, one of the condiments is my drone. I don't think I ever mentioned the new drone on this blog. (See? I need to change my way of posting out here!) I bought it about a year ago, so, no shock that this is the first I've mentioned it. I've never flown it. It's still in its box under my desk. I need to get my FAA certification, which I've been working on for a while, more diligently now. Once I have my license, there is a gig economy around drones. If I take a drone job in the middle of nowhere, to do a roof inspection or inspect a solar array, I can also plan some touristy outings to document here. Not to mention putting up beautiful footage on the YouTube channel.
The overall idea is to find synergy between these pursuits and make it rain Benjamins! Haha!!
In conclusion: more about me, more planning, more blogs, more synergy, more cheeseburgers, less keeping things to myself out of fear. Fail fast and fail forward!